




iBRARY OF Congress.^! 

Chap .SjiA.^'TL^ | 

SH.Lr. ^M...fc.5 I 




'■i*:^^ii^sss:i^!g:s;:s'isj^ps§: 




THIS Volume is intended to place in succession before the reader 
both general and specific delineations of the natm^al and political 
divisions of the globe. An attempt has been faithfully made to 
realise in it a Gallery of Geography, in which exactness in the 
tracing has been sought with care, and a popular mode of treatment, 
uniformly adopted. Though the writer is fully conscious of having 
come short of his own ideal, he yet ventures to hope that some fair 
approximation has been made to it ; and that in the department of 
geographical knowledge an acceptable offering is here contributed to 
middle and high-class education, while, at the same time, a convenient 
help is afforded to those who have the ordeal of competitive examinations 
in prospect. 

In such a work there can obviously be no room for originality of 
plan. Nature and public policy have indicated the course to be 
pursued by dividing countries and states from each other, either by the 
ocean, the river, the mountain-ridge, or the artificial landmark. But 
attention has been paid to the grouping together, for descriptive purposes^ 
of those countries which are physically related, instead of adopting an 
alphabetical arrangement or a promiscuous selection, while the due 
appropriation of space to them has been observed in accordance with 
their political influence, commercial importance, or natural interest. 
In an introductory part, the progress of Geographical Discovery has 
been traced, from the limited travel and timid navigation of the 
ancients, to the bold enterprises of the moderns, by land and sea, in 
icy regions and in burning zones, which have resulted in solving the 
problem of the North-West Passage, disclosing Antarctic shores, 
removing the mystery from Central Africa, reaching the long-sought 
source of the Nile, and crossing the interior wilds of the vast 
Australian dependency. 

With general descriptions of the surface in various regions — 
their mountains, valleys, plains, lakes, and rivers — special notices are 
blended of what is prominently important or rare, grand or 
picturesque, in their scenery. Climate is not only considered in its 
varying nature and interesting phenomena, but in its bearing upon the 



I 



character and habits of nations, as tending to foster enervation and 
indolence, or to promote hardihood and industry^ according as it 
spontaneously places the fruits of the earth within reach, or rigorously 
exacts labour for their production. Vegetable forms are treated of, 
especially when of value as objects of commerce, or remarkable for 
their pecuhar properties or floral beauty. Populations and languages 
are referred to their place in the family of nations and tongues. The 
successive stages by which the principal states have advanced, with 
the great epochs in their history, are defined; and the various 
industries by which they are distinguished are indicated, whether 
commercial, manufacturing, mining, agricultm-al, or pastoral. Topo- 
graphical details are given upon a somewhat extended scale, yet 
discrimination has been studied in the selection of cities and towns which 
have claims upon pubhc attention for ampler notice, while the man- 
ners and customs of urban and of rural hfe are noted where they have 
any speciality, or features of interest. In the countries of antiquity, 
as well as those of later times, the localities famous for deeds of 
patriotism or valour, or for events which have influenced the destiny 
of empires, are characterised, as well as the natural and social changes 
which have subsequently transpired. Prominence is given to the 
British Isles and to the British Dependencies in every part of the globe. 
With respect to the Illustrations, the Publishers beg to state 
in proof of their general correctness, that they are from Photographs 
where these could be obtained ; in other cases, from Original Sketches ; 
and in some few instances, from published authorities, British and 
foreign ; generally with the consent of the parties to whom they belong. 
To the Earl of Caithness, Lord Duff'erin, Dr Holden, Mr "Wilson, and 
other amateur and professional photographers, they owe their 
best acknowledgments. They also take tliis opportmiity of acknow- 
ledging the services of Messrs Skelton, Simpson, Andrews, and 
Melville, from whose portfolios they have obtained many Italian, 
Indian, American, and Australian sketches. Nor must they omit to 
notice the late Mr Sargent's large collection of original sketches in 
England, Spain, Portugal, and France, to which they have had 
access, as well as Mr Bartholomew's carefully-prepared and beautifully- 
coloured maps. 

T. M. 

Novemher 1864, 




Illustrations. 



Artists. 



Authorities. 



Ship o£ the Desert, 

Indian Choultry of Forty Pillars, 

NileEaft, :. 

Boats of the. Ancients,..., 

Pharos of Alexandria 

St Michael's Mount, Cornwall, 

Initial, 

Baotrian Camel, 

Canary Islands, 

"Walrus, 

Initial, 

A Peep into Siberia, 

Orenberg, 

Valley of Machico, Madeira, 

Initial, 

Quebec, 

Vegetation of Falkland Islands, 

Initial, 

Bird's-eye View of Nekouev Bay, 

Cape Town from Table Bay, 

Initial, 

Astoria, Columba Eiver, 

Orange Harbour, Magellan's Strait, 

Gorge of Pali, Honolulu, 

City of Manilla, 

Charleston Harbour, 

Eeindeer Sledge-Travelling, 

Initial, 

Danger Rocks of the Amur, 

Petropaulovski, 

Mount Egmont, New Zealand, 

Dillon's Eock, Queen Charlotte's Island, 

Christmas Harbour, Kerguelen Island, 

Initial, 

Erebus and Terror in the Pack Ice, 

Mount Erebus and Beaufort Island, 

Montreal Island, 

Esquimaux Snow Huts, 

Source of the Ganges, 

Bavian's Kloof, South Africa, 

Sketch-Map of the Nile Countries, 

Volcanic Lake, South Australia, 

TJralskaya Sopka, 

Initial, 

Sketch-Map — Black Sea and Caucasus, 

Sketch-Map — Caspian and Ural Mountains, 

Astrachan, 

Tarifa, 

Iron Gates of the Danube, 

Europa Point, Gibraltar, 

Sinclair Castle, Caithness — from a Photograph, 

Old Man of Hoy— a Water Sketch, 

Primitive Vegetation, 

Primitive Vegetation, 

British Animals, 

Water Birds, 

Land's End — from a Photograph, 

Group — Tolpeden, Torbay, and Tintagel — from ) 
"Water-Colour Sketches, J 



Clakk Stanton,., 

G. E. Saksent,..,. 

Clakk Stanton,. 
G. E. Sabgent,.... 

DO 

DO 

Clakk Stanton, . 
Harbison Weik, 
G. P. Sakgent,.... 
Harrison Weir, 
Clakk Stanton,. 
T. Kennedy, 

DO 

do 

Clark Stanton,. 
G. F. Sargent,... 

T. Kennedy, 

Clabk Stanton,. 

T. Kennedy, 

G. F. Sargent,... 
Clark Stanton,. 
C.I. Crane, 

DO 

DO 

T. Kennedy, 

6. F. Sargent,... 
Hakrison Weir, 
Clark Stanton,. 

C. I. Crane, 

G. F. Sakgent,... 

E. Jennings, 

C. I. Crane, 

Jessie Orr, 

Clark Stanton,. 
E. Jennings, 

DO 

G. F. Sargent,... 

DO 

E. Jennings, 

G. F. Sargent,.... 

Weller, 

G. F. Sargent,... 

T. Kennedy, 

Clark Stanton,. 
Dower, 

do 

T. Kennedy, 

G. F. Sargent,... 

DO 

do 

T. Kennedy, 

T. Kennedy, 

Jessie Orr, 

Clara Ore, 

Harrison Weir, 

DO 

T. Kennedy, 

Jessie Orr, , 



Original Design 

( Photograph, Indian 
\ Museum, 

Original Design, 

Ancient Sculptures, 

Denon's Egypt, 

Original Sketch, 



do. 



Admiralty Chart, 

Original, 

do 

Sir M. I. MurcMson,.. 

do. 

Dr Zeiglar, 

Original, 

do 

Dr Hooker, 

Original, 

Bussian Chart, 

Original, 



American Expedition, . , 



Original Sketch, 

do. \ ' 

do. 

do. 

Admiralty Chart, 

Sketch, 

do 

American Expedition,.. 
Antarctic Expedition,.. 

Original, 

Antarctic Expedition,.. 

do. 
Parrjfs Voyages 

do. 

Lieut. White's Sketch,... 

Indian Museum, 

Compiled, 

Indian Museum, 

Sir S. I. MurcMson,.... 

Original, 

Compiled, 



Russian Chart,... 
Sketch,.. 



do. 

Earl of Caithness,. . 

Lord Bury, 

Original, 

do 



do. 

do. 

Wilson,.... 

Sketches,.... 



Illustrations, 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 



Artists, 



Authorities. 



Page 



Limestone Eocks, Dovedale, 

High and Low Level Bridges, Newcastle,. 

Durham Cathedral — from a Photograph,.. 
Silver How and Grassmere Lake, 



Liverpool and the Mersey, 

Lancaster Castle, 

York Minster — from a Photograph, 

Scarborough from the Castle, 

Ruins of Knaresborough Castle, 

Interiors of York Minster — from a Photogi'aph,. 

Derby from the Burton Road 

High Tor, Matlock, 

Matlock Church, 

River Dove, •. 

Hereford from Athelstano HiU, 

Bristol, 

Cambridge, 

City of Norwich, 

Worcester Cathedral, 

"Winchester Cathedral, 

"Windsor Castle, 

The Chesil Bank from Portland, 

"Weymouth from the North, 

Dartmouth, 

Coast of Cornwall — from a Photogi'aph, 

Roman "Wall, Northumberland, 

Moel-Siabot from the Lleddwr Valley, 

Menai and Tubular Bridge, 

Llanberis Pass, 



Snowdon from Capel Carig, 

MUford Haven, 

The Stack Rocks, 

Edinburgh, 

Pass of Glencoe, 

"Upper Fall of Foyers — ^trom a Photograph,.... 

Duimet Head — from a Photograph, 

Glasgow from the Broomielaw, 

Perth — from a Photograph, 

Basaltic Columns, Staffa — from Photographs,. 

Aberdeen — from a Photograpli, 

Pulteneytown Harbour, 

Tumulus or Rath, 

Gap of Dunloe, Kerry, 

Muckross House, Killamey, 

Round Tower, Monasterboice, 

Dublin from the Phoenix Park, 

Devil's Glen, "Wicklow, 

Ross Castle, Killamey, 

Muckross Abbey, 

Bowley Bay, Jersey, 

TUgesu-as from Gibraltar, 

Heligoland 

Bu'd's-eye "V"iew of Paris, 

Shepherds of the Landes, 

Rouen, 

Cherbourg, 

Lyon, 

Amphitheatre at Nimes, 

La Puy, 

Marseille, 

Toulon, 

Grenoble, 

Bnissels, 

Liege, 

Antwerp Catliedi-al, 

Amsterdam, 

Rotterdam Cathedral, 

Market-Place, Lubeck, 

Royal Palace, Munich, 

Royal Palace, Berlin 

Celebrated Rhine Sites, 

Railway Bridge, Cologne, 



G. F. Sargent,. 

E. Jekxings,. ... 

Thomas Scott,. 
Hunt, 

G. F. Sargent,. 

DO 

E. Jennings, 

G. F. Sargent,.. 

DO 

Jessie Orr, 

G. F. Sargent,.. 

DO 

DO 

DO. 



DO. 



DO. 

Jessie Orr,. 



J. C. Read, 

G. F. Sargent,.. 

DO 

E. Jennings,.... 

DO 

G. F. Sargent,.. 

DO 

Thomas Scott,... 

J. C. Read, 

E.Jennings, 

T. Kennedy, 

Thomas Scott,.. 



do. 



Jessie Ore, 

Thomas Scott,. 

E. Jennings, 

G. F. Sargent,. 

J. C. Read, 

DO 

G. F. Sargent,.. 



DO. 



DO. 

J. C. Read, 

DO 

G. F. Sargent,. 

DO. 
DO. 
DO. 

P. Skelton, 

G. F. Sargent,. 

DO. 
DO. 
DO. 



DO. 
DO. 
DO. 



Original Sketch,. 

Photograph, 

Dr Holden, 

Original Sketcli,.. 

do. 

do. 

Wilson, 

Original Sketch, . 

do. 

Wilson, 

Original Sketch,.. 

do. 

do. 



do. 
do. 
do. 
do. 



do. 

do. 

do. 

do. 
Turner's Sketch,.. 

Wilson, 

Bodgson's Plate,. 
Original Sketch,.. 

do. 



do. 
do. 
do. 
do. 



Photograph, 

Original Sketch 

Wilson, 

Earl of Caithness,.. 
Original Sketch, .... 
Wilson, 

do 

do 

Photograph, 

Original Sketch,...-. 

do. 

do 

do 

do. 



do. 



do. 
do. 
do. 
do. 



160 
166 
167 
169 
170 
172 
173 
174 
17.5 
176 
177 
178 
179 
180 
181 
183 
184 
188 
190 
191 
193 
203 
205 
206 
207 
209 
211 
212 
213 
215 
216 
217 
218 
221 
226 
227 
230 
232 
236 
237 
247 
248 
249 
258 
259 
261 
262 
267 
268 
270 
279 
284 
285 
290 
292 
293 
300 
301 
307 
308 
315 
319 
321 
322 
323 
327 
333 
336 
337 
348 
349 
365 
371 
380 
383 



LIST OP ILLUSTRATIOXS. 



Illustrations. 



Authorities. 



Dnrrenstein on the Danube, 

Sketch-Map of the Danube, 

Ebensee on the Traun, 

Trieste, 

Buda-Pesth, 

Presburg, 

Peterwardein, 

German Peasants at Market, 

Palis of the Aar, 

Matterhorn and Zermatt, 

ffigh Street, Berne, 

Glacier of the Grindelwald, 

Lausanne, 

Pluellen in TJri, 

Zurich, 

St Gingough, 

Swiss Milkman, 

Court of Lions, Alhambra, 

OUve Gardens of Oliveras, 

Spanish Costumes, 

Orduna 

Bilbao, 

Spanish Vegetation, 

Cape Finisterre, 

SevUle, 

Cadiz, 

Elvas, 

Lisbon, 

San Joas de Foy, 

Portuguese Peasants, 

Lake Como, 

Grotto of Puzzuole, 

Tarantula Dance, 

Mount Cenis Tunnel, 

Genoa, 

Falls of Valambrossa, 

Florence, 

Carrara, 

Gaeta, from the Sea, 

Street of Tombs, Pompeii, 

Castellamare, 

Messina, 

Catania, 

Bronte, 

Castle of St Angeloand St Peter's, 

Ponte Lugano, 

Falls of Tivoli, 

Grand Canal, Venice, 

Church of Santa Maria Gloriosa, 

Wbit-Sunday Fete at IN'aples, 

Constantinople, 

Sketch-Map — Mouths of Danube, 

Sulina Mouth of the Danube, 

Sketch-Map of the Bosporus, 

Gallipoli, 

Montenegro 

Bukharest, 

Giurgevo, 

G\iard-House in the Balkan, 

Sketch-Map — Mediterranean, 

WaUachian Travelling, 

Athens, 

Patras, 

Syra, 

Copenhagen, 

Sketch-Map — Baltic and North Sea,.... 

Fredericia, 

Christiansund, 

A Lapp Lady, 

Stockholm, 

Falls of Feigumfoss, 

Tail-piece, 

Moscow, 

Sketch-Map— The White Sea, 

Sketch-Map — Caspian and Black Sea,.. 



P. Skelton,.. 
J. Dower,.... 
P. Skelton,.. 



DO 

DO 

G. F. Saegbnt,., 
P. Skelton, 

BO 

G. F. Saegent,.. 
P. Skelton, 



DO 

do 

E. 'Whtmpee,... 
G. F. Sakgent,. 

DO. 
DO. 

p. Skelton, 

DO 

G. F. Saegent,.. 

DO. 

DO. 

DO. 

DO. 

DO. 

DO. 

DO. 

Habdwick, 

p. Skelton, 



DO. 



E. AVhtmpbk,. 
P. Skelton,.... 
Habdwick,.... 

do 

do 

P. Skelton,.... 



E. Jennings,. . 
Miss Oek, 



P. Skelton,.. 

J. DOWEE,...., 



J. DowEE,.. 



E. Jennings,., 

do. 
Wellee......... 

P. Skelton,... 

DO 



DO. 
DO. 



"Wellee, 

P. Skelton,., 

DO. .. 
Jessie Oek,. 
P. Skelton,.. 

DO. .. 



P. Skelton,. , 
Wellee 



Original Sketch,. 

Compiled, 

Original Sketch,. 

do, 

do. 

do. 

do. 

do. 

do. 

do. 

do. 

do. 

do. 

do. 

do. 

do. 

do. 

do. 

do. 

do. 

do. 

do. 

do. 

do. 

do. 

do. 

do. 

do. 

do. 

do. 

do. 

do. 

Original, 

Original Sketch,. 

do. 

do. 

do. 

do. 

do. 

do. 

do. 

do. 

do. 

do. 

do. 

do. 

do. 
Photograph, 

do 

Book of Bays, .... 
Original Sketch, . 

Compiled, 

Rnasian War, .... 

Compiled, 

War,.... 

do. 

do 

Illustrated News, 
Original Sketch, . 

Compiled, 

Illustrated News, 

Photograph, 

Original Sketch, . 

do. 

do. 

led, 

Original Sketch, . 

do. 
Lord Dnfferin,... 

Panorama, 

Original Sketch,. 

Prince 
Compiled, 



LIST OF ILLUSTBATIONS. 



Illustrations, 



Entrance to Sea oJ Azov, 

Kevel, 

Eiga, ■Z'.'.'.'.'.Z'.Z'.'.'. 

Helsingfors, 

Kola, ill the W]iiteSeaj....'.!!].'.7" 

Tladimir, 

Fort of ICinburn, .!".".". 

Kertch, '^^ 

Country round Sebastopoi,.".!"..!..! " 

Port of Balaclava, [][\ 

Spitzbergen, 

Gausriankar Peak, ....^.....] 

Seotioix of Asia on the Meridian'o'f Comorin," 



Artists, 



P. Skelton,. 
P. Skelton,. 



Authorities, 



Miss Okk,. 

HUREL, 

Sheeres,.., 



Waterfalls of Asia, 

Sketch-Map— Eed Sea, -c^^, , ^ 

MoimtainsofAsia,....: Sn^ 

Mountains of Oceana, 

Banyan Tree, .'.!.....! 

Burial-place at Petropaulovski,. !!...!... 
Mongolian Horsemen, Desert of Gohi, 



Kasan. 

The Bureya Eiver, 

Tiflis, .■.....'.■.'.■■'."! 

Anapa, 

Coast of Anatolia, 

Plains of Troy, .,,. 

Brusa, ' ' 

Sinope, 

Trebisond, 

Fishing Huts of tlie Bosporus',..., 

Erzeruni, 

Kars, 

TTrfah, "'!'!!ll!!l!i!!! 

P..ebecca's Well, ...!!..!.!!... 

Dead Sea, 

Natural Bridge of Aiii-el-Lebanoa 
Beyi-out and Mount Lebanon, ... 
Jerusalem, from Moimt of Olives 
Natural Pyramids of Koumbet '' 



Miss Oek,.... 

DO 

v. SiMPSOJf,, 



Russiam, War,.. 



do 

Lady Bastlalce,... 

Russian War, 

Prince Bemidoff,.. 
"ussian War,'.... 

do. 

do 



549 
546 
549 
550 
535 
556 
560 
563 
564 

Zord Dufferin, .^ ' I 572 

573 



Schlanginlweit,.. 
Compiled,. 



do.. 



HuREL, 

P. Skelton,. 



p. Skelton,.. 
W. Simpson,. 
P. Skelton,... 



Aden, , 



Original Sketch,... 

Russian War, 

Original Sketch,.^. 
^0, 

Lahorde, 

Russian War, 

do 

Original Sketch,..., 
\ Russian War, 

P. Sbcelton, \Lalorde,'.. '..'.'..'. 

Original Sketch,.'.,. 



P. Skelton,..., 



Compiled, 

Figuier, 

do 

Sketclt, .' 

Russian War, 

Figuier, 

Prince Bemidoff,. 



SmvND, 

Miss Ore, '.'.! 

E. Jenwinos,.... 

P. Skelton, 

do. 



■ F. Sargent,. 



P. Skelton,. 



TheRedSea,'froniSasMohammed; W.Simpson,., 

Defilesof Mount Sinai,. w'o 

Mountains of Seir, ....Z.'. w. Simpson,.. 

Entrance to the Eed Sea,...' I'p"- 

Plan of the Prophet's Mosque',' Mecca,"". \^~~ 

Arab Tents, 

Falls of Bimd-a-ifov.'.'!.'!!!!.'.'!' 

Tower of Tezed, ' 

Bushire, 

Persepolis, ' 

Madzai and Bodeen Peak, 

KliyberPass, 

Valley of the Yarkand,.....'. 

Government House, Calcutta 

Bridge at Biram Ghati, 

Pierre-pahar, 

Benares, ' 

Simla, - 

Bridge and Palace, Deiiii, .......[....... 

Chandy Chouk, Lucknow, 

Viaduct on the Bhore Ghautj'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.','.'.'.'.'.'.'.".'.'.'.'. 



W. Simpson,.. 

DO. 

P. Skelton,... 
W. Simpson,.. 

do. 
E. Jennings,., 
W. Simpson,.. 



Madras, ...'...'. 

Penang, 

Cashmere, 

Kunchinjunga Peak,.... 

Temple and Priest's Housej'Bliotan'," 

Adam's Peak, Ceylon, 

Pagoda of Phrabat, "...[...... 

Moulmein, 

Malacca, 

Canton Eiver and Ho-nan, ...... .' 

Canton, from Temple of Five "Genii " 

Tiger Island, 

Hong Kong, 



DO. 

do. 

DO. 
DO. 
DO. 
DO. 



Figuier,, 

Lahorde, 

Photograph, 

Laborde, 

do 

Original Sketch,.'. 
Pictorial Bible,... 

Sketch, 

Pictorial Bible,!.. 
Admiralty Chart, 

Burkhardt, 

Pictorial Bible, 

Flanden's Voyage en Perse, 

do. 

Indian Revolt, '. 

Persepolis Restored. 
Original Sketch, 

do. 



Ori 



I Sketch,. 



DO. .. 

DO. .. 

GlEAEDET, . . .. 

"W". Simpson,. 



DO. 



Miss Ore, 

W. Simpson,... 

DO 

P. Skelton, 

DO 

E. Jennings,... 



Ong. Sk. by W. Jennings, 
Original Sketch,.. 

do. . 



do. 
do. 
do. 
do. 
do. 
do. , 



Sehlangintuieit,... 
Original Sketch,.. 

Mounot, 

Original Sketch^.', 
do. 



W. Jennings,... 
Indian Revolt,. 



574 
574 
575 
576 
578 
582 
586 



591 

597 

598 

602 

603 

606 

608 

609 

610 

612 

613 

616 

620 

623 

624 

626 

631 

634 

637 

638 

640 

645 

647 

648 

651 

653 

654 

659 

662 

664 

665 ■ 

668 

672 

673 

675 

682 

684 

685 

687 

688 

694 

695 

699 

702 

703 

705 

706 

708 

713 

718 

720 

721 

728 
729 
731 



LIST OP ILLUSTRATIONS. 



Illustrations, 



Artists. 



Authorities, 



Cliinese "Wall, 

Eope Bridge on the Spiti, 

General View of Yeddo, 

Panoramic View of Nagasaki, 

Small Temple at Yeddo, 

Cairo and the Pyramids, 

African Mountains, > 

Victoria Falls, Zambesi, 

Scene on the Logier River, 

Fimchal, Madeira, 

Cascade on the Savanna, 

Peter Botte Mountain, 

Tangier, 

Valley of Egeri, 

Island of PhUfe, 

Street in Alexandria, 

Banks of the NUe, 

Lake Timsah, 

Siout, 

Horsemen in the Desert, 

Village of Musgu, 

Kano, 

Falls of the Felou, 

"Wliite Quartz, Awass Bogs, 

Zambesi Paver, 

Mission Station, Blackthroat Eiver, 

Panorama of the Central Andes, 

Comparative Height of American Mountains, 

Volcanic Mountain of JoruDo, 

Virgin Forest, 

Grlaciers of Chili, 

Moimt Hecla, 

Floatmg Ice Mountams, 

Eeikiavik, Iceland, 

Horse-Slioe Fall, 'Water-colour Drawings, . 

A Jam on the Sfc Francis,... do. 

Cape Bace, do. 

Harper's Ferry, do. 

Wilderness of Maine, do. 

White Mountain, Vermont, do. 

Potomac at Washington,.... do. 

Manunoth Cave, Kentucky, 

Jlinnehalia Falls, Minnesota, 

Great Salt Lake, 

Jalapa, 

Harbour of Bay Islands, 

Nassau, 

Bermudas, 

Hope Bridge on the Magdalena, 

Natural Bridges on the loononzo, 

Bead to Honda, 

Gold-washing on the Itooolami, 

The Alpaca, 

Peimte dellnca, 

Gotopasi, 

Volcano of the Pichincha 

Cape Horn, 

Glacier of Moimt Sermiento, 

Gibraltar Rocks, 

Mount Lamongan, Java, 

Kini Ballu, Borneo, 

Megapolis Island, 

Booby Island, 

Falls of Glen Stuart, 

Coast of Australia, Illawarra, 

Mount Adolphus, 

Shoalhaven GuUy, 

Camden Cow Pastures, 

Sir Charles Hardy's Island, 

Swan River, 

Hobart Town, 

Pumice Hills,New Zealand, 

Boiling Lake of Rota Mahana, 

Island of Tahiti, 

Aurora BoreaUs in High Latitudes, 



E. Jennings,.. 
W. Simpson,... 
P. Seemon,...., 

BO 

DO 

W. Faieholt,, 

Miss Obe, 

Maijin, 

E. Jennings,.. 
G. F. Saegent. 

GlEAKDBT, '. 

Gaucheee 

JUSTYN, 

p. Skelton,.... 
W. Faieholt,. 

DO. 

Laplante, 

G. F. Saegent, 
W. Faieholt,. 

GiBAEDET, 

P. SiCELTON,.... 

DO 

Gaucheee, 

E. Jennings,... 

DO. 

DO. 

GiBARDET, 

FlGUIEE,, 

Laplante, 

DO 

DO 

DO 

DO 

p. Skelton,.... 

DO 

DO 

do 

DO 

DO 

DO 

Gibaedet, 

p. SBaELTON,.... 

Laplante, 

DO 

Jennings, 

DO 

P. Skelton 

DO 

Laplante, 

P. Skelton, 

DO 

P. Skelton,.... 
Gieaedin, 

DO 

p. Skelton,... 

DO 

Melville, 

DO 

DO 

DO 

DO 

G. F. Sargent, 
Melville, ' 

DO 

DO 

DO 

DO 

DO. ... 

DO 

DO 

Laplante, 

H. Ceane, 

Gikabdbt 



Illustrated News, 

Original Sketch 

Photograph, 

do. 

do 

Original Sketch, 

Figuier, 

do 

Bainds Sketch, 

Original Sketch, 

Figuier, 

do 

Justyn, 

Dr Barthe, 

Original Sketch, 

do. 

Figuier, 

Photograph, 

Original Sketch, 

Figuier, 

Dr Barthe, 

do 

Figuier, 

Baines's Sketch, 

do. 

do. 

Schlangintweit, 

Figuier, 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

Tracings of Iceland,. 
G. H. Andrews, 

do. 

do. 

do. 

do. 

do. 

do. 

Figuier, 

G. H. Andrews, 

Figuier, 

do. 

Admiralty Survey,.... 

do. 

Illustrated News, 

Universe Pittoresque, 

Figuier, 

Universe Pittoresque, 

do. 
O.'s Encyclopwdia,... 
Universe Pittoresque, 
Figuier, 

do 

Original Sketch, 

Admiral Fitzroy, 

Original Sketch, 

do. 

do. 

do. 

do. 

Photograph, 

Original Sketch, 

do. 

do. 

do. 

do. 

do. 

do. 

Universe Pittoresque, 

Figuier, 

Admiral Fitzroy, 

Figuier 



LIST OF STEEL PLATES AND MAPS. 



PLATES, 

St Paul's Catliedral, from St Ana's Churoli (Illustrated Title). page 

Naples, from Monte Mattino, facing 465 

Constantinople, « 485 

New York, City of, 831 

Mexico, City of, .; 849 

Sydney, » 914 



MAPS. 

World as known to the Ancients {Frontispiece). 
World on Mercator'a Projection, » 

England and Wales, 158 

Scotland, 227 

Ireland, 259 

Europe, 293 

Asia, 573 

Africa, ; 744 

North America, 823 

South America, 861 

Austraha, 901 

New Zealand, 925 




;=iljLnbTLnfaIdlJn-LHU 



CONTENTS 



btatatataLntaLjtataLntotaLaLataLnLntatatabtatalaljEilg 



INTRODUCTION. 
Chapter I. 

PACE 
MODES OF TRAVEL AND NAVIGATION OF THE 

ANCIENTS, 1 

Chapter II. 

GEOGKAPHICAL KNOWLEDGE 01? THE ANCIENTS,. 10 

Chapter III. 

GEOGRAPHICAL KNOWLEDGE IN THE MIDDLE 



Chapter IV. 

PASSAGE OP THE CAPE AND THE ATLANTIC — 

FIRST CIKCUMNAVIGATION OF THE GLOBE,. 28 



Chapter V. 

NORTH-EASTERN, NORTH-WESTERN, AND NORTH- 
POLAR VOYAGES 40 

Chapter VI. 

ENGLISH AND DUTCH CIRCUMNAVIGATORS OF 

THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY, 53 

Chapter VII, 

RUSSIAN DISCOVERIES— CIRCUMNAVIGATORS OF 

THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 67 

Chapter VIII. 

ARCTIC AND ANTABCTIC EXPEDITIONS, SO 

Chapter IX. 

EXPEDITIONS IN CENTRAL ASIA, AFRICA, AND 

AUSTRALIA, 101 



PART I. 

GEOGRAPHY OF EUROPE. 

Introductory Chapter. 

GENERAL VIEW OP EUROPE, 123 



SECTION I.— THE BRITISH ISLES 
AND EUROPEAN DEPENDENCIES. 

Chapter I, 

GENERAL VIEW OF THE BRITISH ISLES, 142 

Chapter II. 

ENGLAND AND WALES, 158 

I. NORTHERN COUNTIES, 166 

IL NORTH-MIDLAND COUNTIES, 179 

in. WESTERN COUNTIES, 184 

IV. EASTERN COUNTIES, 188 

V. SOUTH-MIDLAND COUNTIES 193 

VL SOUTHERN COUNTIES, 200 

VIL NORTH WALES, 213 

Vin. SOUTH WALES, 220 

POPULATION OF THE PRINCIPAL TOWNS, 225 

Chapter III. 

SCOTLAND, 227 

I. SOUTHERN COUNTIES, 237 

n. MIDDLE COUNTIES, 243 

III. NORTHERN COUNTIES, 249 

POPULATION OF THE PRINCIPAL TOWNS, 258 

Chapter IV. 

IRELAND— THE UNITED KINGDOM, 259 

L LEINSTER, 268 

n. ULSTER, 273 

IIL CONNAUGHT, 276 

IV. MUNSTBR, 279 

POPULATION OF THE PRINCIPAL TOWNS, 283 

Chapter V. 

BRITISH EUROPEAN POSSESSIONS, 285 

I. CHANNEL ISLANDS, 286 

II. MALTESE ISLANDS, 288 

in. GIBRALTAR, 289 

IV. HELIGOLAND, 292 



SECTION II.— CENTRAL EUROPE. 

Chapter I. 

FRANCE, 293 

L NORTHERN FRANCE, .301 

II. MIDDLE FRANCE, 308 

m. SOUTHERN FRANCE, 315 



XIV CON! 

Chapter II. 

PAGE 
BELGIUM 327 

Chapter III. 

THE NETHEELANDS OK HOLLAND 337 

Chapter IV. 

GEEMANY, 349 

I. NORTHERN STATES, 353 

IL CENTRAL STATES, 356 

DL SOUTHERN STATES, 362 

Chapter V. 

PRUSSIA, 371 

I. EASTERN OR BLAEITIME PRUSSIA, 372 

n. TVISTERN OR RHENISH PRUSSIA, 380 

Chapter VI. 

THE AUSTRIAN EMPIRE, 384 

I. GEKMAinC PROVINCES, 386 

n. POLISH PROVINCES, 396 

III. HUNGARIAN PROVINCES, 398 

Chapter VII. 

SWITZERLAND, 407 



SECTION III.— SOUTHERN EUROPE. 
Chapter I. 

SPAIN, 423 

I. INTERIOR REGION, 427 

n. NORTH MARITIME REGION, 431 

m. EAST AND SOUTH MAKITIME REGIONS, 435 

Chapter II. 

PORTUGAL, 442 

Chapter III. 

ITALY,..., 450 

I. KINGDOM OF ITALY, 456 

II. ROMAN OR PONTIFICAL TERRITORY, 471 

in. AUSTRIAN ITALY, 474 

Chapter IV. 

EUROPEAN TURKEY, 478 

L ROUMELIA, 4S3 

n. THESSAXY, 489 

m. ALEANIAj 490 

IV. MONTENSGEO, 490 

V. BOSNIA, 491 

VI. HERZEGOVINA, 491 

VII. SEEVTA, 492 

Vm. WALLACHIA, 493 

IX. MOLDAVIA, 493 

X. BULGARIA, 495 



Chapter V. 

GREECE, 501 

I. NORTHERN GREECE, 504 

II. SOUTHERN GREECE, 505 

m. INSULAR GREECE, 506 



SECTION IV.— NORTHERN AND 
EASTERN EUROPE. 

Chapter I. 

DENMARK — HOLSTEIN-LAUBNBURG, 511 

I. DENMARK PROPER, 512 

n. SCHLESVIG, 514 

HL HOLSTEIN, 514 

TV. LAUBNBURG, 514 

Chapter II. 

SWEDEN AND NORWAY, 523 

I. SWEDEN, 531 

II. NORWAY, 534 

Chapter III. 

EUROPEAN ETTSSIA, „ 539 

I. BALTIC PROVINCES, 546 

II. FINLAND, 650 

m. GREAT EUSSIA, 552 

IV. LITTLE EUSSIA, 556 

V. WEST EUSSIA, 557 

VI. SOUTH EUSSIA, 560 

VH. EAST RUSSIA, 566 

SEITZBEEGEN ARCHIPELAGO, 569 



PART II. 

GEOGRAPHY OF ASIA. 

Introductory Chapter. 

GENERAL VIEW OF ASIA, 573 

Chapter I. 

ASIATIC RUSSIA, 587 

L SIBERIA 587 

n. TRANS-CAUCASIAN PROVINCES, 598 

Chapter II. 

ASlii-TIC TURKEY, 603 

I. ASIA aUNOE, 604 

II. TUEKISH AEMENIA AND KURDISTAN, 613 

in. AL-JEZIEAH AND IRAK-ARABI, 620 

IV. SYRIA AND PALESTINE, 624 



Chapter III. 

ABABIA, 63S 

I. BAHE-EL-TOUK SINAI, 642 

11. EL-HEJAZ 648 

III. YEMEN — ADEN — HADKAMAUT — OMAN — 

LACKSA — NEDJ, 652 

Chapter IV. 

IRAN ORPEESXA, 654 

I. rRAK-AJEJn, 657 

n. AZEREIJAN, 659 

ni. GHILAN AND MAZANDEKAN, 660 

V. KHU2ISTAN 660 

V. FAES AUD LAKISTAN, 661 

VI. KEEMAN AND KHOEASAN, 662 

Chapter V. 

BELOOCHISTAN' — AFGHANISTAN — TUEKESTAN, . . . .665 

Chapter VI. 

INDIA OE HINDtrSTAKr, 673 

I. PEESIDENCY OE BENGAL, 681 

n. PEESIDENCY OF BOMBAY, 693 

m. PEESIDENCY OF MADRAS, 698 

IV. INDEPENDENT STATES, 703 

V. FOEEIGN SETTLEMENTS, 706 

VL CEYLON, 707 

Vn. MALDIVE AND LACOADIVE ISLANDS, 710 

Chapter VII. 

INDO-CHINESE PENINSULA, 713 

I. BURMESE EMPIRE, 715 

n. EMPIEE OF ANAM, 717 

HI. BRITISH POSSESSIONS, 718 

Chapter VIII. 

THE CHINESE EMPIEE, 721 

L CHINA PROPER, 722 

NORTHERN PROVINCES, 726 

CENTRAL PROVINCES, 727 

SOUTHERN PROVINCES, 728 

n. DEPENDENT TEEEITOEIES, 732 

Chapter IX. 

JAPANESE EMPIEE, 736 



PART III. 

GEOGRAPHY OF AFRICA. 

Introductory Chapter. 

GENERAL VIEW OF AFRICA 744 

AFEICAN ISLANDS, 753 

Chapter I. 

NORTHERN AFRICA, 758 



JiNTB. XV 

Chapter II. 

PACE 
NOETH-EASTEEN AFRICA — 

I. EGYPT, 766 

11. NUBIA — KOEDOFAN, 775 

Ul. ABYSSINIA, 776 



Chapter III. 

WESTERN, CENTRAL, AND EASTERN AFRICA — 

1. WESTERN AFRICA, 778 

IL CENTRAL AFRICA, 782 

III. EASTERN AFRICA, 784 

Chapter IV. 

SOUTHERN AFRICA, 786 



PART IV. 
GEOGRAPHY OF AMERICA. 

Introductory Chapter. 

GENERAL VIEW OF AMERICA 793 

Chapter I. 

I. DANISH AMERICA, 806 

n. GREENLAND, SOS 

in. RUSSIAN AMERICA, 810 

Chapter II. 

BRITISH AMERICA, 811 

I. CAUADA, 812 

n. NEW BRUNSWICK, rS16 

HI. NOVA SCOTIA, 817 

IV. PRINCE EDVlTARD ISLAND, 818 

V. NEWFOUNDLAND, 818 

VL VANCOUVER'S ISLAND, 820 

VEI. BRITISH COLUMBIA, 821 

VIIL NEW BRITAIN, 821 

Chapter III. 

THE UNITED STATES, 823 

L NORTH-EASTERN STATES, 827 

n. MIDDLE ATLANTIC STATES, 830 

ni. SOUTHERN ATLANTIC AND GULF STATES,.... 833 

IV. WESTERN STATES, 838 

V. PACIFIC STATES 841 

VI. TERRITORIES, 843 



Chapter IV. 

MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, AND WEST INDIES— 

I. MEXICO, 846 

n. CENTRAL AMERICAN STATES, 852 

III. WEST INDIES AND BERMUDAS 855 



Chapter Y. 

PAOF, 
COLOMBIA, VENEZUELA, GUIANA— 

I. COLOMBIA, S61 

II. VENEZUELA, 863 

HL GUIANA 865 



Chapter VI. 

BRAZIL, PAKAOUAY, UEUGUAY — 

I. BRAZIL, S6S 

II. PARAGUAY, 873 

IIL URUGUAY 873 



Chapter VII. 

ECUADOR, PERU, BOLIVIA, CHILI— 

I. ECUADOR, S75 

n. PERU, 877 

IIL BOLIVIA, 880 

IV. CHILI, 881 



Chapter VIII. 

ARGENTINE REPUBLIC, PATAGONIA, FUEGIAN 
ARCHIPELAGO, FALKLAND ISLANDS — 

1. AKGENTINE REPUBLIC, SS5 

n. PATAGONIA, 888 

HL FUEGIAN ARCHIPELAGO, SSS 

IV. FALKLAND ISLANDS, 8S9 



PART V. 

GKOGRAPHY OF OCEANIA. 
Introductory Chapter. 

FAGB 
GENERAL VIEW OF OCEANIA, 891 

Chapter I. 

MALAYSIA, MICRONESIA, MELANESIA — 

I. MALAYSIA, 892 

11. MICRONESIA, 897 

III. MELANESIA, 899 

Chapter II. 

GENERAL VIEW OF AUSTRALASIA, 901 

Chapter III. 

AUSTRALASIAN COLONIES — 

I. NEW SOUTH WALES, 911 

II. QUEENSLAND, 915 

in. VICTORIA, 916 

IV. SOUTH AUSTRALIA, 919 

V. -WESTERN AUSTRALIA, 921 

VI. TASMANIA, 922 

Chapter IV. 

POLYNESbV — 

I. NEW ZEALAND, 925 

IL MINOR ARCHIPELAGOS, 929 



Pa-e H.5, 
184, 
201, 
201, 
247, 

250, 
251, 

255, 
255, 

255, 



417, 
532, 



EEEATA. 

23d line from top, for ' ITirst descried,' read ' Descried for the second time.' 

beneath engraving, for ' Hastings HUl,' read ' Athelstane HiU.' 

3d line from bottom, for ' Addiscombe,' read ' Addington.' 

last line but one, for ' Richmond higlier up,' read ' Edchmond lower down.' 

for ' Perth from below St John's Bridge,' beneath engraving, read ' Perth from above the 

Bridge.' 
5th line from top, for ' south bank,' read ' north bank.' ^ 

22d line from bottom, for ' at one extremity of which the Gaelic language is spoken,' read 

' at one extremity of which, untU recently, the Gaelic language was spoken.' 
Mr Clegliom's theory is said not to be borne out by facts. 
11th line from bottom, it appears that no herrings have been sent to Italy or the "West 

Indies for many years. 
12th line from bottom, for ' 600 miles,' read ' 1600 to 1800 miles,' and omit the concluding 

clause of tlie sentence. 
nth line from bottom, for ' Duke of Burgundj',' read ' Duke of Austria.' 
description of cut, for ' Banana Tree,' read ' Banyan Tree.' 




a 



^ -*..., n 



l«?^^M 



r/i 



s0 f mYa^^^jAVieAim^^^^L: 



^?^>^i 



CHAPTEE I. 

MODES OP TEAYEL AND NAVIGATION OP THE ANCIENTS. 

HE diffusion of the human race, with extended knowledge of 
the surface of the earth as its consequence, was promoted in 
the earliest ages of the world by a variety of causes. Among 
the most influential may he noted, the necessity of proYiding 
means of suhsistence for an increase of population, and the 
growing demand for luxuries grafted upon an acquaintance 
with them ; the feuds resulting in open violence, wliich compel 
the vanquished to fly before the victor, or the dissensions 
which simply render it desirable for a weaker party to retire to 
a safe distance from the stronger ; together with the desire for 
independence, the love of adventure, and the feeling of curio- 
sity, an instinct of great power in almost every breast. Motives 
of this kind contributed in the infancy of society to induce 
migration on the part of its members, temporary or permanent, 
and thus added to the stock of information respectiag the 
extent of the terrestrial superficies, and its features of mountain 
and valley, plain and forest, river, lake, and sea. But thou- 
sands of years passed away; great empires rose, flourished, 
and fell; splendid cities were founded and made desolate; 
civilisation followed states of barbarism, declined, and 



2 TRAVEL and" NAVIGATION OF THE ANOIENTS. 

repeatedly shifted its locality, -wMle only a comparatively inconsiderable area of the globe 
•was known to its most enlightened inhabitants. 

The most ancient geographical records extant are contained in the Pentateuch of Moses. 
It is diEacult and often impossible to identify many of the localities and commimities 
named by the writer ; but they were certainly included in the countries bordering the 
eastern side of the Mediterranean, and extending from thence to the Persian Gulf and 
Caspian Sea. Still, it is clear, from the mention made of various products with which 
the Jewish legislator was familiar, that intercourse subsisted in his age between the banlcs 
of the l^ile and the shores of Arabia and India, though maintained by no direct chain 
of communication. Morning and evening, incense was burned upon the altars of Jehovah 
from the time when Israel encamped in the wilderness, to the iinal desolation of Jeru- 
salem. Three times a day in Egypt— as the solar glory appeared in the east, reached the 
zenith, and declined to the western horizon— the priests greeted the sun-god with offerings 
of perfume. At a later date, the disciples of Zoroaster in Persia honoured the luminary 
in a similar manner ; and in all the temples of Greek afld Eoman idolatry 

' Treasured odours breathed a costly*sceiit,' 

as gifts peculiarly acceptable to the imaginary beings which the sculptui'ed marbles coldly 
personified. 

The gum burned upon the incense altars — ^frankincense — ^is a native production of 
Southern Arabia, as well as of India, where the tree yielding it grows much more luxu- 
riantly. But the specification of cinnamon and cassia as in use is moi'e significant. 
These spices were ingredients of the holy anointing oU of the tabernacle, which was 
employed in the act of consecration to the priesthood, at its institution in. the wilder- 
ness. Both of the shrubs producing them are peculiar to Ceylon and the adjacent 
coasts of India. Hence it follows, that at the era of the Exodus intercourse had been 
opened between those regions and the ISTile countries ; and it can scarcely be doubted 
by whose agency it was carried on. The Hindus themselves are not, and have never 
been, a seafaring people. Enterprising individuals indeed among them may have con- 
ducted short coasting voyages, but the great body of the nation have ever recoiled from 
hazardous adventure, content to gaze passively upon the barrier of the ocean, without 
a wish to cross it. On the contrary, the Arabs of the coast, a people altogether different 
in their habits from those of the desert, have been from time immemorial active com- 
meroialists and mariners, in possession of ships and ports. To them the countries on 
the shores of the Mediterranean were in the fu'st instance indebted for the spices and 
precious products of India, conveyed both by the way of the Eed Sea and the Persian 
Gulf, and from thence overland to the markets of Egypt and of Tyre. This gave rise 
to a popular error prevalent through all antiquity. It was imagined that the articles of 
luxury obtained through the medium of Arabian traders were the produce of their own 
soU ; and hence a region composed largely of burning sands, with a pestilential climate, 
and only fertile tracts of limited extent, came to be distinguished by the stiU. extant 
title of Arabia the Happy, Araby the Blest. 

The earliest accounts on record of travelling, whether for domestic or coinmercial 
objects, are found in the sacred document referred to. In almost all of them a 
company of wayfarers is mentioned, and the camel is conspicuous. The stern realities 
of nature in vast tracts of country dividing different communities within the tropics, or 
bordering on them — dry and thirsty lands where no water is, but stUl the same burning 
sun, with a soU either of sterile rock or shifting sand, disdaining to hold a footprint 
as a testimony of subjection — an unsettled state of society, with bands of lawless rovers 



THE SHIP OF THE DESERT. 3 

whosG hand is against every man, unless overawed by numbers, or expensive contribu- 
tions purobase immunity from indiscriminate pillage — tbese circumstances have enforced 
the association of individuals ia traversing sucb regions in all subsequent ages, both 
for mutual protection, and tbe provision of resources adequate for the journey. These 
companies, termed caravans, are now, as they have been since primitive times, the chief 
means by which the internal communication of Asia and Africa is conducted. 

It is a striking instance of adaptation to particular circumstances, that an invaluable 
beast of burden has been bestowed upon the arid wastes, without which their passage would 
be to a great extent impossible under existing arrangements. The camel, perhaps, more 
than any other creature, exhibits a marked adaptation to a peculiar position. It appears 
as if ISTature had been economical of material in the organisation of this animal, designed 
to range over districts affording the scantiest supply of nourishment. ' She has not given 
bim the fulness of form of the ox, the horse, or the elephant ; but, limiting him to the 
purely indispensable, she has bestowed irpon him a small head, almost without external ears 
supported by a fleshless neck. She has stripped his thighs and legs of every muscle 
not essential to their movements, and has furnished his dry and meagre body with only 
the vessels and tendons required to knit the framework together. She has supplied him 
with a powerful jaw to crush the hardest aliments ; but that he might not consume too 
much, she has narrowed his stomach, and made him a ruminant. She has cushioned his 
foot with a mass of muscle, which, sliding in mud, and ill adapted for climbing, unfits 
him for every soil but a dry, even, and sandy surface. She has condemned him to 
servitude by refusing him aU means of defence against his enemies.' Accordingly, the 
camel has been the ship of the desert from the davm of history, employed in the transit 
of both passengers and goods. A vegetable native of the desert, the Camel's Thorn 
{Hedysarum alhagi), a prickly plant, occurs in profusion in various districts, and affords a 
similar beautiful exemplification of benevolent design. The animal browses upon it in pre- 
ference to other products ; its lasting verdure and bright crimson flowers deHght the eye 
of the traveller in the unfriendly wastes ; and its property of collecting by deep-searching 
roots the scanty moisture of the plains, is made subservient to the production of nourishment 
for man. The Arab divides the stem of the plant in spring near the root. A seed of the 
water-melon is then inserted in the fissure, and the soil replaced. The seed becomes a 
parasite. The moisture which it could not coUect for itself is supplied by the far- 
penetrating roots of the plant which sustains it, and thus a crop of water-melons is 
periodically raised from a soil incapable of other culture. 

Oriental manners and customs have been remarkably permanent ; and hence a modern 
caravan is in its principal features a picture of an ancient one. The travellers follow each 
other in single or double file ; and form a line of procession of considerable length along 
the great routes, where numbers of mere wayfarers, religious pilgrims, and merchants 
journey together for safety and convenience. If there are horsemen, as is usually the 
case, the camels have to carry skins of water for the horses, as well as for the passengers, 
for there is frequently no other source of supply for several days together. Water is a 
daUy want with the horse ; but the camel ■\vill go three or four days without it, drinking 
only at the wells or reservoirs, and is capable of enduring even a ten days' thirst. The 
halts are made whenever practicable at watering-places, where there is some verdure, 
shade, and the song of birds. In many places the bleached bones of dead camels form a 
line of landmarks, and indicate with melancholy exactness the route to be pursued. 

The chieftainship of a caravan was deemed an honourable office by the ancients, and 
its safe-conduct a very creditable achievement. Previous to starting, its principal 
members elected a leader and head, a man of experience in travelling, well acquainted 



i TRAVEL AND NAVIGATION OF THE ANCIENTS. 

with the direction, and qualified by firmness and conciliation to deal -with the wUd tribes 
by the way. By a prosperoiis journey, he established a claim to gratitude ; and after 
several, a kind of honorary title was in some instances conferred, similar to that of 
Imperator, with which the Eoman legions greeted a successful general. Inscriptions at 
Palmyra supply information to this effect. Thus one commemorates AureHus Zehida, 
who discharged his office of conductor with great credit while leading a company of 
merchants from that city to Vologesia, a town on the Euphrates, in order to attend the 
markets held there. Another is ia. honour of a certain Schahnalath, who is expressly 
said to have been a Jew, and whose services had procured for him a statue, as well as an 
inscription, erected by the senate and people of the city. The inscriptions were found in 
the court of the Temple of the Sun, the tutelar divinity of the place. This court is a 
spacious square area, capable of holding an entire encampment of Arabs, and paved 
throuo-hout with marble. The temple stood in the centre, and outside are colonnades 
with numerous apartments. At the entrance are two large tanks, eight feet deep, 
furnished with steps to go down to the water. Its modern name is the Court of Camels. 
The name and the arrangements sanction the surmise, that as the commercial interests of 
the city were supposed to be under the special protection of the tutelary deity, the 
caravans wended their way to the temple on arriving, and started from it. Hence it 
had appurtenances for their accommodation, answering the purpose of a caravanserai : the 
apartments being for the passengers ; the court and tanks for the beasts of burden, and 
the goods they conveyed. 

The rise of a splendid city like Palmyra in the heart of the wilderness, surrounded on 
aU sides by an inhospitable desert of rock and sand, seems an anomaly, but is susceptible 
of an easy and natural explanation. It was founded by Solomon imder the name of 
Tadmor by which its ruins are at present known to the neighbouring tribes. Both 
names signify the city of pahn-trees. The site is an oasis, furnished with an abundant 
supplv of wholesome water. Lying in the direct route of the caravans between Central 
and Western Asia, its copious fountains and shady palms rendered it peculiarly eligible for a 
lone halt durino- a wearisome pUgrimage. But such a resting-place would speedily become 
a mart by merchants from the east and west meeting at the spot, exchanging co m modities, 
and thus shortening their respective journeys. In order to profit by this commerce, 
Solomon who had a strong appetite for wealth, and sagacity to apprehend the means of 
acquiriag it, foimded Tadmor, furnished it with accommodation for traffic and traders ; 
and might obtain Ms own remuneration both by the levy of customs' duties, and by 
employing factors to buy up and re-sell the wares. In a similar manner, for the mutual 
accommodation of merchants of different countries, shortening their journeys, marts were 
established at convenient points on the great commercial routes. They gradviaUy grew up 
into cities, and went to decay upon commerce shifting its direction. Such we may 
conclude were Petra in the Edomite defile, Baalbec in Hollow Syria, Gerasa and Gadara 
on the margin of the desert beyond Jordan. 

But regular commercial journeys were made extending three thousand mUes or more, 
and requhing the space of three years for their accomplishment, going and retirrning. 
Thus caravans started from Barygaza in Western India, now Baroatch in the presidency of 
Bombay, and from Western Asia, bound to the frontiers of China, for raw and spun sillc 
and silk' stuffs. The earliest notice of the former occurs in a writer of the fourth century 
before the Christian era; and Greeks from CUicia are named as taking part in the latter. 
The two companies of adventurers met in the high mountain region eastward of Bokhara, 
near the significantly caUed Eoof of the World, the loftiest plateau of the old continent, 
and thence descended together into the great MongoHan desert. The rendezvous, obviously 



CAEAVAITSEEAia OP THE EAST. 5 

an important station, was called tlie Stone Tower, from a monument of that kind at tlie 
spot. From this place to the capital of the Seres, silk, was a journey of seven months — a 
length of time which indicates with sufficient distiactness that the route must have 
reached at least to the frontier provinces of China Proper. Accommodation for rest, and 
other arrangements after a long journey, before starting afresh, was naturally provided at 
the site, particularly as it skirted the vast expanse of the desert of Gobi There is some 
historical evidence that it was a caravanserai under the protection of a sanctuary, a 
temple of the sun. This idea is supported by present appearances, for the place still 
exists, and is used as a grand caravan station. The first information respecting it was 
obtained from a Eussian, who, being taken prisoner on the frontiers of Siberia, was sold 
as a slave to the Usbeck Tartars. In the year 1780, he accompanied his master, a 
merchant, to the spot; and upon recoveriag his liberty, he went to India, and related 
his adventures to Sir Eyre Coote. The Stone Tower, in a narrow pass of the Belur-tag, 




Indian Chonltiy or Caravanserai of Forty Pillars. — From a Drawing ty DanieL 

is one of nature's erections which man has modified for his own convenience. It is a 
massy rock, the face of a mountain which forms one side of the defile, hewn into a 
regular form, with two rows, each of twenty columns, now in a ruinous condition. 
Hence its modern name of Chihel-Sutim, or the Forty Columns. It is a most wonderful 
work, venerated by the natives far and wide, who ascribe it to supernatural agents. But 
by the traders who rendezvoiis at the station, it is styled Tahkti-Suleiman, the Throne of 
Solomon. 

Buildings for the reception of caravans, or caravanserais, in situations remote from 
towns, may be traced to a very early age in districts under regularly constituted 
government. Xenophon refers their foundation to Cyrus, who, he states, caused 
them to be erected at the distance of a day's journey from each other, and supplied 
persons to take charge of them. They are now very characteristic of Persia, and 
of provinces once included in the empire. However diEfermg in detail, they are 
aU constructed essentially on the same model; and consist of large quadrangular 
structures, divided into a series of naked chambers enclosing on every side an 



b TBAVBL AND NAVIGATION OF THE ANCIENTS. 

open court. Passengers, wlietlier traders, ijilgrims, or general travellers, may occupy 
any of the apartments that are vacant, but all further accommodation, as "weU as food, 
must he provided hy themselves. The Persians also took the lead in the formation 
of high-ways, which extended from the capital cities to the remotest parts of the 
empire, and were constructed at an immense cost. Though lines of military 
communication, intended to secure conquered frontier provinces, they were open to 
general use, and greatly facilitated traffic and intercourse. One of these roads, 
the principal, described by Herodotus, stretched from Susa, through the north of 
Mesopotamia, into Asia Itfinor, and terminated . at Ephesus on the west coast. It 
had one hundred and eleven lodging-places or caravanserais ; and as the route passed 
through an inhabited and safe region aU the way, it might be traversed by passengers 
singly or in company. The same road, with few deviations, is now used by caravans 
between Ispahan and Smyrna. But the whole economy of overland transit in these 
countries is on the eve of a change, after having subsisted with but slight alterations 
from the patriarchal age to the present. Egjrpt, Asia Minor, and India, have railways 
in action ,• and a grand trunk-hne has been surveyed, intended to connect the 
Mediterranean with the Euphrates and the Persian Gulf. The time will certainly 
come, and is perhaps not far distant, when to a great extent the camel's occupation 
will be gone; when the winds wiU daily bear across the desert the whistle of the 
steam-engine ; and ' tickets,' ' tickets,' may, perchance, be heard within sight of the ruins 
of Babylon. 

The ITile and the Euphrates, intimately associated with the great monarchies of 
antiquity, were applied to the purposes of transit at an early era. But flowing 




The NUe Eaft.— By Clark Stanton. 

principally through level tracts of pasture or wastes, imsuppHed with wood for the 
construction of vessels, the circumstance was unpropitious to then- navigation by a 
people dependent upon local resources. Boats of papyrus were used upon the ISTile 



RAFTS AND BOATS OF THE ANCIENTS. 7 

for the conveyance of light produce and passengers for short distances ; and are 
perhaps the ' SAvift ships ' to which one of the sacred writers compares the rapid 
passage of human life. Though swift with the cm-rent, the navigation against it, 
at least ahove Elephantina, was accomplished by the hoats being hauled along with 
ropes from the banks. On the lower course of the river, comparatively large sailing 
vessels were employed. But it is probable that the produce of Ethiopia and interior 
Africa was brought down into Lower Egypt on rafts or rude craft which never returned, 
being broken up at the termination of the voyage. This we know to have been the case 
mth reference to the navigation of the Euphrates. Descending from the highlands of 
Aimenia to the level plaius of Babylonia, the people of the former country sent their 
commodities by the stream, principally wine, to the latter, which they could not produce 
themselves. The barks were floats with only a skeleton of wood. This was covered 
with skins, overlaid with reeds ; and an oval form was given to the whole, so that there 
was no difference between the stern and prow. The wine was placed in casks upon 
them, with other goods; and they were carried along with the current under the guidance 
of two oars. On arriving at then' destination, the conductors sold the cargo and the 
skeleton of the craft, carrying back the skins by land, since the force of the stream 
rendered it impossible for them to return up the river. Thus in the present day, 
the market-boats which go down the Danube to Vienna, and the corn-rafts which 
drift with the Vistula to Dantzic, never return, but are sold with the cargoes they 
convey. 

The old Egyptians, however expert in the navigation of the river, eschewed that 
of the sea on account of its perils, and viewed the great deep with horror as an 
emblem of the evil being, Typhon, the implacable enemy of their god Osiris. But 
the Babylonians, at the height of theix power, had a dii-ect maritime commerce, 
as well as a river and land trade. However impossible for barks hlce those described 
to proceed against the current of the Euphrates, it was ascended from the Persian 
Gulf by vessels of a different description; and the rich produce of India was not 
only brought to the luxurious capital, but conducted up the liver to Thapsacus, 
and from thence transferred by caravans to the marts of Western Asia. jEschylus 
refers to its inhabitants as a promiscuous mtdtitu.de, 'who both embark in ships, . 
and boast of theii? sldU in archery ; ' and prophecy indicates them as a people ' whose 
cry is in the ships.' These were probably built at the island of Tylos, a dependency 
in the Persian Gulf. It is expressly said to have possessed a species of timber 
for ship-building, possibly the teak-wood of India, an important historical notice, 
since Babylonia is totally destitute of trees, with the exception of the date and 
cypress, neither of which furnishes a suitable material. 

Mankind settled upon the shores in far remote times, invited to such localities by the 
novelty of marine scenery, as well as by the facility for procuring food offered by the 
tenants of the deep, along vrith the cool refreshing sea-breeze, for it was beneath the hot 
sun towards the tropics that the primitive generations of men seem to have flourished. 
History has not recorded the people who fu'st launched upon the ocean, and passed its 
billows to another strand. But history sufficiently intimates that the hope of plunder 
as well as the love of adventure was the impelling motive to the enterprise, and that 
the earliest sea-navigations were pu-atical descents upon stranger shores, as the mode 
of obtaining gain most obvious to uneidightened races. In this way the maritime states 
of modern times have generally coromenced their career. But such a method of dealing 
speedily becomes of difficult execution, as experience of surprise and spoil in a single 
instance is sufficient to put a population upon its guard against a second. !N"ecessity, 



TRAVEL AND NAVIGATION OF THE ANCIENTS. 



therefore, with an apprehension of the superior advantages of peaceable traffic to perLlons 
rapiae, grafted commerce upon piracy ; and good gradually grew out of the original evU. 

The ancients had ships of passage, of merchandise, 
and of war. In their management, the course of inven- 
tion seems to have been, first rowing, then both rowing 
and sailing, and ultimately sailing only. The sailing 
vessels had but one mast, which was usually taken 
down when xa harbour, and put up as occasion offered, 
commonly alone when the wind was favourable, as the 
■ art of saUing upon a tack was an accomplishment but 
slowly acquired. They were not adapted for quick 
movement, owing to the flatness of their bottoms and 
clumsy construction. Distant voyages were rarely under- 
taken, and never dhectly performed. The extreme point 
was gained by touching at a number of intermediate 
points, often out of the way, for the slowniess of navi- 
gation, and the small size of ships, rendered it impossible 
to victual them for a long distance. As a general rule, 
mariners were reluctant to venture out to sea beyond 
sight of land. Storms must of course have imposed this 
at times as a necessity, but when possible, shelter was 
sought from the rising gale in the nearest harboui-. Thus 
Ulysses declares : 

' Wide o'er the waste the rage of Boreas sweeps, 
And night rushed headlong on the shaded deepg. 
Now here, now there, the giddy sliips are borne, 
And all the rattling shrouds in fragments torn ; 
"We furled the sail, we plied the labouring oar. 
Boats from Ancient Sculptures. '^""'^ ^°^'^ °^- "'^^*^' ^'"'i ^^^-^ "^ ^'^iP^ *" ^^ore.' 

Prom the autumnal to the vernal equmos, the Greeks and Eomans considered it unsafe 
to put to sea, not so much on account of storms, but because the rains j)revailed, 
narrowing the horizon of the sailor, while mists hid the land, and clouds obscured the 
sky. StUl, in the fimest weather, some trading voyages necessarily involved the spectacle 
of scenery exclusively marine, while adventurous sjpiiits sought to signalise themselves by 
departing from cautious and timid usages. But ordinarily the shore was kept in view 
for du-eotion by day, and if anchorage at night was impracticable, seamen attended to 
the position of certain stars, their rise and setting, for guidance on their course. 

The origin of nautical astronomy is generally ascribed to the Phoenicians, who made 
use of the Little Bear as indicating the true north. Hence, Ai-atus tells us, referring to 
the constellation, 

' ObseiTing this, Phcenicians plough the main.' 

The Greeks, also, hi their earliest ages, were accustomed to guide themselves by the 
stars in their navigations. Thus, Ulysses is represented sailing on his raft, sittuig at 
the helm, and watching the heavens through the night. But from ignorance, the Greek 
sailors long confined themselves to the rough approximation to the north afforded by 
the Great Bear, the HeUcfe of classical antiquity, mentioned in the beautiful description 
in the Argonautics : 

' Night on the earth poured darkness : on the sea 
The wakeful sailor to Orion's star 
And HeUce turned heedful. Sunk to rest, 




PHCENICIAN NAVIGATOES. 9 

The traveller forgot his toil ; his charge 

The sentinel ; her death devoted babe 

The mother's painless breast. The village dog 

Had ceased his troublous bay. Each busy tumult 

"Was hushed at that dead hour ; and darkness slept 

Locked in the arms of silence. She alone, 

Medea slept not.' 

The two asterisms are appropriately described by Aiatus : 

' The one called Helix, soon as day retires, 
Observed "with ease, lights up his radiant fires ; 
The other, smaller, and with feebler beams. 
In a less circle drives its lazy teams ; 
But more adapted for the sailor's guide, 
"Whene'er by night he tempts the briny tide.' 

The philosopher Thales is said to have improved the navigation of his countrymen by 
introducing the knowledge of the Little Bear, derived from the Phoenicians. 

The provision of coast-lights for the guidance of the mariaer in early times is attested 
by allusions to them. Homer beautifully describes the flash of a beacon-light iu some 
solitary place, as seen by seamen leaving their friends. The Pharos of Alexandria, built 
in the reign of Ptolemy Philadelphus, about three centuries before the Christian era, 
seems to have been a proper light-house ; and was regarded as one of the seven wonders 
of the world. Strabo describes it as built in an extraordinary maimer, in many stories of 
white stone, on a rock forming the promontory of the island of Pharos, whence the tower 
derived its name. It bore the inscription ' Sostratus of Cnidos, the son of Dexiphanes, 
to the gods, the saviours, for the benefit of seamen.' The geographer mentions the 
neighbouring shores as low, encumbered with shoals and snares, requiring therefore the 
establishment of a lofty and bright beacon, as a sign for sailors arriving from the ocean to 
guide them into the entrance of the haven. The poet Lucan speaks of the Pharos as 
having indicated to Julius C^sar his approach to Egypt on the seventh night after he set 
sail from the coast of Asia Minor ; and Pliny, after a reference to it, states that there 
were light-houses also at Ostia and Eavenna. 




Observatory of the Pharos of Alexandria. — From Denon's Egypt. 




St Michael's Mount, Cornwall. — From a Sketch by G. F. Sargent. 



CHAPTEE II. 



GEOGRAPHICAL KNOWLEDGE OP THE ANCIENTS. 

EBTAIKLY the Phoenioians were tHe greatest mari- 
time people of antiqiuty, and — so far as we have any 
laiowledge — ^the iirst to trayerse lialDituaUy the broad 
liighway of the deep. They were naturally dhected 
to a seafaring life by local position, occupying an 
advantageous coast-Hae, in possession of ample sup- 
jilies of material for ship-huilding from the forests 
I if Lebanon, while an outlet was required for the 
products of Asia, contiaually accumulating in their 
cities. They explored the shores of the Mediter- 
ranean, and crept along the Atlantic coast of Europe ; 
jDlanted settlements in Crete, Cyprus, Sicily, Malta, 
Sardinia, lilorthern Afcica, and Southern Spain ; conveyed the commodities of the east, 
with then own manufactures, to these colonies ; returned with their peculiar products ; 
and not only commanded for ages the carrying trade of the western waters, but aspu-ed 




FIRST AFRICAN COLONISTS. 11 

to -wi-est that of tlie Indian Ocean out of tlie hands of the Arabians. The attempt to 
efi'ect this was made hy Hiram, king of Tyre, in conjunction with the Hebrew monarch, 
Solomon; for neither party was competent to undertake it independently. The latter had 
command of ports in the land of Edom, communicating through the Eed Sea with the 
Indian Ocean, but he had no seamen, ships, shipwrights, or timber. The former could 
furnish them in abundance, but had no access to a southern sea-board without permission 
from his neighbour. Both therefore confederated to fit out a Hebrew-Phoenician fleet, 
which made the celebrated voyages to Ophir, starting from the northern extremity of the 
Eed Sea, and bringing back gold, ivory, ebony, precious stones, apes, and peacocks. 

The situation of Ophir has given rise to much learned research and ingenious 
speculation. The opinion is, however, very probable, that the name denotes no particular 
spot, but only a certain region or part of the world, analogous to the East and West 
Indies of modern geography. It may therefore be understood as a general term for the 
rich countries of the south, lying on the African, Arabian, and Indian coasts, as far as 
they were at that time known. The vessels are styled ships of Tarshish, which may 
mean ships of a certain size and build, similar to those which traded to the Phoenician 
colony of Tartessus in Spain. They returned once every three years. It is not necessarily 
impKed that they were absent the whole period, for as broken years were reckoned by the 
Hebrews as whole ones, the actual time of the outward and homeward voyage would not 
be more than eighteen months, supposing the fleet to have sailed in the autumn of one 
year, stajring out the next, and returning in the spring of the third. But even this 
length of time sufficiently shews the slowness of ancient navigation, owing to seamen 
proceeding coast-wise, frequently landing for provisions, and seeking a harbour on the 
appearance of every storm. Solomon's successors lost all direct communication with the 
Indian Ocean, being driven from the countries of the Eed Sea during the civil wars 
which followed his death; and the monopoly of commerce in that direction reverted to 
the Arabians. 

It is only from scanty notices in the pages of Hebrew and Greek writers that we have 
any knowledge of the maritime enterprises of the Phoenicians, for commercial jealousy led 
to theu' concealment as far as possible from other nations. The circumnavigation of 
Africa, ascribed to them, is inherently improbable. But their colonists at Gades, near 
the modern Cadiz, seem to have extended their voyages to our south-western shores, as 
certainly their brethren, the Carthaginians, did. An expedition was despatched by that 
people imder Himilco, which, after a four months' sail, reached the country where tin and 
lead were to be procured. This was distinguished by a promontory, a bay, and some 
islands contiguous to the coast of Albion, and within two days' sail of the sacred island, 
lerne, or Ireland. Heeren supposes the Lizard Point of the present day. Mount's Bay, 
and the semi-island of St Michael's Mount, to represent these localities. But Carthage 
at the same date, conceived to be about 570 B.C., sent out a fleet in an opposite direction, 
which deserves notice as the first voyage of discovery of which a circumstantial record is 
extant. This is styled the Periplvs, or ' Voyage of Hanno, commander of the 
Carthaginians,' and may be viewed as a Greek translation of the of&cial report of the 
admiral in the Punic language. The original is said to have been inscribed on a tablet, 
and placed in the temple of Saturn at Carthage. 

The fleet had colonisation in view on the north-west coast of Africa, and hence took 
out persons of both sexes in sixty large vessels. Two days after passing the Pillars of 
Hercules, or the Strait of Gibraltar, the first disembarkation took place ; the settlers were 
left on an extensive plain, a position answering to that of the present town of Mogadore. 
The expedition went on following the sinuosities of the shore, and successively landed 



12 GEOGRAPHICAL KNOWLEDGE OP THE ANCIENTS. 

five more detachments of the passengers. It is impossible to identify the capes doubled, 
and the inlets entered, by the names given. But the description of the river — ^large and 
broad, fuU of crocodUes and hippopotami — seems to point to the Senegal ; -while the 
highland region afterwards coasted, covered vrith odoriferous trees, and inhabited by timid 
blacks, reminds us of Senegambia, By day aU was still and lifeless on the shore, but 
upon the approach of night, fires were observed on the bills, and cries of wild merriment 
were heard, with the sounds of music, according to existing negro iisages. The voyagers 
retraced their coiurse owing to the want of provisions, and met with their most remarkable 
adventure at the extreme point reached. There was a large inlet of the sea, where, on an 
island, strange-looking savages were encountered, the females being covered with hair. 
This was a band of Gorillas, as the interpreters called them, so notorious in our own 
time. The males defended themselves vigorously with stones, but three females were 
captured. These soon broke their bonds, and fought so fimously with their teeth and 
naUs that they were kUled. The skins were stuffed, and taken home. Thus Carthage, 
twenty-five centuries ago, had specimens of the fierce brutes which our museums have 
only very recently acquired. 

Dm-ing the most flourishing period of Phoenician trade and power, the Greeks 
gradually became formidable upon the seas, and encroached upon their commerce. 
Abandoning their homes in a body to avoid subjection, the PhocEeans emigrated to 
the mouth of the Ehone, and founded Massilia, the modern Marseille; Greek settle- 
ments were likewise early planted in Southern Italy, Sicily, and Spain ; and thus they 
were in the way of acquiring information respecting the expeditions and discoveries of 
the Phoenician colonists. But it is remarkable, that at a later date — namely, 484 b. o. — ^the 
age of Herodotus, who may be called the Father of Descriptive Geography as well as of 
History, little was known by him of "Western Eirrope. He was well acquainted by his 
travels with the cormtries of the Nile, the Euphrates, and the Tigris, and -with those 
around the Caspian and Black Seas. His information — obtained by report, extended to 
the higher regions of the jSTile, the banks of the Indus, the confines of Tartary, the 
shores of the Sea of Aral, the line of the Ural Mountains, and towards the heart of 
modem Eussia. But he was dubious respecting the fact of a great river in Europe 
flowing into the sea towards the north — an obvious reference to the Ehine ; he was even 
equally so of there being a sea in that direction. He never mentions Eome, then 
beginning the fourth century of its existence ; and though the Cassiterides, or tin islands, 
are named, it is in entire ignorance of their local position. Herodotus was strikingly 
correct in relation to the Caspian. It is described as a sea by itself, having no communi- 
cation with any other ; of oblong form, wdth the greatest extent north and south ; and 
estimates of the length and breadth are given which are believed to be accurate. Pour 
centuries later, Strabo introduced it in his pages as an arm of the Northern Ocean, 
connected with it by a narrow channel. A centm-y still later, Ptolemy restored the 
representation of its distinctness, but made it an oblong, trending east and west. So 
it figured on all maps do-wn to the middle of the sixteenth century, when an Englislmian, 
who twice crossed its waters, Anthony Jenkinson, contributed to correct the distortion, 
without any idea that he was vindicating the geography of Herodotus. 

The first Greek adventiu-er into western and northern seas, Pytheas of Marseilles, 
flourished soon after the first Greek historian and geographer, though his age cannot 
be fixed with greater precision than in the interval between Herodotus and Alexander 
the Great. He coasted Spain and Gaul, arrived at Britain, called Albion by the natives ; 
and after passing along its southern and eastern shores, he estimated from their extent 
the circuit of the island at forty thousand stadia. Sailing further north, he reached 



FIRST AFRICAN COLONISTS. 13 

Thide clotlied •with perpetual fogs, where earth, air, and sea seemed blended ia chaotic 
confusion, and the sun was beheld above the horizon for twenty-four hours together at 
the summer solstice. It is impossible to define the particular region indicated, to which 
the term Ultima was afterwards added to indicate its remoteness. But a part of the 
peninsula of Jutland anciently bore the name of Thiu-land ; a portion of the Iforwegian 
coast is stUl called Thele-mark ; and the Shetland Isles — ^the shattered relics of an old 
land, where the length of the longest day is nearly twenty hours — ^have been referred 
to as answering generally to the description. Of no locality outside the Arctic Circle 
is it true that the sun at midsummer is above the horizon for the entire day. But 
Pytheas might gather information respecting tliis phenomenon of higher latitudes, and 
suppose it applicable to those he visited, o-sving to the observation of the long days there. 
It is certain that several centuries later the Eomans imagined there was constant daylight 
in summer in the northern parts of our island, from the fact of the nights being then so 
brief and bright. Tacitus expressly affirms that 'in the furthest part of Britain, the 
nights are so clear, you can hardly teU when daylight begins or ends ; and when the sky 
is not overcast with clouds, you may see aU night long, the light of the sun, which does 
not rise, or go down, but moves quite round.' 

The navigator passed into the Baltic, and undoubtedly reached its amber coast, the 
shores of modern Prassia, between Dantzic and Memel, the grand repository of this 
carbonaceous mineral. He speaks of the sea throwing it up in considerable quantities, 
as at present ; of the natives selling it to their neighbours, the Teutones ; and through 
their hands it no doubt passed to the south. This we know to have been the case in a 
subsequent age; for Pliny represents the mineral coming overland into the north of Italy, 
wliere the women wore it in necklaces as an amulet. The trade might have existed for 
centuries, and this seems intimated by the old tradition of a sacred road across the Alps. 
Amber, a very costly article in early times, was known and "ni'onght into various personal 
ornaments in the Homeric age. Thus a kidnapped prince speaks in the Odyssey : 
' An artist, such he seemed, for sale produced, 
Beads of bright amber, riveted in gold.' 

Electrical properties were first noticed by the Greeks in amber, which it develops in a 
high degree on being rubbed. It is from their name for the mineral, electron, that we 
have our word eledricHy. Pytheas was not only an expert and daring seaman, but a 
physical inquher in general. He originated a classification of climates according to the 
lengths of the days and nights; determined the latitude of his native city, Massida, with 
remarkable accuracy ; was aware of the influence of the moon upon the tides ; and knew 
that the pole-star in the Lesser Bear did not mark the true polar point. His intercourse 
Avith the Gothic nations is evident from a reference being made to mead, their favourite 
beverage. 

"While various opinions were set afloat by the Greek philosophers respecting the figure 
of the earth, the offspring of the fancy — that of a plain, a cylinder, a cube, a drum, and 
a high mountain, with a base of infinite extension, around the summit of which the stars 
circulated — its spherical shape, taught by Thales, was placed on the basis of evidence by 
Pythagoras, who observed the varying attitudes of the stars occasioned by their change 
of place. Soon afterwards, the opinion of the earth being suspended in equilibria, and 
supported by the air, became widely prevalent, or as Socrates says in Plato's Phcedo, it is 
wrapped about and pressed equally in every direction by the universe. By Aristotle its 
globidar form was firmly held, because some stars seen in Greece were not visible in Egypt, 
being lost beneath the more northerly horizon. He also inferred it from the appearance 
of the circular shadow projected by the earth on the disc of the moon in eclipses ; and 



u 



GEOGRAPHICAL KNOWLEDGE OP THE ANCIENTS. 



came to the conclusion, from the same circumstance, that the globe could not be a very 
large one. Eeasoning on the hjrpothesis of the earth being a ball of moderate dimensions 

he conceived the coasts of Spain, to be at no great distance from the shores of India the 

very conclusion ■which eighteen centuries later led Columbus to attempt the passage of 
the Atlantic. Aiistotle, a universal genius, was in possession of all the geonraphical 
loiowledge of his day. He mentions Taprobana or Ceylon; the great river Crametes 
rising from a source near that of the ISTile, and flowing westward to the ocean, either the 
Senegal or the Mger; and the two large islands Albion and leme, on the north of 
Celtica, which are for the first time associated under a common name, that of BrittanicaB. 

The career of his pupU, Alexander the Great, illustrated to his countrymen the pro- 
ductions and people of India, of which they had only previously heard, and to a very 
limited extent. After the overthrow of the Persian empire, he led his troops to the 
barLks of the Oxus, crossed the Hindu-Koosh, passed the Indus near the modern Attocb, 
and reached the heart of the Punjaub. The Greeks now obtained personal knowledge 
of the multitudinous population of the country, consisting of races corresponding to the 
Ethiopians in colour, but without the crisp hair of the negro ; of their well-watered 
rice-fields and finely-woven fabrics; and of their peculiar habits, as the existence of 
castes, devoting widows to the funeral-pile, and the austerities practised by their 
wandering faqueers. With astonishment the lux:uiiant vegetation was noticed, the fan- 
like palms, the trees whose summits were beyond the reach of the arrow, the leaves 
larger than the shield of an infantry soldier, and the vast spread of the banyan or Indian 
fig, which takes root by its branches, and is described as forming a leafy arbour like a 
tent with pUlars, under which a thousand persons may assemble. Not less sm-prise was 
excited by the number of elephants, wHd and domesticated ; the Bactrian camel, mth 



Z!^^ 




Bactrian Camel. — By Haiiison 'Weir. 

two Inunps ; the large-bearded stag, with a horse's mane ; and the Indian buffalo. 
Constructing a fleet, ' Macedonia's madman ' descended the Indus to its mouth, sent part 
of his army home by sea, and returned himseK with the remainder, through the burning 



DISCOVERIES OP ALEXANDER. 15 

wilds of BoloooMstan. JSTGarclitis, the admiral, occupied nearly three months, from 
September 21 to Deoemher 9, 325 B.C., in a coasting voyage to the Persian Gulf, which 
would be performed at present in little more than a fortnight. 

Upon the rise of Alexandria on one of the mouths of the Nile, its position and the 
activity of its Greek settlers, together with the ruin of Tyre, speedily made it the first 
commercial mart in the world ; and the city became also a great centre of information 
respecting all known countries, owing to the resort of strangers to it for trading purposes. 
This stimulated the study of geography in all its branches, the mathematical, physical, 
and political, by the literati connected with the celebrated library gathered by the 
Ptolemsean sovereigns. Under Eratosthenes, its president, who was the first to insert 
parallels of latitude on maps, the attempt was made to measure an arc of the meridian, 
the fii'st on record, in order to ascertain the magnitude of the globe. The arc fl:xed upon 
for the purpose was that between Alexandria and Syene, now Assouan in Upper Egypt, 
under the Tropic of Cancer. It was known that on the day of the summer solstice the 
sun was vertical at the latter place. Mention is made of a deep well there, which was 
visited at the bottom by the direct sunbeams at high noon on the solstitial-day, while 
vertical bodies threw no shadow for a considerable distance around it. The two places 
were likewise supposed to be on the same meridian. In possession of these data, 
Eratosthenes, by means of a concave hemisphere, with a stile fixed in its centre, found 
that the meridian sun at Syene caused the stile to deflect a shadow at Alexandria, which 
was one-fiftieth of the whole circumference. Hence he inferred, that the arc of the 
heavens comprised between the two places must be the same ; and that their distance 
must be a similar arc, or one-fiftieth pai-t of the terrestrial circuit. On estimating their 
distance by the difference of latitude, it was found to be 5000 stadia, which multiplied 
by 50, gave 250,000 stadia for the circumference of the globe. As we are ignorant of 
the stadium employed, the result cannot be expressed in common measures. But several 
important errors were committed in the practical application of a right principle, for 
instead of the two places being under the same meridian, they differ nearly three degrees 
in longitude. Great credit, however, belongs to Eratosthenes, and he was honoured by 
his contemporaries as the Surveyor of the Earth, the Measurer of the Universe. 

The Eomans, in their career of conquest, rendered famOiar various countries known 
before, though obscurely on the west, south, and east. Spain was traversed by the' 
legions under the Scipios j ITumidia and Mauritania were explored duiiag the Jugurthine 
war; Armenia and the defiles of the Caucasus were penetrated in the contest with 
Mithridates. But northward, Julius Csesar may be said to have made great discoveries. 
Before his campaigns ia Gaul and Britaiu, of which he became the historian, the civilised 
world was completely ignorant of their interior regions. He found the maritime pro- 
vinces of oiu: island ia the south, occupied by a Germanic race, the Belgffi, in the enjoy- 
ment of considerable social comfort — ^inhabiting towns, and possessing abundance of cattle. 
In the next age, the Augustan, soon after the commencement of the Christian era, Strabo 
produced his Geography, in which minute details are given, cliiefly of the regions visited 
by the Eoman arms, founded partly upon his own observation as a traveller, and partly 
upon report. But ample evidence is afforded in his work of the imperfect state of 
knowledge. Thus, he was dubious respecting the shape of Italy, whether a square or 
a triangle. He represented the Pyrenees as running north and south ; thought the coasts 
of Spain and Gaul formed nearly a straight line ; and connected the Caspian with the 
ISTorthern Ocean. Africa, he considered, did not extend far to the south, a fortunate 
error, as it stimulated the Portuguese to attempt its circumnavigation. Deeming the 
earth a sphere, and the southern hemisphere to correspond to the northern, Strabo divided 



16 GEOGRAPHICAL KNOWLEDGE OF THE ANCIENTS. 

it into five zones ; one torrid, between the tropics, a region of burning lieat, and conse- 
quently imiahabitable ; two frigid, towards the poles, void of life from the intense cold ; 
and two intervening temperate zones, favoured mth a moderate temperature, admitting 
of the existence of man, animals, and plants. The remarkable speculation also occurs, 
that where the temperate zone crosses the Atlantic Ocean, ' there are iahabitcd worlds, 
distinct from that in which we dwell.' 

Under the early emperors. Midland and Northern Europe were further disclosed by 
the Eoman generals. Drusus led his soldiers to the river "Weser in Germany; and 
Germanicus marched to the Ems and the Elbe. South Britain, into which Caesar 
merely made a foray, was conquered in the tune of Claudius, and constituted a province 
of the empire. North Britain, up to the foot of the Grampians, was traversed by the 
troops imder Agrioola, who sent out a fleet from the Firth of Eortli on a voyage of 
discovery northward, which made the circuit of the shores. ' This fleet,' says Tacitus, 
the son-in-law of the general, ' first ascertained that Britain was an island. It discovered 
also and subjected the Orcades (Orkneys), a cluster of islands not known before, and 
saw Thule hitherto concealed by snow and -winter.' But the historian had a very 
erroneous idea of the position of our islands, for Britain is said to have Spain on the west, 
and Ireland is placed midway between the two. The earliest mention of Scandinavia 
occurs at this time ; in the pages of Phny, it is represented as an island of unknown 
extent, separated by an arm of the sea from the Cimbrian Peninsula, the modern Jutland, 
and marked by a mountain called Sovo ; the existing name of a bill near Gottenburg. 
JSTorway is apparently indicated by the same writer rmder the name of Nerigon, the- 
inhabitants of wliich are said to have customarily sailed as far as Thule. An adventurous 
traveller from Pannonia to the amber country made the Baltic, near the mouth of the 
Vistula, kno-wn to the Eomans ; information was acquired by them of the tribes on the 
coast, up to the Gulf of Einlandj the Sviones, sea-men, or Swedes, are mentioned; 
but they were never aware that Scandinavia was an integral portion of Emope. The 
rumour also reached them in Spain, of islands existing in the Atlantic, off the coast of 
Africa — the Eortunate Isles of Pliny, believed to be the Canaries — ^but their knowledge 
of them was limited to the tidings. 

In the second century of our era, during the reigns of the Antonines, the best 
■scholar of his age flo-urished at Alexandria. This was Ptolemy, a discoverer, observer, 
and careful compiler, who, from the recorded experience of ages, and the itineraries 
of merchants resorting to the city, produced a Oeography, in eight books, accompanied 
with maps, which remained a text-book tlirough the middle ages, and was not, 
superseded till the fifteenth centiuy. He annoimced with certainty the existence 
of the Niger, flowing from west to east; described correctly the course of the Volga; 
but erred egregiously in many of his delineations. The north coast of Africa is 
made nearly a straight line; Scotland has its greatest extent east and west; the 
Mediterranean is stretched out to nearly double its proper length; the whole .peninsula 
of India is suppressed; Ceylon is enormously exaggerated in its dimensions; and 
Asia is prolonged to the south, then brought round -v\'estward to join Africa, thus 
enclosing the Indian Ocean. But the descriptive department of geography was 
foreign to the aim of the -writer. His object was to fix the astronomical position of 
places by means of parallels and meridians, which, though in use before, were 
far more largely applied by him, and indicated as measurers of latitude and longitude. 
Ptolemy's chief parallels are the equator; that of 16W north, through Meroe; 
that of 36°, through Ehodes, an old standard Ime; and that of 63°, through Thule, 
with which the latitude of the Shetlands, the supposed Thule, nearly agrees. But 



PT0LEMY8 6E0GKAPHT. 17 

he greatly erred in his longitudes, which Avere computed from the meridian passing 
through the Fortunate or Canary Islands as a starting-point. He made the length 
of the Mediterranean 20° more than its true measure, and placed the mouth of the 
Ganges 46° eastward of its real position, an error of about three thousand miles, equal 
to one-eighth of the circumference of the globe. This exaggerated eastern longitude 
had, however, the happy effect of leading the navigators of the fifteenth century, 
who laiew notliing of the true dimensions of the globe, to imagine that India and 
China lay at no great distance across the waters of the western ocean, and confirmed 
them in their purpose to attempt its passage. 

The world, as known to the ancient civilised nations, may be generally defined 
as extending from the extremity of Britain on the north, to the banks of the Upper 
NUe on the south, and from the shores of the Atlantic on the west, to the borders 
of China on the east. It thus embraced but a small proportion of the terrestrial 
surface, little more than the half of Europe, a fourth of Asia, and a fifth of Africa. 
But within the limits named, there was a vast area, very vaguely disclosed, whUe 
the most erroneous conceptions were entertained of the extent and configuration 
of long visited lands ; and even such a familiar circumstance as the annual inundation 
of the iNUe was an unsolved problem. It was commonly ascribed to the special 
interposition of the Deity; and though Lucretius rightly mentions periodical rains 
towards the equator as one cause, he gives greater prominence to the influence of 
the Etesian winds, which have no effect at all in arresting the current of the river 
and speaks of the event as without a parallel on the face of the globe. 

The connection between the flow and ebb of the sea, and the positions of the moon, was 
too obvious to have escaped the attention of mankind, whose geographical position 
brought oceanic phenomena imder their notice in early ages. Accordingly, the variation 
of the tides with the moon was remarked by physical inquirers ; and Pliny, in a strikino- 
passage of his Natural History, directly attributes them to lunar action, and gives an 
accurate description of their leading features. But in the prior age of Alexander, the 
Greeks, although not ignorant of the ordinary tides, beheld with sm'prise and dismay the 
lore, or rushing tide of the Indus, common to the mouths of most great rivers • 
and to Csesar, the higher tidal rise on the coast of Britain, at the period of the 
fuU moon, which damaged his fleet, was an entirely unexpected event. But it is 
remarkable that references occur to the phenomena of high northern latitudes, certainly 
never visited by any of the ancients, which must have either been deduced by reasoning 
from facts observed elsewhere, or supplied to northern voyagers by those with whom 
they communicated, who had heard of them. Thus the sea is said to be languid 
and nearly motionless in that direction; the sun is described as neither rising nor 
setting, but going round the horizon; and the figures of the gods are affirmed to 
appear there covered with luminous beams. These are evidently allusions to the 
ice-bound ocean, and the long summer day of the polar circle, with the brUliant 
coruscations of the aurora borealis. 

The wonderful power of the magnet, by which it attracts iron, was not unknown 
to the ancients. In fact, from Magnesia, in Asia Minor, where the Greeks first met 
with a kind of iron-ore endowed with it, we have the terms 'magnet' and 'magnetism.' 
But they were not aware that the property could be communicated to the iron 
attracted, so that artificial magnets might be readily constructed; and the polarity 
of the magnet, or its property of pointing, when freely suspended, towards the poles 
of the earth, on which account our ancestors gave it the name of loadstone, leading 
or guiding stone, was either not discovered, or not taken advantage of. Erom obscure 



18 



GEOGRAPHIOAIi KNOWLEDGB OP THE ANOIENTS. 



intimations, it may be gathered that the Chinese were acquainted with this quality, 
as exempMed ia the mariner's compass, prior to the Christian era; but as they 
neither learned the hahitual application of it, nor acquired any proficiency in the art 
of navigation, it was practically useless to them. The same knowledge has been 
assigned to Solomon, on account of the voyages he ordered j and the Arabians are 
said to have used the compass at an early period to guide them through the trackless 
sands of the desert. But these are ill-supported assertions. The voyages directed by 
Solomon, though comparatively distant, were doubtless simply coasting expeditions, 
and the latter people were found in the sisteenth century steering wholly by the stars 
or by the land. It is very hkely that the germs of this, as of other important 
applications of natiu'al phenomena, have long been known in the world; but it is 
certain that the magnetic needle, as an instrument of use, belongs entirely to the 
modern age, and is due to the practical genius of Western Europe. 




The Canary Islands.— By Gr. F. Sargent. 




&? 

The Walrus. — ^By Harrison "Weir. 

CHAPTEE III. 

GEOGEAPmOM; KNOWLEDGE IN THE MIDDLE AGES. 

EEW era (lawns. Tlie disorganised state of society 
wHch attended and followed tlie fall of the Eoman 
empire, had the effect of obscuring the light of science 
kindled in past ages, repressing the spirit of inquiry, and 
iaterfering with the cultivation of aU Mnds of Icnowledge. 
A few solitaries pored over manuscripts and maps ia 
monastic cells; ecclesiastics went out to proclaim a new 
faith to the barbarians who had overthrown the ancient 
civilisation, and thus changed their landscapes ; enthu- 
siasts repaired on pilgrimage to the sacred shriaea of 
the Holy Land; but no services of moment were 
rendered to geography ia disclosing fresh regions, or 
illustratiag those previously known, till the ninth 
century, in which our own King Alfred took part. At that 
period a fresh race of disturbers, issuing chiefly from the archipelagoes of Denmark 
and Norway, made themselves formidable to the settled and gradually improving 
maritime commimities of Europe. They are variously styled ISTorsemen or ITorthmen 
and Danes by our own annalists, H'ormans by the Erench, and Normanni by the Italians, 
for their cruises extended from the stormy rocks of the Shetlands to the balmy shores 
of the Mediterranean, and permanent settlements were made by them in Britain, Erance, 
and Italy. Their creed was a ferocious paganism ; their standard, the ominous raven ; 
their profession, piracy. Originally haunting inlets of the coast, bays, and estuaries, 




20 GEOGRAPHY OP THB MIDDLE AGES. 

they were called CliUdren of the Creeks, wMe the chieftains had the title of Sea-kings, 
from the ocean heing their ordinary scene of adventure, and the boldness with which 
its perils were encountered. Ships were the sea-horses of the marauders — ^their 
ocean-skates. 'The strength of the tempest aids the arm of the rower; the storm 
is our servant ; it throws us where we desired to go.' Such were the maxims of the 
JSTorthmen. 

"While ioformation respecting foreign countries and people was eagerly sought hy 
the inquiring mind of Alfred, his attention was directed with special interest to these 
wild rovers, owing to their descents upon the shores. Two of them appeared at his 
court, refugees compelled by civil strife to quit their homes. The king took down 
from their own lips an account of their voyages, and appended it to the Geography of 
Orosius, the work of a Spanish monk who flourished in the beginning of the fifth 
century, which he translated from the Latin into Anglo-Saxon. 

One of the narrators, named Other, came from the most northerly part of ISTorway, 
where he had possessed a hundred reindeer, sis decoy deer, with twenty head of cattle ; 
and had enjoyed the distinction of a chieftain, receiving an annual tribute from the 
Tins of valuable furs, feathers, whalebone, and ships' cables made of the skins of seals. 
Anxious to know how far the country extended to the north of his own locality, and 
to discover new fishing or hunting-grounds, he sot sail, keeping close to the shore. 
Having passed the bounds of the whale-fishers, three days' sail brought him to a point 
where the coast changed its course, and turned to the east. Continuing his voyage in 
the new direction for four days, he found it bend towards the south; and after five 
days' southerly sailing, he came to the country of the Beormians or Permians, who 
seemed to speak the same language as the Fins. Thus Other rounded the ISTorth Cape 
of Europe, and passed into the "White Sea, the eastern side of which was the land of 
the Permians, now occupied by the Samoiedes. The voyager met with the walrus or 
' horse-whale,' as Alfred appropriately styles it, in such abundance that his party kiQed 
threescore in the space of as many days. To discover the haunts of the walrus was 
one object he had in view, for the teeth of the animal were highly valued, supplying 
the ivory of the period ; and the ropes used for shipping were made of the strong and 
pliant skin. The walrus, though driven by navigation and the havoc of centuries to 
more solitary waters, is stiU occasionally captured in the same region. The island of 
Morshovet, in Mezen Bay, is called after it, being derived from morsh, the Eussian 
name for the animal, the original of our word morse, by which the wabus is often 
denoted. In the same neighbourhood lie the Morshowuja Koschki, or the walrus 
sand-banks and shoals. Alfred received some walrus teeth from the refugee mariner ; 
and they were the first articles ever brought to England from the north of Europe. 

The other stranger, Wulfsten, had explored the eastern regions of the Baltic, for the 
islands of Oland and Gottland are mentioned in his narrative, with the mouth of the 
river Wisla or Vistula, all beyond which was called by the general name of Estland 
or Eastland. This district, according to the voyager, had a great number of towns, 
in each of which there was a king. It abounded in honey, and had a plentiful supply 
of fish. The chiefs and great men drank mares' milk ; the poor people and slaves used 
mead. N'o ale was brewed among them. It was a custom of the country, when any 
one died, to award the property of the deceased to the best horsemen at his funeral 
Eor this purpose, it was divided into five or six heaps, sometimes into more, according 
to its amount. The heaps were placed at intervals of about a mile from each other, 
and regularly increased in size, so that the largest heap was at the greatest distance from 
the town to which the dead man belonged. All parties in the neighbourhood were 



NOETHEEM DISCOVERIES. 21 

allowed to contend for the prizes, the fleetest horse ■wdnning the most distant and 
valuable portion. The name of Eastland survives in that of Esthonia, one of the 
Baltic provinces of Eussia. But pilots still use the ancient form of the word. The 
nobles style themselves Eastlanders, and are thus distinguished from the peasants, who 
are simply Esthes. Germans and Scandinavians of the present day term the Baltic 
the East Sea, Ost See, which discriminates it from the ocean on the west. 

Piratical squadrons of the Northmen permanently occupied the Shetlands and Orkneys 
in the tenth century, as convenient stations from which to harass the adjoining mainland. 
Their power extended over the Hebrides ; and to this insular dominion a considerable 
portion of the north of Scotland was added, as the county of Sutherland, their southern 
land. They had previously discovered accidentally the Earoe Islands ; about the year 
861, as one of the Sea-kings was endeavouring to reach this group, a violent tempest drove 
him. to an unknown and more northern coast. He effected a landing, and from the summit 
of a hill surveyed the country. ISTo himian habitation appeared ; no sound or sign of life 
was observed ; and heavy snow descending, he called the desolate territory Snowland, a 
name superseded by that of Iceland. Colonists from iN'orway, to escape from social 
disturbances, afterwards sought the newly disclosed region, found it to be an island, and 
settled on the south-western coast, which has ever since been an inhabited site. At 
that time the valleys were well clothed with forests of fir and birch. These woods have 
now wholly disappeared from some unknown cause, rendering the drift-timber oast upon 
the shores of great importance to the present population. 

In the course of their seafaring life, the Icelandic settlers became aware of the existence 
of a stUl more westerly land, to which adventurers proceeded. Making acquaintance 
with it at the south extremity, and in spring-time, when a pleasing verdure here and 
there met the eye, it received the name of Greenland, but was speedily found to be a 
region, for the most part, of naked rocks and ice-bound shores. StiU colonisation 
followed, probably beginning about the year 982, and little settlements were planted on 
the west coast, between Cape EareweU and Disco Bay, which can be traced through 
several centuries. This isolated people contrived to maintain occasional intercourse with 
Norway, the mother-country ; received bishops from thence ; and paid their Peter's-pence 
to the pope in walrus teeth. But at length they perished to a man. History has no' 
record of them after the year 1418. Yet it could scarcely be through the inhospitality of 
nature that they became extinct, after having braved it for upwards of four centuries. It 
is conceived Kkely, that the terrible pestilence called the ' black-death,' which largely 
depopulated Europe, and was specially fatal in the north, extended its ravages to the 
Greenland colonists, cut off the greater number, and so enfeebled the survivors, that they 
fell an easy prey to the Esquimaux. Eunic inscriptions, ruins of buildings, fragments of 
church-beUs, relics of utensils and implements, have been found ia recent times in 
sheltered and now desolate spots, the memorials of life where life has ceased to be. 

A much more interesting discovery was made by the Northmen, for they unquestion- 
ably reached the continent of America fi.ve centuries before any other European. The 
documentary evidence of the fact is universally admitted to be conclusive. About the 
year 1000, Biorn, an Icelander, while sailing to visit his relatives in Greenland, was 
driven out of his course by a storm, and met with land, covered with wood, far to the 
south-west. He reported its existence to his friends upon gaining his destination, and 
took part in an expedition eqidpped to examine the region descried. After a voyage of 
some length, the adventurers feU in with a rocky shore, wholly without herbage, to which 
they gave the name of Helleland, or the land of stone. The south-eastern extremity of 
Newfoundland answers to the description. "Writers of the present day speak of it as 



22 GEOGRAPHY OF THE MIDDLE AGES. 

consisting of ' bare and large flat rocks, •without tree or shni'b ; the surface everjrwhere 
uneven, and covered with, large stones; the mouataius almost devoid of every sort of 
herbage.' Continuing the voyage, a low country was met with, but with many white 
sandy cliffs, thickly covered with trees, to which the name of Markland, or the land of 
wood, was given. I^ova Scotia is referred to in a precisely similar manner by modern 
describers : ' Prom Port Haldimand to Cape Sable the land appears level and low, and on 
the shore are some cliffs of exceedingly white sand — Cape Sable is a low woody island at 
the south-eastern extremity of a range of sandrcliffs, which are very remarkable at a 
considerable distance in the offing.' After some days further sailing, the explorers came 
to a river, on the banks of which were trees loaded with agreeable fruits, and as the 
clLtnate was genial, while the soil seemed fertile, and salmon abounded; they resolved to 
winter at the spot. It was noted that on the shortest day the sun remained nine hours 
above the horizon, from which it results that the party could not be far from the latitude 
of 41° — that of ITantucket on the coast of Massachusetts. The wanderers agreed to call 
the country Vinland, or the land of the vine, from the quantity of wild grapes at the 
site ; and it is a curious coincidence, that centuries later the first English settlers of New 
England, from the same circumstance, gave the name of Martha's Vineyard to an island 
along the shore. Visits were subsequently paid to Vinland — one by Eric, bishop of 
Greenland, in 1121 ; and sometimes the visitors made a considerable stay, but it does not 
appear that permanent settlement was attempted. The old Icelandic sagas relate the 
ciccumstantial details which have been given, and whUe the identification of particular 
localities is fairly open to challenge, it is impossible to doubt the Scandinavian discovery 
of the American continent, at a period prior to the N'orman Conquest of England. 
Columbus was himself well aware of it. He made a voyage to Iceland previous to his 
own attempt, for the purpose of inquiry ; and his doing so impahs not his fame in the 
least, since it transpired by accident, and was fruitless of any result except so far as the 
great navigator derived encouragement from it. 

While northerns braved the perils of the Atlantic, the southerns viewed it long as 
a barrier which it was hopeless to attempt to pass, and iilled their imaginations with 
appalling pictures of its stonns and dangers. The Arabs, who rapidly extended their 
conquests from the country of the Prophet eastward towards India, and westward into 
Spain, bestowed upon this ocean the epithet of ' The Sea of Darkness,' deeming it a region 
of impenetrable obscurity. Xerif al Edrisi, one of the most eminent of their geographers, 
in the middle of the tweKth century, at the court of Eoger I., king of SicUy, composed' 
a work which he styled Tlie Going Abroad of a Curious Man to explore all tlie Wonders 
of the World. The Atlantic is thus noticed : ' ITo one has been able to verify anything 
concerning it, on account of its difficult and perilous navigation, its great obscurity, its 
profound depths, and frequent tempests ; through fear of its mighty fishes and haughty 
winds ; yet there are many islands in it, some peopled, others uninhabited. There is 
no mariner who dares to enter into its deep waters ; or if any have done so, they have 
merely kept along its coasts, fearful of departing from them. The waves of this ocean, 
although they roll as mountains, yet maintain themselves without breaking ; for if they 
broke, it would be impossible for a ship to plough them.' Travel was stimulated 
among the Arabs by the obligation to make a pilgrimage to Mecca, once at least, wherever 
they might be settled; and trading journeys were made by them to the more remote 
parts of Asia. With the same object in view, but as timid navigators following the line 
of the shores, they visited the islands of the Indian Archipelago, and conducted regular 
voyages along the east coast of Africa, as far southward as the Mozambique ChanneL 

The Arabs thus became familiar with the celestial phenomena of the southern 



DISCOVERIES OF THE AEABB. 23 

hemisphere long hefore Europeans caught sight of its imposiag ohjects, and hailed the 
four stars which now figure in the constellation of the Cross. Hence a passage in 
Dante may he explained which has somewhat perplexed his commentators. In the 
Vision of Purgatory, the poet refers to the stars ia question as symholising the four 
cardinal virtues, Prudence, Justice, Portitude, and Temperance : 

' To the right hand I turned, and fixed my mind 
On the other pole attentive, where I saw 
Four stars ne'er seen before save by the ken 
Of our first parents. Heaven of their rays 
Seemed joyous. O thou northern site ! bereft 
Indeed and widowed since of these deprived.' 

This passage, containiag a clear allusion to the south pole and its quadruple stars, two 
of which serve as poiaters, is very remarkable, since the time of Dante, 1265 — 1321, 
long antedated the maritime expeditions which made the Portuguese and Spaniards, 
first among the Europeans, acquainted with the skies of the opposite hemisphere. After 
passing within the tropics, the constellation may he seen, hut is not conspicuous tiU 
the equator is approached, owing to great southerly declination. It is the finest and 
most interesting object in the night sky of the south, and never fails to arrest the 
attention of aU. travellers and voyagers. If Dante's lines involve simply a poetic 
invention, it is certainly one of the most felicitous and extraordinary on record. But 
very probably some accurate information respecting these southern ckcumpolar stars 
had been circulated in Europe prior to his age, through the medium of the Arabs, 
from which the 'Poet-Sire' of Italy derived his knowledge of them. Mention is 
made of a celestial globe, on which the stars alluded to were figured, constructed by an 
Arabian in Egypt, with the date of the year 622 of the Hegira upon it, corresponding to 
the year 1225 of our era. 

In the first half of the thirteenth century, the invasion of Eastern Europe by the 
Mongol Tartars inspired the western powers with alarm for the safety of there own 
dominions. The consternation indeed extended to the common people in remote 
situations, for the Erieslanders did not venture to leave their homes in the herrings 
season, lest the enemy should come in their absence, and a prime article of food rose in 
consequence to a famine price in the market. Under Batu Khan, a prince of the race of 
ZengHs Khan, the terrible Asiatics rapidly overran Eussia, Poland, Hungary, and Silesia, 
specially directing their fury against the towns and cities, as useless to a people who 
wanted only space for their tents and pasture for their horses. "When weary of conquest, 
the chief fixed his capital, commonly called the Camp of the Golden Horde, in the 
neighbourhood of the present Astrachan, and ruled the conquered territory as one of 
the lieutenants of the Grand Khan, at Karakorum, on the verge of the Mongolian desert. 
By this event, information was obtained respecting parts of Asia very little known in 
Europe, as the western sovereigns sent various embassies to the dreaded barbarians, in 
the hope of averting hostility, if not of conciliattng friendship. One of the ambassadors, 
John de Piano Carpini, an Italian friar, with some companions, was despatched by 
Pope Innocent IV. in 1245, 'lest there might arise some danger from their proximity to 
the church of God.' He accomplished the difficult pilgrimage, saw Batu Khan in his 
tent, and after another long journey, gained the presence of the Grand IDian. Carpini 
returned safely home, having had experience of climatic extremes in the steppes he had 
traversed; intense heat in summer and cold in winter, with suffocating sand-storms m 
the former season, and the hard fate in the latter — of having to sleep on the snow exposed 
to the biting blast. 



24: GEOGKAPHT OF THE MIDDLE AGES. 

France participated strongly in the excitement of the time. ' This terrible irruption 
of the Tartars,' exclaimed Queen Blanche, ' seems to threaten us with a total luin, and 
our holy church.' 'Mother,' replied Louis IX., 'let us look to heaven for consolation. 
If these Tartars come,' remarked he, playing upon the name, ' either we will make them 
return to the Tartarus whence they have issued forth, or else we ourselves will go to find 
in. heaven the happiness of the elect.' But the king deemed it prudent to send an envoy, 
WiUiam de Euhruquis, a Flemish friar, who departed upon his mission in 1253. 
Beyond the river Ural, he found himself in 'a huge and vast desert, which was in 
dimensions like unto the ocean-sea.' He was soon acquainted with the koumis of the 
Tartars, a liquor prepared from mares' milk, and found it palatable. ' It hiteth a man's 
tongue,' says he, ' like the wine of raspes. But it leaveth behind it a taste like the taste of 
almond mOk, and gooth down very pleasantly, intoxicating weak braynes.' He remarks 
further, ' In very deede it is marvellous sweet and wholesome Hquor,' but gives exphcit 
assurance that he and his companions were 'very warie of the drinke.' At times he 
had occasion to state, ' of hunger, thirst, cold, and weariness, there was no end.' Our 
traveller reached Karakorum amid extreme wind and snow. The city, though the only 
considerable one in that part of Asia, he thought not equal to the vUlage of St Denis, 
near Paris. It was surrounded by a mud wall, and had four gates. In this barbaric 
capital there were Chinese who occupied a street by themselves ; and their mode of 
writing is • accurately described. ' They write,' it is observed, ' with a pencO. like that 
used by painters, and in a single figure they comprehend many letters, forming one word.' 
A description occurs for the first tinie in the pages of a western author of an interesting 
animal in the neighbourhood, the yak, or Thibetian ox, an inhabitant of the mountains. 
Euhruquis found the Grand Khan to be ' a flat-nosed man,' who could not comprehend 
the object of his mission, but dismissed him ivith a civil message for his master. 

The most remarkable traveller by far of the middle ages was no emissary of either pope 
or king, but a simple citizen of Venice, who reached the remotest parts of Eastern Asia 
Tinder the influence of curiosity, and the hope of personal advancement. This was 
Marco Polo. Accompanied by his father and uncle, who had previously visited the far 
east, he set out in the year 1271 for the court of Kublai Khan, who had recently effected 
the conquest of China, and established himseK upon the throne. The younger traveller 
had an illness by the way, on account of which twelve months were spent in the country 
bordering on the table-land of Pamir, a part of Central or High Asia. Opportunities for 
acquu'ing information of that elevated region were not neglected ; and the difficulty of 
supporting combustion there was noted as perfectly well known to the mountaineers, 
though all parties were ignorant of the cause. ' Phes,' it is said, ' do not burn so bright 
in this place, and do not so effectually boU or dress victuals as elsewhere. The fact, 
which is owing to the diminished pressure of the atmosphere, has been repeatedly verified 
in lofty situations. At the Hospice of St Bernard, water bods at about 187° of Fahrenheit, 
and it must be kept boiling five hours, to cook a piece of meat which would be ready for 
the table in three hours at the ordiaary bofling-pomt of 212°. Tliis costs fuel, and obliges 
the monks to use an inordinate quantity of wood in preparing their houilli. Pamir is 
described as a district ' said to be the highest in the world — a plain between two vast 
hiUs, through which flows a very fine river, issuing from a large lake ; and it is the best 
pasturage in the world, for a lean animal becomes fat here in ten days.' The river 
referred to is the Oxus, and the lake the Sir-i-kol, from which it emerges. No known 
visit was ever paid to the spot by any European for five centuries and a half, or tiU. 
Lieutenant Wood reached it, on the 19th of February 1838, after grappUng ^dth great 
difficulties. He confirmed in every respect the accuracy of the Venetian. ' The table- 



DISCOVERIES OP MAECO POLO. 



25 



land of Pamir,' lie remarks, 'is 15,600 feet Higli, or sixty-two feet lower than the summit 
of Mont Blanc. The natives name this place Bam-i-duniah, or Eoof of the World ; and 
it would indeed appear to be the highest tahle-land in Asia, and prohably in any part of 
our globe. Before us lay stretched a noble sheet of water, from whose western end issued 
the infant river of the Oxus. According to the Kirghis, the grass is so rich, that a sorry 
horse is brought into good condition in less than twenty days, and its nourishing qualities 
are evidenced in the productiveness of their ewes, which almost invariably bring forth 




A Peep into Siberia. — Keducecl, by permission, from Sir E. I. Murchison's Geology of Hussia. 

two lambs at a birth.' The country of the Kirghis has been most graphically described 
and illustrated by Sir Eoderick Murchison, in his great work on the Geology of the Ural 
Mountains ; by whose permission we are enabled to give the above ' Peep into Siberia.' 
' From the summit of Mount Sugomac,' says Sir Eoderick, ' the panoramic view is very 
striking. To the west is a vast rolling surface of mountains made up of ridges separated 
from each other by dark depressions, and all, with the exception of the distant crest of 
the " Ural Tau," covered with dense forest — a primeval woodland, ia short, with its 
graceful wavy outline. On the east lies Siberia, absolutely at your feet, aU minor 
inequalities of outline being merged ; it looks like a vast plain, lake and river mingling 
with rich meadows in the middle ground, the distance being composed of a woody and 
partially pastoral track, inhabited by Bashkirs ; in the Zavod of Kishtymsk alone, a hun- 
dred lakes exist.' On quitting the axis of the mountains, the view becomes flat and 
boundless, and the spires of Orenburg — as represented at the end of the chapter — burst 
on the travellers amid the burning plain at an immense distance. To return, however : 
The visitors from the west were kindly received by the eastern potentate, and Kublai 



26 GEOGRAPHY OF THE JHUDLE AGES. 

Khan took special interest in the youthful Marco Polo, on account of his address and 
evident ahilities. He was appoiated to a post in the imperial household, adopted the 
dress and manners of his associates, acquired the four languages of the empire, and was 
intrusted with diplomatic missions, while the important office of governor of a province 
was held hy him for the usual term of three years. In course of time the foreigners 
naturally wished to see once more their own land, and after repeated refasals, the emperor 
reluctantly consented to part with them. They returned home hy the Indian Archipelago 
and Persian Gulf; and reached their native city in the year 1295, having been absent 
nearly a quarter of a century. Their relatives and friends, who had long thought of them 
as dead, were with difficulty brought to recognise them, owing to their eastern costume 
and habits, with the change which time and varying climates had produced in then- 
personal appearance. It was soon afterwards the misfortune of Marco Polo to be taken 
caj)tive iu a naval engagement between the Genoese and Venetian fleets, and to endure 
an imprisonment of four years in Genoa, Ee beguiled the time during this term of 
confinement by relating some of his adventures to visitors, and then by writing a 
narrative of his travels, which, after being charged with both inventions and exaggerations, 
is now admitted to be a faithful account of what he saw himself, or heard £?om others. 

The work of Marco Polo opened the interior of China, or as the coimtry is styled in his 
pages, Cathay, for the first time to the knowledge of the western world. It depicts the 
gorgeous splendour of the court of Kublai Khan, the number of his guards and armies, 
his vast palaces and gay summer residences, with their gardens watered by beautiful 
streams, adorned with the fairest flowers, and stocked with the choicest fruits. The 
principal cities are minutely described, their extent and populousness, arts and archi- 
tectural wonders, now for the most part passing under different names, as Cambalu, or 
the ' royal residence,' consisting of two distinct cities, the old and new towns. This is 
the Pekin of the present day, which has its two grand divisions, respectively occupied by 
Tartars and Chinese. The porcelain manufacture is noticed, with silk-worms, and coal 
as the common fuel, which the Venetian calls ' a kind of black stone, cut from the 
mountains in veins, which burns like logs, and maintains the fire better than wood.' 
Tea is not mentioned by name, but is supposed to be included in the wine of spices 
repeatedly referred to. Graphic sketches are given of the great rivers, the Hoang-ho and 
Tang-tse-Kiang, with the multitudinous villages on their banks, the crowds of vessels 
canying merchandise, and the numerous idol-temples erected on rocky eminences 
overhanging the water. 

Intercourse subsisted between China and Horthem Asia in the time of the traveUer, as 
is evident from the acciwate hearsay information reported concerning the bleak and barren 
region. It is said to be a series of marshes, frozen over for the greater part of the year, 
and covered with snow. The features of Siberia far to the north appear in the statement, 
that the sun is not seen in the winter months; the inhabitants use sledges drawn by 
dogs or reindeer instead of chariots ; and the most valuable furs are brought from thence. 
On the homeward route, the coasts of India, Ceylon, the Mcobar and Andaman Isles, 
Java and Sumatra were visited. Pive months were passed in the latter island, where 
acquaintance was made with the one-horned rhinoceros, noticed as of smaller size than 
the elephant, but having feet like that animal, and hair like that of the buffalo, generally 
carrying the head hanging do^vn towards the ground — ' filthy beasts, that love to stand 
and wallow in the mire.' The use by the natives of a kind of meal for bread was 
observed, obtained from the pith of large trees, some of which was conveyed to Venice, 
and thus was imported the first sago into Europe. Marco Polo also was the first to 
disclose to Europeans a country stOl further east than. Cathay, equally abounding in 



PTOLEMY, MAECO POLO, AND COLUMBUS. 



27 



wealth, Zipangu, tlio modGm Japan, inhabited by a people of fair complexion, -well 
made, and of civilised manners. ' They have gold,' he states, ' ia the greatest plenty, its 
sources being inexhaustible ; but as the king does not allow of its being exported, few 
merchants visit the country, nor is it frequented by much shipping from other parts. To 
this circumstance we are to attribute the extraordinary richness of the sovereign's palace, 
according to what we were told by those who have access to the place. The entire roof 
is covered with a plating of gold, in the same manner as we cover houses, or more 
properly churches, with lead. The ceilings of the halls are of the same precious metal ; 
many of the apartments have small tables of pure gold, considerably thick; and the 
windows also have golden ornaments. So vast, indeed, are the riches of the palace, that 
it is impossible to convey an idea of them ! ' 

The narrative of Marco Polo, containing these glowing descriptions, as it came into 
circulation, made a profound impression upon inquisitive minds, and contributed largely 
to the maritime enterprises of the fifteenth century. Imagination ran riot in figuring 
the wealth and wonders of the lands which were lying beyond the sphere of communi- 
cation with the western nations, and cupidity was excited to participate in their riches 
and luxuries. As Ptolemy, the old geographer, whose authority was undisputed, had 
enormously exaggerated the easterly extension of the Asia of his time, while the countries 
illustrated by the Venetian lay still further eastward beyond his limit, it was thought 
that no great breadth of ocean rolled between the east of Asia and the west of Europe. 
Hence Columbus launched on the waters of the Atlantic in search of an opposite coast, 
with Ms mind fully occupied with the idea that the first shores encountered would be 
those of Zipangu and Cathay. 




Tho City of Orenberg from the Steppes.— Eeducsd, by permission, from Sir K. I. Miircliisoir'!: 
Geology of Kussia. 




Valley o£ Maohioo, Madeira. 



CHAPTEE IV. 



PASSAGE OF THE CAPE AND THE ATLANTIC — FOIST CHiCUMNAVIGATION OP THE GLOBE. 

ORTUGAL, now a second-rate power, occupies a liigli 
place in the history of navigation. To the Portuguese 
belongs the honour of taking the lead in the career of 
modern maritime discovery. Their efforts, dating from 
the early part of the fifteenth century, had reference 
to the Atlantic coasts of Africa ; and transpired under 
the auspices of Don Henry, fifth son of John I. of 
Portugal, -who married the eldest daughter of our John 
of Gaunt The prince served under his father on 
African soO. at the capture of Ceuta from the Moors ; 
and was appointed governor of the city in acknow- 
ledgment of his bravery. While in this position, his 
curiosity was roused respecting the unknown western 
coast of the continent, by vague iutelligence concerning the rich country of Guiaea, 
obtained from the conquered natives around him ; and having already entertained the 
design of attempting discoveries by sea, he resolved to devote aU his means, ability, and 
influence to the prosecution of the task. Europeans, at that time, had not followed the 
line of the shore beyond Gape JS'on, about six hundred miles south of the Strait of Gibraltar. 




DISCOVERT OF MADEIRA. 29 

This was soon doubled, and the navigation extended to Cape Boyador, a himdred and eighty 
miles further south. The hold promontory long baffled every effort made to pass it by 
mariners who proceeded closely hugging the land, as shoals extend from it far to seaward, 
giving rise to strong conflicting currents and a dangerous surf. Two cavaliers of the 
prince's household volunteered to renew the enterprise in the year 1418, but when near 
the dreaded cape, they were driven out into the open ocean by a violent gale, and the 
ship's company gave themselves up for lost. Land was, however, sighted on the abate- 
ment of the tempest. It proved to be a small island, to which the name of Puerto Santo 
was given, from its discovery upon the feast of All Saints. A dark spot was soon 
observed on the distant horizon, varying in distinctness with the weather. This was 
found to be a larger island, of lovely appearance, wholly uninhabited, and weU. clothed 
with trees, which, from that circumstance, was called by the explorers Madeira, ' wood.' 
A colony was sent thither from Portugal ; the vine and sugar-cane were introduced, the 
latter procured from Sicily ; and valuable produce was obtained, at a time when sugar was 
an article of luxury, strictly limited to the rich. But the island had been occupied for a 
short time before ; according to a romantic tale, the leading features of which are historically 
true — ^in the reign of Edward III., a young EngHshman in the service of the Black 
Prince, named Markham, fled the country with the fair Anne of Dorset, in order to avoid 
the anger of her relations. They intended to make their way from the Bristol Channel 
to the coast of France. But contrary winds drove the vessel far out of its course, and 
after a long series of tossings to and fro, it was cast upon the Madeira shores. Here the 
lovers are said to have both died, while their companions succeeded in reaching Marocco, 
and proceeded from thence to Spain. 

Upon retiring from the seat of his government, Don Henry fixed his residence 
at Sagres, near Cape St Vincent, where the ocean was constantly in view. He 
devoted himself to the study of mathematics, astronomy, geography, and navigation; 
established an academy for the instruction of his countrymen in these sciences ; 
and employed the greater part of his income as Grand-master of the Order of Christ 
in fitting out nautical expeditions, hoping to reach the southern extremity of Africa, 
and open round it a maritime path to the riches of India and the east. Eor the 
long period of half a century, this object was pursued with steadiness and perseverance.. 
During his Hfetime, the Canary and Cape Verde Islands were again discovered ; and the 
coast of the continent was examined to the extent of fifteen hundred miles. Soon 
after his death, which took place in 1463, Portuguese mariners gave to their sovereign 
the title of ' Lord of Guinea,' and advanced to the islands of Eernando Po, St Thomas, 
and Annabon, the latter beyond the equator. Prince's Island, immediately north 
of the line, received that name in honour of Don Henry. In 1484, Diego Cam 
sailed along the shores of Congo and Benguela nearly to the southern tropic ; and the 
problem of the southerly extension of Africa was solved by the next adventurer. 
This was Bartholomew Diaz, a knight of the royal household, whose name is at 
present borne by a steam corvette belonging to the Portuguese navy. He set out 
with three vessels in 1486. Having passed the limit of his predecessor, heavy gales 
carried the ships out to sea, and the land was lost sight of for a considerable period. 
Upon regaining it, and sailing some distance, its direction was found to be due east, 
and, without being aware of the fact at the time, the squadron had doubled the 
extremity of the continent. As the voyagers returned, they speedily came within 
view of the grand altar-like mountain, generally capped with clouds, which now 
overlooks Cape Town and Table Bay. Owing to the terrible storms encountered 
in the neighbourhood, the commander denominated the headland Cabo Torinentoso, 



30 CIRCUMNAVIGATION OF THE GLOBE. 

or the Stormy Cape, for which Hs sovereign suhstituted Cdbo do Boa Esperanza, the 
Cape of Good Hope, as of better augury. 

Ten years elapsed before Emanuel, king of Portugal, determined to send a fleet to explore 
the route to India through the gate which had thus been opened. Yasco do Gama, a man 
of good family, great courage, and tried sMU in naval affairs, was at length commissioned to 
undertake this of&ce, and put iu command of three vessels, carrying altogether about 
a hundred and sisty men. As the time for sailing approached, Lisbon was thrown 
into excitement by the event. On the preceding day the crews repaired to a chapel 
four mUes from the city, close to the sea, and spent there the whole night in prayer 
for success. The nest morning the shore was crowded with spectators to witness the 
embarkation, while numerous processions of priests appeared ia their robes chanting 
litanies. Gama left the Tagus on the 8th of July 1497, encountered severe tempests 
off the Cape of Good Hope towards the close of JSTovember, but safely crossed the 
Indian Ocean, arriviag at Calicut, on the Malabar coast, in the spring of the following 
year. 

Camoens, the national poet of Portugal, in his Lusiad, has celebrated this expedition. 
In a memorable passage, while the fleet lay near the Cape, he represents an apparition 
rising in the night, and hovering athwart the ships — ^the Spirit of the stormy deep — ■ 
forbidding the mariners to disturb his repose by violating the unploughed waters beyond. 
This is one of the grandest of poetical fictions. 

' E,ising tlixough the darkened air. 
Appalled, we saw a hideous phantom glare ; 
High and enoraious o'er the flood he towered. 
And 'thwart our way with sullen aspect loured. 
An earthly paleness o'er his cheeks was spread. 
Erect uprose his hair of withered red — 
His haggard heard flowed quivering on the wind, 
Eevenge and horror in his mien comhmed; 
His clouded brow, by withering lightnings scarred. 
The inward anguish of his soul declared ; 
His red eyes glowing from their dusky caves. 
Shot livid fires : — far echoing o'er the waves 
His voice resounded ; as the cavemed shore 
■With hollow groan repeats the tempest's roar.' 

Bartholemew Diaz, who perished in a tempest a few years later, is represented by 
the poet as having been engulfed in the abysses of the ocean, to satisfy the vengeance 
of the spectral guardian of the southern waters, upon whose solitude he was the first 
to intrude. 

Gama returned by the same route, and axrived at Lisbon in September 1499, after 
an absence of nearly two years and two months. He was received with universal 
joy, obtained a patent of nobihty, an annual pension, and the rank of admiral. 
But only fifty-five men returned with him, or little more than one-third, the rest 
having perished from natural causes, or by accident, or in skirmishes -ivith natives of 
the shores at which they touched. Great mortality doubtless attended these early 
expeditions, but the statement of Pather Vieyra, made in one of his sermons, is an 
obvious exaggeration. He says that ' if the dead who had been thrown overboard between 
the coast of Guinea and the Cape of Good Hope, and between that Cape and Mozambique, 
could have monuments placed for them each on the spot where he sunk, the whole way 
would appear like one continued cemetery.' King, court, and people now exulted in 
the thought of having secured a monopoly of the rich commerce of the east. The 
sovereign obtained from the pope the proud title of ' Lord of the Navigation, Conquests, 



POETUGUESE DISCOVERIES. 31 

and Trade of Ethiopia, Arabia, Persia, and India.' But other nations -were speedUy 
upon the track of the Portuguese, though for a time the value of the discovery of a 
passage to India by the Cape was little appreciated by Europeans in general, owing to 
a far greater achievement effected five years before. This was the Spanish discovery 
of utterly untnovm lands across the Atlantic, at first supposed to be identical with 
those containing ' the wealth of Ormuz and of Ind.' 

The brUliant exploit referred to, accomplished by Christopher Columbus, was loncf 
contemplated by him, and diligently prepared for. By birth a Genoese, by predilection 
a Spaniard, Columbus early mastered all the science of his time, directed special attention 
to ancient and modern geography, and firmly embraced the theory that lands lay at an 
accessible distance beyond the western waters of the Atlantic, forming the eastern 
boundary of Asia. In search of information he visited Madeira, the Azores, the Canaries, 
and England, proceeding from thence to Iceland; and by these voyages he became 
expert in aU the arts of practical seamanship. Yarious circumstances of significant 
import confirmed him in. his convictions. Thus, navigators had found canes and plants 
afloat on the ocean, which could not be recognised as the productions of any known 
region. At Madeira, pieces of carved wood, but evidently not cut with a knife, had 
been cast ashore ; and at the Azores, bodies of men had been thrown on the coast, with 
features not at all resembling those of Europeans or Africans. These objects had been 
drifted from the western world by the Gulf Stream, precisely as at present, plants, seeds, 
and fruits, belonging to the torrid zone of Am erica, are annually transported by that 
current to the coasts of Europe. The curious assertion was also made by the inhabitants 
of Madeira, that occasionally, in particular states of the weather, land might be seen 
on the horizon westward — an optical deception, analogous to that of the mirage of the 
desert. The same illusion is stiU. common with the islanders along the west coast of 
Ireland, who call the imaginary territory St Brandon's Land. 

Columbus was far from being alone in his belief concerning the existence of a great 
western region. Maps appeared on which lands were fig-ured in the Atlantic entirely 
on speculation ; and with remarkable foresight, Pulce, a Florentine poet, wrote respecting 
the old vulgar opinion of the PiUars of Hercules being the boundary of the world, as 
well as of other facts of physical science not clearly established in Ms day — 

* Know that this theory is false ; his hark 
The daring mariBer shall xuge far o'er 
The ■western wave, a smooth and level plain, 
Albeit the earth is fashioned like a wheel. 
Man was, in ancient days, of grosser mould ; 
And Hercules might blush to learn how far 
Beyond the limits he had vaialy set. 
The dullest sea-boat soon shall wing her way ! 
Men shall descry another hemisphere. 
Since to one common centre all things tend. 
So earth, by curious mystery divine, 
Well balanced, hangs amid the starry spheres. 
At our antipodes are cities, states. 
And thronged empires, ne'er divined of yore. 
But see, the sun speeds on his western path, 
To glad the nations with expected light !' 

While intensely anxious to put his views to the test by experiment, Columbus was too 
poor to equip an expedition with his own means ; and had a long and tedious battle to 
fight with disappointments arising from vain appeals to others for help. He was often 
dispirited, and occasionally in despair, for fruitless applications were made to the govern- 
ments of Genoa, Portugal, and England. Eortune snuled upon hi-m at last, when his 



32 CIRCUMNAVIGATION OP THE GLOBK 

prospects seemed most gloomy, owing to the failure of a negotiation -witli the court of 
Spain. But the sovereigns, Ferdinand and Isabella, suddenly changed their minds, and 
placed the requisite means at his disposal. 

Three vessels were fitted out at the little port of Pales, for the bold attempt to remove 
the mystery from the western ocean, the Sea of Darkness of the Arabian geographers. 
These were the Santa Maria, the ship of the commander ; the Pmta, under the orders 
of Alonzo Pinzon ; and the Nina, under Yanez Pinzon, the brother of the preceding. The 
total number of the crews is not known with exactness, accounts varying from ninety to 
a hundred and twenty men. Columbus sailed on Friday the 3d of August 1492, made 
for the Canary Islands, and left them on the 6th of September for the westward, when 
the navigation of unknown waters commenced. A month passed away, in which great 
progress was made. But nothing had been visible except sky, sea, and seaweed, with 
some birds towards the close of the interval, which raised hopes of a shore being nigh 
at hand. Upon the failure of this expectation, and a change of wind favouring a return 
to Europe, the saUors became clamorous to be allowed to avaU themselves of it. They 
remonstrated with the commander for persisting in an enterprise so obviously hopeless ; 
then reproached him with being careless of their lives ; and finding liim inflexible, 
proceeded to threaten a general mutiny. Fortunately for Columbus, at this juncture 
birds appeared in greater numbers ; a reed quite green floated by ; the branch of a tree 
was seen with the berries upon it ; and he ventured upon the prediction, that land would 
be met with the next day. That very night he saw a light ahead, while sitting in the 
stern of his vessel, and called the attention of others to it. But it passed away, and 
twice returned and disappeared. The light came from the l^EW World, first discovered 
about ten o'clock on the night of October 11, 1492, after a sail of thirty-five days from 
the Canaries. 

"With the early dawn Columbus saw before hun a low island covered with trees, and a 
shore upon which some astonished natives were collected. At sunrise he proceeded to it 
in a boat, accompanied by his f eUow-com m anders, with the standard of Castile and Leon 
displayed. Immediately on landing, the party reared a rude cross, paid their devotions 
before it, and then took formal possession of the island on behalf of their sovereigns, 
o-iving it the name of St Salvador. This was one of the Bahamas, with which Cat Island 
is commonly identified, where the spot is marked, on a prominent rock overhanging the 
bay, upon which the cross is supposed to have been planted. But "WatUng Island, 
another of the group, best answers to the description which Columbus has given of his 
land-fall. After some communication with the natives, a very inoffensive race, he 
resumed the voyage, fell in with several smaU islands, sailed along part of the north coast 
of Cuba, made a boating excursion up one of the rivers, and was in raptures with the 
scenery. ' Such was the deHghtfulness of the place,' he observed in his report, ' that I 
could have been tempted to remain there for ever. The water was so clear that we could 
see the sand at the bottom. The finest and tallest palm-trees I had ever seen in great 
abundance on either shore, with an infinite number of large verdant trees of other kinds. 
The soil seemed exceedingly fertile, being everywhere covered with the most luxuriant 
verdure ; and the woods abounded with vast varieties of birds of rich and variegated 
plumage. This country, most serene prince, is so wonderfully fine and so far excels all 
others in beauty and deHghtfulness as the day exceeds the night.' He next visited the 
island of Haiti or St Domingo; and having loaded his ships with specimens of the 
inhabitants and productions of this new country, returned to Europe, entering the port 
of Palos on the 15th of March 1493, seven months and a haK after sailing from it. 

The public enthusiasm was unbounded on the retm-n of the voyager. Ferdinand and 



DISCOVEEIES OF COLUMBUS. 33 

Isabella, wlien ho appeared at court, rose to receive him ; he was allowed free access to 
the royal presence ; and a coat of arms was assigned him, representing a group of islands 
surrounded by waves, to which the motto was subsequently added : 

' To Castile and Leon 
Columbus gave a new -world.' 

To secure themselves in the possession of the discovered territories, and of all additions 
that might be made to them, the Spanish sovereigns obtained a bull from Pope 
Alexander VI., which made over to them all islands and mainlands, all cities, castles, 
places, and towns, with all their rights, jurisdictions, and appurtenances, found, or to be 
found, westward of an ideal line drawn from pole to pole, at the distance of a hundred 
leagues west of the Azores, as far as the meridian of 180°. AH newly-disclosed lands, or 
lands hereafter to be met with, eastward of this line as far as the same meridian, were 
similarly vested in the Portuguese. 'Let no person,' said the pontiff, 'presume with 
rash boldness to contravene this our donation, decree, inhibition, and will. For if any 
person presiones to do so, be it known to him that he wiU incur the indignation of 
Almighty God, and of the blessed apostles Peter and Paul.' However consolatory this 
allotment might be to the parties named, it gave no satisfaction whatever to other princes, 
and the most orthodox of them were not disposed to acquiesce in it. England sent out 
expeditions into the region thus given away, without asking leave of the papal court ; the 
French king shrewdly stated, that he should wish to see the will of Pather Adam before 
he consented to such a partition of the globe; and both Spaniards and Portuguese 
disregarded the assignment when it suited their purpose to do so. 

The impression of Columbus, that he had visited the skirts of India, was commonly 
adopted throughout Europe. It led to the natives being called Indians, a name applied 
to the aborigines of the entire continent of America ; and when the error was found out, 
the discriminating epithet of "West Indies was bestowed upon the group of islands. No 
difficulty was experienced in preparing a squadron for a second voyage, except what arose 
from the number of applicants eager to take part in it, some candidates for fame, others 
anxious for adventure, but most flushed with the hope of obtaining gold by the gathering. 
Seventeen vessels were this time assembled in the Bay of Cadiz, carrying about fifteen 
hundred persons of aU classes, with a considerable number of horses and cattle. The 
admiral exulted in the prospect of speedUy realising immense wealth. Yet his was no 
sordid ambition, for having seen the last of the Moors expelled from Spain, he proposed 
to expend the expected treasures in raising a vast army to rescue Jerusalem and the Holy 
Land from the yoke of the Saracens. He regarded this idea as suggested by divine 
inspiration ; viewed himself as an instrument consecrated by Providence for the work of 
deliverance; and ventured to suppose himself the hero indicated in some passages of 
sacred prophecy. The fleet sailed on the 25th of September 1493. The islands of 
Dominica, Guadaloupe, and Jamaica were now added to the fruits of the former 
expedition; the coast of Cuba was further explored, with an increased belief in its 
continental character ; a colony was planted in Haiti ; the piae-apple was seen for the 
first time ; but the anticipated gold, though often heard of, was not met with by the 
greedy adventurers, who vented their disappointment in quarrelling among themselves. 

During the third voyage, commenced on the 30th of May 1498, the island of Trinidad, 
the mouth of the river Orinoco, and consequently the coast of South America, were 
discovered. In the fourth, last, and least successful expedition of Columbus, begun on 
the 9th of May 1502, he visited the coast of Honduras and the Mosquito shore. The 
great navigator was now an old man, in possession of ample experience of ingratitude 



34 OmOUMNAVIGATION OF THE GLOBE. 

from coadjutors, and of the imcertamty of courtly dependence, soon to he increased. His 
first grand success made Hm an object of envy, and tMs laid the foundation for ill-usage 
when practicable from his associates, -while defamatory voices succeeded ia so far 
prejudicing the court against him, that the fulfilment of promised dignities and emolu- 
ments was evaded, when the latter were most needed. Had he died upon completiag his 
first voyage, years of fatigue and anxiety would have been avoided, with not a little 
indignity, while aU. that he personally obtained by eight times crossing the Atlantic 
would have been acquired — ^the honour of an immortal name. Columbus returned to 
Spaia in the year 1504, in impoverished circumstances ; and even ia personal want, while 
the crown was his debtor. ' I receive nothing of the revenue due to me,' he wrote to his 
son, ' but live by borrowing. Little have I profited by twenty years of toils and perUs, 
siace at present I do not own a roof in Spain. I have no resort but an inn, and for the 
most part have not wherewithal to pay my biU.' He died at Valladolid, on the 20th of 
May 1506, being about seventy years of age ; and was first interred there, afterwards 
removed to Seville, then transported to St Domingo, and finally laid in the cathedral of 
Havannah. He never knew the real grandeur of his achievement, but retained to the 
last the firm conviction that he had but found a new path to countries known of old, 
instead of having opened the way to a continent containing the mightiest rivers and 
forests of the globe, with the longest line of towering mormtains, including every variety 
of donate, and far surpassing in extent the world of classical geography. 

An immediate and powerful impulse was given to naval adventure by the knowledge 
that the Atlantic might be passed in a few weeks to fair and fertile countries, apparently 
the portal to the long-heard-of oriental lands, teeming with wealth and wonders. The 
ocean seemed to have been suddenly divested of its power to harm, such was the general 
eagerness to traverse its waves. Many, doubtless, rushed upon death by too lightly 
regarding its perils, and hence embarking in fragUe and iU-furnished craft. England 
was the fijst to follow the example of Spain. In the reign of Henry VII. there resided 
at Bristol a Venetian by birth, John Cabot, who, with his celebrated son Sebastian, 
sailed from that port under letters-patent from the crown, with the view of getting to 
Cathay and India by a passage northward of the route to the new Spanish discoveries. 
Though the immediate object proved a visionary one, they reached Newfoundland and 
the coast of Labrador in the summer of 1497, while Columbus did not see the mainland 
of America at the mouth of the Orinoco till the summer of 1498; and thus the first 
view of the actual continent was obtained by an expedition from our own shores. A 
local manuscript records the fact, that 'in the year 1497, the 24th of June, on Sf 
John's Day, was ISTewfoundland found by Bristol men, in a ship called the Matthew.' 
Sebastian Cabot visited the same region in the following spring, and explored a 
considerable extent of coast, ' affirming that in the month of July there was such cold 
and heaps of ice that he durst pass no further; also, that the days were very long, 
and in a manner without night.' It is a remarkable instance of capricious fortune 
that Amerigo Vespucci had not at this time crossed the ocean, yet his name was allowed 
to overspread the whole continent, while no bay, cape, or headland, recalls the memory 
of the Cabots. The Italian went out under a Spanish commander in the year 1499, 
and returned to produce an account of the countries he had visited. It appeared just 
before the death of Columbus, and as the readers of that day were indebted to him 
for the first supply of information relating to the New "World, they, imconscious of 
any practical injustice, awarded to him the honour of furnishing it with a general 
denominative. 

The Portuguese followed in the track of the English, influenced by the same chimerical 



INLAND POBTUGUESH DISCOVERIES. 35 

hopo of finding a north-west passage to the 'gorgeous east;' but sore misfortune attended 
their eiforts. Gaspar Cortereal, in the year 1500, sailed from Lisbon northward as far 
as Greenland, ran along the coast of Labrador and ITewfoundland, and entered the 
mouth of the St Lawrence, which seemed to be the opening he was ia search of. 
Eeturning to examine it ia the following year, with a companion-yessel, his ship was 
separated from her consort in a storm, and never heard of again. Michael Cortereal 
then went out with three vessels to seek for his lost brother, but he too parted company 
with his comrades, and no trace of him was ever found. A third brother, the eldest 
connected with the court of Portugal, wished to sail in the route of his relatives, hoping 
to find them stUl alive on some friendly shore, or to ascertain their fate, but the kino- 
would not allow the peril to be encountered a third time. In memory of these disasters, 
the sea at the entrance of the St Lavfrenee was long called by the Portuguese The Gulf 
of the Three Brothers, and one of its sinuosities bears at present the name of Gaspar 
Bay. At the same period a great fleet under Cabral sailed in the path of Vasco de 
Gama, which, being carried westerly by the equatorial current, fell in with the coast of 
Brazil. Though this expedition afterwards met with a severe calamity, four ships 
foundering during a furious hurricane, one of which contained Bartholemew Diaz, the 
remainder doubled the Cape, made for the second time the voyage to India, and returned 
freighted with valuable cargoes. 

Before the decease of Columbus, his adopted countrymen, some of whom had been 
his companions, enlarged the field of his discoveries; and with singular rapidity the 
illustration of transatlantic shores was advanced, owing to the activity of the navigators 
of Spain. Yanez Pinzon, one of the commanders under the great admiral in his first 
voyage, reached South America near Cape St Eoque, sailed northward from thence to 
the vast mouth of the Amazon Eiver, and conveyed to Europe the iirst specimen of a 
marsupial quadruped — a living opossum. He made known also, on a subsequent occasion, 
in company with De Solis, the country of Yucatan. Bastidas examined the shores of 
Venezuela; and interesting results were obtained by adventurers in pursuit of most 
fantastic objects. Thus it passed current for some time that in the midst of a region 
bright with gems there was a life-renovating fountain, which endowed with perpetuity of 
youth the happy man who should quaff its ever-flowing waters. In quest of this fairyland, 
said to be an island by the Indians who reported the fable, Ponce de Leon sailed from 
Porto Eica, in 1512, with a squadron of three ships fitted out at his own expense, and 
effected the discovery of Elorida. But there the arrow of an Indian extinguished for 
ever in his breast the hope of gaining a terrestrial immortality. 

The inland exploration of the new continent was commenced by Nunez de Balboa, who 
made his appearance as a mere soldier of fortune, and raised himself to the post of 
governor of the small colony of Santa Maria, established on the shore of the Gulf of 
Darien. He was the first European who caught sight of the Pacific Ocean. Pizarro 
served under him. To obtain gold was his supreme aim, as it was unhappily that of his 
countrymen in general. Coming into possession of a considerable quantity of the precious 
metal, acquired from the natives in a marauding expedition, the Spaniards eagerly divided 
the spoil, yet brawls arose from a suspicion of unfair proceedings. A friendly Indian 
stood by, the son of a cacique, and observed with surprise the anxiety relative to an 
object of small value in his own esteem. Striking the scales with his hand, and scatter- 
ing the gold on the ground, he exclaimed : ' "Wliy should you quarrel for such a trifle ? 
If this gold is indeed so precious in your eyes, that for it you forsake your homes, invade 
the peaceful lands of strangers, and expose yourselves to such sufferings and perils, I 
can teU you of a province where you may gratify youi wishes to the utmost. Behold 



36 CIRCUMNAVIGATION OP THE GLOBE. 

those lofty mountains!' said he, pointing to the south. ' Beyond these lies a mighty sea, 
which may he discerned from their summit. It is navigated hy people vrho have vessels 
not much less than youis, and furnished like them with sails and oars. All the streams 
which flow down the southern side of those mountains into that sea ahound with gold ; 
and the kings who reign upon its borders eat and drink out of golden vessels. Gold is 
as plentiful and common among these people of the south as iron is among you Spaniards.' 
From that moment Balboa was intent upon a journey inland. Yet, well aware of hostile 
tribes lying in the way, he sent to St Domingo for reinforcements, and received a smaU 
contingent. 

"With some native guides, and a hundred and ninety soldiers and followers, Balboa 
set forth, and after a toilsome journey of twenty-sis days across the isthmus, passing 
throu"-h tangled woods and over difl&cult heights, the party approached the base of the 
last ridge to be surmounted. There a halt was made for the night. In the early da-\vn of 
September 26, 1513, the ascent commenced; and by ten o'clock the summit only 
remained to be climbed. The leader went up alone, and beheld the wondrous scene. 
Immediately below, his eyes fell on rock and forest, green savannahs and rushing streams, 
while beyond were the waters of an ocean apparently interminable, resplendent with the 
li"ht of the morning sun. Balboa fell upon his knees, stretched out his arms towards 
the sea, wept for joy, and returned thanks to Heaven for conducting him to such a grand 
discoverv. Poetry has not overlooked this scene, though strangely enough, the conqueror 
of Mexico is associated with it : 

' Then felt I like some watolier of the skies, 
When a new planet swims into his ken ; 
Or like stont Cortez, when with eagle eyes 
He stared at the Pacific, and aU his men 
Ijooked at '^ach other with a wild surmise, 
Silent, upon a peak in Darien.' 

Beckoning to his followers, they ascended, and displayed the same transport. A priest 
among them began the chant. To Deum laudamus. After this, a tall tree was feUed, of 
which a cross was formed, and erected on the spot. On descending to the shore, the 
commander advanced into the water; and holding his sword in one hand, with the banner 
of Castile in the other, he exclaimed in a loud voice : ' Long hve the high and powerful 
king and queen of Castile ; in their name I take possession of these seas and regions ; and 
if any other prince, either Christian or Pagan, should pretend to have any claim, or right^ 
to them, I am ready to oppose him, and defend the right of their lawful possessors.' 
Prom some natives, the information respecting a gold country to the south was confirmed, 
referring to Peru; and the figure of one of its characteristic animals, the Uama, was rudely 
sketched on the sand. The Spaniards mistook the form for that of the camel, a beast of 
burden peculiar to eastern countries, and as they were presented with some pearls, a noted 
oriental product, they believed themselves to be at the gates of the East Indies. Owing 
to the isthmus running nearly east and west at the point where it was crossed, the ocean 
was seen in a southerly direction. Thence it was called the South Sea, a name which was 
in use long after its inappropriateness to the vast Pacific was known. The particular site 
was styled after St Michael, on whose festival it was discovered, and his name is still 
attached to a great bay on the east of Panama. Though tidings of the event were 
received by the court of Spain with delight and triumph, no reward for the service was 
bestowed ; but, in the spirit of favouritism, a successor was despatched, with an ample 
force to occupy a post which was likely to become important and profitable. The minion 
appointed, acted with infamous perfidy towards Balbao. Jealous of his fame and dreading 



MAGELLAMS DISCOVBEIES. 37 

liis ability, lie caused him to be brought to trial on a false charge, procured his condem- 
nation ; and he was publicly executed in the scene of his late government. 

In search of a passage to the great ocean which had thus been revealed, De SoUs, in 
1514, examined the coast of Brazil from north to south, foimd the mouth of the great 
La Plata river, and unfortunately landed on the shore. Proceeding incautiously, he was 
captured by the natives, mth. five of his companions, and they were aU. kiUed, roasted, 
and devoured, in the sight of those who remained on board. Had it not been for this 
horrible catastrophe, he would in aU probability have reached the strait leading westerly 
out of the Atlantic, through which, another navigator very soon groped his way, and 
with which his name is permanently associated. Perdinand Magellan, or, according to 
the orthography given to Sir Joseph. Banks by one of his descendants, Pemando de 
MagaDiaens, by birth a Portuguese, had made a voyage to India and Malacca, regions 
with which a lucrative commerce was by this time carried on by his countrymen. Thus 
familiar with the south extremity of Africa, he sagaciously conjectured that most likely 
the southern part of America corresponded to it in being washed by an open sea. His 
own sovereign not encouraging an attempt to verify this idea, he turned to Spain, and 
laid the proposal before the emperor Charles V. at VaUadoUd, to explore a westerly route 
to the Moluccas, and thus share in the profit of direct communication with, the Spice 
Islands. This project being approved, five ships were equipped, the Trinidad, carrying 
his own flag as admiral, the San Antonio commanded by Juan de Carthagena, the 
Vittoria by Luis de Mendoza, the Conception by Gaspar de Quesada, and the Santiago 
by Eodriguez Serrano. The total number of the men amounted to two hundred and 
thirty ; Pigafetta, an Italian, who wrote an account of the expedition, went out as a 
gentleman-adventurer. To his narrative Shakspeare seems to have been iadebted for 
his demon Setebos, said to have been reverenced by the Patagonians, thus mentioned 
in ihe Tempest ; 

' I must obey : his art is of such power. 
It would control my dam's god, Setebos, 
And make a vassal of him.' 

The squadron sailed on the 20th or 21st of September 1519, from the port of San Lucar, 
steered for the Canary Islands, and then westward for the coast of Brazil. 

The commander had early experience of great difficulties from the mutinous spirit 
of his officers, and shewed the energy of his character in repressing it, but some of his 
measures have left a stain upon his name. One of his captains, Luis de Mendoza, a 
principal malcontent, he caused to be privately assassinated, and openly executed another 
the next day, Gaspar de Quesada. More than a twelvemonth passed away before Magellan 
discovered the strait which separates the mainland of South America from the island of 
Tierra del Fuego. He entered it towards the close of October 1520, and gained the 
opposite extremity, opening into a vast sea, on the 27th of November. But before 
quittiug the Atlantic, one of his vessels, the Santiago, was lost by shipwreck ; while the 
San Antonio parted company, intentionally, from the commander's cowardice, and 
returned to Europe. Having cleared the channel, which, has since been called the 
Strait of Magellan, he commenced with three ships the passage of an ocean of unknown 
extent, wholly untried by Europeans, and gave it the misleading name of the Pacific, 
as deKghtful weather and fair breezes wafted the marioers smoothly across it. But the 
crews suffered fearfully owing to a strange disease, evidently the scurvy, and from the 
want of provisions. They had to drink putrid water, chew scraps of leather, eat saw-dust, 
and the mice on board were so highly prized as to sell for half a ducat apiece. For 
more than three months, and through a course of 2500 geographical miles, no land was 



38 CIKCUMNAViaATION 01? THE GLOBE. 

seen except two barren and solitary islets. But on the 6th of March 1521, three 
heautiful and apparently fertile islands were met with, which were called the Ladrones 
or Thieves, from the pilferuig propensity of the inhabitants. Some members of the 
present Philippine group were subsequently visited ; and here, on the 27th of April, 
Magellan lost his life in a rash skirmish with the natives. Though thus cut off, he 
may be justly considered the first circumnavigator of the globe, on account of his previous 
voyage by the Cape to India and Malacca, while he fell on the skirts of those regions, 
and gained them by a westerly route. 

The squadron proceeded to Borneo, and then to the Moluccas, where the spices of 
the islands were noticed — ^nutmegs, cloves, mace, ginger, and cinnamon, growing almost 
spontaneously — and a bird of exquisite beauty was remarked, called by the natives the 
' bird of God,' now familiar as the bird of Paradise. But the three vessels were speedily 
reduced to one. Sickness had so thinned the crews, that the Conception was burned, 
after guns and stores had been removed, while the Trinidad, not being sea-worthy, was 
left behind, and ultimately fell into the hands of the Portuguese. The remaining ship, the 
Vittoria, under Sebastian del Cano, elected to the command, was brought safely home 
by the Cape, and entered the port of San Lucar, on the 6th of September 1522, after 
an absence of nearly three years. Only eighteen men out of two hundred and thirty 
returned. ' Thus,' says Pigafetta, ' om- wonderful sliip, taking her departure from the 
Straits of Gibraltar, and saUing southwards, through the great ocean towards the Antarctic 
Pole and then running west, followed that course so long that, passing round, she came 
into the east, and thence again into the west, not by saUing back, but proceeding 
constantly forward ; so compassing about the globe of the world, until she marvellously 
regained her native country, Spain.' The ship is said to have been long preserved, and 
called forth many an effusion from the national poets and romancers. Her commander 
was liberally rewarded, obtained a patent of nobility, with a globe for a crest, and the 
motto Primus me circum-dedisti, 'Ton first encompassed me;' and beyond the possibility 
of doubt, the spherical form of the earth had now been demonstrated. 

■While this memorable voyage was in process, and during the next twenty years, 
the interior of the ITew World was extensively made known to Europeans by their 
aggressions and conquests, dictated by rapacity, in which the natives largely perished 
by the sword, and more slowly by exhausting labour in the mines. Cortes overran 
Mexico, accomplished an extraordinary march of a thousand mUes to Honduras, __ 
discovered the peninsula of California, and sailed within its gulf. Pizarro reduced 
Peru; Almagro and Valdivia effected the conquest of Chili; and OreUana traversed 
the breadth of South America, from the Andes to the ocean, by the Amazon and its 
tributaries. In 1531 the Portuguese started their first Brazilian colony at Eio Janeiro, 
and soon afterwards founded Buenos Ayres. Within the interval referred to, the 
French began to contribute to geographical discovery, surveying the whole Atlantic 
coast of the North American States, and ascending the river St Lawrence to the 
neighbourhood of the great lakes. This last enterprise was effected by Jacques Cartier, 
an experienced Breton mariner, who reached the shore of Gasp6 Bay in the year 1534, 
and erected a cross thirty feet high, with a shield bearing the fleurs de lys of Prance, 
thus taking possession of it for his sovereign, according to the fashion of the time. 
During a second voyage, in the following year, he pushed his way up the stream 
to a bold headland frowning over it — ^part of a rocky wall three hundred feet high — 
and moored his craft hard by in a convenient haven. With the exception of his three 
small barks and a little Indian viUage, the country seemed as if freshly come from the 
hand of the Creator. No other trace of man or of his works appeared. Prom the top 



OARTIER S DISC0TERIE3 IN THE CANABAS. 



39 



of the higliest eminences to the distant horizon, in every direction, down to the water's 
edge, the eye wandered over the dense forest; and hiil and valley, mountaia and 
plain, were covered with the deep green mantle of the summer's foliage. At this very 
spot there are now verdant pastures and cultivated fields, ships of war and merchandise, 
with a large and opulent capital — Quehec. 

Leaving two of his vessels at this station, intended to serve for wiuter-quarters, the 
bold Breton proceeded up the river, anxious to make further discoveries. He reached 
the native town of Hoohelaga, ascended a lofty lull ia the neighbourhood, overlooldng 
a prospect of singular beauty, and called the eminence Mont Koyal. The name has 
since been corrupted into Montreal, and extended to the fine modem city on the 
site of the old wigwams, and to the island on which it stands. On a subsequent 
occasion he attempted to advance more to the westward, but was baffled by the difficidt 
navigation, and only heard of a great lake in the distance — ^the fine expanse of 
Lake Ontario. European eyes had now gazed for the first time on the grand rapids 
above Montreal, which are only to be safely passed by hardy boatmen familiar with 
them ; on the junction of the Ottawa with the St Lawrence, at the rapids of St Anne ; 
and on the numerous wooded islands, of every variety of size and shape, which divide 
the main stream into a labyrinth of tortuous channels. The natives consisted chiefly 
of the Iroquois, or Five ISTations, on the south bank of the river, independent of each 
other, but usually acting in concert to resist an enemy ; of the Huions and Algonquins, 
their hereditary foes, on the northern shore — tribes of the Bed Indian family, whose 
fate forms one of the saddest chapters in the history of the sons of Adam. They 
gradually faded away before the whites, struck down by unknown weapons of destruction, 
consumed by the deadly fire-water, and ravaged by small-pox, while dispossessed of their 
hunting-grounds by the stranger, tiU only a remnant now remains, few and feeble, 
faint and weary, 'fast travelling to the shades of their fathers, towards the setting sun !' 




Quebec, from the St La-vvrence. 




k'x SlfV^v A 




The Falkland Islands. 



CHAPTER V. 

NORTH-EASTEEN, NOETH-WESTEEN, AND NORTH-POLAR VOYAGES. 

lEWED in the light of present knowledge, it is scarcely 
possible to conceive of a wilder project, than that of sailing 
round the northern shores of Europe and Asia, as a 
practicahle route to India and China. Yet a scheme to 
this eifect commended itself to the judgment of Sebastian 
Cabot ; and the merchants of London resolved to attempt 
to open a north-east passage to the mysterious region of 
Cathay. This was in the year 1553, during the reign of 
Edward VI. The capture of Constantinople by the Turks, 
? and the discovery of the passage by the Cape, had broke 
Tip the ancient channels of oriental commerce, and thrown 
the carrying-trade between the east and west almost 
entirely into the hands of the Portuguese, with whose naval strength the English did 
not feel themselves competent to cope. This circumstance suggested the endeavour 
to find out a new and perhaps an easier route in the direction stated. The obstacles 
to such an undertaking could not then be appreciated. Nothing was known of the 
northerly extension of Asia, and of the immense masses of ice with which its polar 
shores are encumbered through the greater part of the year. Three vessels were fitted 




SIR HUGH WILLOUGHBY S VOYAGE. 



41 



out for the enterprise, and licensed liy the crown to 'discover strange countries.' So 
confident were the promoters of the expedition of its success, that the ships were 
sheathed with lead to defend them from the worms of the tropical waters, a practice 
long adopted by the Spaniards, but now for the first time mentioned in our annals. 
The squadron consisted of the Bona Esperanza, of 120 tons, on board of which was 
the commander, Sir Hugh Willoughby, with a master, mate, and thirty-six seamen • 
the Edward Bonaventura, of 160 tons, under Eichard Chancellor, pilot-major of the 
fleet, with a master, mate, chaplain, surgeon, and fifty seamen ; and the Bona Confidentia, 
of 90 tons, under Cornelius Durforth, with twenty-two seamen. Besides the crews, six 
merchants embarked with the commander, nine with the pilot-major, and three ia the 
third vessel. The ships were victualled for fifteen months; but more than half the 
adventurers were cut off by a grave disaster close to the western side of the entrance 
to the White Sea, though some very interesting results were attained by the survivors. 
Sir Hugh was the third son of Sir Henry Willoughby, of WoUaton, near l^ottiagham, 
ancestor of the present Lord Middleton. He had served with distinction in. several 
campaigns on the Scottish border, and was recommended to the mercantile community 
by his 'goodly personage, for he was of tall stature, and also of singular skiU ia the 
services of war.' Cabot held at that time the office of grand pilot of Endand but is 
supposed to have been prevented by age from accompanying the expedition. But he 
prepared a series of instructions for the guidance of the mariners, which enjoined them 
to employ persons skUful in writing to record the course taken, the appearances of the 
land by which they passed, and of the heavenly bodies. Morning and evening prayers 
were to be read on board each ship. It was ordered that there should be 'no ribaldry 
or ungodly talk, dicing, carding, tabling, or other devilish games.' The forei<rQer 
was to be treated with gentleness and courtesy, but the hint was given, worthy of all 
reprobation : ' If he be made drunk by youi Avine or beer, you shall know the secrets 
of his heart.' 

The vessels sailed from Deptford on the 11th of May. They fired guns on passing 
Greenwich, where Edward VI. was then residing ; and the crews appeared in their best 
attire, a light blue. But the youthful sovereign was fast sinking under a mortal malady 
and could not quit his couch to witness the spectacle. Contrary winds detained the 
squadron near the coast tiU towards the close of June. Off Harwich, two surgeons were 
taken on board the ship of the commander. By the end of July, the JSTorth Cape had 
been passed, which then first received that title ; and soon afterwards the vessels were 
separated by a storm. The Bona Esj>eranza and Bona Confidentia again joined company • 
but Chancellor's ship, the Edward Bonaventura, finally parted from them and safelv 
entered the White Sea. The separation took place early in August, and from that time 
the only information respecting the companion-vessels, while the crews were aHve is 
derived from a journal purporting to be Sir Hugh WiQoughby's, found on board the 
ill-fated Esperanza. 

After beating about on the tempestuous ocean, the two ships entered an inlet vnih. 
convenient anchorage-ground on the Lapland coast, September the 14th. This has been 
identified as Nekouev Bay, near the Sviatoi ISToss, or Holy Point, at the mouth of the 
White Sea, where a whirlpool forms at intervals diurnaUy, and was formerly the dread 
of mariners. The point is a long tongue of land, projecting from the main shore in a 
direction diagonal to it. The inlet formed between them opens towards the flood-tide, 
which rushes into it with considerable velocity ; bnt, being arrested at the extremity, the 
accumulated water escapes from the cul-de-sac by a return current along the side of the 
promontory. Encountering at an angle off its termination the general tide-waves of the 



42 NORTH-EASTEKN VOYAGES. 

ocean, tlie collision occasions violent disturbance and a powerful eddy, wliicli starts into 
activity -with tlie flood-tide, and relaxes with tlie ebb. The ignorant natives of the coast, 
on approaching the spot in their fraU craft, 'were long accustomed to propitiate the spirit 
of the waters with offerings of meal, butter, and other victuals, placed on an adjoining 
rock, hoping thereby to secure for themselves a safe passage. Attempting to round the 
Sviatoi iNoss, baffling winds were encountered by Sir Hugh, which, together with the 
foaming billows, induced him to return to his station in Nekouev Bay. This was 
reached September the 18th. After waiting in vain a week for favourable weather, and 
seeing only the signs of winter, which commenced with severity and at an imusually 
early date, the commander despaired of continuing his voyage, and determined to pass 
the dreary season where he was. It became the harbour of death to the entire party. 
'This haven,' says the journal, 'runneth into the main about two leagues, and is in 
breadth half a league, wherein are many seal fishes and other great fishes ; and upon 
the main we saw bears, great deer, foses, with divers strange beasts, as elans and such 
others, which were to us unknown and also wonderful. There, remaining in the haven 
the space of a sevennight, seeing the year far spent, and also very evil weather, as frost, 
snow, and haU, as though it had been the depth of vrinter, we thought it best to winter 
there. "Wherefore we sent out three men south-south-west to search if they could find 
people, who went three days' journey, but could find none. After that we sent other 
three westward four days' journey, which also returned without finding any people. 
Then sent we three men south-east three days' journey, who, in like sort, returned 
without finding of people, or any similitude of habitation.' 

This desolation of the country is an annual occurrence, for the fishermen who visit 
the shores in summer retire into the interior to spend the winter. The month of 
October must have been far advanced before the last exploring-party returned from the 
fruitless quest of succour. The days were then rapidly shortening. Towards the close 
of jSTovember, the sun would cease to appear above the horizon, leaving the mariners 
exposed to the cold of a two months' wintry night. They were not prepared for its 
severity by experience, or probably by correct information, nor could they obtain the 
means of sustaining it, as the neighbourhood supplied no wood for fuel To add to 
their misery, there is evidence that the season was unusually rigorous in the Arctic zone. 
Hence, in the following spring, when the native fishermen repaired to the coast, the 
two ships were found in jSTekouev Bay, deeply covered with the snow-drift, and the 
stiffly-fcozen corpses of the crews lay beneath the chilling pall which nature had thrown 
over them. How much they suffered — ^when their last agony came — and who survived 
the longest — ^no one knows. 

'Miserable they, 
Who, here entangled in the gathering ice, 
Take their last look of the descending sun ; 
"While full of death, and fierce with tenfold frost, 
The long, long night, incumbent o'er their heads 
Falls horrible. Such was the Briton's fate, 
As with jirst prow — 

He for the passage sought, attempted since 
So much in vain.' 

Su' Hugh WiUoughby's signature to the will of his kinsman on board, Gabriel Willoughby, 
dated towards the end of January 1554, proves that he was alive at that period. He 
may have lingered to witness the sun remount the horizon, expiring as the winter was about 
to relax its icy grasp. At Lord Middleton's seat, Wollaton House, jtSTottinghamshire, 
a portrait of Sir Hugh was formerly shewn, with some clothes reputed to have been 
those in which his body was found. His remains are said to have been brought to 



THE BONAVENTUEA ENTERS THE WHITE SEA. 43 

England, but tliia is very doubtful. Their disposal lias escaped a chronicle, owing to 
the distracted state of the nation after the accession of Queen Mary, which largely diverted 
public attention from the fate of the unfortunate voyager. 

The first English ship to enter the White Sea was thus the Edward Bonaveniura, 
under Chancellor. Its commander, and his companions, Stephen Burrough the 
celebrated navigator, John Stafford the chaplain, Thomas Walter the surgeon, George 
Burton and Arthur Edwards, two merchants, with the remainder of the crew, were the 
first Englishmen who set foot upon its shores, and entered the Muscovite dominions. 
This was on the 24th of August, while Willoughby was tossing on the ocean westward 
of the Sviatoi Noss. The adventurers landed at ISTenocksa, a small place on the main 
shore of the southernmost mouth of the Dwina, hard by the convent of St ISTicholas, 
where some salt-works were carried on, and have been since continued. They proceeded 
up the river to Cholmogory, the head town of the district. Archangel not being then in 
existence ; and were from thence forwarded by the authorities more than a thousand 
miles in sledges to Moscow, where an open letter from Edward VI., already in his grave, 
was presented to the czar, Ivan IV, the Terrible, written in several languages. It 
recited, among other particulars, as follows : ' We have permitted the honourable and 
brave Hugh Willoughby, and others of our dear and faithful servants who accompany 
him, to proceed to regions previously unknown, in order to seek such things as we stand 
in need of, as weU. as to take to them from our country such things as they requite. 
This wiU be productive of advantage both to them and to us, and establish a perpetual 
friendship and an indissoluble league between them and us ; whilst they permit us to 
receive such things as abound in their territories, and we furnish them with those of 
which they are destitute.' Ivan received his visitors graciously, sanctioned the project 
of trade between the two countries, and admitted them to view familiarly the barbaric 
splendour of his court, ' The prince called them to his table, to receive each a cup from 
his hand to drinke, and took into his hand Master George KiOingworthe's beard, which 
reached over the table, and pleasantly delivered it over to the metropolitan, who, seemidg 
to bless it, said in Euss : "This is God's gift."' A most extraordinary beard it was, 
according to the account in Hakluyt, 'not only thick, broad, and yellow coloured, but 
in length five foot and two inches of assize.' Chancellor was dismissed in the following 
spring, with a letter from the czar to Edward TV., dated from 'our lordly house and 
castle,' and returned home in safety by the route he had pursued. 

The merchant-adventurers deputed their agent to revisit Moscow, arrange more 
explicitly with reference to trade, and special instructions were given to ascertain if there 
was any passage through Eussia, by land or sea, to Cathay. On coming back from 
this mission in 1556, having obtained favourable commercial terms. Chancellor was 
accompanied by Osep liTeped as ambassador from the czar, vntli sixteen of his countrymen. 
The voyage was most disastrous. The ship was wrecked in Pitsligo Bay on the east 
coast of Scotland, and Chancellor perished, with most of his crew. But the ambassador 
escaped, and was the first Eussian who ever visited our shores. He entered London 
amid the acclamations of the crowd, was feasted at Guildhall, appeared at the court 
of Queen Mary, and the English Eussian Company was incorporated, occupying a house 
in Seething Lane. Ship after ship, and agent after agent were despatched from the 
Thames to the Dwina. A factory was established at the mouth of the latter river, on 
Eose Island, which obtained that name from the quantity of wold-roses seen on it by 
the commercial settlers. They covered from four to five acres, near a bu-ch and pine 
wood. Beautiful pioks were also observed. Some of the roses were brought to England, 
and are mentioned by Parkinson, in the former part of the seventeenth century, under 



44 NORTH-EASTEEN VOYAGES. 

the name of tlio ' wild bryer of Muscovie.' Other factories were established at Cholmo- 
gory, Vologda, and Moscq-w; and the town of Archangel arose in consequence of the 
opening commerce. 

The produce imported by the company consisted of traia-oU, taUow, flax, hemp, tarred 
ropes, elk hides, and hides ia general for tanners. Inquiry was made after a certain, 
kind of wool, ' very good in those parts for hats and felts, of which the Tartarians are 
accustomed to make their cloaks ; ' and upon information being obtained of the country 
yielding a great quantity of yew, the directors pricked up their ears, and ordered it to be 
examined, ' because it is a special commodity for our realm.' The age of Eobin Hood 
and Chevy Chase, of which the line is characteristic — 

' Dra"W, archers, draw your arrows to the head,' 

was not entirely over then in England. The bow was still distinctive of our yeomen in war 
and foresting. But the sHver fir had been mistaken for the yew, which does not flourish 
so far to the north. The first shipment of English goods to any amoimt arrived at the 
Dwina in 1557. It consisted chiefly of London cloth, so called from the outport; and 
of Hampshire kerseys, the manufactures of that county. Already the Eussian taste for 
gay colours seems to have been known, for, of the kerseys, two pieces were yellow, fifteen 
green, five ginger-coloured, fifty-three red, forty-three blue, and four hundred were sky- 
blue. Salt, sugar, manufactured goods of various descriptions, artOlery, and warlike stores 
followed in considerable quantities, with some musical instruments, for the tones of the 
organ and virginal were now for the first time heard in Moscow. ' The people wondered 
and delighted,' says the agent, ' at the loud and musical sound thereof, never seeing nor 
hearing the like before. Thousands resorted and stayed about the palace to hear the 
same ; my man that played upon them much made of, and admitted into such presence 
often where myself could not come.' It is curious to find com among the early 
shipments, but this was during a dreadful famine. Sharp practices on the part of the 
native dealers seem to have been suspected by the company, for its servants were early 
admonished to make their bargains plain, and set them down in writing. At the same 
time, some of its own representatives misconducted themselves, for they were rebuked for 
tippling, hound and bear keeping, and extravagant expenditure in sUks and velvets. 

Elizabeth, having ascended the throne, returned the compliment of the czar, by appoint- 
ing a representative at his court. This was Mr Anthony Jenkinson, an intelligent and 
resolute man, who published the first map of Eussia that was ever made. Previous to 
his appearance as ambassador, he had been in the country as an agent of the company, 
and made an extensive journey mth the view of finding a commercial route into the 
interior of Asia, and thereby communicating with India and China. He started from 
Moscow in AprU 1558, and descended the Volga to Astrachan with some companions 
and goods. It was a year of famine, pestilence, and civU war ; the country was largely 
depopulated; and so intense was the distress of the survivors, that they offered their 
children for sale into slavery at the price of a small loaf of bread apiece. Eamparts of 
earth surrounded the city; all the houses were of the meanest description, except the 
governor's ; and fish, especially sturgeon, was the only food of the inhabitants. They 
were hung up in the streets and dwellings to dry, in consequence of which the air 
was infected; and the myriads of flies attracted to the carcasses formed an intolerable 
pest. Jenkinson gained the Caspian in August, and coasted it to the opposite side, 
exhibiting the St George's Cross at the head of his vessel Erom the eastern shore he 
proceeded with a caravan of camels to tlie Oxus, and advanced as far as the city of 
Bokhara, where he learned that the trade with China had been suspended by wars for 



EABLY INTEKCOURSE WITH RUSSIA, 45 

upwards of three years. Thus disappointed ia his principal object, he retraced his steps, 
ajid reached Moscow ia September 1559. A journey of seventeen months through 
uakno\\'n. countries and lawless tribes, conducted with safety, is ia the highest de<T:ee 
creditable to the boldness and prudence of the traveller. 

His employers at home were not discouraged by this result. They procured a letter 
from the queen, written ia Latin, Italian, and Hebrew; placed under his care not only 
kerseys and scarlet, but cloth of gold, plate, sapphires, and other jewels ; and Jenkiason 
was once more upon the Caspian ia 1562, seeking to establish trade with the Persian 
provinces on the southern shore, and through them with the remoter East. But the 
scheme was marked by the ignorance not less than by the boldness of early mercantile 
enterprise, for it was speedily apparent that no goods could bear the cost entailed by the 
transport, even had no obstacle been offered to trade by the unsettled state of society. 
But the whole country was in extreme confusion. ' To travel,' wrote one of those 
employed, ' is miserable and unconrfortable, for lacke of townes and villages to harbour in 
when night cometh ; beside the great danger we stand in for robbiag by these iofidels 
who do account it remission of sianes to wash their hands ia the blood of one of us. 
Better it is, therefore, in mine opinion, to continue a beggar ia England.' Of much the 
same opiaiou was Mr George Tui-berviUe, though a resident withia the walls of Moscow as 
secretary to the embassy. He was a ihymster, and occupied his leisure ia writiag 
poetical epistles to his friends at home, one of whom had the name of Dancie. A ditty 
begias as foUows, modernisiag the orthography : 

' My Dancie, dear, when I recount within my breast, 
My London friends and wonted mates, and thee above the rest; 
I feel a thousand fits of deep and deadly woe. 
To think that I from land to sea, from bliss to bale did go. 
I left my native soil, full like a reckless man, 
And imacquainted with the coast, among the Hussies ran ; 
A people passing rude, to vices vile inclined, 
PoUc fit to be of Bacchus' train, so quaffing is their kind ; 
Drink is their whole desire, the pot is all their pride. 
The soberest head doth once a day stand needful of a guide. 
If he to banquet bid his friends, he will not shrink 
On them at dinner to bestow a dozen kinds of drink.* 

FaiUng in this direction, the English merchants turned their thoughts to another quarter, 
and sought to establish trading iatercourse with the East by way of the Levant, Aleppo, 
the Euphrates, and Persian Gulf. But after the days of the Armada, confidence beiag 
felt ia their own navy, as able to cope with the Spanish and Portuguese forces on the 
seas, the route by the Cape was adopted towards the close of the century. 

In the meantime, the project of saiUng round the north of Asia had not been lost 
sight of, for, while Chancellor was negotiatiag with Eussia, the attempt was renewed by 
Stephen Buirough, who had taken part ia the original expedition. He went out in the 
Speedthrift in 1556, made the island of Waigatz, and discovered the south coast of Ifova 
Zembla across the intervening channel, where further progress was arrested by ice and 
easterly winds. Another effort was made in 1580 by Pet and Jaokman in two vessels. 
Great perils were encountered and a sore disaster occurred. Dense fogs enveloped the 
ships, while ice-fields separated them, and they commimicated by beatiag drimis and 
firiag muskets. They finally parted company, and Pet made good his passage home, 
while nothing was ever heard of Jackman till our own time, and though his fate was 
conjectured, it was different to the general supposition. Dr Hamel has illustrated it from 
Eussian sources. It seems that the unfortunate navigator gaiaed the mouth of the Obi, 
with the view of entering the river to pass the winter, but there his vessel was ■wrecked. 



46 NORTH-WESTEHN VOYAGES. 

At that time Yermak the Cossack was engaged in the conquest of -western Siberia. 
Mistaking the Englishmen for his confederates, or at least hostile visitors, the Samoiedes 
despatched the entire crew. 

The Dutch now took up the question of a north-east passage. Having but recently 
emancipated themselves from the yoke of Spain after a terrible struggle, they were 
anxious to avoid the seas where the Spaniards were formidable, and therefore sought 
to find a -route to India where there was no chance of meeting with their old oppressors. 
This led to the three voyages of Barentz, 1594 — 1597, who discovered Spitzbergen, and 
reached the north extremity of ITova Zembla. In that dreary and inhospitable region, 
on the last occasion, towards the close of August, the ice suddenly closed around the 
voyagers, reduced ia number to seventeen persons; and they were compelled to remain 
through the winter, enduring the hardships of their imprisonment with admirable 
resignation. They were doubtless the first human beings from the civilised world to 
survive the rigour of the season in so high a latitude. An interesting journal remains 
of their sufferings from the cold, their contrivances to protect themselves from it, and 
their schemes to measure time, for the touch of the ice-king stopped aU their time-pieces. 
The ship being so much damaged as to be uninhabitable, they built a cabin on the 
adjoining shore, for which, happily, there was drift-wood at hand. It served them as 
weU for fuel, though the search for it exposed them to the utmost severity of the weather, 
and to great danger of attack from the bears. Often was Bruin heard snuffing and 
growling around the hut, anxious to get in, and make a meal of the inmates. On the 
4th of ISTovember, the sun ceased to rise above the horizon, and at the same time the 
bears discontinued their visits. White foxes succeeded them in great numbers, and 
being readily taken in traps, furnished a supply of food and clothing. On the twelfth 
night after Christmas, the men were so far cheerful as to elect a gunner as king of 
Nova Zembla. The sun re-appeared on the 27th of January, and the bears returned to 
resume their prowls and growls. But the weather continued so inclement and boisterous, 
that it was not tOl June that escape became practicable. The ship was far too much 
disabled for the weak crew to repair the damage. They embarked therefore on the 
13th, in the two small boats belonging to the vessel; but on the 26th Barentz died, 
overcome with hardships, to the great grief of his men. The survivors marvellously 
succeeded in escaping destruction from the masses of floating ice in such frail barks ; 
and made a voyage of eleven hundred miles to a port on the White Sea ; one of the- 
most remarkable voyages on record. 

We now turn from the north-east to the north-west, in which direction the hope was 
long cherished of finding a practicable navigable path to the eastern world. Under the 
patronage of Dudley, Earl of Warwick, in 1576, two vessels sailed with Martin Ei-obisher 
in quest of such an outlet. He sighted the south extremity of Greenland, steered 
to the coast of Labrador, entered an inlet running westward, and returned to be 
' highly commended of all men for the great hope he brought of the passage to 
Cathaia.' The inlet, now known to be a bay, long figured on our maps as 
Erobisher's Strait, is one of the entrances into Hudson's Bay. But the public mind 
was quickly diverted to a different object. One of the sailors had brought home with 
him a stone picked up as a relic on a shore which had been visited. It was supposed 
to contain gold, and being handed to the refiners, they precipitately pronounced this 
to be the case. London was thrown into a ferment by the news. A wakeful avarice 
seized the city. Men congratulated themselves upon the road to boundless opulence 
thus opened, for the conclusion was embraced, -without a doubt, that all the stones of the 
land must be golden. Capitalists bid high for leases from the cro-wn of the auriferous 



THE GOLD MANU, 47 

territory; and tkree vessels were despatched in 1677 to the gold-bearing region. Queen 
EKzabeth, who had only contributed a wave of her hand to the voyage of discovery, as 
the ships passed Greenwich, now fitted out one of the three at her own expense. More 
men volunteered their services than could be employed. With a 'merrie wind' the 
mariners arrived at the Orkneys, and crossed in safety the ocean. But Frobisher was 
unable to reach the particular haven from which the precious stone had been brought. 
StiU, on some islands, large heaps of earth were found, which seemed to contain the 
precious product. Spiders also abounded ; and it was affirmed that ' spiders be true signs 
of great store of gold.' So the crews set to work to freight the ships ; the admiral himself 
toiled like a common labourer ; and the fleet returned with a cargo corresponding to the 
refuse of a gravel-pit. 

Though disappointed, the public were not in the least daunted. They had decided that 
there was gold to be had for the seeking, in the regions guarded by the thick-ribbed ice ; 
and the indications of it afforded by the spiders were irresistible. Besides a great success 
is rarely achieved by a single effort. Thus reasoned the monied men, and the spendthrift 
courtiers. Hence the outrageous folly was committed of equipping a more costly 
expedition, consisting of not less than fifteen vessels, in which many young men of the 
better classes embarked; and the queen gave the name of Meta Incognita to the imaginary 
land of promise. Discreet men were despatched with the squadron to settle on shores too 
inhospitable to produce either tree or shrub; and some soldiers were sent out to keep order 
in the contemplated colony. Twelve of the ships were to return immediately with 
cargoes of ore ; and three were to remain to aid the settlement. The general ignorance 
respecting arctic regions and the terrors of a polar winter, may be inferred from these 
arrangements. Frobisher conducted the fleet to the ISTorth American coast in 1578. 
Then troubles and dangers began to beset its course. Dense mists prevailed, and immense 
icebergs encumbered the sea. One of the ships was crushed and sunk, though the men on 
board were saved. With invincible courage the admiral struggled with difficidties, and 
led the fleet through the ice, ' getting in at one gap and out at another,' tUl he gauied a 
haven in the Countess of Warwick's Sound. But by this time aU the young volunteers 
had become terribly alarmed, and heartUy wished themselves out of the adventure. The 
intended settlers likewise were quite as anxious to get back to then* old homes ; sailors 
and soldiers were on the verge of mutiny ; and one vessel, laden with provisions' for the 
intended colony, deserted and returned. The whole squadron was soon homeward-boimd • 
yet not till an island had been discovered which wore an aspect of promise to the eye of 
credulity. Lumps of ' black ore ' were scattered over the surface, enough to satisfy ' aU 
the gold gluttons in the world;' and the folly was repeated of taking ia a freio^ht of 
useless dirt and shingle. Frobisher is not responsible for the visionary schemes of his 
employers. He did his duty as an able and dauntless seaman, as he did on a later occasion, 
when the honour of knighthood was conferred upon him for gaUant conduct in the defeat 
of the Spanish Armada. The queen testified her approval of his services by conferring upon 
him Altoff's Hall, four miles from Wakefield, in Yorkshire, with the manor and grounds, 
which before sequestration belonged to the abbey of Newland. This estate remained ia 
his family tiU the time of CromweU, when it changed hands, but a portion of the 
furniture remained with the new possessors. Among other articles, a richly-carved chair, 
bearing the name of M. Frobisher, cut in antique characters, has been preserved to the 
present day, and was presented, in the year 1853, to the Eoyal Geographical Society of 
London. In 1862, some interesting relics of the navigator's arctic expeditions, consisting 
of fragments of iron, wood, tUe, and glass, were gathered from the shore of the inlet he 
discovered, by Captain C. F. Hall, of the United States' navy. 



48 NOETH-WESTERN VOYAGES. 

At tliis period a patent^ was granted to Sir Humphrey Gilbert, empowering him to 
make western discoveries, and take possession of unappropriated lands. At the same 
time his yoimger brother, Adrian Gilbert, became head of a company which was 
incorporated under the title of ' The Colleagues of the Fellowship for the Discovery of the 
Iforth-west Passage.' Sir Humphrey was the brother-in-law of Sic "Walter EaleigL He 
had been a soldier, a member of parliament, was a very chivalrous man, and had rational 
schemes of colonisation in view. In 1583, he sailed with five ships, and on the eve 
of departure received from the queen a golden anchor, guided by a lady, as a token of her 
regard. Yet the fever of the times beset him, too, for he took a ' mineral man ' on board, 
a pious and honest Saxon, and a man of letters from Hungary. Music in good variety 
was provided for the amusement of the crews and the aUuiement of savages, not forgetting 
' toys, morrice-dancers, hobby-horses, and May-like conceits,' for the delight of barbarous 
people. The fleet gained the harbour of St John's, ISTewfoundland, on the 30th of July ; 
and a survey was made of the neighbourhood for the site of a settlement. All agreed 
that the ' mountaius made a show of mineral substance,' and the mineralogist protested 
that silver ore abounded. The strictest secrecy was at once enjoined, as there were 
Spaniards and Portuguese at hand engaged in the fisheries, who might attempt to get 
a share of the spoil. Leaving the foreigners to capture cod-iish, the precious ore, as it 
was supposed to be, was carried on board the largest of the ships, with such mystery that 
the nature of the freight did not transpire. 

Having started the little settlement. Sir Humphrey sailed to the south-west with three 
ships, leaving two behind him, intending to plant another colony on some suitable site. 
But a grave calamity occurred. The treasure-laden vessel, the Delight, was wrecked, 
and of more than a hundred men on board — the principal part of the force — only twelve 
escaped. Among the unfortunates was the mineral man, and the Hungarian scholar, 
who was to have been the historian of the expedition. Upon this loss, the commander 
deemed it expedient to return to England with the remaining vessels, two small barks — 
the Squirrel and the Hind. He was in the former, which was not more than twice the 
size of the long-boat of a modern merchantman. Terrible weather set in. HSTever had 
the oldest mariners seen more ' outrageous seas.' When the wind abated, and the vessels 
were near enough, the admiral was constantly seen sitting in the stern with a book in 
his hand. On the 9th of September, he was thus seen for the last time, and was heard 
by the people on board the Hind to say, ' Courage, my lads ! we are as near Heaven by 
sea as by land.' In the following night the lights of the ship suddenly disappeared, and 
nothing more was observed of the bark by her companion. 

* Eastward from Campobello, 

Sir Humphrey Gilbert sailed ; 
Three days or more seaward he bore, 
Then, alas ! the land wind failed. 

Alas ! the land wind failed, 

And ice-cold grow the night ; 
And never more, on sea or shore. 

Should Sir Humphrey see the light. 

He sat upon the deck, 

The book was in his hand ; 
" Do not fear : Heaven is as near," 

He said, " by water as by land." ' 

The Hind outrode the tempest and arrived safely at Eabnouth. 

Abandoning the delusive quest of gold for simple discovery, John Davis, a good seaman 
and excellent commander, was employed in the northern seas to resume the search for 



DISCOVEEY OF THE FALKLAND ISLANDS. 49 

a wostorn passage. His principal patrons were opulent meroliants of the west of England, 
along with Walsingham, the secretary of state. He sailed from Dartmouth on the 7th 
of June 1585, mth the MoonsMne and Siinshine, and took along with him a band of 
music for the recreation of his men, and the amusement of any natives who min-ht he 
encountered. On approaching the arctic boundary, the crews were alarmed by heartag 
loud noises while the sea was calm and covered with fog. They were found to proceed 
from icebergs grinding against each other. The south-west coast of Greenland came in 
sight the next day, and was called the Land of Desolation, on account of its bleak and 
dreary appearance. A headland there stiU bears the name of Cape Desolation. Leavin'^ 
it for the open sea, an opposite shore was reached, where deceptive indications of precious 
ore wore observed, many of the oMs being 'orient as gold.' Here a fine sound stretchia" 
to the westward was discovered, from twenty to thirty leagues wide, free from ice, with 
water. resembUng in colour and quality that of the main ocean. This is now named 
Cumberland Strait, and lies to the north of Probisher's. It seemed the desired passage to 
the mariners, and was explored for a considerable distance, when thick fogs and contrary 
winds compelled them to desist, and direct their course homeward. Two voyages ia the 
next two years were made by Davis to the same waters, sailing each time from Dartmouth. 
He reached the high latitude of 72°, and as this led him to the great sea now styled 
Baffin's Bay, his name has properly been given to the broad entrance, Davis Strait. 
Icebergs were seen of such vast magnitude that the navigator deeHaed the description of 
them, lest his veracity should be suspected. 

No advance having been made in the main object, its pursuit was abandoned for some 
time. In fact, while commanders continued sanguine of success, they frequently foimd it 
impossible to induce their crews to prosecute the search, after some acquaintance with the 
perils of ice-clad seas and shores. The fiim though respectful remonstrance was addressed 
to Davis, on one occasion, by Ms sailors, that ' by his over-boldness he might cause their 
widows and fatherless children to give him. bitter curses.' A few years later, this intrepid 
seaman took part in Cavendish's attempt to circumnavigate the globe a second time, and 
wlule separated from the squadron, he was the first to fall in with the group of isles now 
known by the designation of the FaMands. He had the rare good-fortune afterwards to 
make five voyages to the East Indies in the service of the Dutch, and at last lost his life 
in 1605 in a quarrel with the Japanese. His discoveries were traced on a globe of the 
time, constructed by Moljmeux, and stiU preserved in the library of the Middle Temple. 

With the commencement of the seventeenth century, the English made their first 
successful visit to India by the way of the Cape, tmder the auspices of the East India 
Company, incorporated on the 31st of December 1600. But the great length of time 
consumed by the voyage, together with the apprehension of difficulties from the 
Portuguese, determined the merchants to renew the search for a northerly route. 
Accordingly, George Weymouth was despatched in 1602, but was compelled to return by 
the mutinous conduct of his men; and an expedition under John. Knight in 1606 was 
abruptly arrested by the attacks of the Esquimaux. Landing on the coast of Labrador, 
he left three persons in charge of the boat, while with the mate and another he repaired 
to some high ground to take a survey of the country. ISTot returning at the appointed 
time, guns Avere fired, and every imaginable signal was given by the party at the boat, but 
without effect. EJnight and his comrades were never heard of, and as a desperate attack 
was speedily made upon the ship by the natives, the fate of the commander may readily 
be inferred. The remaining crew consisted only of eight men; assailed at night and 
amidst torrents of rain, they succeeded in defeating the savages, made their way to 
Newfoundland, and from thence to England. 



50 NORTH-POIiAB VOTAGES. 

A north-east and a north-west direction having heen tried in. Tain, it was now resolved 
to attempt a new route, and proceed if possible directly across the pole. The execution of 
this daring design was intrusted to Henry Hudson, one of the bravest and most 
trnfortunate of all navigators. He sailed in 1607 in a small bark with only ten men and 
a boy. But after reaching Spitzbergen, much incommoded by the ice, he deemed the sea 
completely barred by it further north, and brought back his little vessel in safety. In the 
foUowing year, he was commissioned to resume the old north-eastern course, but met with 
no greater success than any of his predecessors. A singular instance of the credulity of 
sailors is related during this attempt : two seamen, Thomas HOles and Eobert Eayner, 
solemnly affirmed, that while standing on deck, they saw a mermaid ; and signed their 
names to a certificate to that effect. They described the creature in the document as 
having ' breasts hke a woman's ; her body as big as one of us ; her skin very white ; and 
long haire hanging down behind, of colour blacke.' It is uncertain which of the cetaceous 
animals led to the misconception. Hudson was nest sent to the north-west ; and started 
on the voyage from which he never returned on the 17th of April 1610. Arrived on the 
shores of Labrador, he followed them to the north-western extremity, which received the 
name of Cape Wolstenhohne, after one of his principal patrons, while an opposite headland, 
on an island, was called Cape Digges, after another. At this point, he beheld before him, 
apparently, a wide ocean, which must have been viewed with exultation, being probably 
regarded as a portion of the mighty Pacific, the object of his expedition. It was really 
the great inland sea which has since been called Hudson's Bay ; but of his progress in it 
no knowledge remains except what is derived from the doubtful testimony of a conspirator 
against him. 

Seeing the coast on the left turn to the south, Hudson seems to have followed it in the 
hope of gaining a milder cUmate, and more fertile district in which to spend the winter. But 
no considerable distance had been made, owing to boisterous weather, and the difficulty of 
doubling unknown headlands shrouded with mist, when, in a haven called Michaelmas Bay, 
from the day on which it was entered, the ice closed in on all sides, and the winter began 
its reign. It does not appear to have been a season of special severity; but having 
brought out only provisions for sis months, the stock remaining was scanty, and hardship 
excited ill-feeling in the crew against the commander. Every effort was made by him to 
make the original store serve as long as possible, and a rewaid was promised to every one 
who should Trill beast, bird, or iish. At first, the white partridges came in such numbers^ 
that twelve hundred were secured in the space of tliree months. As these passed away 
with the approach of spring, flights of geese, ducks, swans, and teal, made their appear- 
ance, migrating from south to north ; and when they were gone, the breaking up of the 
ice allowed of fish being taken. 

On leaving the bay, in June 1611, Hudson was no doubt intent upon contintung the 
voyage through the summer for the purpose of discovery, content with such provisions as 
could be procured ; while most of the crew secretly resolved to sail for England as soon as 
a sufficient supply of food for the voyage was obtained. Their ringleader, a young man 
named Green, of profligate character, had been taken out by the commander as an act of 
humanity, being without any other resource for a Hvehhood. The foUowing strange oath 
was taken by the mutineers : ' Ton shall swear truth to God, your prince, and country; you 
shall do nothing but to the glory of God, and the good of the action in hand, and harm to 
no man.' When the abominable scheme was ripe for execution, Hudson was seized, bound, 
and lowered into a boat ; the carpenter, as his devoted adherent, was treated in the same 
manner ; and nine persons in aU, several of whom were sick, were turned adrift, with a 
fowhng-piece, some ammunition, and a small quantity of meal. They were never heard 



BAFFIN S VOYAGE. 51 

of again, but perished, in those dreary regions, though -when, or how, or what extremity of 
distress was previously endured, remains unknown. Green, elected captain, did not Ion"- 
escape punishment, being killed in an affray with natives ; Ivet, another principal, died of 
absolute starvation on the way home ; and the rest were in dreadful destitution on 
gaining the north coast of Ireland. Such is the substance of the relation of one of the 
survivors, Abacuk Pricket, of whom Purohas remarked : ' "Well, Mr Pricket, I am much in 
doubt of thy MeHty.' The deed is, however, described by him in all its dark atrocity ; 
but whether the desoriber was simply constrained to be a consenting party, or was more 
impUcated in the tragedy, could not be ascertained. 

The inland sea, discovered with such a terrible result, was entered the next year by 
captain, afterwards Su' Thomas Button, who, finding it open to the westward, sailed in 
that direction, fully expecting that it would conduct him to the shores of Japan. But 
soon a long range of desolate coast, running north and south, came into view, and 
dissipated the illusion. This was the mainland of America, forming the western boundary 
of Hudson's Bay, to which the name of Hopes Checked was given, in memory of the 
disappointment. Sailing to the south, Button entered the mouth of the present ISTelson 
Eiver, where the principal settlement of the Hudson's Bay Company was afterwards 
founded, and where he passed the winter of 1612-1613. The cold proved fatal to some 
of his men, though he endeavoured to arm them against the depressing influence of a 
rigorous cHmate and an inactive life by friendly meetings, in which instruction was 
blended with amusement. In the ensuing summer, the great sea was further examiued • 
and was soon afterwards assumed to be a close sea, in which it was hopeless to look for a 
western passage. The next attempt of note to find the long-desired outlet, and the last 
that was made, with any signal result, for the space of two centuries, was conducted by 
Eobert Bylot as master and WiQiam .Baffin as pilot, two experienced mariners, the latter 
the most scientific nautical observer of his age. In the instructions supplied upon this 
occasion, it was ordered that, 'you WOham BafSn, as pUot, keep along the coast of 
Greenland, and up Davis's Strait, until you come toward the height of 80°, if the land 
will give you leave.' It was expected, that in that high latitude the extreme north point 
of America would be reached, from whence a course to the south-westward would lead to 
the northern part of Japan. 'Although our desires be,' say the instructions, 'if your 
voyage prove so prosperous that you may have the year before you, that you go so farre 
southerly as that you may touch the north part of Japan, from whence or from Yedzo, if 
you can so compasse it without danger, we would have you to bring home one of the men 
of the countrey ; and so, God blessing you, with all expedition to make your return home 



The details of this remarkable cruise, the most extensive in its range hitherto made in 
the northern zone, are very meagre. It commenced on the 26th of March 1616, when a 
smaU. bark, the Discovery, sailed from the Thames, with a complement of seventeen 
officers and men. Greenland was sighted on the 2d of May, within Davis's Strait, and 
that navigator's furthest point, Sanderson Hope, was passed on the 30th, As the ship 
proceeded, interviews were had with the natives on shore, who brought large quantities 
of the bones of sea-unicoms, or narwhals, great numbers of which animals were seen in the 
water. Snow fell every day towards midsummer; the weather was occasionally dread- 
fully cold ; and the shrouds and sails were so hard frozen, that to handle them became 
almost impossible. In latitude 76° a fair headland was seen, and then a goodly sound, 
which were called Cape Digges and "WolstenhoLme Sound, after two main promoters of 
the undertaking, whose names had previously been associated with localities at the 
entrance of Hudson's Bay. Another sound, the widest and greatest of all, running to 



52 



NOBTH-POLAR VOYAGES. 



the nortli of 78°, was named after Sir Thomas Smith. It is noted by Baffin as ' admirable 
in one respect, because in it is the greatest variation in the compass of any part of the world 
known ; for, by divers good observations, I found it to be above five points, or 56°, varied 
to the westward.' !Following the general direction of the coast, the course now lay west, 
south-west, and then south, by an inlet designated Alderman Jones's Sound, but which 
has long been chpped of its civic style, merging in a broader opening called Sir James 
Lancaster's Sound, the important channel leading to the Polar Ocean in which Parry acquired 
his renown. The discoverer did not stop to examine it, but pushed southward. Pindmg 
liis crew sicHy, he sailed across to Greenland, where scurvy-grass and other salads C[uicldy 
restored them. He accomplished the homeward voyage by the middle of August, ' for the 
which,' says he, 'and all other His blessings, the Lord make us thankfidl.' Baffin 
returned from the great sea he had traversed with the full conviction that it was 
completely landlocked. It was therefore styled Baffin's Bay, a title which has been 
retained notwithstanding its inappropriateness to an ocean-hke expanse; and thus the 
honour belongs to him of having stamped his name upon perhaps the largest sheet of 
water which bears the name of a human being. He did not fail, however, in pointing out 
the great use that might be made of it in the whale-fishery ; and while all these northern 
voyages were disappointing in their immediate object, they were of immense service in 
improving seamanship, and disclosing the fishing-grounds which have given comfort, 
wealth, and independence to thousands. 




Birds-eye View of Nekouev Bay— From a Eussiau Chart. 



--it. 




Cape Town from Table Bay. 



CHAPTEE VI. 



ENGLISH AND DUTCH CIRCUMNAVIGATORS OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY, 

T was confidently afiSimed by Pigafetta, tlie historian 
of the first voyage round tlie globe, that the enterprise 
wonld never more be repeated, owing to the dif&ctdties, 
perUs, and hardships connected with it. The opinion 
was also current for some time, that it was offering 
defiance to the will of Providence to attempt to pass 
,the barriers placed by nature between the Atlantic and 
Pacific oceans ; and it was even rumoured that the 
channel which Magellan had traversed, no longer existed, 
— having in some mysterious manner been closed, as if 
intentionally to interdict communication. Many dwelt 
with superstitious fear upon the fate of the principal 
adventurers who had associated themselves in any way 
with the great expanse, so long hidden from the knowledge of the civilised world, 
as evidence of its illustration involving a transgression of the bounds of legitimate 
effort. Thus Balboa, the first European to gaze upon its waters, had been put to death 
by his o-\vn countrymen ; De Soils, while seeking access to them, had been murdered by 
savages at the mouth of the La Plata ; and Magellan, had been slain in the new region he 
had ventured to enter. As a still more terrible catastrophe, at least in the esteem of all 
good Catholics, the very mariner who first saw from the mast-bead the strait through 
which the Pacific was reached, had survived to become a renegade, and turn Mohammedan. 




54 



ENGLISH AND DUTCH CIRCUMNAVIGATOES. 



Nor was tHs all ; for the second time the strait was passed, by a well-equipped squadron, 
under Loyasa, bound from Spain to the Moluccas, a series of sore disasters occurred. A 
tempest iQstantly assailed the fleet, and scattered the ships never to meet again. Pour 
commanders elected in succession died one after the other ; and one of them was the 
celebrated Sebastian del Cano, the companion and successor of Magellan. The crews 
perished by wholesale, struck down by disease ; and only a handful suiviTed to return 
to Europe, after beiug held in durance for years by the Portuguese. Fortunately, there 
were men who defied both real and imagiaary dangers ; and, the way from the one ocean 
to the other haviug been discoTered, the particular track of the discoverer was followed 
at intervals, till the easier route round Cape Horn was made known. 

The first English circumnavigator, Sir Erancis Drake, was a dariug man by land 
and sea. His ship was the second vessel to trace the circuit of the earth. He rose from 
comparative obscurity, became a voyager ia early btfe, acquired a small bark of his own, 
and made some tradiug ventures iu it with profit, while gaining reputation for skill and 
courage. But he lost his all by a treacherous attack of the Spaniards, when with Sir 
Joha Hawkias ia the West Indies, and thenceforth deemed it right, whenever practicable, 
to compensate himself by making reprisals, without caring to inquire when the precise 
equivalent had been exacted. According to the maritime logic, or ' sea divinity ' of the 
age, nothing could be clearer than his case, as quaintly expounded by a contemporary : 
that whereas the ' king of Spain's subjects had undone Mr Drake, therefore Mr Drake 
was entitled to take the best satisfaction he could of the subjects of the king of Spain.' 
He faithfully acted upon the maxim : 

' That they should take who have the power, 
And they should keep who can.' 

Enabled by friends to equip two vessels, Drake saUed to Darien, and having moored and 
concealed his ships, he marched across the isthmus with a number of hia men and some 
Indians. It was his object to intercept Spanish treasure, which was then conveyed by 
mules from Panama to the Atlantic coast for shipment to Europe. During the excursion an 
interesting incident occurred which determined much of his future course. Upon arriving 
at a certain Mil, the chief of the Indians took him by the hand, and led him to the 
summit. Here was ' a goodly and great high tree,' in which steps had been cut to ascend 
near the top, where a convenient bower had been constructed, capable of accommodating ten" 
or twelve men seated. It commanded a view of two oceans, the Atlantic on the one hand, 
and the Pacific on the other. The trees had been feUed in the neighbourhood to make 
the prospect clearer. ' After our captain had ascended to this bower,' says the narrator, 
' and having, as it pleased God at this time by reason of the breeze, a very fair day, had 
seen that sea of which he had heard such golden reports, he besought of Almighty God of 
His goodness to give him life and leave to sail once in an English ship in that sea ; and 
then calling up all the rest of our men, acquainted John Oxenham especially with this his 
petition and purpose, if it should please God to give him that happiness.' 

Having reheved a file of treasure-mules of their burden, Drake returned home with 
large booty, and reached Plymouth on the 9th of August 1573. This was a Sunday. 
Ifews of his arrival being carried to church, ' there remained few or no people with the 
preacher,' as the congregation broke up to welcome the seamen. His thoughts were now 
intently fixed upon sailing on the ocean at which he had glanced ; but he was anticipated 
in this project by one of his own followers, the John Oxenham just mentioned, who was 
the first Englishman to appear upon its waters. This man, who had capacity as well as 
courage, set up privateering on his own account, and procured associates to sail with him 



DRAKE IN THE PACIFIC. 55 

to Daiien. Hiding tlie vessel, he led them across the isthmus, carrying two pieces of 
ordnance TPith him, he bmlt a little pinnace on a stream falling iato the South Sea, 
where he was soon at work capturing gold and silver bars. But the Spaniards were 
quickly upon his track, and being at length taken by them, he was executed at Panama as 
a pirate. Oxenham was the first of the bucaneers, the ' sea-rovers,' or ' brethren of the 
coast,' as they were sometimes called, and also ' flibustiers,' a supposed French corruption 
of our word freebooter. The desperadoes were long a terror on sea and shore, and were 
pictured by excited imaginations as beings of scarcely human appearance, owing to the fear 
they inspired. A lady of Panama, curious to see the extraordinary animal, a bucaneer, 
exclaimed aloud on being gratified with the sight : ' Jesu bless me ! these thieves be 
like unto us Spaniards.' Another had her prejudices so far softened by the civihties of 
Morgan, a noted ringleader, who made love to her, as to admit that ' neither did she now 
think them to be so bad, or to have the shapes of beasts, as from the relations of several 
people she had heard oftentimes.' 

Meanwhile Drake was actively endeavouring to interest his countrymen in his project ; 
and five vessels were at length placed at his disposal, with which to disturb the repose of 
the Spaniards in the Pacific Ocean. But it was necessary to proceed with caution, as 
peace nominally subsisted between the two nations. The object of the expedition was of 
course carefully concealed. Its destination was also falsely indicated, and while Queen 
Elizabeth secretly approved of the scheme, she gave no open sanction to it. The 
squadron sailed from Plymouth on the 13th of December 1577. It consisted of the 
Pelican, with the commander on board, the Elizabeth, the Swan, the Christopher, and the 
Marigold. Upon reaching Port St Julian, on the coast of South .America, a gibbet was 
seen upon the shore. This was one of Magellan's stations, where he caused one of his 
mutinous commanders to be put to death ; and Drake signalised his stay there by the 
execution of an oflfi.cer of great ability, Mr Thomas Doughtie, on a very vague charge of 
disaffection. M"ever did such a tragedy transpire under stranger circumstances. Having 
his choice of being either abandoned on the coast, taken back to England to answer before the 
lords of the council, or suffer death at once, the unfortunate man chose the latter, simply 
requesting that he might ' once more receive the holy communion with the captain- 
general, and that he might not die other than the death of a gentleman.' The chaplain 
relates that he celebrated the sacrament on the next day ; and Drake received it ivith the 
condemned man. ■ Afterwards they dined together ' at the same table, as cheerfully in 
sobriety as ever in their Hves they had done ; and taking their leaves, by drinking to each 
other, as if some short journey only had been in hand.' Immediately aU things being in 
readiness, Doughtie walked out to his doom, requested the bystanders to pray for him, 
and submitted his neck to the axe. 

Upon passing through the Strait of Magellan, which was effected in seventeen days, a 
violent tempest greeted Drake on entering the Pacific, and illustrated the impropriety of 
its name. The Marigold was borne away by the gale and never heard of again. Soon 
afterwards the Elizabeth parted company, repassed the strait, and returned to England. 
The Swan had previously been broken up for firewood, as the vessel was too weak for the 
long voyage. The fate of the Christopher does not appear. But the commander was 
certainly left to pursue his course with his own ship, the name of which he changed from 
the Pelican to the Golden Hind. Eight of the seamen were now doomed to have mournful 
experience of the perilous and fatal incidents frequently connected with these early 
navigations. They were out in a shaUop with only provisions for the day, when the weather 
separated them fi'om the captain-general, and his vessel was speedily out of sight. They 
were so far fortunate as to regaia the strait, where some penguins were killed and salted 



56 



ENGLISH AND DUTCH CIRCUMNAVIGATORS. 



for future supply. In an open boat, exposed to storms, tlie little party crept along the 
coast more than a thousand miles to the mouth of the La Plata. Here sis of them went 
on shore, and wandered to the woods in search of food. Two only returned to their two 
comrades left iu charge of the hark, the others having been captured and lolled hy the 
Indians. The savages soon made their appearance, and the four survivors were all 
wounded by their arrows before they could get out of reach iu the shallop. They escaped 
to a small island about three leagues from the shore, where two of them soon died of 
their wounds; and the chance of escape was cut off from the remaining two by the shallop 
being dashed to pieces ia a storm. On tliis island Peter Carver and WiUiam Pitcher 
remaiued two months, subsisting on crabs, eels, and fruit, but driven to the most horrible 
extremities from the want of fresh water. At last a planlc ten feet long was found on the 
beach, and having made some paddles of the boughs of trees, they succeeded with this 
raft in regaining the mam land. But it took them tlu'ee days and two nights to 
accomphsh the short distance. 'At our jBrst coming on land,' says Peter Carver, 'we 
found a little river of sweet and pleasant water, where William Pitcher, my only comfort 
and companion, although I dissuaded him to the contrary, overdrank himself, being 
perished before with extreme thirst ; and, to my unspeakable grief and discomfort, died half an 
hour after in my presence, whom I buried as weU. as I could in the sand.' Carver, strange 
to say, now a soUtary man, mingled with the natives safely, reached a Portuguese settle- 
ment, and returned after an absence of nine years to his native country, where he had the 
honour of relating some of his adventures before Queen Elizabeth. 

Sailing along the coasts of ChiH and Peru, the settlements of the Spaniards were 
touched at, and keenly scrutinised by Drake with an eye to what was valuable. They were 
then in their infancy. Arica contained little more than twenty houses, and Valparaiso 
numbered about a dozen families. But near the latter port a large ship was jilundered 
of many jars of Chili wine, jewels, and merchandise, with 60,000 pesos of gold, worth 
about ,£24,000. On landing occasionally for water and other stores, wealth was 
imexpectedly acquired. Thus a Spaniard was found asleep with silver bars lying beside 
hun, equal in value to 4000 ducats ; and on another occasion, eight llamas were met with 
in charge of a guide, each carrying a 100 pounds' weight of silver. Drake's richest prize, 
however, was a treasure-ship bound for Panama, from which he obtained twenty-six tons of 
silver bullion, thirteen chests of ryals of plate, eighty pounds' weight of gold, the whole 
estimated at 360,000 pesos, equal to nearly £150,000. "N"ntbing could exceed the astonish- . 
ment of the Spaniards at finding the English in waters which they regarded as peculiarly 
their own. To secure themselves from intrusion, they had propagated the rumour, that 
the Strait of Magellan had been closed by some great convulsion of nature, and would 
have been well pleased had that been the case, as they generally communicated with 
Europe across the isthmus of Darien. Not expecting an enemy, they were not prepared 
to meet one, and became an easy prey to the daring visitor. 

Satisfied with spoil, Drake became anxious to secure it by a speedy passage home. 
But he did not like to retrace his route, lest the Spaniards should have prepared them- 
selves to intercept him. To avoid this consequence, he saUed to the north on a voyage 
of discovery, hoping to find in that direction a channel corresponding to the Strait of 
Magellan in the south, by which to return to the Atlantic. He penetrated beyond the 
limits of former navigators, advanced along a mountainous coast to north latitude 48°, 
landed and had communication with natives, and named the country ISTew Albion, which 
is now divided between the states of California, Oregon, and "Washington territory. But 
having just left the tropics, the lowering temperature so affected his men, that he desisted 
from a northerly course. Drake now determined to steer across the Pacific Ocean to the 



DRAKES EECEPTION AT HOME. 



57 



Moluccas, and tlius return liome by oircuninavigatrng the globe, a project -whicli was not 
originally contemplated. After a sail of sixty-eight days -without seeing land, he fell 
in with the Pelew Islands, touched at the Philippines and Moluccas, refitted his ship, 
doubled the Cape of Good Hope, ' the most stately thing and goodliest cape seen in the 
chcumference of the whole earth,' and arrived at Plymouth on the 26th of September 1580. 




Astoria, at the Mouth of the Coliimba Hiver. 

The day of the week was Monday, but according to the reckoning of the voyagers, it 
was Sunday, and the true time of the month the 25th. This loss of a day had been 
noticed with great surprise, on the occasion of the first circumnavigation, for Sebastian 
del Cano reached San Lucar on the 5th of September, following his own reckoning, whereas 
it was the Gth in every calendar of Europe. Eeflection soon suggested the true and 
easy explanation, that in sailing round the globe from east to west, or in the same 
direction as the sun's diurnal motion, that luminary must of course make, with respect to 
the vessel, one revolution less than in relation to any fixed point upon the earth's surface. 
The commander and his vessel were objects of no common curiosity to his countrymen. 
Upon the Oolden Hind being taken round to the Thames, and moored off Deptford, 
thousands hastened to see the famous bark ; and after some Httle reserve, owing to the 
loud complaints of the Spanish ambassador. Queen Elizabeth herself was a visitor, dined on 
board, and knighted Drake. So great was the throng, that the temporary bridge leading 
from the barJc of the river to the ship broke down, though no misadventure occurred 
beyond the immersion of a few hundreds in the stream. Latin epigrams were composed 
for the occasion, and attached to various parts of the masts and rigging, one of which has 
been rendered as follows : 

' The stars ahove ■will make thee known, 

If man were sflent hero ; 
The Sun himself cannot forget 
His fellow-traveller.* 

More boisterous doings on board 'the ship of famous Draco,' as it was called, may be 
inferred from the old play of Eastward Hoe ! where Sir Petronel Plash is introduced 
saying : ' We '11 have our provided supper brought aboard Sir Prancis Drake's ship, that 



58 ENGLISH AND DUTCH OIEOUMNAVIGATOES. 

hath compassed the world, -where, with full cupa and banquets, we wiU do sacrifice for a 
prosperous voyage. My mind gives me that some good spirit of the waters should 
haunt the desert ribs of her, and be auspicious to all that honour her memory, and will 
with like orgies enter their voyages.' The Golden Hind was long preserved, but seems 
to have been eventually disposed of to one John Davis of Deptford, for a person of 
that name had a chair made of one of the planks, which he presented to the university 
of Oxford. This iuspired the muse of Cowley to write the lines — 

' To this great ship, which round the globe has iim. 
And matched in race the cliariot of the sun, 
This Pythagorean sliip (for it may claim 
Without presumption, so deserved a name, 
By knowledge once, and transformation now) 
In her new shape this sacred port allow. 
Drake and his ship could not have wished from fate, 
A more blessed station, or more blessed estate. 

The expedition under Magellan occupied three years and fourteen days, in compassing 
the globe ; Drake's voyage was performed iu a briefer period — two years and ten months ; 
and the next circumnavigation. Cavendish's, was- made in still shorter time — ^namely, two 
years and two months. 

As nature refused to block up the Magellanic channel, the court of Spain resolved to 
close it to all foreign vessels, by fortifications at the narrows, and colonies to keep watch 
and ward, whoUy overlooking the rigorous climate and inhospitable shores. A fleet of 
twenty-three ships, carrying 3500 men, sailed from Cadiz in 1581, with this object in 




Orange Harbour, Straits of Magellan. 

view, and proved one of the most disastrous expeditions on record. Five vessels went 
down with 800 souls on board ia a storm at the outset, and owing to a series of misfor- 
tunes only a remnant of the force reached its destination. Two settlements were founded 
with high-sounding names, wooden houses, and bastions. But the mother-country seems 
not to have bestowed a thought upon the colonists, after sending them out, and they 
perished by scores of cold and famine during the first winter. It set in with uncommon 
severity, snow falling incessantly for fifteen days in AprU. When Cavendish arrived 
at the strait in 1587, he found many lying dead in then houses and in their clothes, 
the sui-vivors not having had strength to bury them. Fifteen men and three women 
were alive, miserable beings, harassed by the natives while wandering along the shore 



CAVENDISH AND VAN NOORT. 59 

in search of shell-fisli and herbs, occasionally stumhling upon the dead hody of a comrade 
to remind them of their own approaching doom. Yet these wretched outcasts hesitated 
to trust themselves to the English heretics, when offered a passage to Peru, and a 
favourable wind bore away the vessels ia which they might have been saved. 

Thomas Cavendish, a gentleman of good, but perhaps encumbered, estate ia the county 
of Suffolk, followed the track of Drake ia search of fame and fortune, and became 
the second English circunmavigator. He sailed with tlnree vessels bearing the queen's 
commission, and like his predecessor lost his companions on the voyage, returniag home 
ia his own ship, the Desire. Of his proceedings, a report is extant drawn up by his own 
hand, ia which he takes no little credit to himseK for indiscrimiaate havoc. ' It hath 
pleased Almighty God,' he writes, ' to suffer me to circumpass the whole globe of the 
world, entering in at the Strait of Magellan, and returning by the Cape de Buena 
Esperanjaj in which voyage I have either discovered or brought certain intelligence 
of all the rich places of the world, which were ever discovered by any Christian. I 
navigated along the coasts of ChUi, Peru, and ISTew Spain, where I made great spoUs. 
I burned and sunk nineteen sails of ships, small and great. ALL the villages and to-svns 
that ever I landed at, I burned and spoiled. And had I not been discovered upon the 
coast, I had taken great quantity of treasure. The matter of most profit unto me was 
a great ship of the king's, which I took at California; which ship came from the 
Philippines, being one of the richest of merchandise that ever passed those seas. Prom 
the Cape of California, being the uttermost part of all l>I"ew Spain, I navigated to the 
islands of the Philippines, hard upon the coast of China, of which country I have 
brought such intelligence as hath not been heard of ia these parts : the stateHness and 
riches of which I fear to make report of, lest I should not be credited — I found out 
by the way homeward the island of Santa Helena, where the Portuguese used to relieve 
themselves; and from that island God hath suffered me to return into England. All 
which services, with myself, I humbly prostrate at her Majesty's feet, desiring the 
Almighty long to continue her reign among us.' St Helena was then covered with 
trees, but they disappeared with remarkable rapidity, upon the introduction of goats 
and rabbits to the island. Cavendish is said to have brought home wealth sufficient to 
'buy a fair earldom;' and it was commonly reported, that when he entered Plymouth 
harbour, his sails were all of silk. The fact appears to be, that a storm in the Channel 
having swept away his sails, he either put up for a temporary purpose some damasks, 
or canvas made of silk-grass, which, being lustrous, originated the misconception. He 
attempted to repeat the voyage with a larger squadron ia 1591, but was signally bafiSed. 
Meeting early with almost all the mishaps which can possibly befaU the mariner, 
he was compelled to put back, and the combined influence of fatigue and anxiety 
terminated his life before the crew regained their native land. 

A new enemy speedily appeared in the ocean which the Spaniards wished to keep 
to themselves. This was the Dutch under Oliver Van Noort, who sailed on the 13th of 
September 1598, and employed nearly three years in circumnavigating the globe, as he 
cast anchor before the city of Eotterdam, on the 26th of August 1601. This voyage 
added nothing to geographical discovery, nor was it attended with any incidents of 
interest. But while the commander was in the Magellanic strait, he encountered a 
party of his countrymen in great difficulties, \mder De Weert, being in a bad sailing 
vessel ; and seems to have quitted them without rendering the slightest assistance. The 
ship had sailed from Holland, in company with thi'ee others fitted out by an opulent 
merchant, but had been left behind by the companion-vessels. De Weert, however, 
managed to retrace the Atlantic safely, while the three ships which passed on to the 



60 



ENGLISH AND DUTCH CmCUMNAVIGATORS. 



Pacific were separated by a storm, never again joined company, and never returned home. 
In one of these was the chief pUot, an Englishman, named WiUiam Adams, 'born at 
GiUingham, in Kent, who appears to have been long in the service of the Dutch, and 
was a man of very considerable ability. The vessel ia which he saUed reached the 
coast of Japan, but with the crew iu such an exhausted condition from toil and want, 
that only five of the men were capable of any kind of duty. Though detained as 
prisoners by the authorities, they were kindly treated ; and Adams, being brought before 
the emperor, conducted himself with such discretion as to become an imperial favourite. 
He buUt for him. two vessels after the European model, and was allowed means of living 
' like unto a lordship in England,' but could never obtain leave to return home, though 
desiring greatly to ' see his poore wife and children, according to conscience and nature.' 
He procured, however, the release of his shipmates, who made their way to Bantam, 
forwarded by them a letter to his friends wMch reached its destination, and remained 
in favour to the hour of his death, which took place at Eirando, in Japan, in 1621. 

Hitherto, little was known of the immense number of islands, with which the 
southern regions of the Pacific are strewed, for navigators had generally endeavoured 

to foUow the track of Magellan, which 
led biTTi clear of them through a vast 
watery waste. But their illustration 
proceeded rapidly during the first half 
of the seventeenth century, in which 
the Spaniards took the lead, and the 
Dutch gained the most distinction. 
I^ew Guinea and Australia had been 
sighted, while four of the superbly 
■\ Lidant Marquesas, were certainly dis- 
uvered and named, in 1595, by an 
Ypedition from Peru, in which Quiros 
,1 trved as pilot-major. This officer was 
then sent out with a consort, in the 
( ipacity of commander, and sailed 
tioia the port of CaUao, in 1605, to 
make further observations. During 
; this cruise, he fell in with an island 
divided by a narrow isthmus, from 
■s\luch columns of smoke rose in 
^•^^lous parts, shewing that it was 
inhibited. The natives soon made 
their appearance, and received their 
visitors in a friendly manner. They 
weie mulattoes in colour, naked and 
armed, and lived in thatched houses 
neai the margin of the sea, among 
groves of pahns. This island, which 
was named Sagittaria, is generally 
beheved to be the beautiful Tahiti. Pursuing liis course, Quiros came at length to 
so many points of land of mountainous form and indefinite extent, that he conceived 
himself on the borders of a great southern continent, of which formal possession was taken 
under the name of Australia del Espiritu Santo. A city was designed as its capital, 




Valley of Niuianu from tlie Gorge of Pali, Honolulu. 



AUSTEALIA DISCOVERED. 61 

to bo called JSew Jerusalem. Two rivers were observed, one of wliich was of size 
equal to that of the Guadalquiver at Seville. The country seemed like the Garden 
of Eden. ' From the breaking of the dawn,' says the chronicler, ' is heard through all 
the neighbouring woods a very great harmony of thousands of different birds, some to 
appearance nightingales, black-birds, larks, and goldfinches, and infinite numbers of 
swallows, and besides them many other kinds of birds, even the chirping of grasshoppers 
and crickets. Every morning and evening were enjoyed sweet scents wafted from all 
kinds of flowers, amongst them that of orange flowers and sweet basil.' A storm 
separated Quiros from this land of promise ; and being driven out to sea, he was 
separated likewise from his companion, and made the best of his way to Mexico, while 
the other vessel, under the command of Torres, prosecuted discovery. 

The supposed continent was soon found, by Torres, to be an archipelago ; and is usually 
understood to bo represented by the Grandes Cyclades of the French, and the New 
Hebrides of Cook. Continuing the voyage, the navigator sailed through the passage, 
but without knowing it, which separates New Guinea from Australia. This was in the 
month of June 1606; and as it is distinctly said that he saw land on the south, some 
northerly part of the great island-continent, most probably Cape York, must have been in 
view. He finally arrived at Manilla, in the Philipipines, and left there a copy of the letter 




City of Manilla 

in which he described the expedition. Upon this city being taken by the English in 
1762, the document was discovered in the archives by Dabymple, who paid a fitting 
tribute to the memoiy of the Spaniard by calling the passage he traversed Torres Strait, 
a name which it has ever since retained. The Dutch had, however, been beforehand with 



62 ENGLISH AND DUTCH CIRCUMNAVIGATORS. 

him by some three months in visiting the same region, in. a similarly imconscious manner. 
It may be gathered from the course of a yacht called the Duyflien or Dove, despatched 
from Bantam to explore ISTew Guinea, that the vessel made the Australian coast about 
March 1606, a little to the west and south of Cape York, where the name of Cape 
Keer-Weer, or Turn-again, was given to the farthest point of land seen. 

But very recently Mr Major of the British Museum has shewn, that the Portuguese 
have a prior claim to be considered the discoverers of the great region. An old map 
exists in the national establishment, marked with a legend inserted at the north-west 
corner of a coimtry, wliich can be indisputably proved to be Australia : Nuca antara foi 
descoberta o amio 1601 por mano el Oodinho de Evedia por mandado de Vico Rey Ayves 
de Saldaha — 'ISTuoa Antara was discovered, in the year 1601, by Manoel Godinho de 
Eredia, by command of the Vice Eoy Ayves de Saldanha.' The orthographic blunders of 
the inscription are rather evidence of integrity than otherwise. Another legend, 
immediately below the foregoing, shews Australia to be the country intended : ' Land 
discovered by the Dutch, which they named Eendracht, or Concord.' A considerable 
portion of the west coast is stUl called Eendracht's Land, after the name of the Dutch 
discovery-ship, in 1616. The viceroy mentioned, Saldanha, held the government of the 
Portuguese East Indies from the year 1600 to 1604 ; and the discoverer specified, Eredia, 
was a distinguished mathematician and cosmographer, aHve at Goa in the year 1615. In 
acknowledgment of his services in illustrating the claim of Portugal in this respect, the 
young king of that country, shortly before his death in 1861, conferred upon Mr Major 
an honorary distinction. But very probably the jirst discovery of Australia goes back to 
an earlier date by more than haK a century than the one recorded, though stdl due to the 
Portuguese East India colonists. Yarious maps are extant, executed in the first half of 
the sixteenth century, which exhibit a vast region to the south of Java, separated from it 
by a narrow channel, and thence extended indefinitely southwards as far as limits allow 
of delineation. It may therefore be reasonably concluded, that actual knowledge was 
thus early acquired of the north coast, while the country received this southerly extension 
in harmony with the old fancy, of some immense continent being necessary in the 
southern hemisphere as an equipoise to the great amount of land in the northern. 

The finding of a new passage into the Pacific Ocean by sailing rormd the islands of 
Tierra del Fuego, while it extinguished for ever any lingering hope which Spain might 
cherish of being able to guard the entrance, gave a stimidus to nautical adventure. 
Thereby the navigation of the Strait of Magellan, which its sinuous course and strong 
baffling gusts rendered in general excessively tedious, was avoidable. This was accompKshed 
by Schouten, a practical seaman, and Le Maire, the son of a rich merchant of Amsterdam. 
The latter conceived it probable, if not certain, by information received from English 
sailors, and originally derived from Sir Erancis Drake, who had been driven by rough 
weather far to the south, that an open sea washed the southernmost extremity of America. 
The event illustrated his sagacity, and justified his enterprise in despatching two vessels 
to make the experiment, chiefly at his own expense. Though, from boisterous winds, 
difficulty was experienced in rounding the islands, it was effected in the month of January 
1616; and for joy of its accomplishment, an allowance of three cups of vsdne was dealt 
out to all the men. Their ordinary rations are on record, consisting of ' a can of beere a 
day, foure pound of bisket, and halfe a pound of butter a weeke, besides sweet suet, and 
five cheeses for the whole voyage.' Schouten called the terminating headland, which was 
covered with snow, Cape Hoorn or Horn, from the name of his native place, a town in 
West Eriesland ; a considerable island in the neighbourhood was styled Staten Land, in 
honour of the States of Holland ; and the channel between it and the main shore, through 



TASMAN AND DAMPEilR's DISOOVBRIES. 



6.3 



wliicli tho espodition passed, was termed Strait Le Maiie, from the projector of the 
voyage. These names all acquired permanence. On approaching the promontory to be 
doubled, there was no lack of rain or mist, snow or haU. "Whales were so numerous ia 
the waters, which no ship before had cleaved, as to embarrass the pilots. Sea-bicds, unused 
to the sight of a, vessel, flew screaming around it, and, unscared by human beings, alighted 
upon the rigging. The scene was somewhat different a century later, as described by 
Captaia Shebocke, except in relation to fog, cold, and tempest. ' We had not,' says he, 
' the sight of one fish of any kind since we were come to the southward of Strait Le Maire, 
nor one sea-bird, except a disconsolate black albatross, which accompanied us for several 
days, hovering about us as if it had lost itself; till Mr Hatley, observing in one of his 
melancholy fits that this bird was always hovering near us, imagined from its colour that 
it might be an ill omen; and so, after some fruitless attempts, at length shot the albatross, 
not doubting that we shoidd have a fair wind after it.' This incident is supposed to have 
suggested Coleridge's wild Bime of the Ancient Manner. 

'And now there came toth mist and snow, 

And it grew wond'rous cold, 
And ice mast-higli came floating by, 
As green as emerald — 

At length did cross an albatross, 
Thorough the fog it came — 

And a good south wind sprung up behind ; 

The albatross did follow, 
And every day, for food or play, 

Came to the mariner's hollo ! 

With my cross-bow 
I shot the albatross. 

Then all averr'd I had kill'd the bird 

That brought the fog and mist, 
'Twas right, said they, such birds to slay, 

That bring the fog and mist.' 

Mariners long congratulated themselves upon getting round Cape Horn, but needlessly 
incurred difficulty and danger by keeping too close to the headland. StiU is it notorious 
for tempestuous gales and moimtainous billows, yet regularly passed with comparative 
ease and safety by the improved seamanship of our time. 

It was towards the close of the same .year, 1616, that the Dutch began to distinguish 
themselves by discovery in the waters of Australia. At that date, the ship Eendraaht, 
before mentioned, made the west coast, part of which bears its name, while that of the 
commander. Dirk Hatichs, or, as it is commonly written, Hertoge, still denotes a cape and 
roadstead in one of its bays. In a very brief period afterwards, Zeachen, Edels, Leuwin 
De Nuitz, De "Witte, and Carpenter, all Dutchmen, ran along the whole coast, north and 
west, with part of that on the south, and originated names which now figure in our maps. 
But the most important accessions to knowledge in this region were made by Tasman, who 
was sent out by Anthony Yan Diemen, the governor of Batavia, in 1642. He proved the 
southerly insulation of Australia, before supposed to extend indefinitely to the pole ; and 
reached a coast from the westward, which he called Van Diemen's Land, ' in honour of 
our high magistrate, the governor-general, who sent us out to make discoveries,' but which 
is now more generally styled Tasmania, in memory of the discoverer. A nearly-detached 
tract on the eastern side, to which convicts were deported, commemorates bim also, as 
Tasman's Peninsula ; and a little to the north, the name of Maria Island, where Smith 



64 ENGLISH AND DUTCH CIECnMNAVIGATOES. 

O'Brien passed his confinement, originated ■with the navigator in remembrance of a 
daughter of his patron. He subsequently came ia sight of New Zealand on the north, 
visited several islands more fully made known by Cook, and was only occupied with the 
voyage for the short space of nine months and a few days. His published note-book thus 
commences : ' Journal or Description by me, Abel Jansz Tasman, of a Voyage from 
Batavia, for making Discoveries of the unknown South Land, in the year 1642. May God 
Almighty be pleased to give His Blessing to tliis Voyage ! Amen.' So highly did his 
countrymen appreciate his services, that upon the erection of a new stadthouse at 
Amsterdam, they jjlaced among its ornaments a map of the world cut in stone, marked 
with his discoveries. These enterprises of the Dutch led them to call the gTeat south 
land ISTew Holland, which the states-general formally imposed, and which was retained 
generally tdl the present century, when the name of Australia was adopted. 

The region destined to form such an important part of our empire, and attract 
universal notice, owing to its auriferous wealth, was not visited by any EngHshman till the 
time of Captain Dampier, who, wliUe with the bucaneers, appeared on the north-west coast. 
After leaving the rovers, he was expressly despatched to it again by King WOliam III., 
in 1689, and to him we are indebted for the fii'st notice of its products and people. He 
now hit the land in the bay discovered by Dirk Hatichs, and denominated it Sharks' Bay, 
from the number of sharks observed in it, a name which has been retained. Dampier, one 
of the most faithful and graphic of all describers, having landed for water, came into 
contact with the natives, whose mental and physical inferiority he duly noted. ' All the 
signs we could make,' says he, ' were to no purpose, for they stood like statues without 
motion, and grinned Hlte so many monkeys, staring upon one another.' He considered 
them the most miserable people in the world, in comparison with whom the Hottentots 
might rank as gentlemen. ' Their eyelids,' he adds, ' are always half closed, to keep the 
flies out of theh eyes, so that they never oisen their eyes like other people ; and therefore 
they cannot see far, iinless they hold up their heads as if they were looking at something 
over them. They have no houses ; lying in the open air, without covering — the earth 
their bed, the heaven their canopy.' "^AHien a gun was fired with a view of alarming them, 
they simply tossed up their arms, and after a momentary pause, said something like 
' Pooh, pooh,' as if in mimicry of the noise. The characteristic animals of the country, 
the kangaroos, came under notice, and are spoken of as a kind of racoons, diGfering from 
those of the West Indies chiefly in having very short fore-legs, with which they go jumping 
about. SaUmg to the north, a labyrinth of small islands was encountered, the Dampier 
iirchipelago of the present day. One of them he called Eosemary Island, from a plant 
which seemed to bo of that kind gromng there in abundance. Hence Brown, the great 
botanist, in honour of this celebrated navigator, formed the genus Dampiera, consisting of 
thirteen species of shrubby or perennial herbaceous plants, all natives of Australia. 
Dampier, eulogised by Humboldt and Malte-Brun as a prince among observers, returned 
to his native land to sink into complete obscivrity, after forty years of wandering over the 
world. No record exists of how he fared in his old age, or when and where he died. 

The veil had by this time begun to be lifted up from the interior of the more northerly 
parts of America by the European colonisation of the shores. In 1607, after several 
abortive efforts, the Enghsh planted the first permanent settlement, fifty mUes up the 
Powhatan, or James's river, Virginia, where James's Town stOl exists. In the foUo^ving 
year, Champlain, the agent of a French trading company, who gave his name to the 
beautiful lake in the state of ISTew York, founded Quebec. On the 3d of July 1608, 
he arrived at the high rocky wall of the St La-wrence, where his predecessor, Cartier, had 
moored his barks, and chose it as the site of the future capital. Experience has amiply 



SETTLEMENT OP VIRGINIA. 65 

sl^o^vn the ivisdom of tho selection, the position being nearly impregnable, while completely 
commanding the navigation of the river, and quite as much adapted for commerce as for 
war. Having feUed a few trees, and uprooted the wild vines, he erected some rude huts 
in which to pass the winter. The first snow was seen on the 18th of Kovember, biit 
rapidly melted away. It fell again in December, and remained upon the ground to the 
end of AprU. From that time to the present, the cHmate has exhibited much the same 
rin-our. The new settlement was very humble ; for twenty years later it numbered only 
fifty souls, of all ages and both sexes, with a stone fort for their protection. In 1615, 
the Dutch established themselves on the Hudson Eiver, and founded New York ; in 1620, 
the second English settlement was planted by the Pilgrim Fathers at New Plymouth, near 
Boston; and in 1638, the Swedes commenced their colony on the Delaware. 

But at the beginning of the reign of Charles II., an immense tract of country in the 
western world, to the south of Virginia, was an untiUed wilderness, with only a few 
families of whites from the old settlements dotting the woods on the skirts of civilisation. 
Tliough comparatively little linown, it was well reported of as a region capable of producing 
aU the staples which thrive on the borders of the tropics ; and the name of Carolina was 
given to it in honour of the reigning sovereign. Imagination regarded it as the ' beauty 
and envy of North America,' a chosen spot for the cultivation of the olive, where groves 
of orange-trees, and silk-worms supported by plantations of midberries, might readily be 
substituted for the old forests of oak, cedar, and pine. Anthony Ashley Cooper, created 
Lord Ashley, and afterwards Earl of Shaftesbury, along with seven other needy and greedy 
courtiers, coveted this splendid territory, and it was made over to them in recognition 
of their services to the restored monarchy. Two of its streams — the Ashley and Cooper 
rivers, at the junction of which Charleston is situated — are called after liim. A stroke of 
the royal pen constituted the proprietary sole lords of all the lands lying between the 
parallels of 29° and 36° 30' north latitude, from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean, an 
allotment including the present provinces of North and South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, 
Tennessee, Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas, much of Florida and Missouri, nearly all 
Texas, and a large portion of Mexico. Agents were sent to spy out the country, who 
published flattering reports concerning it, to stimidate emigration and the purchase or 
rental of lauds from the corporation. Bears are spoken of as in great numbers, but the 
more the better, since there would be no lack of bear's grease, which, it is stated, the 
Indians used with great effect to make the hair to grow; and if rattlesnakes abounded, there 
were three sorts of rattlesnake root at hand, ' all sovereign against the mortal bites of 
that snake.' The first batch of emigrants sailed in the year 1670, and from that period 
the illustration of the interior dates. They settled at Oyster Point, as the neck of land 
was called at the junction of the Ashley and Cooper rivers, where arose first a village, then 
a town, and next a city. Amidst ancient groves of pine, cedar, and cypress trees, 
sweeping down to the water's edge, covered with the yellow jasmine, the log-cabins of 
graziers antedated Charleston, with its merchants, wharfs, and shipping. 

While the southern settlements were thus in progress, North America was traversed 
overland to its oceanic boundary towards the pole, as well as across its entire breadth from the 
Atlantic to the Pacific. This was effected by hardy Scotchmen in the service of the fur- 
trading companies. Samuel Heame, starting from Fort Prince of "Wales, in Hudson's Bay, 
reached the Coppermine Eiver, and, in 1772, descended it to its mouth in the Polar Ocean, 
accompanied by two countrymen, and some native Indians. During this journey, which 
extended over sixteen months, the auroral coruscations were frequently so vivid that he 
could see to read very small print at midnight ; and he expressly states, that these 
northern meteors were distinctly heard to make a crackling and rushing noise, like the 



66 OANADIAN DISCOVEEBES. 

waving of a large flag in a fresh gale of "wind. Other northern explorers have listened ia 
vaia for similar sounds. Hearne mtnessed a scene of great horror, owing to the deadly- 
animosity of his Indians to the Esquimaux, a common feehng between the two nations. 
They were constantly on the look-out for them, and finding a party at hand, nothing could 
restraiu their fury. They crept stealthily to the neighhourhood of the unsuspecting victims ; 
and rushed out of their concealment ia the dead of night, butchering men, women, and 
children. The traveller likewise met with a remarkable adventure. In a desolate part of 
the country, the track of a snow-shoe was observed and followed. It led to a hut in which 
a yoimg Indian woman was sitting alone, who told a tale of misfortune with affecting 
simplicity. She had been taken prisoner with her child by hostile natives, after the loss of 
most of her relatives. The child, too, they destroyed, upon which she contrived to effect 
her escape-; but despairing of being able to reach any surviving friends, she had buUt the 
hut, and had lived for the last eight moons in absolute solitude. This female Crusoe had 
snared partridges, rabbits, squirrels, and a few beavers, for subsistence, and made clothing 
of their skins. Hearne describes her as one of the finest Indian women he had ever seen, 
and while she joined his party, it was not from any impatience of her desolate condition. 

Prom Fort Chipewyan, at the head of the Athabasca Lake, Alexander Mackenzie, another 
adventurer, started in the summer of 1789, and explored the river which bears his name to 
the Polar Sea, where the tidal oscUlation was observed, and several whales were seen sporting 
among the ice. Immediately afterwards he performed a more difficult undertaking ; with a 
band of hunters and natives, he was the first to cross the continent from east to west 
in a northerly latitude. Setting out from Montreal for Port Chipewyan, at that time 
the remotest European station westward, he passed the barrier of the Eooky Mountains, 
and descended to the Pacific Ocean, striking it at the head of an inlet, about latitude 52|-°. 
There, on the face of a rock, beneath whose shelter the party slept, he painted the inscrip- 
tion with vermilion and grease, which the elements must soon have effaced : ' Alexander 
Mackenzie from Canada by land, the 22d of July 1793.' Under President Jefferson, in 
1804, the government of the United States organised its first expeditions for interior 
discovery, as the result of which, the Eocky Mountains were crossed to the mouth of the 
Columbia Eiver, while the Mississippi was ascended to_ its source. At this period, also, 
Humboldt brought to a close his remarkable researches in the equatorial regions of the 
continent, extending over four years, conducted in company with the naturalist Bonpland. 
During his travels, he determined astronomically the position of more than three hundred 
places ; ascertained the bifurcation of the Orinoco, and its connection with the Amazon ; 
studied the phenomena of earthquakes and volcanoes ; marked the forms of animal and 
vegetable life in the great rivers and forests j crossed the icy ridges of the Andes five 
times; and scaled the side of Chimborago to the height of 19,300 above the sea, the 
greatest altitude that had then been attained by man. 



Charleston HarTjoiir. 




Eeindeer Sledge-Travelling. 



CHAPTER VII. 



EDSSIAU DISCOVERIES-:— CUECUMNAVIGATIONS OF THE EIGHTEENTH OBNTUET. 



N the path of geographical discovery thus commenced hy 
the more advanced European nations, they -were soon to 
he followed by the great northern people. The Russians, 
during this era, made acquaintance with the vast extent 
of northern Asia, and became its masters. Though rapidly 
effected, this conquest was the fruit of desultory move- 
ments, not of systematic action, and was accomplished 
much more by stealthy occupation than open force. 
Armies were not engaged in reducing this enormous tract 
of country, but private hunters after the fur animals, 
merchants, and small auxiliary bands of Cossacks. They 
presented themselves at first, in general, to the spare indi- 
genous population as traders, and were received with hospitality, tO, having intrenched 
themselves, the guests asstuned the attitude of conquerors. Though some tribes submitted 
only to the sword, after making a brave resistance, the majority, consisting of feeble 
barbarians, few in number, separated by dreary distances, and ignorant of the art of war, 
were readily overcome by the superior address and skill of the European adventurers. 
It was long remembered in the local chronicles of Yakutsk, how a site was obtained for 
the four wooden towers and palisades of a fort, by the first settlers. Though the tale 




68 RUSSIAN DISCOVERIES. 

is exactly similar to the one told respecting the foundation of Carthage, it is hardly likely 
to have been copied from it in the heart of Siberia, but probably refers to something 
which actually took place at the spot. The Yakuts granted so much land for the erection 
as their visitors could compass vcith a few cow-hides, upon which they shrewdly cut the 
hides into very thia thongs, and surrounded with them an area sufficient for a town, as 
well as a fort. However easy to overcome the natives — strangers to firearms and 
European modes of warfare — ^the task of exploring and occupying a vast region lilce 
ISTorthern Asia, crossing immense rivers and compassing endless lakes, passing sterile 
mountains and barren steppes, contending with the severities of nature and encountering 
savage races, required indomitable energy. It strOiingly illustrates the boldness, vigour, 
and patient endurance of the Eussian colonists, with the strong temptation which» valuable 
commercial commodities offer to perilous adventure. 

It was in the year 1639, sixty years after the invasion of western Siberia, whUe the first 
Eomanoff was reigning, that his subjects are said first to have caught sight of the ocean 
to the eastward; and when the great river Amour was first heard of. Pour years later, in 
1643, Pojarkof left Yakutsk, then a recent foundation on the banks of the Lena, with 
a party of about 130 men, in search of the southern stream. He gained the river, 
followed its course to the sea, then journeyed northward along the coast, and returned 
by a different route to his starting-point, after an absence of three years. In consequence 
of the favourable report made by the leader of this expedition, a stronger force was 
despatched to take possession of the country on the Amour. Ho difficulty was experienced 
in reducing a few Tungusian hordes ; and a chain of smaU forts was built along the river, 
the principal of which were Albasin and Kamarskoi Ostrog. But eventually the Chinese 
interposed, and the Eussians were compelled to abandon their acquisition. In 1661, 
Pokhabov, a Cossack, commenced a settlement upon the site of the present Irkutsk ; and 
twenty years later. Abbot Peodosyi, with a few monks from Moscow, founded the existing 
monastery of the Trinity on the farther side of Lake Baikal. 

The progress of the Eussians was as rapid in northern as in southern Siberia. Prom 
the banks of the Lena they passed to those of the Kolyma, and erected the first fort 
there in 1644. Two years later, a company of adventurers descended to the Arctic 




Danger Rocks near the Mouth of the Amour. 

Ocean ; and followed the coast eastward to a bay of the Tchouktski, from whom a supply 
of walrus teeth was obtained in exchange for trifles, which tempted to another visit and 
further exploration. Led on by the grand attraction of furs and peltry, aptly called the 
'golden fleece ' of the north, the banks of the Anadu- were reached in 1650, by Deshniew 
and Staduchin, two bold Cossacks, at the head of distinct parties, who estabhshed the 
fort of Anadirsk on the river, and treated the natives with great barbarity. In 1696, 
the first expedition to Kamtchatka started from this fort. It consisted of sixteen 
Cossacks, who plundered the villages under the pretence of exacting tribute ; and carried 



DIRECTIONS OP PETER THE GREAT. 



69 



off some -wi-itings in an unknown language, afterwards asoertainecl to he Japanese. A 
larger body of invaders in the follomng year took possession of tlie river of Kamtcliatka, 
by erecting a cross ujpon its banks ; and soon afterwards tlie wliole peninsula was reduced, 
wliile Bolclieresk, witli tbe Upper and Lower Kamtobatkoi forts, were built to secure it. 
For some years tbis acquisition was of little advantage, as only a very scanty tribute 
of furs could be wrung from the small population. But upon tbe extension of tlie 
Russian fur-trade to America, tbe peninsula became of great importance as a point of 
communication between the Asiatic and the American mainland; and Petropaulovski 
was founded to faciLLtate the commerce. It is to be regretted that accounts of these 




Petropaulovski. 

early enterprises are meagre and obscure, for they must have involved many a romantic 
incident and exciting adventure, which the imagination is left to supply. It is stated 
that the Eussians were at fiist treated by the more northern tribes with great veneration, 
and almost deified ; nor did they believe it possible to hurt them by human power until 
the strangers quarrelled among themselves, and blood was seen to flow from the wounds 
they inflicted upon each other. They seem only to have encountered vigorous resistance 
from the Tchouktski; a warlike nation inhabiting the north-east extremity of the 
continent, who faced the Cossacks with intrepidity, sometimes defeated them, and when 
overcome themselves, killed one another to escape subjection. It was found impossible 
to conquer this race, though their country was repeatedly penetrated; and they have 
remained to the present day practically independent. 

On advancing to the north-eastern extremity of Asia, a great country beyond the sea was 
heard of by the Eussians, which might be seen in clear weather from an island in the 
intervening channel — a reference to America. Some men were also met with, who 
differed from the indigenous people ; having ' holes pierced in their lips, in which were 
stuck pieces of the teeth of the sea-horse ' — ^natives of the adjoining continent. But not 
satisfied with vague rumours, Peter the Great determined to have the problem of the 
relative position of Asia and America solved. In almost his last moments he wrote 
instructions to Admiral Apraxin for a voyage as follows : 1. To construct at Kamtchatka, 



70 RUSSUN DISCOVERIES. 

or otlier commodious place on tiie eastern ocean, one or two vessels ; 2. With tliem to 
examiae tlie coasts towards the north and towards the east, to see whether they were not 
contiguous with America, since their end was not known ; 3. To see whether there was 
any harhour helonging to Europeans ia those parts ; and to keep an exact journal of all that 
should be discovered, with which the commander was to return to St Petersburg. The 
execution of this mission was committed to Captahi Vitus Behring, a Dane by birth, who 
was accompanied by Alexei Tchirikof, as his second ia command. 

Owing to the vast distance between St Petersburg and the nearest Siberian ports, 
which had to be traversed by oflB.cers, mariners, shipwrights, and other artificers, who had 
then to construct the vessels, more than three years elapsed after the instructions were 
given before the expedition was equipped. On the 14th of July 1728 it sailed from the 
river of Kamtchatka. The commander ascertaiaed the separation of Asia from America 
on this voyage by passing up the intervening channel ; and posterity has justly bestowed 
upon it the name of Behring's Strait. But either from unfavourable weather, or from 
keeping close to the Asiatic shore, he never caught sight of the American coast. This was 
reserved for Krupishef, a Cossack, who sailed from Kamtchatka in 1731, in order to 
co-operate with a' land-expedition into the country of the Tchouktski. Forced by a gale 
of wind from the point of land where Behring's voyage had terminated, and driven to the 
eastward, he found, first an island, aiid then a country of great extent. Soon after it was 
seen, a man came off in a canoe resembling those of the Greenlanders. It could only be 
ascertained that he was an inhabitant of a large country, where there were many animals 
and forests. The Eussians followed the coast of this region two whole days without 
landing, when a storm came on, and they returned to Kamtchatka.- This completed the 
discovery of the Strait by observation of both sides of the channel j and the fact of the 
proximity of the continents was added to that of their separation. 

Ten years later, in 1741, Behring was commissioned to undertake another voyage, and 
sailed on the 4th of June in the ;8'^ Pete?; with a companion-vessel, the St Paul, under 
the command of Tchirikof. Being separated by a storm in the midst of a thick fog, soon 
after starting, they proceeded independently, and never met again. Both were successful 
in their immediate object, and both encountered mournful reverses. Tchirikof made the 
coast of America, where the shore was steep and rooky, the surf high, and remained at 
anchor in deep water, while the mate went in the long-boat with ten men to endeavour 
to effect a landing. They were seen from the ship to row into a bay. A smaU 
cape then hid them from view, and neither barge nor men ever reappeared. In search of 
them, the boatswain and six men were despatched. These likewise never returned, nor 
was any intelligence gathered of the fate of either party. But a large volume of smoke 
was observed ascending from the shore ; and two canoes came off towards the ship, filled 
with natives, who, as soon as they saw the number of persons on deck, instantly ceased 
rowing, and remained at a cautious distance. They then stood up, shouting, ' Agai, agai ! ' 
and returned with all speed to the strand. After cruising in the neighboTu;hood for some 
days, in the hope of recovering his men, Tchirikof reluctantly took his leave, and regained 
Kamtchatka. Behring likewise came in sight of the continent at a point where the 
prospect was grand but gloomy. Mountains of great elevation were discovered covered 
with snow, to the highest of which, some distance inland, SteUer, the German naturalist, 
who accompanied the expedition, gave the name of Mount St EHas, which it still bears. 
This is the culminating-pohit of North America, rising to the height of 17,860 feet 
above the level of the sea. A party landed, and noticed many traces of natives, 
but none of them were seen. Some islands were afterwards met with, part of the 
Aleutian chain, and communication was held with the islanders, who seem to have 



dehrinq's discoveeibs and death. 71 

made friendly advances with foul intentions, but had no opportunity to carry them into 
execution. 

A succession of disasters now hefell BehrLng and his crew, which have seldom been 
equalled in the annals of navigation. He became iU ; scurvy made its appearance among 
the men ; and the weather was frightful. A storm raged without ceasing for seventeen 
days, diu?Lng which the vessel drifted before the wind. The most experienced seaman on 
board, who had been in almost all parts of the world, declared he had never witnessed such 
a long and terrible gale. ISTo sun was seen by day, and no stars by night. ' The general 
distress and misery increased so fast,' says Steller in his journal, ' that, not only the sick 
died, but those who stm struggled to be numbered on the healthy list, when relieved 
from their posts, fainted and feU down, dead, of which the scantiness of water, the want 
of biscuits and brandy, cold, wet, nakedness, vermin, fear and terror, were not the least 
causes.' "While the commander was hopelessly disabled, the ship was cast on a desolate 
shore, now known as Behiing's Island, where, from the advance of the season, and the 
damaged condition of the vessel, the crew was compelled to take up winter-quarters. 
There were no inhabitants, no grass or antiscorbutic plants, no trees, though diift-wood 
was found on the beach. Pits or caverns were excavated in some sand-bills to serve 
for dweUings. Behiing was carried ashore by four men, on the 9th of ISTovember, and 
placed in one of them. ' We saw,' states SteUer, ' the most dreadful and terrifying 
objects. The foxes mangled the dead before they could be buried, and were even not 
afraid to approach the living and helpless who lay scattered here and there, and smell 
to them like dogs. This man exclaimed that he was perishing of cold ; the other com- 
plained of hunger and thirst ; and their mouths were so much affected by scurvy, that 
their gums grew over their teeth like a sponge. The stone-foxes, which swarmed round 
oui dweUings, became so bold and mischievous, that they carried away and destroyed 
different articles of provision and clothing. One took a shoe, another a boot, a third 
a glove, a fourth a coat ; and they even stole the iron implements, wbdle all attempts to 
drive them away were ineffectual.' 

Behring died on the 8th of December, having been previously half-buried ahve. The 
sand rolled down continually from the sides of the cavern in which he lay, and covered 
his feet. He would not allow it to be removed as it kept them warm, while the other 
parts of his body were cold. It thus gradually increased upon him tiU. he was almost 
wholly concealed, and when he expired, it was found necessary to unearth him, before 
he could be interred. He displayed, according to Steller, ' the most affecting resignation 
to the mU of the Supreme Being, and enjoyed his understanding and speech to the last. 
He was convinced that the crew had been diiven to an unknown land ; yet he would 
not terrify others by declaring his opinion, but cherished then: hopes, and encouraged 
their exertions. He was biuied according to the Protestant ritual, and a cross was 
erected over his grave to mark the spot, and to serve also as an evidence that the Eussians 
had taken possession of the country.' A remnant survived the winter in this dreadful 
residence, subsisting on the flesh of the searotter, with the carcass of a stranded whale ; 
and were able, in the ensuing summer, to construct a vessel out of the timbers of the 
wreck with which to return to Kamtchatka. 

A Eussian America was the result of this ill-fated voyage. Heariag from the returned 
crew, that the shores visited abounded with foxes, sables, ermines, and sea-otters, the 
Siberian merchants formed themselves into small trading companies to fit out vessels, 
and sail in the same track. The sea-otters, or searbeavers, as the traders called them, 
from the resemblance of their fiir to that of the common beaver, were eagerly sought after, 
as their skins always realised a high price from the Chinese. The animals were taken 



72 RUSSIAN DISCOVERIES. 

in nets, surprised in caverns, speared while asleep, and liunted in boats tUl tliey were 
worn out. In 1745, the agents of these private companies reached the Aleutian Islands, 
and brought the first tribute of furs from thence to Okhotsk in 1750. To this archipelago 
the attention of the governor of Siberia at Tobolsk was directed, iu 1750, as an imperial 
possession included iu his government. Upon the stock of fur-animals supplied by the 
islands becoming exhausted, the hunters passed to the adjoiuiug contiuent ; and gradually 
established those settlements and factories, upon more than 300 leagues of coast, which 
now constitute the American possessions of the Eussian crown, and stretch to the 
British territories. Great horrors were perpetrated iu this Trans-Pacific extension of the 
empu'o. The proceedings of one of the fii'st parties to visit the Aleutians, being sub- 
mitted to a court of inquiry in Kamtchatka, upon information of some of the men, it 
appeared in evidence, that fifteen of the male islanders had been shot in order to seize 
their wives ; and that the merchant Tsiuproff had deliberately proposed to poison the 
other males with a mixture of corrosive sublimate, with the same object in view. 
Afterwards, to secure the services of the able-bodied, it was the usual practice, upon 
visiting a new island, to kidnap the children, and hold them as hostages for the due 
performance of slave-labour, in hunting and fishing, by the unhappy parents. Under 
oppressions of this kind, the aborigines rapidly dwindled, and were nearly exterminated. 

Soon after ports had been established on the east coast of Siberia, the attention of the 
Ptussians was du'ected to Japan, as a convenient mart for their furs. Shipwreck first 
made them personally acquainted with the people of that remarkable emphe. A Japanese 
vessel, richly laden with sUks, cotton, rice, and pepper, being driven by stress of weather 
out of its course, was stranded upon the coast of Kamtchatka. The crew reached the 
land, and saved the most valuable part of the cargo. But some Cossacks murdered the 
whole party except two, and seized the property. The survivors, an old man and a boy, 
were sent to St Petersburg, and arrived there in 1732. This called the notice of the 
government to their country ; and in order to ascertain the exact situation of Japan with 
respect to Siberia, two officers, Spangberg and Walton, were directed to sail thither in 
1739. They accomplished the mission, and had some intercourse with the inhabitants, 
tUl the authorities interfered, and prohibited personal communication with the ships. 
During tliis expedition, the subjects of Eussia approached for the first tune the tracks 
of other Europeans in the Pacific Ocean. Another shipwreck of a Japanese vessel on 
the Copper Island, off the coast of Kamtchatka, occurred in the reign of the Empress 
Catherine II., and led to a new attempt to establish commercial dealings. The master 
and sixteen sailors were saved, and conducted to Irkutsk, where they resided several years, 
when the former was brought by Professor Laxmann to St Petersburg. Deeming the 
opportunity favourable for negotiation, the empress sent the strangers back, accompanied 
with an envoy and presents. But only permission to trade under the same restrictions 
as the Dutch, by sending a vessel annually to the harbour of ISTungasaky, was obtained 
from the Japanese government. 

The illustration of the Asiatic portion of the empire was zealously prosecuted in the 
reign of Catherine, by both inland and maritime expeditions, at the expense of the 
government. The Academy of Sciences was charged with the selection of competent men 
to travel, and drew up instructions for their guidance. They were to examine and report 
upon the nature of the soil and of the waters, the means of putting the desert places into 
cultivation, the actual state of agriculture, the most common diseases both of men and 
cattle, with the methods in use for healing and preventing them, the breeding of cattle, 
particularly sheep, and that of bees and sitk-worms, the fisheries and the chase, minerals 
and mineral-waters, valuable plants, and the position of places, with miscellaneous points 



DISCOVERY OF THE ALEUTIAN ISLES. 73 

of geography and meteorology. TLe celebrated six years' journey of Pallas, from 1768 to 
1774, resulted from this project, with whom Gmelin, Georgi, Talk, Eytsohkof, Lepekhin, 
and Guldonstadt were associated, prosecuting independent inquiries. But an ohscure fur- 
trader, named Lachow, accomjjlished more than the learned travellers. In 1770, having 
occasion to visit the shore of the Arctic Ocean, he saw while there a herd of reindeer 
coming from the north over the ice. Guided hy the track of the deer, he travelled with 
sledge and dogs over the ice-fields nearly fifty miles, tUl he came to an island, beyond 
which was another. Having readily obtained the right of exclusive hunting on these 
islands, he jwoceedcd further in another journey, and discovered the largest in the group, 
which has since borne his name,- and is also called 'Navr Siberia. There are few spots 
geologically more remarkable on the face of the globe. Hills of fossil-wood line the 
shores, while immense tracts, even whole islands, are composed of the tusks and bones of 
mammoths, rhinoceroses, and other extinct pachyderms, rolled in sand, gravel, or alluvial 
earth, cemented by ice. These 'Adamitic things,' or 'things of Adam's time,' as the 
uneducated hunters call the remains, in allusion to their antedUuvian origin, mysteriously 
occur in the frozen soil of Siberia, though in much smaller quantity. Upon the discovery, 
the search for ivory was added to the quest for fiu's. 

To define the north coast of Siberia — an object often attempted, but not yet com- 
pletely performed — -Billings, an officer who accompanied Captain Cook on his last voyage, 
was employed by the empress in 1787. He descended the Kolyma Eiver to its mouth, 
and attempted to follow the coast eastward, but soon abandoned the enterprise, owing 
to difficulties from the ice. Being subsequently appointed to survey the country of the 
Tchouktski, he was equally unsuccessful. That bold and independent people jealously 
watched the movements of the exploring-party ; would not allow their visitors to write 
any observations ; and took away their measuriag-lines. "Water and fuel for cooking they 
supplied, but required immediate payment, while, taking a fancy to the ornamental 
buttons on the coats of then- guests, they cut them off without ceremony. In 1790, 
B illin gs visited the Aleutian archipelago, and has the merit of having revealed to the 
government the abominable cruelty with which the natives were treated by the Eussian 
traders. But his representations had little or no effect in arresting oppression, owing to 
remoteness from the seat of authority. A few years afterwards, the Eussian-Amerioan 
Company was formed, consisting of merchants chiefly at Irkutsk, who obtained from the 
emperor Paul the exclusive right to the peltry of the Aleutian Islands and adjacent coasts 
—a privilege soon extended to that of all Eussian America. Under the auspices of this 
body, New Archangel, on the southern Sitka Island, also called Baranoff Island, was 
founded as the capital. Here, for a long term of years, Count Baranoff reigned as governor, 
answering the expectations of the Company, but othervsdse consulting his own humour in 
the administration of affairs, encouraged by the proverb, ' God high, and the emperor 
afar off ! ' 

The navigation of the Pacific Ocean, long neglected by the coimtrymen of Drake and 
Cavendish, was resumed by them towards the middle of the eighteenth century with 
ardour and remarkable success. In 1740, Captain, afterwards Lord Anson, sailed thither 
ia the Genturion, with a considerable squadron ; but as this was a warlike armament 
co m missioned to attack the trade and possessions of Spain, nothing was efiected in the way 
of geographical discovery. The voyage was very memorable on account of the dreadful 
sufferings of the crews, the fortitude they displayed, and the prudence of the commander. 
Off Cape Horn, the mountainous billows encountered seem to have taken them by surprise, 
and occasioned many severe injuries. ' Our ship,' says one on board the Centurion, ' was 
nothing to them; but, notwithstanding her large bulk and deep hold in the water, was 



74 ENGLISH CIROUMNAVIGATORS. 

tossed and bandied as if slie had been no more than a little pitiful wherry.' The scurvy 
then broke out, and took off the old men so rapidly, while enfeebling the rest, that it was 
not uncommon to see four or five dead bodies at a time rolling about on the decks for want 
of help to bury them in the sea. The wounds of veterans, received more than fifty years 
before, broke out afresh, as if they had never been healed. An anecdote related by Dr 
Beattie conveys a livelier idea of the intense misery than any description. He once asked a 
survivor if he had read the history of the voyage, written by the chaplain ; and received 
the reply, that he had read the whole except the description of the run from Cape Horn to 
Juan Fernandez, during which the suffering was so great, that he durst not reooUect or 
think of it. Anson, by various mishaps, lost aU the ships but his own, which he brought 
home, after an absence of three years and nine months, laden with a vast amount of 
treasure taken from the Spanish gaEeons, having circumnavigated the earth. This, being 
stni regarded ta the light of a feat, along with the value of the cargo, caused his return to 
be hailed with general exultation. The Oenturion had for her figure-head a lion carved in 
wood, which was long preserved ia the stable-yard of a small inn at "Waterbeach, ra Sussex, 
with the following inscription : 

' Stay, traveller, awhile, and view 
One who has travelled more than you. 
Quite round the glohe, through each degree, 
Anson and I have ploughed the sea, 
Torrid and frigid zones have past ; 
And safe ashore arrived at last. 
In ease with dignity appear, 
He in the House of Lords, I here.' 

Anson lost an anchor at Tinian, one of the Ladrone Islands, where he lauded his sick. It 
remained submerged nearly a century, when it was hooked tip by a whaler, comparatively 
little corroded, but with the wooden stock completely rotted off. 

With discovery expressly in view, the government despatched the Hon. Captain 
Byron, who had been out in Anson's fleet, as a midshipman, on board the Wager, which 
was wrecked, and Byron wrote a graphic narrative of the horrors of its shipwreck. ' So 
terrible was the scene of the foaming breakers,' he remarks, ' that one of the bravest men 
we had could not help expressing his dismay at it, saying it was too shocking a sight to 
bear, and he would have thrown himself over the raUs of the quarter-deck iato the sea 
had he not been prevented.' Lord Byron, his grandson, is supposed to have had this 
passage in view in the lines : 

' Then sluieked the timid, and stood stUl the brave- 
Then some leaped overboard with dreadful yell, 
As eager to anticipate their grave.' 

Byron sailed in the Dolphin, in 1764, the first vessel in our navy that was sheathed with 
copper. He surveyed the Falkland Islands, of which only a glimpse had before been 
oanght. Dreading Cape Horn, of which he had experience in the former voyage, he 
entered the Pacific by the old route of the Strait of Magellan, but was more than seven 
weeks in effecting the passage of the gusty channel. The DoljpMn was commissioned a 
second time for enterprise, in 1766, under Captain Wallis, who was accompanied by 
Captain Carteret in the Swallow. These ships were nearly four months in getting through 
the strait, and imtnediately parted company, not to meet again. "WaUis discovered 
"Whitsunday, Egmont, and Queen Charlotte's Islands, described Tahiti for the first time, 
and did not see a single vessel, after separating from his comrade, till he reached Batavia. 
Carteret made known a spot ^without inhabitants, but with wood and water, destined to 
become famous as the place to which the mutineers of the Bounty repaired. He gave it 



cook's disooveeies. 



75 



tho name of Pitcaim's Island, from that of the young officer to whose eye it first 
appeared. 

The French were at this time making their first circumnavigation of the glohe under 
BougainTille, who returned to St Malo on the 16th of March 1769, after an absence of 
two years and a quarter. Some six months before, the great illustrator of the southern 
hemisphere, Captain Cook, had sailed from the Channel. This eminent man, born ia a 
mud-built cottage near Stockton-upon-Tees, employed his leisure hours as a common 
seaman to remedy the defects of early education, and obtained the notice of his superiors by 
professional ability ; he was selected, while a lieutenant, to go out to some suitable station 
south of the equator to observe the transit of Venus in 1769. Upon the recommendation 
of Wallis, who had just returned from his circumnavigation, Tahiti was fixed upon as the 
most eligible spot. The Eoyal Society appointed Mr Green, of the Greenwich Observatory, 
astronomer of the expedition ; Dr Solander, a Swede, connected with the British Museum, 
was engaged as naturalist ; and Mr, afterwards Sir Joseph Banks, with draughtsmen and 
other assistants, enlisted ia the enterprise at his own expense. Cook sailed from 
Plymouth ia the Endeavour on the 26th of August 1768, and touching at Eio Janeiro, 
found it impossible to convey any other idea of his mission to the Portuguese governor 
than that he was going to witness the north star on its passage through the south pole ! 
Cape Horn was doubled in thirty-four days, and on the 9th of AprU 1769, the high 
mountains of Tahiti were faintly discerned. Eeceived in a friendly manner by the 
islanders, and having a stay of some length in view, the commander drew up a set of 
rules to be observed by the men, in order to preserve a good imderstanding with the 
natives. The astronomical instruments were landed, and the observatory set up on the 
1st of May. To guard as much as possible against the main object of the expedition 




Mount Egmont, New Zealand. 

being frustrated by transient obscurations of the heavens, two parties were detached to 
observe at different stations, one on the same island, the other at Eimeo, at some distance 
to the westward. The evening prior to the important day, June the 3d, was a beautiful 



76 ENGLISH CIRCUMNAVIGATORS. 

one. But solicittide did not allow the parties to take mucli rest during the night, one 
or the other rising to report the changes of the sky. All were on foot by daybreak, and 
saw the sun rise from the sea without a cloud. Scarcely a vapour dimmed the heavens 
from sunrise to sunset ; and the whole passage of Venus over the disk was observed in 
the most satisfactory manner. 

Having fulfilled the immediate object of the mission, Cook, in pursuance of his 
instructions, addressed himself to discovery, and visited the neighbouring islands, giving 
them the name of the Society Islands, by which they are stUl distinguished. In October 
a great range of land was observed on the horizon, which, from its extent, and 
mountainous aspect, was at fii-st conceived to be part of the long-conjectured southern 
continent. Terra Aiistralis Incognita. Its circumnavigation dispelled this idea. Landing 
at one point, the commander saw to his surprise, from the top of a lofty hill, the country 
divided by the sea into two large islands, siace called New Zealand ; he sailed through 
the channel thus discovered, which geographers have since recognised as Cook's 
Strait. He next sailed 2000 miles along the whole eastern side of Australia, previously 
unvisited ; and originated the name of New South Wales, from some fancied resemblance 
of the country to the South Wales of England. The first point at which the expedition 
landed was a bay, on the shores of which Banks and Solander botanised, and called it 
Botany Bay from the number of new plants observed, afterwards a well-known name at 
home, as the site first selected for a penal colony. A brass-plate on the clilfs now marks 
the supposed landing-place. While here, one of the crew, Forbes Sutherland, a native 
of the Orkneys, died, and was carried on shore and interred. May 1, 1770, being the 
first British subject buried m Australian soil. The grave was chosen near a smaU fresh- 
water creek, and from the circumstance an adjoining tongue of land is now known as 
Sutherland Point. Eighteen years later, the first Frenchman was interred near the same 
spot, M. le Eeceveur, an ecclesiastic and naturalist, belonging to the expedition of the 
unfortunate La Perouse. Eesuming the voyage northward along the coast, the Endeavour 
struck on a coral-rock ; and, as was afterwards discovered, only escaped foundering by a 
fragment of the rock remaining in the hole made in the bottom of the vessel. A 
convenient harbour being found, the ship was hauled ashore to undergo repairs, when 
the naturalists were eciuaUy surprised and delighted by the appearance of some kangaroos. 
Cape Tribidation, Endeavour Eeef, and Endeavour Eiver, are memorials of the incident. 
Passing through Torres Strait, the navigator made the best of his way home, and came in 
sight of it on the 10th of June 1771, having employed two years and eleven months in 
his voyage round the earth.. 

Though it was evident that neither New Zealand nor Australia answered to the 
imagined southern continent, speculative geographers climg to the idea of its existence 
in the higher latitudes of the southern hemisphere; and Cook was commissioned to 
undertake a second voyage for the express purpose of settling this long-controverted 
point. He took his departui-e in the Resolution, on the 13th of July 1772, accompanied 
by Captain Fm-neaux in the Adventure. Messrs Wales and Bayley went out as astron- 
omers ; Eeinhold Forster and Ms son as naturalists, who were joined by Dr Sparrmann 
at the Cape of Good Hope ; and a competent artist was engaged as draughtsman. This 
voyage was the greatest maritime achievement hitherto performed, and no expedition has 
since been conducted with greater skiU and success. It exploded the notion of any 
habitable world existing in high southern latitudes. Three times the antarctic seas were 
traversed ; the high latitude of 71° 15' was on one occasion reached ; and the entii-e extent 
of the South Pacific and Atlantic Oceans was crossed. No land was seen in the course 
of a run of one hundred and seventeen days over 3660 leagues. But with a sagacity 



COOKS SECOND VOYAGE. 77 

wliicli has iDeeii justified, tlie navigator expressed tlie conviction, that ' there is a tract 
of land near the polo, which is the source of most of the ice that is spread over this 
vast southern ocean.' Besides determining the question for which he was specifically 
employed, Cook explored the group of the ITew Hebrides, and gave them that name ; 
discovered the largo island of Kew Caledonia, Norfolk Island, and New South Georgia ; 
and illustrated the Marquesas and Priendly Islands. He landed at Portsmouth on the 
13th of July 1775, after an ahsenoe of tlu'ee years and a sail of 20,000 leagues, having 
lost but four men of his ovnx vessel, and only one of them by sickness. Omai, a native 
of Ulietea, one of the Society Islands, came back with the voyagers at his own request, 
and as the first South-sea islander seen in England, naturally excited intense curiosity. 
George III. allowed him a pension during his stay j Dr Johnson dined by his side ; 
Eeynolds painted his portrait ; and Gowper sung of liis lot on returning to his 
countrymen. 

' The dream is past ; and thou hast found asain 

Thy cocoas and bananas, pahns and yams, 

And homestall thatched with leaves. But hast thou found 

Their former charms ? And, having seen our state, 

Our palaces, our ladies, and our pomp 

Of equipage, our gardens, and our sports. 

And heard our music ; are thy simple friends. 

Thy simple fare, and aU thy plain delights, 

As dear to thee as once ? And have thy joys 

Lost nothing hy comparison "with oui-s ? — 

Methinks I see thee straying on the beach. 

And asking of the surge that bathes thy foot. 

If ever it has washed our distant shore. 

I see thee weep, and thine are honest tears, 

A patriot's for his country; for thou art sad 

At thought of her forlorn and abject state. 

From which no pow^r of thine can raise her up. 

Thus Fancy paints thee, and, though apt to err. 

Perhaps errs little, when she paints thee thus. 

She tells me, too, that duly every morn 

Thou climb'st the mountain-top, with eager eye 

Exploring far and wide the wat'ry wasto 

For sight of ship from England.' 

The imagination indulged by the poet of The Task was not destined to be realised, for 
when again among liis countrymen, Omai laid aside his European dress, lapsed into the 
indolence and habits of former life, and soon died. 

Without waiting to be solicited, Cook offered to attempt the solution of another 
geographical problem, which engaged the attention of the government. This was whether 
any water-passage existed from the north-west coast of America to Hudson's or Baffin's 
Bay. His services being gladly accepted, he sailed in the Resolution, on the 12th of July 
1776, mth Omai on board, and was joined by the Discovery under Captain Gierke at 
the Cape of Good Hope. Upon landing at a small island never visited before by any 
Europeans, it was found to contain three natives of the Society Isles, the countrymen of 
Omai. They were the sole survivors of about twenty persons of both sexes, who, while 
proceeding in a canoe from Tahiti to Ulietea, had been overtaken by a storm, and driven 
to the spot, a distance of at least 200 leagues from home. Before reaching it, their 
comrades perished through the upsetting of the canoe, to which the three who escaped 
had been able to cling. This incident, as the great navigator states in his jom-nal, ' ^TiU 
serve to explain, better than a thousand conjectures of speculative reasoners, how the 
detached parts of the earth, and, in particular, how the islands of the South Sea, may 
have been first peopled, especially those that lie remote from any inhabited continent 



78 FEENCH CIEOUMNAVIQATOES. 

or from eacli other.' Leaving the southern for the northern regions of the Pacific, four 
of the Sandwich Islands were discoTered in January 1778, and received that name in 
honour of the First Lord of the Admiralty. ISTew Alhion was then coasted ; and Cook 
anchored in a hay on the west side of Vancouver's Island, which he called Kootka Sound, 
from the name of an Indian village on the shore. After some harmless trafiS.ckuig, he 
departed for high latitudes, in search of a passage round the continent. SaUing through 
Behring's Strait, in the middle of August, the latitude of 70° 44' was attained, where 
further advance was arrested hy a wall of compact ice. A headland at this point, called 
Icy Cape, remained the limit of discovery tOl the year 1816, when it was passed by 
Captaia Beeohey. 

Expecting to renew the attempt in the ensuing summer, the ships returned to the 
Sandwich Islands to pass the winter, and employ it in completing the survey of the 
group. The largest of them was now met with, Hawaii But here, in the convenient 
harhour of Karakaooa Bay, the illustrious commander was destined to lose his hfe in 
a collision with the natives. This tragic and mournful event took place on the 14th 
of February 1779. It might have been prevented but for the humanity of the victim, 
who would not allow the mariaes to fire, even when the danger was imminent, still 
hoping to quell the tumult by peaceful means. His remaias were mutilated and partly 
burned by the savages; but some portions were recovered, and committed to the deep 
with the usual military honours. It is afiSrmed also, that fragments were long preserved 
and worshipped by the islanders. In 1828, the officers of the Blonde raised on the 
place where the body of the distinguished voyager is said to have been burned a cross 
of oak with an inscription ; and many a pilgriinage has been paid by Europeans to the 
spot where he fell, not without taking away pieces of the dark lava rock of the site as 
memorials. The highest honours were paid to the memory of Captain Cook by his 
countrymen ; but his noblest monument are the five Australian colonies, for it was owing 
to his report respecting Botany Bay that the first was commenced. After an ineffectual 
attempt to get further north than on the former occasion. Captain Clerke, who had 
succeeded to the command of the expedition, expired at sea of a decline. He was buried 
at Petropaulovski, while minute-guns were iired by the Eussian garrison. The two ships, 
thus deprived of their original commanders, at once returned home, and reached the 
ISTore on the 4th of October 1780, after an absence of four years and two months. 
During this long interval, only five persons had died by sickness on board the Resolution, 
while not a single death had taken place in the Discovery ; and the vessels had never 
lost sight of each other for a whole day together except twice. 

The more northerly waters of the Pacific were next visited by La Perouse, with two 
fine frigates, the Boussole and the Astrolabe, in the year 1786 ; and a considerable extent 
of coast was examined on both sides, in compHance with instructions received from the 
French government. He left his name to the strait which separates the island of 
Saghalien from the northerly part of the Japanese Archipelago. Touching at Petro- 
paulovski, he repaired to the tomb of Captain Clerke, and caused the inscription to be 
engraved on a brass-plate the better to preserve it. From this point he sent a young 
officer, M. Lesseps, overland to France 'with dispatches, who effected the arduous journey, 
and was the first to cross the old world in the line of its greatest extent. Perouse was a 
highly-accomplished man, but most imfortunate as a navigator. On the north-west coast of 
America, he lost twenty-one of his men by the upsetting of two boats at the entrance of a 
harbour, through the violence of the surf; and while at the Navigators' Isles, his feUow- 
commander in the Astrolabe, with the naturalist of the expedition, and nineteen men, feU 
in an affray with the natives. The two ships were in Botany Bay in 1788, when the 



VANCOUVER 3 DISCOVERIES. 79 

English vessels were there whicla took out the first Australian colonists, and Perouse sent 
from thence his last communication to Europe. ISTothiag was heard of him after sailin"' 
away through nearly forty years, though dOigently sought for. In 1827, Captain Dillon 
partly removed the mystery from his fate. From various articles of Erench manufacture 
found at one of the Queen Charlotte Islands, as well as from some information obtained at 
the spot, it was certainly proved that hoth ships were there lost on a coral-reef. "What 
became afterwards of the crews was not clearly ascertained, but not a man ever returned 
to the civilised world. The reHcs, consisting of a sword-guard bearing the initials of 
La Perouse, fragments of a theodolite and of barometer tubes, several lirass guns, and 
fragments of china, were carefully collected and conveyed to Paris. 

During the second and third voyages of Captaip. Cook, a midshipman served under him, 
George Vancouver, who is mentiqiaed as having been sent to Captain Clerke for 
instructions on the morning after the murder of the commander. Jlising in his profession, 
he was despatched in ITQl? with two vessels, to renew the exaniination of the north- 
western shores of A Tp. erica. In this service, he proved the insularity of the land which 
has been called after him, Vancouver's Island. Having entered the channel which 
separates it from the territory of Washington, before thought to be simply an inlet of the 
sea, he followed its com^se, and landed on a small islet nearly opposite the spot on which 
the new city of Victoria has been planted. It was a beautiful May-day morning. The 
landscape, upon which no white man had gazed tiU then, was eoniparable to the most 
elegantly-finished pleasure-grounds. There were lawns covered with luxuriaii.t grass, 
diversified with an abundance of flowers, and studded with clumps of noble pines. 
It was difBoult to conceive of being in a country which had not been subject to the 
softening hand of cultivation, and the explorers were reminded of ' certain delightful and 
beloved situations in Old England.' Strawberries, gooseberries, raspberries, currants, 
sweetbrier, and roses, were noticed in a state of considerable forwardness. Pushing 
through a labyrinth of isles and examining numerous inlets, the main ocean was regained 
upwards of two hundred nules north of the point where it had been left, thus proving the 
insularity of the intervening ground. The principal channel separating it from the 
continent was called the Gulf of Georgia. The region in general received the name 
of Ifew Georgia, but is now known as British Columbia, of gold-bearing celebrity, 
constituted in our own time a distinct colony of the crown. 




Dillon's Eock, Queen Cliarlotte's Island. 




CHAPTEE Vlir. 



ARCTIC AND ANTAECTIO EXPEDITIONS. 



T the close of the long continental war, when the seas 
were clear of an enemy, and vessels were available for 
peaceful pursuits, the British government determined to 
itsume an enterprise early projected, repeatedly attempted, 
1 lilt now long suspended — ^that of passing from the Atlantic 
to the Pacific by the north of America. Various facts 
placed beyond the possibility of doubt the existence of a 
north-west passage, particularly the striking circumstance, 
that whales breaking loose after being struck in the Green- 
land waters had been captured in Behring's Strait with the 
harpoons adliering to them. It only remained, therefore, to 
discover and foUow if possible the line of commimication. 
To effect this object. Captain Eoss, an officer of experience and reputation, was despatched 
in the Isabella, accompanied by Lieutenant Parry in the Alexander. The ships left 
the Thames on the 18th of April 1818, and by the close of the following month, they 
were sailing in the midst of lofty icebergs of the most varied forms and tints. The 




EXPEDITION OP THE HEOLA AND GRIPBB. 81 

commander made the round of Baffin's Bay, confirmed tlie general accuracy of tlie old 
navigator's delineation of it, and returned liome with the conviction that it afforded 
no entrance into any western sea, but only examined very superficially several promising 
inlets in that direction, especially Lancaster Sound. At one point of the voyage, the 
strange spectacle was observed of a range of olifis, 600 feet high, and 8 miles in 
length, covered with snow of a deep red colom-, which, when thawed, had the 
appearance of muddy port wine. A portion was brought away for the purpose of 
being submitted to analysis. A substance, thus tinted, with which we never fail 
to associate ideas of the purest whiteness, naturally excited great interest. The 
peculiarity was found to be occasioned by the presence of multitudes of minute 
crj^togamic plants, which penetrate to a great depth in the snow, and vegetate in 
the severest weather. 

The result of this voyage was very disappointing, but it did not dishearten. Owing 
to lack of ardour, or precipitancy in forming opinions without waiting for decisive 
evidence, it was clear that the commander had made no conclusive search of the shores 
visited. This was the judgment of his own officers, and especially of his second in 
command in relation to Lancaster Sound, who afiirmed that he had seen no barrier 
to its navigation westward. E'o hesitation was therefore felt in placing him at the 
head of a second expedition ; and Lieutenant Parry fully justified the confidence reposed 
m him, and established the correctness of his own views. He left the Noxe on the 
11th of May 1819, with the Hecla and Ch-ijx?; and made the entrance of Lancaster 
Sound on the 30th of July. On advancing up the great inlet, a fresh easterly breeze 
carried the ships rapidly to the westward; and after sailing 150 miles from the mouth, 
it was stm found to be a noble channel at least 50 miles broad. All eyes kept 
an anxious look-out for obstructions, but none appeared. The mast-heads were crowded 
with officers and men ; and reports from the crow's-nest were in constant demand below. 
The sea continued deep, had the colour of the ocean, and being free from ice, our 
navigators began to entertain the hope with confidence of effecting the ISTorth-West 
Passage; and though doomed to be disappointed, they had compassed more than 
30° of longitude since leaving Baffin's Bay, reaching the meridian of 110° "W. by the 
4th of September; by which they became entitled to the reward of £5000 promised 
by parhament to the first ship's company who should attain it. 

The ships were now on the south coast of a large island, to which the name of 
Melville Island was given. The winter was rapidly approaching. Young ice began 
to form on the surface of the waters, retarded only by winds and swells, warning the 
commander to select a suitable station in which to moor his vessels for the dreary 
season. This was found in a roadstead called, from the use made of it, the Bay of 
the Hecla and Griper, at the head of which, about a cable's length from the beach, 
they were put into winter-quarters. The spot was indicated by the name of "Winter 
Harbour. Certain of being confined for eight or nine months, during three of which 
the cheering light of the sun would be absent, Parry was indefatigable and ingenious in 
endeavouring to render the position of his crews as tolerable as possible. When 
prevented by the weather from leaving the vessel, exercise was enforced upon the men, 
who were led in a frolicksome way to run round the decks, keeping time to the music 
of an organ. Two or three hours daily, when practicable, the officers took a regular 
walk, but never proceeding further than a mile from the ships, lest they should be 
overtaken by snow-drift; and other necessary precautions were taken to secure their 
health, and preserve them from that depression of spirits which the want of customary 
employment, the long interval of gloom, the monotony of the scene, and the frequent 



82 AEOTIO AND ANTAROTIC EXPEDITIONS. 

inatility to take open-air exercise from the severity of the weather, were likely to 
produce ; for now 

' The earth is rock — the heaven 
The dome of a greater palace of ice.' 

' Dull light distils through frozen skies, 

Thickened and gross. Cold fancy droops her wings. 

And cannot range. In winding-sheets of snow 

lies every thought of any pleasant tiling. 

I have forgotten the green earth— 

My heart assumes the landscape of mine eyes, 

Moveless and white, chill blanched with heaviest rime.' 

The vessels were roofed entirely over with thick wadding tUts, like those which are used 
for covering wagons : and the stores were removed to the heaoh, to provide more room for 
locomotion on the decks. As sailors are proverbially careless of themselves, the oflS.cers 
assembled them daily, to see that they took a quantity of lime-juice and sugar, as a pre- 
servative from scurvy. Their gums and shins were carefully examined, in order to detect 
the earliest symptoms of the disease. To amuse them, arrangements were made for the 
occasional performance of a play; and Miss in her Teens, with a Christmas piece composed 
for the occasion, was acted to the unbounded delight of the tars. For their own recreation, 
the oflB-cers started a manuscript pubHcation, Tlie North Georgia Gazette and Winter 
Chronicle, to which they contributed, and twenty-one numbers appeared, which were 
printed on the return of the expedition. 

' Thus passed the time 
Till, through the lucid chambers of the south, 
Looked out the joyous sun.' 

As the winter set in with severity, most of the animal tribes left the frozen region. In 
the middle of October, the officers availed themselves of a fine day, though the thermo- 
meter was 47° below the freezing-point, to go out on a shooting-excursion. But not a 
deer, grouse, or any kind of game was met with ; only a pack of wolves remained. The 
sun was expected to take Ms leave on the 6th of IN'ovember, but by extraordinary 
refraction, the great orb was seen from the mast-head on the 11th. After the beginning 
of the new year, 1820, the seamen watched with pleasure the gradual brightening of the 
light at noon. At that hour, on the 28th of January, none of the fixed stars could be 
seen by the naked eye. "With the commencement of Eebruary the sun was looked for, and 
was hailed on the 3d from the main-top of the Hecla. During that month the greatest 
cold was experienced. On the 15th, the thermometer descended to 55°, and remained for 
fifteen hours not higher than 54° below zero, equal to 86° below the freezing-point. On 
the 24th an incident occurred strangely contrasting with frozen mercury and icy scenery. 
A small building on shore, stored with valuable instruments, used as an observatory, was 
seen to be on fire, and all hands went to work to extinguish the flames, by heaping snow 
upon them. ' The men's faces at the fitre presented a singular spectacle. Almost every 
nose and cheek was frostbitten, and became quite white in five minutes after being 
exposed to the weather ; so that the medical men, with some others appointed to assist 
them, were obliged to go constantly round while the men were working at the fire, to 
rub with snow the parts affected, in order to restore animation. Captain Sabine's servant, 
in his anxiety to save the dipping-needle from the observatory, ran out without his gloves. 
His fingers, in consequence, were so completely frozen that, his hands being plunged into 
a basin of cold water, the surface was immediately covered with a cake of ice, from the 
intensity of the cold thus communicated to it. But animation could not be restored in 
this instance, and it was found necessary to resort to amputation.' 



VOYAGES OF THE HEOLA AND FURY. 83 

Witli trightoning scenery aroimd, and active life in prospect, the Korth Georgian 
Theatre was closed in due form in the middle of March. But the temperature did not rise 
to the freezing-point, or, as it might he called, the thavring-point, till the close of April. 
This seemed like summer warmth to the crews. The first ptarmigan was seen on the 12th 
of May ; the next morning one was shot ; and soon afterwards three coveys presented 
themselves. The tracks of deer were likewise ohserved, which, from the impression left in 
the snow, seemed to he returning from their migration to the south. On the 24th, a 
shower of rata feU, and every one hastened on deck to witness the novelty. In June, 
pools were numerous ; water flowed in streams, sometimes in torrents ; cleared ground 
appeared ; and the long dreariness of the landscape was at length relieved with patches of 
fin ft verdure, and the purple flower of a species of saxifrage. But it was not tiU the 
2d of August that the ships effected their escape from "Whiter Harbour, when, after a 
fortnight spent in attempting to proceed to the westward, it was abandoned as impraoti- 
cahle, on account of the impenetrable aspect of the ice in that direction, and the lateness of 
the season. The furthest point reached by the expedition was in latitude 74° 26' 25", and 
longitude 113° 46' 43". After an absence of eighteen months, the vessels arrived in the 
Thames in November, having lost but one man during the interval, who died of a disease 
in no way referrible to the toils and privations of the voyage. 

With great enthusiasm Parry was received by his countrymen, and being raised to the 
rank of captain, he undertook the command of the Hecla and Furi/ for renewed enterprise. 
His instructions were to examine the northern shores of Hudson's Bay, where there were 
inlets which had not been explored, in the hope of finding a passage to the northern 
ocean, and thus by reaching it in a more southerly latitude, diminish the risk of beino- 
baffled by ice in proceeding to the westward. He saUed on this mission on the 8th of 
May 1821, and was out for two winters. But the attempt to gain the Polar Sea by this 
route proved a failure ; and the voyage only resulted in illustrating the desolate character 
of the lands on the north-eastern side of Hudson's Bay, and ascertaining their detachment 
from the American continent. A third voyage with the same vessels, in 1824-5, was still 
less successful. The ships now proceeded by the way of Lancaster Sound, as on the 
first occasion, and wintered on the eastern side of Prince Eegent's Inlet, a broad opening 
to the south, which it was proposed to explore. But soon after the breaking-up of the 
ice allowed of active operations being resumed, the Fury was so much injured by collision 
with the floating masses, that she had to be abandoned ; and this disaster enforced the 
return home of the Heola. Por want of room, the ship's stores were necessarily sacrificed. 
But ad6p6t was formed on shore of the barrels of beef, beer, biscuit, sugar, and other 
articles of provision, with the coal, which, though then unlikely to afford aid to any human 
being, except the Esquimaux, escaped their notice, and proved of service thirty years 
afterwards to some of the searchers for PrankHn. 

While Parry was out upon his first voyage, a government expedition was making its 
way overland from the stations of the Hudson's Bay Company to the mouth of the Copper- 
mine Eiver, with the view of co-operating with the navigator, if opportunity offered j and 
of examining the coast-Hne of the Polar Sea. Lieutenant, afterwards the lamented Sir 
John PrankJin, was at its head, and vnth him were associated Dr Eichardson, as naturalist; 
two midshipmen, Messrs Hood and Back; two English seamen, and some Canadian 
hunters. But, owing to various hindrances. Parry had returned to England and departed 
again before the travellers arrived at their destination. In two frail canoes they traced the 
coast about five hundred miles eastward of the Coppermine Eiver, when failing provisions 
compelled them to make the best of their way back to their last winter-quarters. This was 
a station formed for the occasion, named Fort Enterprise. Then commenced a journey 



84 



ARCTIC AND ANTARCTIC EXPEDITIONS. 



wliioh has scarcely a parallel for extreme misery and horrible incidents. Some of the 
party died on the route of absolute famine and fatigue ; while Franldin, who went with a 
few attendants ahead of the rest, in the hope of sending them relief, found the station, 
wliioh, according to previous arrangement, ought to have been well stocked with stores, 
completely destitute of them. Eighteen days passed over him with no other food than the 
bones and skins of the deer which had been consumed the preceding winter, boUed down 
into a land of soup. When the stragglers came up, a melancholy tale was told. Hood had 
been foully murdered by the surviving Canadian, with the view either of subsistrmg upon 
his body, or of getting rid of a burden ; and Dr Eichardson had to take the life of the 
miscreant by a pistol-shot, in' order to preserve his own, and that of a comrade. Each was 
shocked at the emaciated appearance and hollow voice of the others. 'The doctor,' says 
Eranldin, ' particularly remarked the sepulchral tone of our voices, which he requested us 
to make more cheerful if possible, not aware that his own partook of the same key.' A 
few hoiu's would, in all lUtelihood, have terminated their existence, when the long-expected 
lehef arrived. Instructed by dearly-bought experience to obviate the risk of such hard- 
ships by adec[uate previous preparation, the intrepid Eranklin, with Dr Eichardson, 
adventured to the same region in 1825. Descending the Mackenzie Eiver to the Polar 
Ocean, a large extent of coast westward from its mouth was explored, and the whole space 
examined eastward to the Coppermine, while Captain Beechey, sailing in the Blossom 
frigate through Behring's Strait, very nearly connected himself with the overland expedition. 
Information of high interest was accumulated by the parties to these enterprises in 
the far north illustrative of its fauna, flora, and meteorology. Unable to hunt doAvn 
the moose and reindeer, the wolves were observed to have recourse to the expedient 
of driving them over precipices, which betrays an extraordinary degree of sagacity. 
While their victims were quietly grazing near the summit of some bold bluff, they 
formed themselves into a crescent aroruid the herd, and cautiously lessened their distance 
from it, thereby approaching each other more closely. Having thus cut off retreat across 
the plain, they advanced with hideous yells to urge the animals to flight by the only 
open way, leading to the precipice, apparently knowing that when once at full speed, 
and panic-struck, the van must inevitably be driven over it by the pressure of the 
rearmost. The wolves then descended at leisure to feast upon the mangled carcasses. 
Dr Eichardson was once waylaid in this manner. While sitting one evening on the 
edge of a cliff by the Coppermine Eiver, he perceived nine white wolves creeping towards 
him posted like a crescent. He advanced boldly, and they allowed him to pass ; but 
a poor deer, hemmed in at the same time, was shortly afterwards driven over the rock. 
During Franklin's winter residence at the hut put up by his party, caUed Fort Enterprise, 
it is remarkable that the cold was greater than that experienced by Parry in Melville 
Island, though it is situated nine degrees nearer to the pole. The atmosphere was 
generally calm during the intense colds, and the breath of a person, at a httle distance, 
looked exactly hire the smoke of a musket just fired. The trees in the neighbourhood, 
frozen to their very centres, became as hard as stones, and every attempt to feU. them 
ended in the axes being broken. Fogs were of frequent occurrence, tantalising and 
perEous. After a long time had been spent in stealing upon some deer, while the 
hunters were congratulating themselves upon coming within shot, to their amazement 
the animals took wing and disappeared in the mist, with a scream and cackle which 
at once declaTed their genus, and seemed to deride the creduhty of their pursuers. 
Often would the fog clear away, and permit of a point being seen in the right direction 
some miles distant. In a moment every hand was at work, the boats were launched, 
and the crews embarked ; birt before they could even leave the beach, the impenetrable 



PARKY S LAST VOTAQB. 



85 



curtain of tliG mist returned, and compelled a retreat by enveloping earth and ocean 
in deeper gloom tlian before. Tbe sun and moon were frequently seen surrounded 
with balos, or concentric rings of vapour, tinted with the brightest hues of the rainbow. 
Parhelia, or mock-suns, sometimes adorned with these accompaniments, shone at once 
in different quarters of the firmament, arising apparently from the refraction caused by 
the minute spioulaj of ice afloat in the atmosphere, in various forms and states of 
crystalhsation. These were most brilliant at sunrise and sunset. During the winter 
retirement of the solar orb, the aurora boreahs illumined and adorned the sky with 
rapid, vivid, and almost incessant coruscations. The meteor was observed to be more 
frequent, as well as to flash brighter, in the neighbourhood of the Arctic Circle than in 
higher latitudes. Its streams of light had the greatest variety and the quickest movement 
in stormy weather. The stars were not concealed by the display, but only obscured, 
as if a thin gauze veil had been drawn over them. Ifo noises were heard, though 
intently listened for, as the sudden glare and explosive aspect of these wondrous showers 
of fire irresistibly suggested the idea of sound. But the authority of both native Indians 
and Siberians may be cited to prove that auroral exhibitions appeal to the ear as well 
as to the eye, by reports resembling the rustling of a flag in a strong breeze, or the 
crackling discharge of fireworks. 

Abortive attempts had been made under the auspices of the government to reach 
the north pole of the earth in ships, first by Captaia Phipps, afterwards Lord Mulgrave, 
in 1773, and. then by Captain Buchan in 1818. A plan was now suggested to accomplish 
the object by another method — that of saUing to the polar ice-fields, and proceeding 
thence over the frozen surface of the ocean in sledges dra'\vn by reindeer or dogs. This 
scheme originated with Mr Scoresby, who, while engaged in the whale-fishery, had 
discovered a considerable extent of the east coast of Greenland, and made the nearest 
approach to the pole that had as yet been fully authenticated, having, in 1806, gained 
the high latitude of 81° 30'. His views being deemed feasible, Captaia Parry accepted 
the onerous task of conducting the bold undertaking. This was the last enterprise of 
the distinguished navigator. He sailed in April 1827; took on board eight reindeer 
from jSTorway, with a quantity of moss as their provender ; and began an arduous 
journey over the ice from the north of Spitzbergen. The expeditionary party made 
the latitude of 82" 40', the highest ever attained, only about 500 miles from the pole, 
when further progress was arrested by an insurmountable natural obstacle. At that 
point an invisible power interfered to counteract the movements of the adventurers ; 
for after several days' laborious travelling, it was found that they had actually retrograded 
in relation to the north, owing to the southerly drift of the ice-fields. ■ Great was the 
disappointment, but imperative the necessity, to relinquish further eifort. 

Two years later, with the North-west Passage in view. Captain Eoss departed in the 
Victory, equipped by the munificence of Sir Pelix Booth ; and after enduring four succes- 
sive Arctic winters, 1829 — 1832, emerged with his crew from the icy seas, when ah hope 
of their return had been almost universally abandoned at home. "While this voyage must 
be added to the catalogue of failures in relation to its immediate object, part of the 
northern seaboard of the American continent towards the eastern extremity was for 
the first time traced. Boothia Pelis — a peninsula forming the most northerly portion 
of the mainland — was discovered, and named in honour of the patron of the expedition. 
Soon afterwards the exploration of the whole continental coast-line was rendered 
complete by the journeys of Captain Back, and Messrs Dease and Simpson, officers 
in the service of the Hudson's Bay Company. During an excursion made for the 
purpose, a nephew of the commander, afterwards Sir James Clarke Eoss, very closely 



8G AEOTIO AND ANTAEOTIC EXPEDITIONS. 

approaolied the north magnetic pole. This was at eight o'clock in the morning of the 
1st of June 1831, on the west coast of Boothia. The amount of the dip of the magnetic 
needle was here 89° 59', heLng only one minute less than 90°, the vertical position, which 
would have precisely iudicated the polar station. It was an unattractive site on a low 
flat shore, rising into ridges from fifty to sixty feet high, ahout a mile inland. The 
wish expressed by the discoverer, that a place so important had possessed more of mark 
or note, was natural; hut nature had erected no monument to denote the spot which 
she had chosen as the centre of one of her 'great and dark powers.' A caim of some 
magnitude was raised, upon which the British flag was planted, and underneath a 
canister was huried, containing a record of the interesting enterprise. Eather more 
than a quarter of a centuiy afterwards, in Pehruary 1859, the place was visited by 
M'Clintock, while engaged in the search for Franklin, hut no caim was to he seen, 
the natives having probably displaced every stone, in the hope of finding spoil. He 
met with some of them in the neighbourhood, one of whom, an old man, called Ooblooria, 
distinctly remembered Sic James Eoss, having served as his guide, and inquired after 
him. by his Esquimaux name of Agglugga. M'Clintock asked for the man, who, having 
lost his leg, had been supplied with a wooden substitute by the carpenter of the Victory, 
for which his gratitude at the time was unbounded. A silence ensued. It was 
significant of his death, for the natives do not like to speak of a deceased acquaintance. 
They contented themselves with pointing out his daughter. 

"While British enterprise was thus enlarging our knowledge of the Arctic regions, the 
Antarctic Ocean was not overlooked. Though the idea of a southern continent, abounding 
in accessible mineral wealth, capable of sustaining vegetable life, and providing a new 
home for the human race, had been completely disproved by the voyages of Cook, it 
stni remained an open question, whether an immense tract of land, or only a frozen 
ocean, lay between his limits and the south pole. To determine this point, if possible, 
separate expeditions sailed imder the auspices of the French, American, and British 
governments. But before these national undertakings commenced, some interesting results 
had been attained in the field of south polar adventure, principally by merchant-seamen, 
pointing to the general conclusion since arrived at. In the year 1818, Captain 
Smith discovered the ]S"ew South Shetlands, lying to the south-east of Cape Horn, 
consisting of twelve large islands and innumerable rocks, aU bare of vegetation, but with 
prodigious numbers of the fur-seal, and the particular species called the sea-elephant, 
from the enormous size of the males. In 1821, Bellinghausen, the Eussian navigator, 
found the island of Peter I., in latitude 68° 57', the most southern land then known. 
In 1823, WeddeU, in a small whaler, discovered the South Orkneys, a group with 
craggy towering peaks, resembling the mountain-tops of a sunken land ; and afterwards 
penetrated to the latitude of 74° 15', being the most southerly point then attained by man. 
South of the Cape of Good Hope, under the Antarctic Circle, Enderb/s Land was 
discovered in 1831 by a whaler in the service of the Messrs Enderby; and saihng 
from !N"ew Zealand, in 1839, another of their agents met with a volcanic gToup, to wluch 
his own name, the BaUeny Islands, was given, and also a coast-line called Sabrina Land, 
from the name of the accompanying cutter. 

The fiist of the three government expeditions mentioned, the French, consisted of the 
Astrolabe and Zelee, under the command of Captain Dumont d'UrviUe, who was killed 
soon after his return home by a dreadful accident on the railway from Paris to Versailles. 
He sailed from Hobart Town on the 1st of January 1840, and found land on the nine- 
teenth day, in the seas visited by BaHeny, about the latitude of the Antarctic Circle. It 
was covered with snow, and marked with_ ravines, inlets, and projections, but had no 



ANTAROTIO DISCOVERIES. 87 

appearance of vegetation. It was coasted for 150 miles, was very obscurely seen, and 
named Terra Ad^lie ; but the weak condition of the crews compelled a return to a 
milder climate. About tbe same period, tbe American expedition, under Lieutenant, 
now Admiral Wilkes, in the frigate Vincennes, made its appearance in tbe same seas, 
but entered them in a more eastern longitude. He also tbougbt he had found a coast- 
hne, and through a westward sad. of four weeks, passed over the scene of BaUeny's and 
D'TJrville's operations, always having either land in sight or indications of it. If 
Balleny's Sabriaa Land, D'TJrville's Terre Ad^Ue, and Wilkes's coast are continuous, 
forming the shore of an Antarctic continent, the honour of the discovery belongs to 
the former. The Enghsh expedition consisted of the Erebus and Terror, under the 
command of Sir James Clarke Eoss — ships of mournful celebrity, afterwards lost in the 
north polar zone. Its results were more remarkable than any of the preceding, for while 
the French and American commanders did not reach a higher latitude than 61°, the 
English penetrated to 78°, or within 12° of the south pole, which is likely to remain the 
limit of human enterprise ia that direction. The primary object was to make scientific 
and especially magnetic observations ia the Southern Ocean, and ascertaiu the position 
of the south magnetic pole. Sir James Eoss, already familiar with the icy regions of the 
north, and distinguished ia Arctic adventure by discoveriag the north magnetic pole, 
was appropriately appointed to the command. Every suggestion of science and 
experience was employed ia preparing the ships for arduous service, which extended 
over a period of nearly four years. 

The vessels sailed from Margate Eoads on the 30th of September 1839, and reached the 
Cape of Good Hope on the 17th of March 1840, long stoppages having been made at 
Madeira, St Paul's Eocks, Trinidad, and St Helena, for the purpose of making the required 
magnetic observations. While within the tropics, the planet Yenus was seen near the 
zenith notrnthstanding the brightness of the meridian sun, the sky being very clear ; and 
a high stratum, of clouds was observed to be moving in an exactly opposite direction 
to that of the surface-breeze, in exact accordance with the theory of the trade-winds. 
Captain BasU Hall witnessed the same circumstance from the summit of the Peak of 
Teneriffe ; and Count Strelezcki, on ascending the volcano of Eirauea, in Hawaii, reached, 
at the height of 4000 feet, an elevation above that of the trade-wind, and experienced 
the influence of an opposite current of an-, of a diSferent hygrometric and thermometric 
condition. Crossing the equator, the Magellanic clouds and the Southern Cross marked 
the further prosecution of a southerly course by their increased altitude in the heavens. 
On approaching the magnetic equator, or the line of no dip, the gradual assumption by 
the needles of a perfectly horizontal position was carefully watched, and the signal for 
being on the exact point of no dip was hoisted from both ships at the same moment. 
The observation was of pecuHar interest to the commander, who had, a few years previously, 
seen — what no human eye had seen before — ^the needle in a directly vertical position at the 
north magnetic pole ; and who indulged the hope, in this expedition, of being permitted to 
see it again in a similar position at the south magnetic pole of the earth. 

Leaving the Cape on the 6th of April, the vessels made Kerguelen Island on the 12th 
of May, remarkable for its rigorous climate and vegetable destitution. Though in a 
comparatively low latitude in the southern hemisphere, corresponding to that of midland 
Europe in the northern, absolute sterility seemed to reign upon its shores. ISTot a tree or 
shrub exists, and only a very few flowering-plants were observed. Yet this desolate 
region was once clothed with forests destroyed by successive overflowings of volcanic 
matter, whose remains, in fossil wood and seams of coal, are found in abundance imbedded 
in igneous rocks. ITo land animals were seen, but the footsteps of a pony or an ass were 



88 



AECTIO AND ANTAECTIC EXPEDITIONS. 



traced in tlie snow till lost on reacliing a space of rocky ground free from it. The animal 
had prohably been cast ashore from some wrecked vessel. Out of a stay of sixty-eight 
days, it blew a gale of wind during forty-five, and there were only three days free from 
snow or rain. The gusts were so sudden and violent, that the seamen were obliged to 
throw themselves down to escape their force ; and one whose duty it was to register the 
tide-gauge, was actually driven into the water by a squall, and nearly drowned. 

The expedition reached Hobart Town on the 16th of August, then under the government 
of Sir John Franklin, destined in a few years to be mournfully connected with the Erebus 
and Terror. They sailed again towards the middle of November, the season of the falling 
stars, for which the instructions directed a careful look-out to be maintained, but none were 
seen, only some faint auroral coruscations, a phenomenon neither so common nor so brUliant 
as in the northern regions. Captain Cook saw the Aurora Austrahs for the fij?st time on the 
17th of February 1773, as a clear white light gradually spreading over the southern part of 
the sky, exhibititig none of the various tuits and fiery terrors of the northern lights ; but 
its first recorded observation was in the year 1745 by Don Antonio UlLoa off Cape Horn. 
The Auckland Isles, a group lying south of ISTew Zealand, were reached November the 
20th, the spring of the year, that month being there the equivalent of our own April. Two 
painted boards, erected upon poles in a conspicuous spot, immediately attracted attention. 
They proved to be records of the visits of the French and American expeditions. The first, 
a white board with black letters, stated : ' Las corvettes Franjoises L' Astrolabe et la Zelee 
parties de Hobart Town le 25 Fevrier 1840, mouUlees ici le 11 Mars, et reparties le 20 du 
dit pour la New Zeland. Du 19 Janvier au 1 Fevrier 1840, decouverte de la Terre Ad^lie 
et determination du pole magn^tique Austral ! ' The second, a black board with white 
letters, had the record : ' U.S. brig Porxmse, 73 days out from Sydney, New Holland, on 
her return from an exploring-cruise along the Antarctic Circle, all well, arrived the 7th 
and sailed again on the 10th March for the Bay of Islands, New Zealand.' The Auckland 
group was discovered by one of Messrs Enderby's agents. Captain Bristow, in 1806. It 
consists of one large and several small islands, divided by narrow channels, clothed with an 
abmidant vegetation for the latitude, and weU wooded, but with trees stunted by the 
continual heavy gales. No land animal was found; but the domestic pig, introduced by the 
discoverer, now occurred in great numbers in a wild state. As the station promised to be 
of value in the southern whale-fishery, the stock of useful animals was increased by intro- 
ducing sheep, poultry, and rabbits ; and several kinds of edible vegetables were sown and 
planted. The practice is strongly to be commended of introducing plants and animals 
serviceable to man, on shores which are destitute of, but capable of maintaining them. 
It is an easy mode of conferring a benefit of unknown importance. Perhaps some 
unfortunate shipwrecked crew, cast upon the Aucklands by the boisterous ocean which 
raves around them, may have reaped no mean advantage from the legacy left there by the 
British expedition. The cereals were conveyed by the Spaniards from the old to the new 
continent, thereby endowing it with wealth of incomparably greater value than its 
own sUver and gold ; and the earthen vessel in which the original wheat so^vn in its 
neighbom-hood was brought to Quito, is stiU preserved as a precious relic. ' Wliy,' asks 
Humboldt, 'have not men preserved everywhere the names of those who, instead of 
ravaging the earth, have enriched it Avith plants useful to the human race ? ' 

The nest point of the expedition was Campbell Island, south of the Aucklands, about 
thirty mUes in circumference, discovered by Captain Hazelburgh in the year 1810. The 
remains of some huts were found, and the graves of several seamen who had evidently 
been employed in the seal-fishery. Amongst them was that of a Frenchwoman, accidentally 
drowned by the upsetting of a boat. Here the outward voyage terminated, December the 



DISCOVERY OP VICTORIA LAND. 89 

14th, fourteen montlis and a half having been oocupied by it, and the magnetic, tidal, and 
astronomical observations at the several stations visited. From this island, in latitude 
52° 33' S., and longitude 1G9° 8' E., Eoss determined to proceed directly southward 
along the meridian of 170° E. Clu'istmas-day, although the midsummer-day of the 
southern hemisphere, and not in a very high latitude, was passed iu a strong gale, with 
constant snow or rain. Soon afterwards tho first icebergs were seen, which, unlOce 
those of tho Arctic seas, presented little variety of form, had tabular summits, in 
some instances amounting to two miles in circumference, on all sides bounded by 
perpendicular cliffs. On the fiist day of the new year, 1841, the ships crossed the 




Brebus and Terror in the Pack Ice. — From Boss's Antarctic Voyage. 
(By permission.) 

Antarctic Circle, and came to the edge of the pack-ice. After skirting it for some days 
in search of a favourable opening, it was entered, and the clear sea was lost sight of; from 
the mast-heads, nothing but icy masses being visible around, from which the vessels 
sustained some violent shocks, and were occasionally in danger. On the 5th day, the 
pack was passed through amid blinding snow and thick fog, which, on clearing away, 
revealed the cheering view of an open sea ; and early in the morning of January the 11th, 
the officer of the watch reported land distinctly seen directly ahead of the ships. 

A coast rose in lofty peaks, covered with perpetual snow, but at a great distance. The 
latitude was about the highest attained by Cook. More land speedily came in sight, 
consisting of mountainous ranges ; and to the principal summits the names of eminent 



90 



AECTIC AND ANTABCTIC EXPEDITIONS. 



individuals at liome ^7c^e given. Near views of the newly-discovered country are ttus 
described : ' It was a beautifully clear evening ; and we bad a most encbanting view of 
tbe two magnificent ranges of mountains, wbose lofty peaks, perfectly covered witb 
eternal snow, rose to elevations varying from 7000 to 10,000 feet above tbe level of 
tbe ocean. Tbe glaciers that filled tbeir intervening valleys, and wbich descended from 
near tbe mountain-summits, projected in many places several miles into tbe sea, 
and terminated in lofty perpendicular cliffs. In a few places the rocks broke tbrough 
tbeir icy covering, by wbiob alone we could be assured tbat land formed tbe nucleus of 
tbis, to appearance, enormous iceberg.' 'Early tbis morning [January 15tb] we bad a 
fine view of tbe magnificent chain of mountains tbat we bad seen stretching away to tbe 
southward some days before, but then more imperfectly. "Witb a moderate southerly 
wind, we bad beautifully clear weather, and we now saw them to great advantage ; and as 
we stood towards them, we gazed with feelings of indescribable dehgbt upon a scene of 
grandeur far surpassing anything we bad before seen, or could have conceived. These 
mountains also were completely covered to their sharply-pointed summits with snow, and 
the elevations tbat were measured roughly, varied from 12,000 to upwards of 14,000 
feet. These were named after the eminent philosophers of tbe Eoyal Society and 
British Association, at whose recommendation tbe government was induced to send forth 
this expedition. Herschel, an imperishable name, was given to the most conspicuous.' 
' ISew portions of land opened to our view as we proceeded to the southward. Tbe 
sun shone forth with great brilliancy ; and its beams were reflected from the now 
distant mountains in every variety of tone, and modification of light, which the different 
forms of their icy coverings exhibited.' 

Tbis discovery restored to Great Britain the honour of reaching tbe southernmost 
known land, which had previously belonged to Eussia. Owing to tbe ice from the shore 
projecting into the sea, and tbe heavy surf, it was found impossible to perform the 
ceremony of taking possession upon the mainland. It transpired upon a small adjoining 
island, enthely composed of igneous rocks, which was called Possession Island. ISTot the 
slightest trace of vegetation appeared, but myriads of penguins, wbich densely covered the 
whole sm-face, thd ledges of the precipices, and the summits of the bills, unaccustomed 
to human intrusion, and equal strangers to the fear and power of man, vigorously attacked 
tbe landing-party with their sharp beaks. This Antarctic region received tbe name of 
Victoria Land, in honour of the Queen. It was coasted up to latitude 78° S. ; and near 
tbat point a most unexpected feature presented itself. This was a magnificent volcano, 
rising 12,000 feet above the level of tbe sea, emitting flame and smoke in splendid 
profusion, as represented on the opposite page, which the explorers called Mount Erebus, 
after the name of tbe leading ship, while tbat of the Terror was given to a lower extinct 
crater to tbe eastward. A singular incident occurred off the shore. An island seemed 
suddenly to have made its appearance at a spot occupied a few hours before by an iceberg. 
It was upwards of a hundred feet high, witb tbe whole summit perfectly free from snow. 
The mystery was speedily dispelled. It seems that the berg had turned over unperceived 
from the ships, exposing to view a new surface covered with earth and stones, and tbe 
mass was stiU shghtly oscillating from the effects. Icebergs of enormous extent were 
met with, sometimes laden with immense fragments of rock, to be deposited on their 
dissolution upon the floor of the ocean, far away from the original site of tbe transported 
material This is one of the facts of common occurrence, upon which the geological 
theory is grounded, accounting for erratic blocks on land, which have no identity with 
the rocks of their immediate site, or with any to be found within perhaps hundreds of 
miles of them. Let but the bed of the sea, where the ice-borne fragments are strewn, 



GEOLOGY OP VIOTOniA LAND. 91 

be olcvateJ, so as to become dry laad — a cliange -wMch we know has taken place vnth. 
reference to large tracts of the present surface of Europe — and erratic blocks would be 
exposed similar to those ■which now cover the sandy plains of Pomeranian Prussia, 
which are identical in mineral composition with the rooks of the Scandinavian Highlands. 
The approach of the southern winter warned the party to retire to spend it in a lower 
latitude; and though on two successive seasons the south polar zone was re-entered, 
no results of public interest were obtaiued, owing to the unfavourable condition of the 
ice. Victoria Land, thus revealed, perhaps never to be seen again, seems to be entirely of 
modern volcanic character, while in Arctic regions the great mass of the land consists of 
primitive rocks and secondary sedimentary formations. Possession Island was found to be 
composed of volcanic conglomerate, vesicular lava, and basalt. A beautiful little recess in 
the prismatic columns of basalt presented a miniature picture of Fingal's Cave in Staffa. The 
main coast shewed nothing but jet-black lava or basalt, cropping out in its bold capes 
and promontories beneath a mantle of eternal frost. Aqueous formations may exist in the 
interior under its covering of snow, but the contour of the country, seen at a distance, 
exhibited the true volcanic outline. The Antarctic region, contrary to what is the case in 




Mount Ei-ebus and Beaufort Island. — From Koss's Antarctic Voyage. 
{By permission.) 



the opposite dark and outer boundary of the earth, appears to have no representative of the 
vegetable kingdom. The American trembling poplar reaches to the verge of the Arctic 
Circle ; the birch survives to latitude 70° in Europe ; shrubs and bushes linger on further 
north ; and mosses and lichens defy the severest cold of the Arctic zone. Man has 
never yet gone north beyond the limits of vegetable life in this region j Captain Parry, 
winteiing in Melville Island, found mixed with moss, under the snow, an abundance of 



92 ARCTIC AND ANTARCTIC EXPEDITIONS. 

several lands of sorrel, a valuable antidote against scurvy ; but not tbe smallest trace of 
vegetation, so much, as a lichen or piece of sea-weed growing on the rocks, was perceived 
in similarly high southern latitudes. The extreme south also differs from the far north 
in respect of animal life. The latter is inhabited by various tribes, white bears, 
reindeer, wolves, the polar hare, and Arctic fox, some of which seek no southerly 
migration to avoid the long rigorous winter. While Parry wintered at Melville Island, 
a pack of wolves nightly serenaded the crew, and a beautiful white fox was taken 
and domesticated. But no terrestrial quadrupeds of any kind appeared on the south 
polar shores. The oceanic birds — albatrosses, penguins, and petrels — occurred in great 
numbers, with seals reposing on the ice, and whales spouting in all directions in the open 
water. Before iinaUy leaving the Antarctic Circle, a remarkable ray of light was seen 
on the evening of March 9, 1843, and entered in the log-book as a stationary beam of 
Aurora Australis. Its fixed character on the foUowing nights led to a different opinion, 
and eventually it proved to be the tail of the great comet which shortly afterwards became 
visible in our own hemisphere, and occasioned so much surprise. In the September 
following, the expedition reached the shores of England, 

The same vessels were almost immediately commissioned for another enterprise, but in 
an opposite direction. Though contrary to the judgment of many, who thought that 
sufdcient hazard of life had been incurred in attempts to effect the North- West Passage of 
America, the government determined to make a further effort to solve if possible a 
geographical problem, certainly of interest, but of no practical importance. This task was 
intrusted to Sir Jolm Franklin, in the Erebiis, as commander, a veteran in polar service, 
who had for his second Captain Crozier, in the Terror, likewise an officer of great 
experience in the navigation of icy seas. He had charge of the same vessel under Eoss in 
the Antarctic voyage, and had been out thi-ee times under Parry — in the Fury in 1821, in 
the ^ecZa in 1824, and in the celebrated boat-expedition to the pole in 1827. Officers and 
crews numbered 139. They were picked men, and included some of the choicest spirits 
in the royal navy, all ready to brave danger and death in the public service, and all 
destined to perish in attempting an object wliioh the authorities of the kingdom deemed 
legitimate and praiseworthy. Pitzjames, the captain of the Erebus, had served in Syria 
and China ; and thus departed to strongly-contrasting scenery and climate on sailing for 
the Arctic Circle. It was his fii-st advance to the great zone of cold. He Avas specially 
commissioned to take charge of the magnetic observations. Gore, the first-lieutenant, was 
out in the fearful voyage of the Terror in 1836, under Sir George Back, to the north of 
Hudson's Bay, and also mth Eoss in the Antarctic regions. Pairhohne, the third-lieutenant, 
was in the expedition to the Mger. Osmer, the purser, accompanied Captain Beechey to 
Behring's Strait. Stanley, the surgeon, had followed his vocation in China. Goodsir, 
the assistant-surgeon, a young Scot, had been curator of the Edinburgh Museum, and 
contributed several papers to the scientific journals, one of which, on the Mode of 
Reproduction of Lost Parts in the Crustacea, appeared in the year the expedition sailed. 
Ice-master Elenky was with Sir John Eoss during his four years' imprisonment in high 
latitudes. 

The ships left Sheerness on the 26th of May 1845, and at noon, on the 4th of June, 
while off the island of Eona, a western outlier of the Orkneys, the attendant steamers Rattler 
and Blazer parted company with them. They ranged successively alongside the discovery- 
vessels as closely as possible without touching ; and prolonged cheers were exchanged by 
omcers and men. In an hour or two the steamers were out of sight on their way home- 
Ward; and the rocky Eona, the sea, and sea-guUs were alone in view. On the 11th and 
12th the ships were off the south of Iceland, with the sea exhibiting the most perfect 



FRANKLINS LAST VOYAGE. 93 

transparency, of a beautiful, delicate, cold-looking gi-een, or ultramarine. Soon after tho 
22d, Davis's Strait was fairly entered, and a sensible decrease of temperatiu'e was observed. 
A monkey taken out was furnisbod by tlie sailors with a blanket, frock, and trousers. 
Icebergs were seen, and the west coast of Greenland sighted, looking rugged, but sparklin'^ 
with snow, the ravines and shadows appearing as deep black marks upon it. The ice- 
master began now to speak of soon seeing the 'Huskimays.' On the evening of the 30th, 
at six o'clock, the Arctic Circle was crossed ; but it was too cloudy to see the sun at 
midnight, just skirting the horizon. The night of July the 1st was fine, clear, and 
sunshiny. Splendid icebergs appeared in great numbers, and occasionally interrupted the 
solemn silence by toppling over with a report like thunder. The Danish settlement of 
Disco, on the west coast of Greenland, and the "Whale Esh Islands in its bay, was now 
made, where the sliips remained for a few days. 

From this place, on the 9th, Franklin addressed a letter to Colonel Sabine, stating that 
the sliips had on board provisions, fuel, clothing, and stores comp)lete for three years from 
that date. They took out, of fresh provisions supplied by the Admiralty — preserved 
meat in tins, 32,018 lbs. j soup, 17,416 pints; gravy, 2176 pints; vegetables, 8076 lbs.; 
potatoes, 2632 lbs. ; besides the usual rations of salt provisions for three years. He 
concluded as follows : ' I hope my dear wife and daughter will not be over-anxious if 
we should not return by the time they have fixed upon ; and I must beg of you to give 
them the benefit of your advice and experience when that arrives ; for you know well, 
that even after a second winter, without success in our object, we should wish to try 
some other channel, if the state of our provisions and the health of the crews justify it.' 
On the night of the 11th, Fitzjames wrote liis last paragraph home : 'It is now eleven 
o'clock, and the sun shines brightly over the snowy peaks of Disco. From the top of one 
of the islands, the other day, I counted two hundred and eighty icebergs, and beautiful 
objects they are. Should you hear nothing till next June, send a letter, via Petersburg, 
to Petropaulovski, in Kamtchatka, where Osmer was in the Blossom, and had letters from 
England in three months. And now, God bless you, and everything belonging to you.' 
Franklin's last dispatch to the Admiralty was from the same spot, dated the 12th : ' I 
hope to be able to sail in the night. It is unnecessary for me to assure their lordships of 
the energy and zeal of Captain Crozier and Commander Fitzjames, and of the ofl&cers and 
men with whom I have the happiness of being employed on this service.' 

The ships were spoken with on the" 22d by Captain Martiu of Peterhead, in the 
Enterprise, a whaler, in latitude 75° 10', longitude 66°, weather calm. They were along- 
side his vessel about fifteen minutes, during which he conversed with Franklin and the 
ice-master. Four days later, the 26th, they were seen by Captain Dannett, of the Prince 
of Wales whaler, moored to an iceberg, waiting an opening in the middle ice of Bafl&n's 
Bay, to cross through it to Lancaster Sound. The veil then dropped over the hapless 
Erebus and Terror, and what became of them and their crews was not known, though 
surmised, tiU. fourteen anxious years had passed away. As the third winter approached 
without inteUigence of the voyagers, uneasiness began to be felt respecting their safety, 
and the ' missing expedition ' became an ominous and familiar phrase. It was the general 
impression that no time should be lost in endeavouring to discover and relieve them, if 
alive ; and, accordingly, a series of attempts commenced with this purpose in view, or to 
ascertain their doom. Expedition after expedition departed on this errand of humanity 
and justice. The resources of government and the munificence of private individuals, both 
at home and abroad, were brought to bear upon the object ; and the whole civilised world 
took interest in the task of ascertaining the fortunes of the gallant men who had disappeared 
from notice in the heart of the icy ocean. In the interval between the years 1848 and 



94 ABCTIC AND ANTAEOTIO EXPEDITIONS. 

1854 iaclusive, Wenty-foiir vessels sailed, and two land-joiirneys were made. The ■world 
never vritnessed before a spectacle so exciting in its circumstances and scene as tMs long 
and arduous search, so full of mid grandeur and profound pathos. Countrymen and 
strangers invaded the dark depths of polar night, in the struggle to reach the lost. 
Friend yearned after friend, and brother strove to get at brother, amid the congealed 
masses of the ocean, mth an ardoitt which no cold could chiU or danger appal. The 
dreary solitudes of the Arctic zone were converted into a vast hunting-ground ; and the 
voices of anxious hands roused its echoes, now cheering on each other in the endeavour to 
find the prison-house of the vanished crews, and now talking over their own perils, plans, 
hopes, fears, and hairbreadth escapes. Eegions naturally desolate of human life were 
traversed by many a party intent upon the task of meeting with the trail of Pranklia 
amid the bear-tracks of the north, rescuing any of the forlorn survivors, or wresting 
from the stern keeping of the ice-fields the secret of their fate, and honouring their 
remains. 

Interesting and exciting incidents occurred during the quest, with some of a mournful 
nature. In 1849, Mr E. Goodsir went out in the Advice whaler, under Captain Penny, 
in the hope of gaining some tidings of Ms brother, the assistant-surgeon of the Erebus. 
The optical illusions common in the Arctic regions were on one occasion exemplified in a 
tantalising manner. While standing on the forecastle in Lancaster Sound, examining 
with a telescope every part of the coast most anxiously, he recognised with a thrill of joy a 
flag-staff and ensign. He gazed earnestly at it, and so distinctly did it shew itself, that he 
could even make out the waving of the flag. Unwilling, however, to trust to his own 
vision only, he put the telescope into the hands of a man who was standing near him, 
that he might look at the point ahead. The man did so, and with a start exclaimed that 
a flag was flying. Mr Goodsir, overjoyed, snatched the glass back, and again applied it 
to his eye. For an instant — an instant only — he saw the wished-for signal. It then faded 
—was distorted into a broken and disjointed column — ^became changed into an inverted 
pyramid — tDl at last the image was resolved into its real form, that of a hummocky 
piece of ice. These illusory appearances, caused by extraordinary refraction, often perplex 
the Arctic explorer, and exceed the most marvellous deceptions of the desert mirage. The 
most mournful casualty of these voyages was the loss of Lieutenant BeUot of the French 
navy, a volunteer, who sailed with Mr Kennedy to Barrow's Strait, and again with 
Captain Inglefield to the head of BaflSn's Bay, where he perished by slipping through a 
chasm in the ice. Just before leaving, he sent to Sir Edward Parry a parting-gift. This 
was a tumscrew, the handle of which was made out of the wood of his old ship, picked 
up by BeUot on Fury Beach twenty-seven years after the wreck. ' He sent me,' Parry 
observed in a speech, ' that Httle thing as a memento, and it wiU be handed down as an 
heu'-loom to my son, who, I hope, will value it as I do.' An obelisk, in honom- of the 
gallant Frenchman, appears appropriately in the front of Greenwich Hospital. 

During the detention of the searching-ships in winter-quarters, travelling-parties 
scoured the surrounding country, and explored it in sledges, often to an immense distance 
from the locked-up vessels, while the thermometer indicated a temperature of 71° below 
the free2ing-point ; the chronometers stopped from excessive cold, though closely attached 
to the person ; and bottles of water, carried at the breast, became bottles of ice. Over a 
smooth surface, large kites attached to the sledges, or sails hoisted, lessened the labour of 
the travellers when the wind was high. These parties were organised on an extensive 
scale out of Captain Austen's expedition in the winter of 1850-51, and commenced their 
tours as its rigour abated. Fourteen sledges, with one hundred and four ofl&cers and men, 
set out in different directions. They carried distinguishing flags with particular mottoes, 



EFFORTS MADE TO DISCOVER FRANKLIN. 95 

as : ' Onward to the rescue !' 'Persevere to tlie end !' 'Faithful and firm !' 'Endeavour to 
deserve I' ' The heart that can feel for another I' ' Our trust is in God !' and 

' Gazo where some distant speck a sail implies, 
"With all the thii'sting gaze of enterprise !' 

The tourists were absent from six to eighty days, travelling from forty-four to seven 
hundred and sixty miles. Often a hear, a wolf, or a musk-ox attracted attention, whUe 
remarkable parhelia glittered aloft in the heavens. Mock suns — arcs concentric or 
inverted — arcs shewing the brightest prismatic colours — were described with mathematical 
precision. These phenomena were most hriUiant when the cold was most intense. 
Hence an ohservant tar remarked, that ' when them sun-dogs shews themselves, we always 
gets double allowance from Jack Erost.' The men cheerfully faced the biting gale, and 
sturdily advanced against the snow-drift. But it frequently lay deep and soft, with a 
crusted surface, through which the entire party sank, or the route was over ice of 
extraordinary difficulty, resemhling long waves suddenly frozen, studded vrith hemispherical 
icy mounds. Some were frostbitten; others had snow-bhndness in one or both eyes, 
caused by the glitter of the surface iu the sun ; and each division underwent immense 
fatigue, with suffering from aching limbs. Yet no man's heart shrank from the encouater 
with cold, pain, blindness, and peril of hfe. 

In drawing the sledges, the snow-bhnd were placed in the rear, as vision was only 
needed in the leaders to see the way. Wine of opium was appHed to the eyes of the 
afflicted with good effect, but caused excruciating pain. Often in drinking, the lips 
adhered to the edge of the vessels owing to the cold, and severe excoriations were produced 
in removing them ; whUe the accumulation of ice to the beard was continually irritating 
the lips. No washing being practicable, countenances rapidly acquired a darkened 
complexion, being begrimed with dirt and soot from the cooking, tUl every visage was of 
sable hue. Some illustrative passages may be quoted from a parliamentary blue-book : 

' Sledge Reliance. — AVm. Dove snow-hUnd in hoth eyes ; one man slightly in one eye ; two vrith sore faces 
from sun and frost. 

Sledge True Blue. — Lieutenant Osboni snow-hlind in both eyes ; one bad diarrhcea and debilitated ; four 
snow-blind in left eye. 

Sledge Succour. — Four affected with snow-blindness ; one bad frostbite. 

Sledge Adventure. — Two snow-blindness in both eyes ; one frostbite.' 

Frostbites were cured by early application of friction to restore the circulation, rubbing the 
part affected with spirits, and warmth in blanket-bags. StiU one case terminated fatally, 
that of G. Malcolm, a native of Dundee, captain, of the sledge Excellent, who, with a 
frostbitten foot, kept dragging at it the whole night, and rests in a grave beneath the 
chilled surface of Griffith Island. Captain Ommaney thus journalises : 



!/, 2,7tk April. — Calm, extremely cold. At 3 h. A.M., the mercury in thermometer was found 
congealed and contracted to — H", No sleep ; everything frozen in interior of tent and covered with frost. 
5 h, 30 m., brealifast ; read morning-service. Pearing to expose the men before the sun gained more 
influence, did not proceed until 8 h. a.m., when the temperature was — 34° in shade, and — 16° in sun; very 
clear weather, with a great deal of refraction. 

Monday, 2Sth April. — 3 h. A.M., therm. — ^24°; 40 m. 6 h., prayers and breakfast. Intensity of cold 
obUged me to wait for increase of temperature before proceeding. Medical officer advised that E. 0. of my 
sledge should immediately return to the ship, his toe having assumed the appearance of mortification. 

Tuesday, Wth April. — 3 h. A.M., calm; therm. — 39"; 6 h., prayers and breakfast. Cold most acute in 
taking sights. Yery slow progress ; men persevering to overcome the difficulties of our road with good-will; 
gained about four miles. 

Friday, 2d May. — Continued gale throughout the day from S.B. with thick drift; unable to leave the 
tent. 

Saturday, 3d May. — Gale continued with great violence, drift very thick ; unable to shew out of tent ; 
discomfort great ; the limited space of tent being more confined from the side having been pressed in by an 
accumulation of snow. No room to move ; limbs aching from lying so long cramped up.' 



96 ARCTIC AND ANTAECTIC EXPEDITIONS. 

The journalist records being upon one occasion awoke from sleep by the barking of the 
dog, which was occasioned by a bear near the tent, whose growl was speedily heard. All 
roused up in confusion on finding such an unwelcome visitor close at hand. But brain's 
curiosity led him to poke his nose against the poles, which brought down the tent upon 
the top of the whole party. The position of the inmates was critical for the moment ; 
but the beast paid for his temerity with his life. 

The most remarkable journey was performed by Lieutenant, afterwards Captain 
M'Clintock, who reached one of the western points of Melville Island, distant from the 
winter-quarters 360 miles in a direct Hne, which required eighty days, going and returning, 
to accompHsh. The indomitable spirit of his associates is well illustrated by his own 
statement, that the most disagreeable duty he had to perform was to enforce the return to 
the ships of those men who had received injuries— much greater than they themselves 
were aware of — and who evinced the strongest desire to proceed, even endeavouring to 
conceal fcom each other their frostbites, and the pain which labour occasioned them. He 
visited Winter Harbour, the spot where Parry passed the winter of 1820, and met with 
interesting traces of his sojourn there, after an interval of thirty-one years, during which 
the place had been abandoned to bears, foxes, musk-oxen, reindeer, and ptarmigans. At 
Bushman Cove, in the neighbourhood, the site of an encampment, everything was found 
as it had been left. There was a broken cart very little decayed, portions of which were 
brought away, and the rest used as fuel ; the bones of ptarmigans, off which a sumptuous 
meal had been made, as recorded by Parry, which were merely bleached, and snapped like 
the bones of a bird recently killed ; and pieces of cloth, canvas, rope, and twine were 
scattered about, which retaiued much of their original strength and colour, shewing the 
slow jDrogress of decay in the climate. The most conspicuous object at Winter Harbour 
was a mass of sandstone at the entrance, ten feet high, twenty-two feet long, and seven 
or eight feet broad. It bore an inscription, still C[uite fresh, referring to Parry's sojourn, 
scarcely any of the minute black lichen which covers the rock having grown into the 
letters; and M'ClLatock cut the date of his visit, 1851, on an adjoining part. In a hoUow 
at the base of the mass, a hare had taken up her residence, and shewed no alarm whatever 
at man breaking in upon the solitude. A ptarmigan alighted on the summit and was 
shot, without in the least disturbing puss as she sat beneath it. 

The first trace of the Franklin expedition which was discovered left its fate in 
complete obscurity. It was the good-fortune of Captain Ommaney, in the Assistance, to fall 
in mth significant, though tantalising memorials of it. This was on the 23d of August 
1850, at Cape Eiley, and Beechey Island adjoining, on the eastern side of the entrance to 
WeUington Channel. At the former site, a high bluff headland, five tents had evidently 
been pitched; remains of human food were scattered about; and a piece of rope was 
found with the well-lmo-vvn Admiralty mark of a yellow strand. As no one had landed 
there since Parry sent an officer on shore to make observations in 1819, it was reasonably 
inferred that a party of Franldin's men had occupied the spot. But quite conclusive 
evidence of the fact was supplied by Beechey Island. There were three graves with 
inscriptions ; hundreds of tin canisters used for containing preserved meat ; a prostrate 
direction-post eight feet long ; a smith's anvU-block ; coal sacks and pieces of canvas ; 
and many remnants of clothing. The graves were those of seamen, who, more fortunate 
than their comrades, died the common death of men, after experiencing humane attentions 
from survivors. One of the inscriptions ran as follows : ' Sacred to the memory of John 
Torrington, who departed this life January 1st, a. d. 1846, on board of Her Majesty's 
ship Terror, aged 20 years.' It was clear, from the dates, that Beechey Island had been 
the site of Franklin's first winter-quarters, while Cape EUey had probably been occupied 



FIEST TEACES OF FKANKLIN. 97 

by a Jotaolimont as a look-out station. The sacks, canvas, and other articles of like 
description, wore tlioronglily bleached by exposure. The direction-post, doubtless one of 
a munber erected as guides for the seamen on returning from exploring excursions, had 
either been intentionally upset on leaving, or overthrown by the blast. Careful search 
was made for some ■written document indicating the condition and intended course of the 
expedition, but none was discovered, and various circumstances led to the surmise that 
the place was quitted in liasto, probably owing to the sudden brealdng up of the ice. In 
the meanwhile, "Winter Harbour had again become memorable. Captain M'Chue, engaged 
in the great quest, entered upon it from Beliring's Strait, and made his way to the 
eastward, till his sliip, the Investigator, was inextricably frozen up in the ice. At the 
head of a travelling-party, he himself reached Melville Island, and left there a record of 
his position in April 1852, which being found by a searching-party from the Resolute, 
under Captain Kellett, in the following year, was the means of rescuing him and his crew 
from an apparently hopeless position. They left their vessel to its fate, joined the 
Resolute, returned to England by BafiSn's Bay; and are the only individuals who 
have compassed the northern shores of America, making in this instance a north-east 
passage. 

ISTo additional information was obtained till the year 1854, when Dr Eae learned from 
the Esquimaux of Boothia Felix that a party of whites had been seen some years before 
on the west coast of King William's Island, from whence they travelled to the mouth of 
the Great Fish Eiver, where they all perished of starvation. Some relics obtained from 
these natives, and brought home, were proved to have belonged to Franklin and several 
of his associates. This led to the final search conducted by Captain M'Clintook, who 
sailed in the summer of 1857, in the Fox, a yacht purchased and equipped by private 
liberality. The first winter was passed in the pack-ice of Bafifin's Bay, with which the 
vessel got entangled, was imprisoned eight months by it, and drifted back very nearly 
1200 geographical miles. The second winter was spent in a snug harboiu- at the 
eastern entrance of Bellot Strait. The season was unusually cold and stormy. But 
scarcely had the sun begun to peep above the horizon, terminating the long darkness, 
when, in February 1859, in the com-se of a preparatory sledging tour, M'Chntock came 
upon the trail of the imfortunates. He was accompanied by Mr Carl Petersen, a Dane, 
thoroughly acquainted with the language of the Esquimaux. They proceeded in the 
dhection of the north magnetic pole, and m its neighboui-hood encountered four natives, 
one of whom had a naval button on his dress, which immediately attracted attention. It 




Montreal Island, Mouth of the Great Fish Eiver. 

came, they were informed, from some white people who were starved upon an island 
where there are salmon — that is, in a river — an allusion to Montreal Island, at the mouth 
of the Great Fish Eiver ; and the iron of which their knives were made came from the 



98 ARCTIC AND ANTARCTIC EXPEDITIONS. 

same place. On the next day, from anotlier TDatoh of natives, fui-ther memorials of tlie 
expedition were obtained, consisting of silver spoons and forks, a silver medal, several 
buttons, and part of a gold cliaiii. ISTone of these people had seen the whites, hut one 
man had seen their hones on the island where they died. It was also stated distinctly 
that a ship with three masts had heen crushed hy the ice, and sunk, in a position answer- 
ing to the west coast of King William's Island, hut that all on hoard landed safely. One 
of the ships was thus accounted for. Excited by this intelligence, the party returned to 
the Fox, to prepare to follow up the clue by extensive spring journeys. 

In the middle of AprU, &om the people before communicated with, the fact was 
elicited that two ships had been seen, one of which sunk in deep water, wliile the other 
was forced on shore by the ice, and broken up by the natives. The body of a man of 
lar"'e size was found on board this vessel. It was said to be in the fall of the year, 
August or September, that the ships were destroyed, the crews having previously gone 
away to the large river, where, in the following winter, their bones were found. The 
party now divided. Captain M'Cliiitook proceeded towards the Great Fish Eiver, while 
Lieutenant Hobson directed his course to the west coast of King WiUiam's Island, each 
with a sledge, dogs, and men. In and around deserted snow-huts, quantities of wood- 
chips were strewed, obtained by the inmates from the stranded ship ; and from some 
Esquimaux, pieces of silver-plate were purchased, 
bearing the crests or initials of Erankhn, 
Crozier, Fairhohne, and M'Donald. They 
stated that very little of the wreck remained, 
their countrymen having carried almost every- 
thing away; and seemed to intimate that the 
masts had been burned through close to the 
deck in order to get them down. An old 
woman said that many of the white people 
dropped hy the way, as they went to the 
Great Eiver. M'Chntock reached its mouth, 
while it was ' snowing for a wager,' as the 
men expressed it, and searched Montreal 
Island for rehcs without any important result. 
But as he returned, he came upon a bleached 
human skeleton, Avith fragments of European 
clothing around it, lying upon the face. The 
body seemed to be that of a sHghtly-made 
young man, and, judging from the remains of 
the dress, probably that of a steward or 

of&cer's sei-vant. This was on the 24th of May. On the 30th, the mournful spectacle 
presented itseK of a boat containing two skeletons, a large quantity of clothing, and 
many miscellaneous articles. Two double-barrelled gims stood upright against the 
side, exactly as they were placed eleven years before. One barrel in each was 
loaded and cocked, and there was abundance of ammunition. ISTo trace could be 
discovered by which to identify the bodies, but there were pieces of plate marked mth 
the crests or initials of ten different officers — those of Fra nkl in, Gore, Le Vesconte, 
Fairhohne, Couch, and Goodsir, of the Erebus; and Crozier, Hornby, and Thomas, of 
the Terror. 

A more interesting and quite decisive result was obtained by Lieutenant Hobson, 
from a large cairn on Point Victory. Lying among some loose stones which 




ASCERTAINED FATE OF THE EXPEDITION. 99 

had fallen from tlio top, a small tin case was found containing a paper inscribed as 
follows : 

' "^ 1847."'' } S-^- ^'''P^ Erebus and Tevrm- wintered in the ice in lat. 70° 05' N., long. 98° 23' W. 
Having wintered in 1816-7 [evidently a mistake for 1845-6] at Beecliej Island, in lat. 74° 43' 28" N., 
long. 9] ' 39' 15" W., after having ascended "WeUingtou Channel to lat. 77°, and returned by the west side of 
Cornwallis Island. 
Sir John Franklin commanding the expedition. 
All weU. 
Party consistmg of 2 officers and 6 men left the ships on Monday 24th of May 1847. 

Gjt. Goeb, Lieut. 

Chas. F. Bes Tceus, Mate.' 

But tMs document, inscribed with such words of hope and promise, had been taken up 
more than twelve months afterwards, to have written round the margin a very different 
record : 

'AprU 25, 1848. — H.M. ships Erebus and Terror were deserted on the 22d of April, 5 leagues N.JST.'W. 
of this, having been beset since the 12th of September 1846. The officers and crews, consisting of 105 souls, 
under the command of Captain F. E. M. Crozier, landed here in lat. 69° 37' 42" N"., long. 98° 41' W. Sir 
John Franklin died on the 11th of June 1847 ; and the total loss by deaths in the expedition has been to this 
date 9 officers and 15 men. 

Signed. Signed. 

F. R M. Ckoziek, James Fttzjaites, 

Captain and Senior Officer. Captain H.M.S. Erebw. 

And start to-morrow, 26th, for 
Back's Fish Eiver.' 

It thus appears that after being beleaguered by the ice through more than nineteen 
months, the ships were deliberately abandoned by their crews, hopeless of being 
extricated; and after the desertion, according to native reports, one was crushed and sunk, 
while the other, being driven ashore, proved a mine of almost inexhaustible wealth to the 
Esquimaux. Eemarkably enough, Point Victory, close to the scene of disaster, was 
Sir James Eoss's furthest ia the year 1830, where two headlands withia sight were 
named by him Cape Franklia and Cape Jane Franklin. 

Thus closes a very melancholy story, doubtless the last of the kiad which will have to 
be recorded. As a maritime nation, we must occasionally lose highly-accomplished naval 
officers and experienced seamen from the perils of the deep, but it ought henceforth to be 
on the broad commercial highway of the ocean, rather than in the region where its waters 
annually solidify, and Nature offers obstacles to progress too strong for man to overcome j 
or where, if any advance rewards the indomitable hardihood of the navigator, there is now 
no purpose of science to be answered by it, much less of commerce and himianity. The 
features of the polar zone have been so far illustrated as to render it needless to risk a 
single life in. attempts to thread the mazes of an inhospitable archipelago ; where the 
many-coloured auroras may be bright and beautiful aloft, but where below no cereals can 
ever flourish, no civilised population be planted, and only the hardiest animals can live, 
whose cries occasionally mingle with the report of the splitting icebergs, and the sound 
of the passing gale. If the same amount of energy, skiU, and money, expended upon 
north-western expeditions to dreary solitudes, had been devoted to the task of opening 
intercourse mth the populous regions of interior Africa, its many mi llions might long ago 
have been enfranchised with the benefits of civilisation, while its cotton would have 
found its way to the quays of Liverpool and the factories of Lancashire, in sufficient 
abundance to render its enforced slave cultivation across the Atlantic unprofitable, or 
deliver us at least from the terrible hazard of depending upon a single source of supply 



100 



AECTIC AND ANTAKCTIC EXPEDITIONS. 



for tlic product. It will ho of interest to add, that from tlie earliest polar researches of 
tlie Cabots at the close of the fifteenth centmy to the voyage of M/CHntock, there have 
been about one hundred and thirty northern expeditions, illustrated in two hundred and 
fifty volumes and printed documents, of which considerably more than one haK have been 
issued in England. The cxpenditm-e must have amoimted to several millions sterhng. 
At SpUsby, in Lincolnshire, wliere Franklin was born, a memorial has been raised in 
honour of hun ; and a colossal statue of Crozier surmounts a picturesque pedestal at 
Banbridge, in the coimty of DoAvn, the place of Ms birth. 




Esquimaux Snow Huts. 




SoiU'CG of the Ganges. — From a Drawing by Lieutenant. "White. 
(By permission,) 



CHAP TEE IX. 



CENTRAL ASIA, AFRICA, AND AUSTRAIU. 




T was the earnest desii-e of Humtoldt, after surveying 

tlie eleyated regions of the New World in tlie Andes, 

to iDeoome familiar with the still loftier summits of 

^ the Old in the Himalayas. Difficulties interfered with 

j4 the gratiS-cation of this wish, but though he never saw 

^ their colossal masses, in 1829, in company with Messrs 



of the 



Ehrenherg and Eose, he again took the pilgrim's staif 
in hand, and proceeded when a sexagenarian into Central 
Asia as far as the frontiers of Chinese Sangaria. His 
journeys in different hemispheres enabled him to com- 
pare the two auriferous deposits of the Ural Mountains 
and New Granada j the porphyry and trachyte formations 
Altai and Mexico ; the steppes of Siberia and the Uanos of Venezuela ; the banks 



102 CENTRAL ASIA. 

of the Obi and of the Amazon. As an instance of liis sagacity, it deserves mention that 
while at St Petersburg, before starting, he told the Empress of Eussia she might expect 
some diamonds obtained from the dominions of the czar on his return, so convinced was 
he that the same district contained them which yielded platinum and gold. Accordingly, 
on reacliing the Urals, he visited the gold-washing districts, and a diligent search for the 
precious gem was instituted. It was not crowned with immediate success, and the 
traveller pursu.ed his course. But a few days after his departure, Paul Popoff, a boy of 
fourteen, one of Count Poher's serfs, found the prize in the mines of Bissersk, and 
obtained freedom as his reward. This was the first discovered Eussian and European 
diamond, the mines being on the western side of the Ural Mountains. Another was soon 
procured at the same site, which, being forwarded to Humboldt, enabled him to fulfil his 
promise to the empress on returning to the capital. During the remaining thirty years of 
his life, geographical researches excited the liveliest interest in his mind, while the highest 
honours were paid him, at home and abroad, as undisputed monarch in the realm of 
physics. In the heyday of prosperity he did not forget, in his misfortunes, his former 
travelltng-companion,Bonpland, with whom he had botanised on the slopes and ia the 
valleys of the great American Cordilleras. This eminent man had gone to Buenos Ayres 
in the year 1818 as professor of natural history, but was for some time lost to the 
knowledge of the civilised world, and no certain clue could be obtained as to his fate. 
At last, it was ascertained that in the course of a scientific expedition into Paraguay, he 
had been seized by a party of soldiers, under the orders of the tyrant Francia, and carried 
oif a prisoner. He was confined chiefly in Santa Martha, but allowed to practise as a 
physician. Humboldt applied in vain for the liberation of his friend. It was not 
gTanted tUl the death of Eranoia in 1841, by which time Bonpland had become attached 
to the scene of his exile. Flowers, shrubs, and trees of his own planting had grown up, 
and were luxuriantly flourishing around his cabin. He resolved, therefore, to remain 
where he had lived so long, and survived to the svunmer of 1858, when Humboldt 
received a joyous letter from him. He died socm aftenvards in his eighty-fifth year, and 
his old comrade, four years his senior, speedily joined him in the grave. 

It was reserved for our countrymen, the masters of India, to be the first Eiu'opeans to 
ascend the passes, ascertain the height, and illustrate the character, of the stupendous 
wall of the Himalaya on its northern frontier, at first conceived to be simply a range of 
mountains, but really the outward face, or escarpment of a plateau-region, which occupies 
the whole of Central Asia, though not to an equal elevation. Early efforts were directed 
to trace the Ganges to its source on the southern slope, said by the natives to be 
inaccessible by man, as a spot where its presiding genius sits enthroned in everlasting 
snows. Two adventurers, Webb and leaser, successively failed, stopping short at 
Gangotri, where the iirst work of man, a temple, appears on the banks of the sacred 
stream. But ia 1817 Captain Hodgson, and in 1831 Lieutenant White, succeeded, 
after overcoming great natural difficulties, in tracing the Ganges to its real source, 13,800 
feet above the level of the sea. ' It issues,' says White, ' from under a low arch, at the 
base of a vast mass of frozen snow, from which hoary icicles depend, whence has originated 
the fable of the goddess-river issuing from the hairs of Mahadee. No resemblance, 
however, is traceable of a cow's mouth either here or at Gungootree.' ' The height of the 
arch,' Captain Hodgson remarks, ' is only sufficient to let the stream flow under it. The 
mean breadth was twenty-seven feet, and the greatest depth at that place eighteen iaches. 
The dazzhng brilliancy of the snow was rendered more striking by its contrast with the 
dark-blue colour of the sky, which is caused by the thinness of the aic ; and at night the 
stars shone with a lustre which they have not in a denser atmosphere. It was curious, too, 



THE HllFALATA RANGE. 103 

to see them wlien rising appear like one sudden flash, as they emerged from behind the 
bright sno-svy summits close to usj and their disappearance, when setting behind the 
peaks, was as sudden as we generally observed it to be in their ocoultations by the moon. 
We were surrounded by gigantic peaks entirely cased in snow, and almost beyond the 
regions of animal and vegetable Hfe ; and an awful sUenoe prevailed, except when broken 
by the thundering peals of faUing avalanches. ISTothing met our eyes resembling the 
scenery in. the haunts of men. By moonlight all appeared cold, wHd, and stupendous ; 
and a pagan might aptly imagine the place a fit abode for demons. We did not see 
even bears, or musk-deer, or eagles, or any living creature, except some small 
birds.' The spot from which the river starts on its long and stately course, as represented 
in Lieutenant White's sketch at the head of this chapter, is at the elevation of 13,800 
feet above the sea, between three mountains which rise 8000 feet higher. 

The attention of the inquiring world was strongly directed to the Himalaya range by llr 
Moorcroft's admirable narrative of his ascent of the Mti Pass — one of the great lines of 
communication between India and Thibet in 1812. He had the double end in view 
of obtaining specimens of the wool furnished by the flocks grazed on the interior table- 
lands, from which the celebrated shawls of Cashmere are made, as well as to survey 
the sacred Lake of Manasarowara, an object of the deepest veneration throughout the 
realm of Hindu superstition, in both of which he succeeded. The route lay through 
glens clothed with forests of pine, above which the mountains reared their summits 
covered with perpetual snow. Danger was contiauaUy encountered from the ravines 
and torrents crossed by bridges of ropes, the steepness of the precipices to be scaled, 
the abruptness of the slopes, the narrowness of the paths, and the quantities of stones 
and snow which occasionally descended from the heights. That dif&oult and quickened 
respiration connected with attaining a great elevation was also strongly felt, while the 
remarkable change of temperature in the course of twenty-foiu- hours added to the 
suffering of the traveller. Before gaining the summit of the pass, 16,814: feet high, blood 
burst from his lips ; giddiness seized him ; and the party were obliged to stop at every 
three or four steps to take breath, and recover then' strength. Tet the strange spectacle 
was witnessed of noble forests of pines, mingled with cypresses and cedars, clothing 
ridges on which human beings find it difficult to respire, while the somewhat perplexing 
problem was present, which all travellers have noticed, that on advancing in the 
Himalayas from south to north, the snow-line, and with it the vegetation, gains in 
altitude. The case was weU. stated by Captain Gerard, who visited several of the passes, 
accompanied by his brother, Dr Gerard, in 1821. 'It seems surprising,' he remarks, 
' that the limit of vegetation should rise higher the further we proceed ; but so it is. 
On ascending the southern slope of the snowy range, the extreme height of cultivation 
is 10,000 feet; and even there, the crops are frequently out green. The highest 
habitation is 9500 feet; 11,800 feet may be reckoned the upper Unlit of forest; and 
12,000 that of bushes, although, in a few sheltered situations, such as ravines, dwarf 
birches and small bushes are found at almost 13,000 feet. Advancing further, you find 
vUlagesat 13,000 feet; cultivation at 13,600 feet; fine birch-trees at 14,000 feet; and 
tama-bushes, which furnish excellent firewood, at 17,000 feet.' This result, so contrary 
to theory and general experience, at first gave rise to the suspicion of error in the 
calculation of the heights. It was quite unfounded, and the anomaly is susceptible of 
satisfactory explanation. On the southern side, the Himalaya moimtains rise suddenly 
and in a well-deiined line to an enormous height above the plains of Bengal, while on 
the northern side, they are flanked by very elevated plateau-regions of immense extent ; 
and as the atmosphere is warmed chiefly by the radiation of heat from the terrestrial 



104 CENTRAL ASIA. 

siTxfaoe, it follows tliat the proximity of a vast mass of liigh gromul on tlie nortli of the 
groat peaks raises tlio temperature ia that direction. 

In a subsequent joiu'ney, in 1824, Jlr Moorcroft traversed Afghanistan, crossed the 
Hindoo-Koosh, and descended into the plains of Turkestan, where his name was added 
to the long list of the victims to travel After beiag rohbed by a rapacious Uzbek chief, 
he died of fever, and liis companions, Messrs Guthrie and Trebeck, were also cut off 
by the same malady. Their remains lie in a humble grave, under a mud wall, outside 
the ruined city of BaDdi. Some years afterwards, every book belonging to the j)arty 
was recovered, even to then- daily cash-account, but no manuscript details of the journey 
were found. Lieutenant, afterwards the unfortunate Sir Alexander Burnes, in 1831, 
followed the same route, passed the Oxus, and remained some time at Bokhara, a city 
which soon acquired a mournful celebrity from the barbarous murder of Colonel Conolly 
and Captain Stoddart, who were executed there by order of the reigTiing Ameer. In 
the winter of 1837-1838, Lieutenant "Wood ascended the Oxus valley, and traced the 
river to its som'ce in a lake on the Bam-i-DtiiniaJi, or ' Eoof of the "World," at a height 
corresponding to that of Mont Blanc, a site which no European had visited since the 
days of Marco Polo and Benedict Goez. ' The aspect of the landscape was -ivintry in 
the extreme. "Wherever the eye fell, one dazzHng sheet of snow carpeted the ground, 
while the sky overhead was everywhere of a dark and angry hue. Clouds woiild have 
been a relief to the eye ; but they were wantiag. ISTot a breath moved along the surface 
of the lake; not a beast, not even a bird was visible. The sound of a human voice 
would have been music to the ear ; but no one at tliis inhospitable season thinks of 
iuvadiag these geM domains. Silence reigned around — silence so profound that it 
oppressed the heart; and as I contemplated the hoary summits of the everlasting 
mountains, where human foot had never trod, and where lay piled the snows of ages, 
my own dear country, and all the social blessings it contained, passed across my mind 
with a vividness of recollection that I had never felt before. — ^As early in the morning 
of Tuesday the 20th of February as the cold permitted we walked out upon the lake, 
and having cleared the snow from a portion of its siu'face, commenced breaking the ice 
to ascei-taia its depth. Tliis was a matter of greater diiliculty than it at first sight 
seemed, for the water was frozen to the depth of two feet and a half, and owing to the 
great rarity of the atmosjphere, a few strokes of the jjickaxe produced an exhaustion 
that stretched us upon the snow to recruit our breath. The human voice was sensibly 
affected, and conversation, especially if in a loud tone, could not be kept iip without 
exhaustion. A run of fifty yards made the runner gasp for breath.' Exjilorers have 
since been numerous in Central Asia, iaoluding Dr Thomson, Dr "W. Hooker, and Lord W. 
Hay, among our own countrymen ; many Eussian travellers, one of whom, M. Seminof, 
in 1857, was the first European to ascend the Thian-Shan, or Celestial Mountains; and 
the three German brothers, Adolphe, Herman, and Eobert Sclilagintweit. A melancholy 
fate befeU the fu-st of these in 1856, ayIio, while pushing on alone, was seized by a 
robber-chief, and beheaded in front of Kashgar.' The oulminatiug-point of High Asia 
has not yet perhaps been ascertained with certainty. For some time, Dhwalagiri, or 
the "White Mountam, 26,862 feet, was supposed to be the loftiest peak of the Himalayas ; 
then Kunchinjinga, 28,117 feet; but in 1857 a higher mass was found, 29,000 feet, 
nearly due north of Calcutta, which, having no fixed name, received that of Mount 
Everest, in honour of a former surveyor-general in India. 

"We have seen, in. a former chapter, that at the close of the eighteenth century, the great 
continent beyond the waters of the Atlantic, the very existence of wliich had only been 
kno'^Tn some three hundred years, was traversed from the icy borders of the Polar Ocean 



THE AFRICAN ASSOCIATION. 105 

to tlio volcanic coues of tlio Aiides, and from tlie range of tlie buffalo, on. tlie grassy prairies 
of the Mississippi, to tho realm of the condor, on tlie snow-clad head of Chimborajo. But 
a vast part of the old world at this time remained to be explored. Africa — so comparatively 
contiguous and grand in history, with a name wliioh has been stamped for ages upon its page 
— the scene of Greek and Eoman prowess, under an Alexander, a Scipio, and a Caesar — the 
prune emporium of oriental commerce after the fall of Tjrre, and the great repository of litera- 
ture under the Ptolemies — was, as to its interior regions, a land of mystery to the European, 
with millions of square miles of territory which his foot had never pressed, or his eye seen. 
Lruce, in 1770, at his own expense, reached the soiu-ce of tho Blue Nile in Abyssinia, the 
inferior branch of the great river, and a region within the bounds of ancient geographical 
knowledge. To endeavour to go beyond them, and solve the problem of Central Africa, a 
society was founded in 1778, ■with the name of the African Association, the mentioii of 
which revives tho memory of many gallant-hearted men who lost their lives in its service, 
either falling victims to the climate, or to the hardships of their pilgrimage, or to the 
ferocity of the natives. John Ledyard, the first agent, was cut off by disease at the 
threshold of his journey at Cau'o ; Major Honghton died, or was murdered by the Moors 
in the basin of the Gambia ; Frederick Hornemann succumbed to sickness south of the 
Great Desert ; and Mungo Park, who made his way to the Niger, perished in the stream. 
The latter, a truly admirable traveller, started from the west coast in 1795, reached 
the mysterious river, heard of from remote antiquity; and was the first European to 
gaze upon its waters. After undergoing great privations and barbarous treatment from 
the Moors, he was cheered by the cry from a negro companion, ' Geo aflili ! ' — (See tho 
water !) ' Looking forward,' says he, ' I saw with infinite pleasure the great object of my 
mission — the long-sought-for majestic Niger, glittering in the morning's sun, as broad 
as the Thames at Westminster, and flowing slowly to the eastward. I hastened to tho 
brink, and havmg drank of the water, lifted up my fei-vent thanlis in prayer to tho 
Great Enler of aU things, for having thus far crowned my endeavours with success.' 
Being forbidden to cross the river, and regarded with fear and astonishment by the 
natives, he could get no one to entertaui him ; and was obliged to sit aU day in the 
shade of a tree without food, with the prospect of spending the night in the open air, 
in a neighbourhood infested with wild beasts. A negro woman at last offered him 
shelter, supplied liis hunger, provided him with a mat to sleep on, and then called to 
the female part of her family, who had stood gazing all the while in fixed astonishment, 
to resume their task of spinning cotton, in which they continued to employ themselves 
great part of the night. 'They lightened their labour,' he remarks, 'by songs, one of 
vi'hich was composed extempore, for I was myself the subject of it. It was sung by 
one of the young women, the rest joining in a sort of chorus. The air was sv/eet and 
plaintive, and the words, literally translated, were these : 

" The -winils roared, and tlie rains feU. The poor white man, faint and weary, came and sat under onr 
tree. He has no mother to bring liim milk, no wife to grind his corn. Chorus. Let us pity the white 
man, no mother has he, &c." ' 

The only recompense the stranger could bestow in the morning consisted of four brass 
buttons from his waistcoat. Great sufferings and dangers awaited Park on making his 
way back to the coast. His clothes were in rags ; he was often sick and yv-eary ; and 
from sheer exhaustion his horse fell, quite unable to proceed. ' I sat do"\vn,' he observes, 
' for some time beside this worn-out associate of my adventures ; but finding him still 
unable to rise, I took off the saddle and bridle, and placed a quantity of grass before 
him. I surveyed the poor animal as he lay panting on the ground, with sympathetic 
emotion, for I could not suppress the sad apprehension that I should myself, in a short 



106 CENTRAL AFRICA. 

time, lie down and perish in tlie same manner, of fatigue and liimger. "WitlL tliis fore- 
boding I left my poor horse.' 

Being penniless. Park had to subsist upon the charity of the negroes, and was once 
stripped quite naked by the Moors, who, however, threw him back the worst of two 
shu-ts and his trousers. ' WhioheTer way I tiu-ned, nothing appeared but danger and 
difficulty. I saw myself in the midst of a vast wilderness, in the depths of the rainy 
season, naked and alone — surrounded by savage animals, and men still more savage. 
I was 500 miles away from the nearest European settlement. All these circumstances 
crowded at once on my recoUeotion; and I confess that my spirits began to fail me. 
I considered my fate as certain, and that I had no alternative but to lie down and 
perish. The iniluence of religion, however, aided and supported me. I reflected that 
no human prudence or foresight could possibly avert my present sufferings. I was 
indeed a stranger in a strange land; yet I was still under the protecting eye of that 
Providence who has condescended to call himself the stranger's friend. At this moment, 
painful as my reflections were, the extraordinary beauty of a small moss, in fructification, 
ii-resistibly caught my eye. I mention this to shew from what trifling circumstances 
the mind will sometimes derive consolation ; for though the whole plant was not 
larger than the top of one of my fingers, I could not contemplate the deUoate conformation 
of its roots, leaves, and capsula, without admiration. Can that Being, thought I, who 
planted, watered, and brought into perfection, in this obscure part of the world, a 
thing which appears of so smaU importance, look with imconcern upon the situation 
and sufferings of creatures formed after his own image 1 — surely not ! Eeflections like 
these would not allow me to despair. I started up, and, disregarding both hunger and 
fatigue, travelled forwards, assured that rehef was at hand ; and I was not disappointed.' 
Park came back safely to the limits of civilisation, having accomplished the distance 
of 2200 miles, goiug and returning, between the mouth of the Gambia and Silla on 
the right banlc of the Niger. 

jSTothing daunted by the hardships of his ihst jom'ney, the traveller volunteered for 
another, and was despatched with thirty-six companions, carrying various articles to 
distribute as presents, and tools for the construction of boats with which to descend 
the river. He followed his former route, and on the 19th of August 1805, from the 
brow of a hill, he once more saw the M'iger rolhng its immense stream along the plaiu. 
But having journeyed iu the rainy season, the mortahty had been so great, that only 
seven of the party survived, and these were in an enfeebled state. He contrived, 
however, to construct a boat out of two old canoes, and embarked on the river. ISTo 
tidings were from that time received from himself ; but a negro attendant brought back 
his journal to the Gambia. It was rdtiinately ascertained, that at a difficidt passage of 
the stream the natives on both banks were hostile ; and the whites were either killed 
by their arrows, or drowned in attempting to effect then' escape. 

During the early part of the present century, numerous attempts were made to strike out 
paths into the interior of Africa, both from the west and north coasts, often attended 
with most mournful results, either from the oUmate or the barbarity of the inhabitants. 
"With its commencement, Hornemann, a German, disappeared from notice on the borders 
of the Great Desert, but accomplished its passage, as was afterwards ascertained, and 
sucoimibed to sickness at WyfiiJ on the Niger. To remove the mystery respecting the 
embouohm'e of this long-known stream, an expedition was despatched under Captain 
Tuckey in 1816, to ascend the river Congo or Zaire, imder the idea that it would prove 
its outlet. But after exploring it nearly 300 miles, in boats and on foot, fever assaded 
the party, and enforced a return, 'a terrible march,' in the words of the commander, 



DENHAJI AND CLAPPERTOn's EXPEDITION. 107 

' worse to us than the retreat from Moscow ! ' Upou regaining the ship, all the scientific 
men perished one after another, and their leader did not long survive his comrades. 
Equally calamitous was a coincident attempt to reach the Niger hy the old route of 
the Gambia, as three successive officers in command, Major Peddie, Captain Camphell, 
and Lieutenant Stockoe, were cut off hy the fell fever of the country. The same fate 
hefeU Mr Eitohie in 1819, at Mourzouk, the capital of Fezzan, as he was about to start 
for the interior in company with a caravan. Many casualties of this kind might 
doubtless have been avoided by proper knowledge of the season of the year best adapted 
for traveUing, with due attention to diet, clothing, and the resting-place at night. 

The next adventurers in this direction were Major Denham, Captain Clapperton, and 
Dr Oudney, who acMeved a signal success, though two of them ultimately sacrificed 
their lives to the love of enterprise. Proceeding from Tripoh to Mourzouk, they set 
out from thence on the 29th of November 1822, to cross the Sahara to the kingdom 
of Boruou, having heard that the route thither was as open as the road between London 
and Edinburgh. For days together, not a bird or insect was seen in the desert, nor 
a living thing apart from the kafila. After toUsomo marching under a burning sun, 
the travellers were delighted with the silence and beauty of the night. The moon 
and stars shone out with peculiar brilliance ; cool breezes succeeded to the heat of the 
day j and the movement of the blown sand seemed like the muxmui of a gentle stream. 
The deep stiUness rendered every noise doubly impressive, while the surrounding waste 
returned an echo to every sound. Li some parts of the route from sisty to ninety 
human skeletons were passed each day ; but the number was countless grouped around 
some particular weUs. They were the bones of unhappy beings captured in the wars 
of the interior, who perished by the way, as they were dragged through the desert, 
destined to be fattened in Fezzan for the slave-market of Tripoli. At length, the face 
of the country began to improve every mile. Joyous valleys were entered clothed with 
herbage up to the horses' knees, gay with flowering plants diffusing aromatic odom's, 
cheered by the melody of songsters, and enlivened by herds of large fawn-coloured 
antelopes, with numbers of guinea-fowl. But by far the most gratifying and inspiring 
sight was the great fresh-water lake Tchad, ' glowing vnth the golden rays of the sun in 
his strength,' &st seen by European eyes on the 5th of February 1823. Eeeds and 
taU grasses which overtopped the heads of the horsemen fringed the shores ; birds of 
beautiful plumage appeared in the trees ; elephants, hippopotami, and buffaloes crashed 
through the jungle ; monkeys, the ' enchanted men ' of the natives, chattered at the 
strangers with impudent famiharity ; and multitudes of water-fowl evinced no alarm 
at the presence of the intruders. They visited Kouka, the chief town of Bornou, and 
were hospitably received by the chief and his subjects. Clapperton succeeded in 
reaching Soccatoo, the capital of the FeUatahs, on a tributary of the Niger, but had 
to mourn the death of his companion, Dr Oudney, by the way. Here provisions were 
regularly sent to him from the sultan's table, on pewter dishes bearing a London stamp ; 
a piece of meat was served up in a white wash-hand basin of English manufacture ; and 
during the journey he had jpurchased an Enghsh cotton umbrella. Having rejoined 
Denham, who had been left behind, they made good their passage northward through the 
desert to Tripoli. 

In less than twelve months after his return home, Clapperton was equipped for a 
second journey, and coramissioned to proceed by a shorter route to the populous regions 
of the interior. He chose for his starting-point the town of Badagry on the Gold Coast. 
During the first month, and on the same day, the deadly malaria cut off his two scientific 
companions, Captain Pierce and Dr Morrison. But he regained his old station at 



108 CENTEAL AFBICA. 

Soccatoo, and by now reaohing it from the south, as he had iDefore done from the north, a 
complete itinerary was made of the continent between the shores of the Mediterranean 
and those of the Gnlf of Guinea. This was the limit of his pilgrimage. Under the 
combined influence of depression from the loss of his friends, fatigue, and sickness, he 
wasted to a skeleton, and expired on the 13th of April 1827. A faithful servant watched 
over his last moments, Eichard Lander, who made his way back to the coast, and brought 
his master's papers to England, but very nearly fell a victim to the vindictive jealousy of 
tlie Portuguese slavers at Badagry. They denounced huu to the native king as a sjjy of 
the British government, and the chief men resolved to subject him to the ordeal of 
drinking a fetish. ' If you come to do bad,' said they, ' it will kill you ; but if not, it 
caimot hurt you.' There was no alternative or escape. Poor Lander swallowed the 
contents of the bowl, and then walked hastily out of the hut, through the armed men 
who surrounded it, to his own lodgings, where he lost no time in getting rid of the drink 
by a powerful emetic. He afterwards learned that it almost always proves fatal. 
Finding him unharmed after five days, the natives treated him with great respect as being 
under the special protection of supernatural power. 

About the same period, Major Laing perished by the hand of violence in the cause of 
African discovery. He left Tripoli with a caravan to cross the desert to Timbuotoo, a 
to-\TO long knov.Ti by name, and of some importance, but magnified by rejjort into a vast 
city of Moorish magnificence. Attacked by the banditti of the mlderness, oiu- country- 
man received twenty-four wounds, and was left for dead. But he recovered to the 
surprise of his associates, and accomplished the main object of his mission. The last 
communications from him were dated from Timbuctoo, which he entered in August 1826, 
and where he remained upwards of a month. But upon leaving that place for the 
southward, he was foully murdered by a Moorish trader, for the sake, as was supposed, 
of gaining possession of his papers. Timbuctoo was visited shortly afterwards, in 1828, 
by Een6 Cailli(5, a young Frenchman, who reached it from the west coast, remained about 
a fortnight, and retiu-ned through the Sahara into Marocco. His account of the town, as 
' a heap of houses neither so large nor so well peopled as I expected,' received at first with 
suspicion, along with the entire narrative of his adventures, has since been verified. 

To explore the lower course of the Niger, and ascertain its outlet, Eichaid Lander was 
employed in the year 1830, along with his brother John, who amply justified their 
selection for the undertaking. They reached the river by an overland jom-ney at Boussa, 
the capital of one of the petty kingdoms on its banks, and the place near which Mungo 
Park met with his tragical death. Here, in September of the year named, a characteristic 
African scene was -svitnossed. ' The early part of the evening had been mUd, serene, and 
remarkably pleasant. The moon had arisen mth uncommon lustre, and, being at the 
full, her appearance was extremely delightful. It was the conclusion of the holidays, and 
many of the people were enjoying the delicious coolness of a serene night, and resting 
from the laborious exertions of the day. But when the moon became gradually obscured, 
fear overcame every one. As the eclipse increased, they became more terrified. AU ran 
in great distress to inform their sovereign of the cncumstanoe, for there was not a single 
cloud to cast so deep a shadow, and they could not comprehend the nature or meaning of 
an echpse. Groups of men were blowing on trumpets, which produced a harsh and 
discordant sound : some were emploj^ed in beating old cbums, others again were blowing 
on bullocks' horns. The diminished light, when the eclipse was complete, was just 
sufficient to enable us to distinguish the various groiips of people, and contributed in no 
small degree to render the scene still more imposing. If an Eiu-opean, a stranger to Africa, 
had been placed on a sudden in the midst of the terror-struck people, he would have 



DR LIVINGSTONES DISCOVERIES. 109 

imagined himself among a legion of demons, holding a revel over a fallen spirit.' The 
Landers solved a problem -which had long perplexed geographers, by tracing the Niger 
downwards to its termination in the Bight of Benin. The river is the Quorra of the 
natives in the lower part of its course, and the Joliba in the upper. Ten years elapsed 
after the mouth of the great stream was thus opened to the knowledge of the civiHsed 
world before any attempt was made to establish commercial intercourse with the people 
on its banlcs. The first expedition for tliis p)iu'pose, from our own shores, was attended 
with a disastrous mortality which made the nation mouxn. Three steamers were 
despatched by the government in 1841, the Albert, the Wilherforce, and the Soudan, in 
the hope of arresting the slave-trade by the introduction of legitimate traffic. But the fell 
malaria, engendered by the mangrove swamps, proved fatal to one-third of the crews, 
while the energies of the survivors were prostrated by its influence, and the design was 
defeated. Since that period, however, the river, along with its great affluent the Chadda, 
has been ascended a considerable distance by the whites, without the loss of a single life, 
owing to improvements in the treatment of African fever, and loiowledge of the season 
when the banks are the least pestiferous. 

Discovery made a very successful start with reference to Africa in the year 1849, since 
which period the veil has been lifted up from large tracts of country before unkno-wn, 




Eaviau's Kloof, Gcnadendal, South Afiica. 

while others previously entered have been more fully illustrated. Entirely new ground 
was opened up, in the southern part of the continent, by Dr Livingstone, who went forth 
single handed into the wilderness, acquired a complete ascendancy over the natives with 
whom he associated, and displayed a courage combined with prudence which has been 
rarely equalled, never surpassed. This remai-kable man first landed on African soil at 
Port Ehzabeth in Algoa Bay, in the year 1840, in the service of the London Missionary 
Society. He had high objects in view and a brave heart, but little calculated at that 
time upon the perils and fatigue to be encountered in penetrating the unknown lands of 
a region ' whose soil is fire and -wind a flame.' Suffering and danger from exposure to 



110 CENTEAIi APEIOA. 

intense heat, from length, of way, from hostile and treacherous tribes, from mid animals 
and venomous snakes, from starvation, from the dire torment of thirst, from miasmatic 
swamps and disease in various forms, were confronted with a patient endurance which 
provokes admiration ; the more so, as in liis great journeys he had no European coadjutor, 
and the chief part of his track was through a country never before trod by European 
footsteps. Little can those who sit at ease in their homes, repose on do'^vny beds, or 
move about in luxurious style upon the rail — passing rapidly over streams, marshes, and 
moors, without inconvenience — compassing hill and valley with no perceptible change 
of level — appreciate the seK-sacriSce involved in exploring tours beyond the bounds of 
cultivated society. No home is known for months together, sometimes for years ; and 
frequently no faoihties for locomotion are enjoyed beyond pedestrianism, with now 
and then a canoe, an oft-jaded steed, or a bullock-wagon, though thousands of miles are 
accomplished over plains of untracked sand, through many a net-work of flooded streams, 
or wilds savage ia appearance, difficidt in reahty, and dangerous from their inhabitants. 
Previous to the Cape of Good Hope becoming a permanent British possession, the 
country from thence to the Orange Eiver had been explored by the Dutch, and information 
obtained by Lichstenstein of the southern Bechuanas beyond it. BurcheU, the traveller, 
visited their capital, Lattakoo, in 1812, as did Campbell, the missionary, in 1813, who 
advanced northward to Km-richaiiie in 1820. But his furthest north was exceeded by 
Dr Andrew Smith ia 1834, and by Captaia Alexander, among the Damaras, in 1837, 
though both fell short of the Tropic of Capricorn. Immediately on landing, Livingstone 
proceeded to Kuruman, the most northerly mission station, about a hundred and fifty 
mUes beyond the frontier of the colony. This had been founded some twenty years 
previously by Messrs Hamilton and Moffat, and is often kindly mentioned by wayworn 
scientific travellers and gentleman-hunters, Dr Smith, Mr Methuen, Gordon Gumming, 
and others, for the hospitality of its inmates. Secluding himself from European society, 
he plunged for six months among the natives, in order to gain an exact knowledge of 
their language and habits ; and after various locations, finally selected a new post ia 
advance on the river Kolobeng, the name of which was given to the settlement. Here he 
erected the third house reared with his own hands. ' A native smith,' says he, ' taught 
me to weld iron; and having improved by scraps of information ia that liae from Mr 
Moffat, and also in carpentering and gardening, I was becoming handy at almost any trade, 
besides doctoriag and preaching ; and as my wife could make candles, soap, and clothes, 
we came nearly up to what may be considered iadispensable in the aceomplishments of a 
missionary family in Centiul Africa — namely, the husband to be a Jack-of-all-trades without 
doors, and the wife a maid-of-aU-work within.' Erom this starting-point he opened a new 
world to the knowledge of his countrymen ; but his principal object at first in travelling 
northward, was the discovery of a position to which the people under his care might 
remove, and be secure from the troublesome neighbourhood of the Dutch boers. 

Leaving Kolobeng on the 1st of -June 1849, and skirting the great Kalahiri Desert, 
Livingstone passed the Southern Tropic, and discovered Lake N'gami, a spacious but 
shallow expanse, in a country teeniing with game of the largest size — elephants, rhinoceroses, 
buffaloes, hartebeests, zebras, gnus, and giraffes. After revisitiag the lake region in a 
second journey, and penetratiag northward in a third, he repaired to the Cape to prepare 
h im self for lengthened exploration, a distance of 1300 miles goiag and returning, 
during which his home was destroyed by the boers, the settlement desolated, and the 
tribe scattered. He now determined to send his wife and children to England by the 
usual route, and find Ms own way through the rmknown wilderness of interior Africa 
to the regions of civilisation. Li the prosecution of this design, begun on the 15th 



POISONOUS INSECTS OF SOUTH AFRICA. Ill 

of January 1853, lie gained the Leeambye or Zambesi, in the central part of the 
country, ascended the river northerly for several hundred miles vcith an attached 
band of natives, then turned to the west, and emerged on the coast at the town of 
St Paul do Loando, in the Portuguese province of Angola, having gone through twenty- 
five degrees of latitude from the Cape. Eetracing his steps to the Zambesi, he next 
followed the course of the stream, which, after flowing from the north, bends to the east ; 
and reappeared in the summer of 1856 at its mouth on the east coast, within the 
Portuguese territory of Mozambique, having crossed the continent through twenty-two 
degrees of longitude. Great physical difficulties beset his course, especially at the 
outset, when he had only the assistance of a siagle companion. ISTot the least was 
the passage of streams lined with scarcely penetrable forests of reeds. ' It was not 
the reeds alone we had to pass through,' he states, ia describing the crossing of the 
Chobe, ' a peouHar serrated grass, which at certain angles cut the hands like a razor, 
was mingled with the reed, and the cUmbing convolvulus, with stalks which felt as 
strong as whipcord, bound the mass together. We felt like pigmies in it, and often 
the only way we could get on was by both of us leaning agaiost a part, and bending it 
do■^^^l, tOl we could stand upon it. The perspiration streamed off our bodies, and as the 
Sim rose high, there being no ventilation among the reeds, the heat was stifling, and the 
water, which was up to oiu: knees, felt agreeably refreshing. After some hours' toil, we 
reached one of the islands. Here we met an old friend — the bramble-bush. My strong 
moleskins were quite worn through at the knees, and the leather trousers of my companion 
were torn, and Ms legs bleeding.' 

While formidable camivora and other animals were encountered in vast numbers, the 
most extraordinary Kving object, and one of the most dangerous, was met with in an 
insignificant creature — the tsetse-fly, Glosdna morsitans. This was on approaching the 
tropic, though its range is chiefly beyond it, but not known as yet to extend to the 
equator. The insect, some specimens of which were first brought to England by Major 
Vardon in 1848, is not so large as our meat-fly, though with longer wings. But it is 
armed with a poison equal to that of the most deadly reptile, yet apparently of a very 
capricious natm'e. On man, its wound has no effect, more than that of a mosquito ; but 
domesticated animals, in general," especially horses, oxen, and dogs, it surely kUls. The 
strangest circumstance is, that aU the "vvild quadrupeds, however analogous to its victims, 
as the zebras, buffaloes, and jackals, either bear its attack with perfect impunity, or are 
not assailed at all, as they feed at leisure ia the localities of the insect. It is at present 
perfectly inexplicable what quaHty exists in domestication which renders domestic 
animals obnoxious to the poison, and why man should escape its evil influences, being 
the most domestic of all creatures. Travellers have lost all their draught-oxen and horses 
by the tsetse, and have thuB not only had their journey marred, but their personal safety 
endangered, from the want of means of conveyance. Gordon Gumming was in this way 
completely stranded in the wilderness, and was indebted for his rescue to the timely 
arrival of assistance from Livingstone at Kolobeng, who heard of his predicament. ' One 
of my steeds,' says the bold hunter, ' died of the tsetse. The head and body of the poor 
animal swelled up in a most distressing manner ; his eyes were so swollen that he could 
not see ; and in darkness, he neighed for his comrades who stood feeding beside him.' 
In some instances, death takes place soon after the bite is inflicted j but more generally, 
it produces emaciation, loss of sight, and the animal perishes of exhaustion. The 
destructive pest is never or rarely found in the open country, but frequents hills, where 
there are bushes or reeds. It is fortunately confined to particular spots, and is never 
known to quit its haunts, so that cattle may graze securely on one side of a river, while 



112 CENTRAL AFEIOA. 

the opposite hank swanns with the insect. At the conclusion of his remarkahle imder- 
takiug, Livingstone sailed from the mouth of the Zamhesi for England, where he was 
received wth universal enthusiasm ; and has since returned at the head of an efficient 
party to the basin of the river, stiU fui-ther to illustrate its features. The rich cotton- 
groAving vaUey of the Shire, one of its leading tributaries, has since been explored up 
to the Nyassa Lake, of which the stream is the outlet, an expanse trending northerly 
in the direction of the equator. 

In Central Africa, careful and comprehensive researches, extending over an interval of 
six years, from February 1850 to September .1855, were conducted by Dr Earth, a 
German, appointed along with his countryman, Dr Overweg, as men of science, to 
accompany Mr Eichardson, a political agent of the British government. The three 
travellers entered upon their mission at TripoK, and crossed the Sahara through a 
remarkably stony portion of it, some distance westward of the general track, encountering 
great difficulty and danger on the way. They then separated to explore independently, 
intending to rejoin at Kouka, the capital of Bornou, but all three never met again. 
Fever carried off Mr Eichardson in March 1851, and natives buried him in a grave well 
protected with thorny bushes, which the survivors visited. In the next year, after 
completing the survey of Lake Tchad, in a small boat which had been conveyed aU the 
way from Malta, and was named the Lord Palmersfon, exertion and the climate proved 
fatal to Dr Overweg, who had the comfort of liis friend's presence in his last hours. 
Thus left alone in the heart of the continent, under siich discouraging circumstances, Dr 
Earth pursued his labours Avith admirable perseverance and courage. He explored and 
mapped the central Niger ; sojourned through seven weary months of durance at 
Timbuctoo ; heard tidings there of Mungo Park and Major Laing ; disclosed a region 
teeming with to^vns, villages, and tribes cursed by intestine wars to find victims for the 
slave-market; and returned to publish a narrative of his travels, during which he had 
traversed from first to last fuU 12,000 miles, passing over twenty-four degrees of latitude 
and twenty degi'ees of longitude. Before quitting the country, he was joined by Dr 
Vogel, a young Prussian astronomer, officialljr despatched by oiu' government to render 
him assistance, Avho remained behind, desirous of adding his name to the list of African 
discoverers. Ho has probably perished, according to rumour, by violence; nothing 
certain has been heard of him since the date of Ms last letter, ■written at Kouka, December 
5, 1855. After eight years of suspense, an affectionate tribute to his memory has appeared 
from the pen of his sister, entitled Reminiscences of a Missing Man. 

Exploring from the west coast of equatorial Africa, where the Gaboon Eiver enters 
the ocean, M. du ChaiUu penetrated to a region of great interest from its fauna, not 
knoAvn to have been trod before by the white man's foot, and returned in 1860 to startle 
society by a narrative of surprismg adventures. He had objects of natural history in 
view, and has probably done more than any single unassisted traveller to Ulustrato 
African zoology. Unfoi-tunately for himself, not having been sufficiently exact in jotting 
down notes of his movements, discrepancies were detected, which roused suspicion, or 
provoked discredit in various quarters. Eut the accounts bear the impress of substantial 
truthfulness ; and the traveller could point, in justification of them, to a large collection 
of huge anthropoid apes, quadrupeds, reptiles, and birds, many of which were quite novel, 
and are now in the British Museum. The scene of his eventful wanderings through 
nearly four years, extends from 2° north of the equator to the same distance on the south. 
It is partly mountainous and partly a plain, drenched with heavy rains through nine 
months of the year, and overgrown ivith difficult jungles and gloomy forests. This was 
the hunting-groimd of the naturalist — aground where fever holds its court, surely assails the 



SOURCE OF THE NILE. 113 

slranger, and makes him feel its power, even if no fatal result ensues. In one part north 
of the equator, a race of cannibals was met ivithj in other districts, the sjnnhols of 
jMohammedanism appeared; hut southward of the line, on this side of the continent, 
the faith of the Crescent does not seem to have been propagated. Ko lions or elands 
wore encountered. But here the gorilla, an animal of gigantic strength and terrible 
ferocity, is ' lord of the forests.' It may be called the ' wild man of the woods,' as the 
creature in wliich the brute kingdom culminates, making the nearest approach of all 
the apes to the hiunan subject. It was seen by the old Carthaginian voyagers (see p. 12) ; 
and then completely passed away from the knowledge of the civilised world, tUl, at a 
very recent date, a few skins and skeletons obtained by traders on the coast were brought 
to the museums of Europe. To M. du Chaillu the merit belongs of having invaded the 
forests in which lurks the formidable animal, and of illustrating the aspect, nature, and 
habits of the living examples. 

From the east coast of Africa, the most recent and interesting additions to knowledge 
respecting the equatorial interior have been obtained. To Messrs Krapf, Eebmann, and 
Echardt, agents of the Church Missionary Society, the credit belongs of having initiated 
geographical discovery in this direction. As the result of exploring tours from their 
station at Mombas, commencing in 1847, they announced the existence of snow-mountains 
nearly under the equator, but to the southward of it, Kilimanjaro and Kenia. This 
intelligence excited at first the liveKest interest as likely to afford a clue to the long-sought 
source of the NUe. Eor mountains in such a latitude to rise above the snow-line, they 
must have an elevation closely approaching 20,000 feet, and accordingly this was the 
altitu.de assigned to them. But the appearance of perpetual snow was thought by many 
to be an illusion occasioned by the whiteness of the rook, and the distance of the view ; 
and the alleged discovery of the towering highlands was either discredited by them, or 
considered uncertain. All doubt, however, has been removed upon the point, after twelve 
years of suspense, by Baron von der Decken, who, accompanied by Mr E. Thornton, was 
at the spot in 1861. ' Mount XUimanjaro,' he states, ' is 21,000 feet high, and covered 
with permanent snow. I have not been able to reach the top, but only an elevation of 
8000 feet, many difficulties being this time in my way, as heavy rains and want of 
provisions. I carried a line of triangles from Mombas to the mountain by which I make 
its height 21,000 feet, subject to slight modification, after calculating all the elements. 
The uppermost 3000 feet are covered with snow. I have explored this stupendous 
mountain from three sides during nineteen days.' At the same time, along with the 
snow-mountains, the existence of a great inland lake region, long heard of from Arab 
traders, had been more distinctly certified by the missionaries. 

In search of this lacustrine district. Captains Burton and Spekewere out in 1857-1859, 
under the auspices of the Geographical Society of London. They started from Zanzibar, 
traversed 2700 miles of land going and retm-ning, and passed through a region never 
before visited by Europeans. Lake Tanganjrika, or 'the meeting-place of waters,' the 
picturesque meaning of its African name, was discovered some distance south of the 
equator, lying in the lap of the mountains, basking in the tropical sunshine, and was 
partially explored in two canoes. During the iUness of his companion, Speke made his 
way to another large expanse further to the north, now called the Victoria ISTyanza ; and 
retm-ned from its shores with the fuU conviction of its being the great reservoir from 
which the White Nile derives it waters — an idea which has proved to be correct. 

The remarkable properties of the NUe, such as the regularity of its overflow, the 
fertilising influence of the inundation, the sweetness and salubrity of the water, contributed 
to fix attention upon it in early ages, and rouse curiosity respecting its origin. The 



lU 



CENTKAL AFRICA. 




\ 



L 



Jlfittu-rl 



question of its source engaged the schools of philosophers and the councils of soTereigns. 

Both Alexander the Great and Ptolemy Philadelphus contemplated the solution of the 

problem ; and Lucan ascribes the same design 
to Julius Cfesar, whom he represents thus 
speaking at the feast of Cleopatra : 

' Tet still no views have urged my ardour more, 
Than Nile's remotest fountains to explore ; 
Then say what source the famous stream supplies, 
And bids it at revolving periods rise ; 
Sliew me tliat head, from whence since time begun, 
The long succession of his waves has run ; 
Tliis let me know, and all my toils shall cease. 
The sword be sheathed, and earth be blessed mth 
peace.' 

Seneca tells us that the Emperor ISTero des- 
patched two centurions fruitlessly upon the 
mission. Poets indulged in vague conjec- 
tures, ■while not a few resigned themselves to 
the conviction that by the will of the gods the 
veil was not to be removed from the sources 
of the mighty stream. 

It was known to the ancients that the Nile 
proper is formed by the junction of two 
main branches, which takes place near the 
modern town of Khartum, in Upper K"ubia. 
The east branch, or the Blue River, descends 
from the Abyssinian highlands, and is the 
jSTile of classical geography and of Bruce. But 
the west branch, or the White Eiver, is the 
principal arm and main body of the stream, 
the source of which has remained obscure to 
the present period, though not without many 
attempts to reach it by ascending the cur- 
rent. M. Linant, in 1827, passed up to a 
considerable distance above the confluence. 
In 1841-2, an expedition under D'Arnaud 
and Sabatier, fitted out by Mohammed Ali, 
pasha of Egypt, advanced along the channel 
to within 3° 40' of the eciuator, or to a 
distance of 3200 miles from 
Alexandria, following the wind- 
ings. It was there found to be 
still a broad stream, containuig 
many islands, and coming ap- 
parently from a great distance 
in the interior. Between the 
years 1853-1858, MrPetherick, 
the British consul, advanced 
much fmiher, close to the equator, if not quite to the line, and would probably have 
reached the cistern of the river in a renewed attempt, had he not been encountered on the 




DISCOVERY AND SETTLEMENT OF AUSTRALIA. 115 

^yay by its two visitors, Captains Speke and Grant. Eeversing the natural order of 
discovery, tliey liad struck the fountain-liead from the east coast, and thence descended 
upon the channel. Departing from the neighhom-hood of Zanzibar, these gallant Anglo- 
Indian officers made for the lofty and extensive lacustrine plateau of the equatorial 
interior, reached the Victoria ISTyanza, skirted its shores to the main outlet, and followed 
its course to the meeting -with Mr Petherick at Gondokoro, thence proceeding by Kliartum, 
Assouan, Thebes, and Cairo to Alexandria. They left the east coast in October 1860 ; 
disappeared in the wilds of the interior in September 1861 ; and nothing was heard of 
them tni the pithy telegram was received at the Foreign Office, London, in May 1863, 
'The Ifile is settled.' The secret of ages is thus out at last; audit is a fair subject for 
congratulation that its disclosure has been effected by two of our o'wn countrymen, who 
liave accomplished a feat which baffled Egyptian kings and Eoman emperors in the 
plenitude of their power. 

' The mystery of Old Nile is solved : brave men 

Have through the lion-hauiited inland passed, 
Dared all the perils of desert, gorge, and glen, 
Found the far source at last.' 

The journey was performed on foot, and involved a walk of 1300 miles. Erom the middle 
of tlie northern boundary of the lake, the parent stream of the Nile issues with consider- 
able width, and leaps over a fall of twelve feet in height. Though the main reservoir of 
the river, the Nyanza, has its feeders, among which the ultimate source remains to be 
detected. 

First descried from the deck of the Dutch ship Dmjfen, Australia was explored on 
its east coast by Cook in 1770. iN'ew South "Wales, its first colony, from which most 
of the others have proceeded, was settled in 1788. After the settlement of the first 
English colony on its shores, Australian discovery was for some time confined to tracing 
out the sinuosities in its vicinity, and thus ascertaining the details of the coast-line. In 
this task, two young men were prominent, Messrs Eass and Flinders, the former a surgeon 
in the navy, the latter a midshipman, whose means were at first limited to a little boat eight 
feet long, which they called the Tom Tliuinb. The coves to the southward of Poi-t Jackson 
were examined ; the insulation of Van Diemen's Land was determined, the merit of 
wdiioh is chiefly due to Mr Bass, whose name was given to the separating strait ; and 
jointly in a small schooner they circumnavigated that island, exploring its rivers and 
harbours. Having gained promotion, and being appointed by the home-government to 
the Investigator, a ship expressly fitted out for the service. Captain Flinders, during the 
years 1802 and 1803, minutely surveyed the southern and eastern coasts, with a large 
part of the northern, and was the first to introduce the appropriate name of Australia as 
a substitute for the old Dutch name of New Holland. He disclosed more fully the 
world-famous Port Philip, along which hosts of ships bave gone up to Melbourne; 
discovered the great inlets of St Vincent's and Spencer's Gulfs, now included in the 
colony of South Australia ; and landed on Kangaroo Island, which lies off the mouth of 
the latter, and protects it from the roH of the Southern Ocean, beiag probably the first 
human being that ever stepped upon the strand. Tliis large island received its name 
from the number of the animals found there, wMch. were at that time so tame as to allow 
the sailors to loiook them down like sheep. ' On going towards the shore in a boat,' says 
Flinders, 'a number of dark-brown kangaroos were seen feeding upon a grass-plot by 
the side of a wood, and our landing gave them no disttu^bance. Never, perhaps, had 
the dominion possessed here by the kangaroos been invaded before this time. The 
seal shared equally the shores, but they seemed to dwell amicably together. It not 



116 



CENTRAL AUSTRALIA. 



mifreqiiently happened tliat the report of a gun fired at a kangaroo near the beach, 
brought out two or three bellowing seals from under bushes considerably further from the 
water-side. The seal, indeed, seemed to be much the more discerning animal of the two, 
for its actions bespoke a knowledge of oirr not being kangaroos, whereas the kangaroos 
not unfrequently appeared to consider us to be seals.' Encounter Bay, to the eastward, 
was so called by the navigator as the spot where he met with M. Baudin, ia command of 
the corvette Geograplie, when a peaceful interview took place between the officers and 
crews ia time of war. Surveying voyages successively prosecuted by Captaina King, 
Wickham, Grey, Stokes, Stanley, and others, have since completed the illustration of the 
AustraHan coast-line, but down to a very recent date, portions of the north-western shores 
were only conjeoturaUy delineated on our maps. 

!For twenty-five years after the first Australian colony, that of jSTew South Wales, was 
started, nothing was kno'wn of the interior of the island-continent except at a com- 
paratively short distance from the shores. The inhabitants of Sydney looked wistfully 
westward to the Blue Mountains, visible from the heights around, which long foiled every 
effort made by the government surveyors, as well as by enterprising settlers, to pass them, 
owing to their tortuous and profoundly deep defiles, bounded by vertical walls of rook, 
and often terminated by a similar perpendicular facing. Mr Bass succeeded in scaling 
several precipices by means of iron hooks fastened to his arms, and was let down by ropes 




Volcanic Lakes and Mountains, South Australia. 

into intervening chasms, but after fifteen days' exertion he reHnquished the task as 
hopeless. The colonists had almost universally adopted the opinion, that the barrier was 
insurmountable, when a practicable jjassage was found in the year 1813, leading to the 
pastoral lands since known as the Bathurst gold-fields. This route was traversed by 
Governor Macquarie, with his lady, and a retinue of officers, in May 1815, and is now 
the great western road of the colony. In consequence of tlris discovery, a large extent of 



SIB THOMAS MITCHELL'S EXPEDITION. 117 

country on tlio further side of the mountains was rajjidly opened up by explorers and 
squatters. The Maoquarie, LacMau, and Darling Eivers were met with, and heKeved at 
first to flow into some vast inland sea, the existence of which in Central Australia was 
long a favourite notion ivith speculative geographers. B"orthward, in 1823, Mr Oxley 
surveyed the Moreton-Bay district, now Queensland, and named its principal stream the 
Brisbane. Southward, iu 1824-5, Messrs HoveU and Hume, spirited .sheep-farmers, 
pushed their way overland to the shores of Port Philip, and were the iirst Europeans to 
cross the greatest known Austrahan river, suhsec[uently called the Murray. In 1830, this 
stream, wliioh collects the western waters of ISTew South Wales, was traced hy Captaia 
Sturt to its discharge into Lake Victoria, a shallow arm of the sea communicating by 
a narrow channel with the open ocean at Encounter Bay. ITumbers of the aborigines 
were seen, who could scarcely be brought to believe that the discoveriug-party were of the 
same genus as themselves, and placed their hands agaiast those of the strangers, in order 
to ascertain if the number of fingers on each corresponded. N'othing astonished them 
more than the act of taking off the hat, as they seem to have considered it an integral 
part of the bodies of their strange visitors. Stuit's representations of this region led to 
the first exploration of the Adelaide country, with a view to the establishment of a new 
colony, that of South Australia. Captaia Barker, at the head of a party of eight persons, 
charged with this mission, perished in the execution of it. On reaching the narrow 
channel connecting Lake "Victoria mth the sea, he stripped himself, and swam across, 
for the purpose of looking out from a convenient site. ' Curiosity prompted me,' says 
a bystander, 'to time his crossuig. The current was running out strong; but he 
accomplished the feat, at 9.58 a.m., in three minutes. On arriving at the opposite shore, 
he ascended the sandhill, gazed around for a few moments, and disappeared.' He was 
never seen afterwards. But it was ascertaiued that three natives speared him as he 
rushed into the water to escape from them, and the tide carried away his body. 

Many lamentable incidents of a similar kind mark the history of adventure in 
Australia. In 1835, Major, afterwards Sir Thomas Mitchell, started from Bathurst 
on an exploring toui-, with a numerous and well-equipped party, one of which was 
Mr Peter Cunningham, the indefatigable and accomplished botanist. Lured by his love 
of plants to wander from the main body, he disappeared in the interminable wilderness, 
and though carefully sought for, was never found. But from facts which subsequently 
came to Hght, he appears to have been murdered by the natives. An obelisk com- 
memorates him in the Botanic Garden at Sydney. It was the custom of tliis estimable 
man to carry about with him in his excursions a bag of peach-stones, which he carefully 
planted ui the sterile wUds for the benefit of future travellers, as well as of the aborigines. 
If a peach-stone is planted in the ground, in any part of this country where some supply 
of moisture is obtained, there ynU. be a tree laden with fruit in three or four years, 
without any kind of culture. Peaches are now commonly met with wild in the woods, 
and yield a wholesome refreshment to the wayfarer, the more valued, as the native 
forests afford nothing whatever in the shape of fruit for the sustenance of man. ' I 
was much struck with this circumstance,' justly remarks a relator of it ; ' and while I 
could not help commending, in my very heart, the pure and disinterested benevolence 
it evinced, I could not help inwardly regarding it as a lesson for myself in the future, 
and a reproof for the past. Alas ! how many spots have we all passed nnheeded in 
the wUdemess of life, in which we might easily have sown good seed if we had so 
chosen. Such spots we may never revisit ; and the opportunity of doing good, which 
was thus afforded ns, but which was suffered to pass unimproved, will consequently 
never return.' 



118 CENTEAL AUSTRALIA. 

Early travellers in tMs remarkable country were sometimas embarrassed by the 
clianged aspect of certain tracts, when revisited after no distant interval, which shewed 
an alteration upon a larger scale than that exhibited by the streams at different seasons 
of the year, which a colonial has described : 

' Exhausted by the summer sun, 
Tlie schoolboy fords the broad Coquun ; 
For then the slow meandering stream 
Shrinks from the hot sun's fiery beam, 
And, like a -wounded serpent, crawls 
From Cumberoy to Maitland Falls ; 
Bui when the autiunnal deluge swells 
Each little brook in yonder dells. 
And twice ten thousand torrents pour 
From chff and rock with deafening roar 
Oh ! then he roUs with manly pride, 
Nor stream nor storm can stem his tide ! ' 

Mr Oxley, in 1817, found a noble expanse near the Lachlan, which he called Eegcut's 
Lake. '^'V^len this was sought for by Sir T. Mitchell, in 1836, it was for the most 
part an extensive plain, covered with luxuriant grass. There was some water at one 
extremity scarcely a foot deep, the refuge of black swans and pelicans, the latter standing 
high upon their legs above the remains of the lake. That it had been a splendid 
expanse at no distant date, was evident from the water-line on the shores, whUe, within 
this former boundary, stood dead trees of a fuU-grown size, apparently kUled by too 
much moisture. The site had thus been woodland, lake, and grassy plain. In 1828, 
Lake George was a fine sheet of water, seventeen miles in length by seven in breadth, 
extending into the counties of Argyle and Murray. But it was without fish, and 
surrounded by dead trees of the eucalyptus, some of them two feet in diameter, which 
also extended into it tUl they were wholly immersed. An old native female remembered 
the time when the whole was a forest, a statement supported by the presence of the 
lifeless timber. In October 1836, the entire lake was gone; and its basin was a grassy 
meadow, similar to the adjoining Breadalbane plains. Alternating cycles of extreme 
moisture and drought, extending through considerable periods, offer perhaps the true 
explanation of the transitions. 

Soon after the colony of South Australia was founded, its government despatched 
Mr Eyre from Adelaide overland to King George's Sound. The long journey was 
accomphshed in the year 1840, but the route only disclosed a thoroughly inhospitable 
region, in traversing which, all the party suffered severely from fatigue and privation, 
whde some of its members perished by the way. The next year, the same explorer, 
who believed in the existence of a great central sea, was directed to strike northward 
into the interior, from Spencer's Gulf, and if possible reach the Troj)io of Capricorn. 
He failed in the latter object ; and instead of meeting with a grand inland reservoir, 
the singular horseshoe Lake Torrens was discovered, a huge serpentine tract of soft 
boggy ground or mud, covered in places with a shallow sheet of salt water, but often 
extensively converted by heat and drought into a desert of loose drifting sand. The 
next attempt to reach the heart of the country was made by Captain Sturt, in 1845, 
who succeeded in the object ; closely approached the southern tropic due north from 
Adelaide, under the meridian of 130° E. ; but narrowly escaped with life from a region 
wholly destitute of water, and rivalling in its sterility the worst parts of the African 
Sahara. The opinion was general from this date, tiU corrected by very recent experience, 
that the whole of Central AustraUa is a frightful wilderness, incapable of supporting 
life, and therefore unworthy of any hazard being encountered in the attempt to traverse 



ME M'dOUALL STDABT's EXPEDITION. 119 

tlio dry and desolate waste. At the time when tliis adventure Avas in progress, an 
unobtrusive German naturalist, Dr Ludwig Leiohardt, witli seven companions, made 
tlie overland passage from Moreton Bay to Port Essington, during which he discovered 
and named the Burdekin, mth other rivers, and returned by sea from the completion 
of the enterprise. Thus was an extraordinary journey of 1800 miles, through an iinknown 
part of the country, performed in fifteen months ; but as its direction did not lead him 
tlirough the more interior districts, the conviction remained current that Dante's line 
might be applied to them, 

' Abandon hope all ye wlio enter here,' 
as consisting of a series of scorched, stony, sandy, and saline plains. 

After resting a brief space ia. the settled districts, the intrepid Leichardt rallied a 
second band of adventurers around him, who had now reason to repose confidence in 
him as a leader, from his success in the expedition just named. His project was to 
proceed from east to west, or from New South "Wales to the Swan Eiver Settlement, 
a distance little short of 3000 miles in a direct line, hoping to find by the way a succes- 
sion of oases, like those in the African or Arabian deserts, which would enable him 
to recruit liis party on the journey. He started from the Darling Do-\atis in the early 
part of the year 1848 ; and no certain tidings have ever transpired respecting the gallant 
band. One conclusion is sufiioiently clear, either that they perished successively for want 
of provisions, or were cut off in some murderous attack of the natives. The latter 
melancholy fate befell the young and intelligent Mr Kennedy in the year of Leichardt's 
disappearance. The incidents accompanying his death striliingly illustrate the extremes of 
character in the Australian black, for while dogged and butchered by the natives in cold 
blood, ho was defended to the last by a native attendant. Mr Kennedy, a government 
of&cial, with his servant Jaoky-Jacky, a black, and eleven whites, left Sydney on the 
28th of April 1848, for the exploration of the country lying between Eockingham Bay 
and Cape York, the north-east extremity of Australia, a distance of not more than 500 
mUes. Obstructed by impassable scrubs and swamps, by disease, famine, and hostile 
savages, most of the travellers were completely disabled. Ultimately the leader and his 
man went on in advance, in order by forced marches to gain his destination, where a 
schooner was waiting for him, from which relief might be sent to the stragglers. The 
sequel may be stated in the words of the survivor. ' ISTow we went into a little bit of 
scrub, and I told Mr Kennedy to look behind always. Sometimes he would do so, and 
sometimes he would not look out for the blacks. Then a good many black fellows came 
behind in the scrub, and threw plenty of spears, and hit Mr Kennedy in the back first. 
He said to me : " Oh Jacky, Jacky, shoot 'em ! shoot 'em ! " Then I pulled out my gun, and 
hit one feUow over the face with buck-shot. Then I carried Mr Kennedy into the scrub. 
I asked him : " Are you going to leave me 1 " and he said : " Yes, my boy, I am going to 
leave you." He then said : " Give me paper, and I will write." I gave him paper and a 
pencil, and he tried to write, and then he fell back and died ; and I caught him as he fell 
back, and held him. I then turned round myself, and cried. I was crying a good deal, 
till I got well, that was about an hour, and then I buried him. I digged up the ground 
with a tomahawk, and covered him over with logs, then grass, and my shirt and trousers. 
That night I left him near dark.' After enduring great misery, the black reached the 
schooner, and was the means of rescuing Mr Carron the botanist and another, when 
within an hour or two of inevitable death, the only survivors of the party. 

At a date coincident with the African discoveries, a new era opened for Australia, by 
unfavourable impressions being corrected respecting its central regions, at first conceived to 
be a watery waste, and then a hideous wilderness. In 1858, Mr M'DouaU Stuart proceeded 



120 CENTRAL AUSTRALIA. 

from South Australia into the interior under a more westerly meridian than that which had 
previously led Captain Stm-t into an inlrospitahle deserts, and traversed an extensive area 
avadable for sheep-pastiu-e, with scenery pleasantly diversified by lakes and creeks of salt 
and fresh water. Enooiu-aged hy this success, he set out with only two followers, in March 
1860, with the intention of crossing the country from sea to sea. The hold colonist veiy 
nearly succeeded in accomplishing his object, foUowing generally the meridian of 134° E. 
Having gained the central region, where the name of Central Mount Stuart was bestowed 
upon a conspicuous hOl, he proceeded thence to about latitude 18° 40' S., or within 250 
miles of the Gulf of Carpentaria, suffering much by the way, chiefly from the want of water. 
Here the country was good. All difficulties seemed to be at an end, and success certain, 
when an obstacle arose not experienced before, which piroved insurmountable. Owing to 
the number and determined hostUity of the natives, he was compelled to desist from the 
enterprise, and return to Adelaide, which he regained in the foUowing September. In the 
meantime a carefully-organised and weU-equipped expedition had started from Melbourne 
with the same object in view, which enabled the sister-colony of Victoria to snatch from 
South AustraHa the distinction of being the first to open a path through the land from 
the southern to the northern seas. Large subscriptions were readily raised for the attempt; 
the aid of the local government was liberally afforded ; and the sympathies of the entire 
community were warmly enlisted in the adventure. An exploration-committee of 
experienced persons superintended the outfit of the traveUers, which included the 
necessary amount of stores for a long absence, with aU kinds of instruments for scientific 
observation, and the novel addition of a troop of camels, twenty-seven in number, 
expressly imported from Asia. The party consisted of Eobert O'Hara Burke, the leader ; 
Mr WiUs, as scientific observer ; Dr Herman Becker, medical attendant and botanist ; 
Ludwig Becker, artist and natm-alist ; Mr Landells, in charge of the camels ; and 
thirteen subordinates, with horses, wagons, and every provision hkely to insure success 
— ^the most gigantic expedition ever fitted out in the Austrahan colonies. Pull of high 
hope, they set forth on the 20th of August 1860, amid the cheers of a vast multitude 
assembled in the Eoyal Park, Melbourne, to witness their departm'e. 

According to the plan previously arranged. Cooper's Creek was fixed upon as a place of 
rendezvous and final starting-point, a well-known locaHty, a Httle to the east of Sturt's 
track in 1845, and about one-third of the distance across the country. Here a permanent 
d^p6t was to be established as a basis for further operations. Very slow progress was 
made by the heavy-laden camels, and further time being lost on the way by unfortunate 
altercations, the leader went on in advance to the station with a small select body, leavmg 
the rest to follow at leism-e Avith the weightier stores. Arrived at Cooper's Creek, he 
divided the reduced party, and without delay left the d^pot in charge of Brahe, a petty 
officer, with verbal instructions to await his return for three months or longer, if provisions 
and other circumstances would permit. From this point Burke pursued his journey with 
only three companions, consisting of Wills, the scientific assistant, two men, Eang and 
Gray, taking along six camels, one horse, and three months' provisions. These wore the 
real explorers, destiaed to accomplish a hazardous enterprise, and make a great discovery, 
with the melancholy result of only one of them surviving its performance. 

The start from Cooper's Creek was made on the 16th of December. After a week's 
travelling, a halt for Christmas was taken under favourable circumstances. ^Monday, 
2Mli December 1860. — ^"We took a day of rest on Gray's Creek (so called because Gray, 
having been detached from the party, had found good water there) to celebrate Christmas. 
This was doubly pleasant, as we had never in our most sanguine moments anticipated 
finding such a delightful oasis in the desert. Our camp was really an agreeable place, for 



BUEKB AND WILLS S EXPEDITION. 121 

WO liad all tho advantages of food and water attending the position of a large creek or 
rivor, and wore at the same time free of the annoyance of the numberless ants, flies, and 
mosquitoes, that are invariably met with amongst timber or heavy scrub.' Prooeedin" 
nearly due north, and keeping generally to the meridian of 140° E., they passed day after 
day well-watered plains, wdth numerous lines of timber, and every evidence of a good 
grazing country. The 11th of February 1861 brought them to the tide-water of the Gulf 
of Carpentaria, wliioh seems to have been struck in an extensive marsh connected with the 
Albert Eiver, ascended for some distance in boats by Captain Stokes in the year 1841. 
In attempting to gain a view of the open sea, they were baffled completely by a long 
reach of boggy ground, but had conclusive proofs of having gained the verge of the 
Northern Ocean. On returning by a new route, to the east of the outward track, a region 
of the finest character for pastoral purposes was passed through, with every appearance of 
possessing a permanent supply of water. Early in April, the want of provisions began to 
tell upon the travellers, and it became necessary to kill the horse for support. ' We 
found it healthy and tender,' says the journal, 'but without the shghtest trace of fat in 
any portion of the body.' Soon afterwards Gray died of sheer exliaustion. His 
companions had thought rather lightly beforehand of his complaints of distress j and as 
their own sufferings came on. Wills took occasion to enter an expression of regret in his 
note-book at the circumstance : ' The exertion required to get up a slight piece of rising- 
ground induces an indescribable sensation of paiti and helplessness, and the general 
lassitude makes one imfit for anything. Poor Gray must have suffered very much many 
times when wo thought him shamming.' 

Worn down with arduous travel, afflicted with scurvy, almost without clothes, then* sis 
camels reduced to two, the survivors struggled manfully on; and with half-paralysed 
limbs regained their old quarters at Cooper's Creek on the 21st of April, after an absence 
of four, months and five days. It was nightfall when they arrived; and rarely has 
human fortitude been put to a gTeater test than by the disappointment wliich awaited 
them. The station was deserted. The word 'Dig,' cut on an adjoining tree, du-ected 
them to a cache where some provisions were biuried — a welcome refreshment — with a 
record to the effect that the party left in charge under Brahe had quitted the spot only 
seven hours iefore the staggering wayfarers reached it. Severe as was this misfortune, it 
was bravely borne, as a note written by Burke the next day, the last he ever penned, 
duly deposited in the cache, testifies. ' The return-party, from Carpentaria, consisting of 
myself, Mr Wills, and King (Gray dead) arrived here last night, and found that the diipot- 
pai'ty had only started on the same day. We proceed on to-morrow slowly down the 
creek towards Adelaide by Mount Hopeless, and shall endeavour to follow Gregory's 
track, but we are very weak. The two camels are done up, and we shall not be able to 
travel further than four or five miles a day. Gray died on the road from exhaustion and 
fatigue. We have all suffered much from hunger. The provision left here will, I think, 
restore our strength. We have discovered a practicable route to Carpentaria, the chief 
portion of which lies on the 140th meridian of east longitude. There is some good 
country between this and the stony desert. Erom there to the tropic the country is dry 
and stony. Between the tropic and Carpentaria a considerable portion is rangy, but it is 
well watered and ricHy grassed. We reached the shores of Carpentaria on the 11th of 
Eebruary 1861. Greatly disappointed at finding the party here gone. — E. O'Haea Burke, 
Leader. — P. 8. The camels cannot travel, and we cannot waUt, or we should follow the 
other party. We shall move very slowly down the creek.' 

Mishaps attended the steps of the wanderers. Landa, one of the camels, having sunk 
in a bog, could not be extricated, and was shot as he lay. Eajah, the other, was killed 



122 CENTRAL AUSTEALIA. 

for food. After proceeding some distance in the direction indicated, their exhausted 
condition enforced a retimi to the d6p6t, to which, hy a scarcely conceivable mischance, 
ISrahe had returned in the interim, and c[uitted finally without discovering a trace of their 
visit. Thus abandoned, life was ijroserred for some time by the seeds of the nardoo 
plant, which the natives make iuto bread ; but it was too unnutritious to have any recruit- 
ing effect. Unable to crawl, Wills insisted upon being left, while the other two went in 
search of the blacks, as their last chance. Burke sunk on the way, and soon expired; and 
King, on returning to Wills, found him a corpse, stretched on the spot where he had 
separated from him. The sole survivor was fortunate enough to meet with natives, who 
Idndly entertained him with their best fare, and among whom he was discovered by a 
relief-party from Melbourne on the 15th of September, wasted to a skeleton, and scarcely 
to be distinguished as a civilised being. By this party, the bodies of the two intrepid 
loaders were formd, and committed with solemn sadness to the grave ; but they were 
subsequently exhumed, removed to Melbourne, and honoured with a public funeral. 
Seldom has a catastrophe been precipitated by such a series of jserfectly avoidable 
disasters, for the sacrifice of valuable lives seems to have been occasioned simply by 
misunderstanding and mismanagement. It has not, however, been made in vain. The 
men accomphshed the main object of their mission, crossed and recrossed the great 
island-continent, discovering a fine habitable country where only desolation had been 
surmised. 

In the following year, the veteran explorer, M'Douall Stuart, having started from 
Adelaide, reached Van Diemen's Bay, on the north coast, at the head of the first 
European party actually to catch sight of the bounding waves. The exclamation of one 
of his men, who was in advance, 'The sea !' elicited hearty cheers from Ms companions, 
and aU hastened forwards to enjoy the spectacle. The leader dipped his feet, washed his 
face and hands in the Indian Ocean, and suitably commemorated the accomplishment of 
the great object of his journey. ' I had,' he remarks, ' an open space cleared, selected one 
of the tallest trees, stripped it of its lower branches, and on its highest fixed my flag, the 
Union Jack, with my name sewn in the centre of it. At one foot south from the foot of 
the tree is buried, about eight inches below the ground, an air-tight tin-case, in which 
is a paper with the following notice : ' South Australian Great Northern Exploring 
Expedition. The exploring-party under the command of John M'DouaU Stuart arrived 
at this spot on the 25th of July 1862, having crossed the entire continent of Australia 
from the Southern to the Indian Ocean, passing through the centre. They left the city 
of Adelaide on the 26th day of October 1861, and the most northern station of the colony 
on the 21st of January 1862. To commemorate this happy event they have raised this 
flag. All well. God save the Queen !' More recently, Mr M'Kinlay crossed the country 
from Adelaide to the Gulf of Carpentaria, travelling thence to the east coast, and Mr 
Landsborough has intersected it southward from the shores of the gulf to the colony of 
Victoria. As the result of these journeys, Central Australia, instead of being the burning 
desert it was once sujDposed, is now known to comprise vast habitable tracts, destined at 
no distant date to be the nursery and home of flourishing communities. 




XJralskaya Sopka, copied, by permission, from Sir K. I. Murchison's great work on Eussiajx Geology. 



PAET I. 



DESCRIPTIVE GEOGRAPHY OF EUROPE. 



EfTEODUOTOKY CHAPTBH. GENERAL VIEW OF EUBOPE. 




TJEOPE, one of tlie principal divisions of tlie earth, 
commonly styled a continent, is more properly a north- 
western peninsula of the great eastern continent, or tlie 
Old "World, as it is washed on tloree sides hy the ocean 
and its arms, while of scanty area when compared with 
the mass of land more or less directly associated with 
it, apportioned to Asia and Africa. It has not only 
more contracted limits, hut is far inferior to them in 
the magnitude of its rivers, the height of its mountains, 
the beauty, variety, and profusion of the forms of animal 
and vegetable life ; and America — the western continent 
of the geographer, the New World of the historian — 



has immensely the superiority in extent, and in the development of physical features. 



124 



GENERAIi VIEW OP EUROPE. 



But wlien these primo divisions of tlio globe are 
viewed in their social, inteUectual, and political 
aspects, the decided pre-eminence belongs to the 
smallest. Its nations are entitled to the first 
rank in industry, arts, and arms. Their ioiluence 
has the widest extension and the greatest power. 
Their languages are the most widely diffused; 
and enunciate all that is valuable in philosophy, 
science, history, poetry, and rehgion. The pre- 
sent civilisation, predominant races, and tongues 
of Am erica, are entirely of European origin ; and 
while no inconsiderable portion of its area, with 
that of Asia, Africa, and Oceania, is under the 
direct control of European governments, what- 



=|^&^^^& ever of improvement is exhibited by their inde- 
pendent coloured people and nomadic tribes, is 
largely due to the enterprise, intelligence, and 
skill of European settlers and visitors. 

The name of Europe first occurs in one of the 

hymns attributed to Homer, addressed to ApoUo. 

Mythology derives it from the nymph Europa, 

the 'broad-browed' daughter of a Phoenician 

long, but throws no light upon its meaning. 

According to some authorities, the word is from 

a Semitic root, and signifies ' the place of sunset.' 

Assuming this origin, it is supposed to have 

come into use as applicable to the country 

westward of Greece, just as that portion of the 

Mediterranean basin lying to the eastward is 

known as the Levant, the ' region of sunrise,' 

or the ' east,' a denomination which arose with 

the Italian navigators of the middle ages, and 

is stUl retained. Others refer the term to two 

Greek words meaning the 'broad laud,' one of 

the ancient names of Thrace. It is descriptive 

of the appearance presented by that territory to 

the old inhabitants of Greece, to whom it had 

no known inland hmit, and might be thence 

extended indefinitely to the lands continuous 

with it. So late as the Byzantine empire, one 

■ of the six dioceses 

of Thrace was called 

Europa, a vestige of the 

primitive designation of 

the entire country. This 

last explanation is the 

most probable. 

The northern boundary 




BOUNDARIES OF EUEOPE. 

is formed by the Arctic Ocean ; tlie -western by 
the Atlantic; the southern by the Mediterranean 
and Black Seas, with the intervening waters, and 
the main ridge of the Caucasus from the latter basin 
to the Caspian. On the eastern side, the Ural river 
and mountains fiurnish a general limit, and a divid- 
ing-line from Asia. But, though rising in places 
upwards of 5000 feet, while extending more than 
1200 miles in the direction of the meridian, the 
Ural chain has only a moderate average elevation, 
and is so interrupted in several parts of its course 
by depressions, as to olfer there no prominent land- 
mark to the eye, or definite natural frontier. The 
Russian government does not view the range in the 
light of a barrier, since both the provinces of Perm 
and Orenburg extend indifferently on either side. 
Proceeding across it along the great road between 
Perm and Ekaterinburg, there is only a very gentle 
and trifling ascent and descent, of easy passage for 
carriages; and, without information, the traveller 
would unconsciously make the transition from one 
grand di-^dsion of the globe to another, as no arti- 
ficial sign-post has been raised to supply the lack of 
a natural indication. 'About an hour and a half,' 
Erman observes, 'after we had left Kii'gishansk, 
and as we were between the fourteenth and fifteenth 
verst-stone from that place, our guide informed us 
that we were on the boundary of Asia. In the days 
of ancient Greece, a point to which universal consent 
assigned so much importance would not surely have 
been left without some strUting moniunent ; for 
even on the Istlimus of Corinth, the bounds of two 
comparatively petty provinces were indicated by a 
pillar, having inscribed 
on one side, " This is 
Peloponnesus, and not 
Ionia;" and on the 
other, "This is Ionia, 
and not Peloponnesus." 
But the fact that, at the 
present day, the bound- 
ary between two great 
divisions of the earth is 
not thought worthy of 
any especial mark, may 
be haUed as a pleasing 
sign of the greater facility 
of movement which is 




126 



GENERAL VIEW OF EUROPE. 



now enjoyed by mankiiiJ. Nevertlieless, wo left beliind us, in a sportive mood, a 
memorial of oiu' visit to this point, Tvkicli, for the imagination of the geographer at least, 
is not without some interest. We enclosed in a hottle a paper containing the names of 
the travellers and the object of their journey, written in Latin, and buried it ia the wood 




Astrachan, at the Mouth of the Volga. 

on the south side of the road.' In one part of the Ural Mountains, called Uralskaya 
Sopka, Sir E. I. Murchison tells us that the boundary-line is carried over a sharply- 
pointed precipitous rock, of somewhat difficult ascent, with scarcely standing-room for 
more than two individuals at the top. It was scaled by the jtresent emperor of Eussia, 
when grand-duke, who stood on the summit with one foot in Europe, the other in Asia ; 
and this august example was followed by the learned president of the Geograjihical Society 
and his companions. 

The European mainland ranges through thirty-five degrees of latitude, from the 
Punta da Tarifa, a headland on the Strait of Gibraltar, in 36° 1' north, to the ISTordkyn, 
a cape at the further extremity of Norway, in 71° 6', the extreme southern and northern 
points. A slightly higher latitude is reached by the celebrated JSTortli Cape, but that 
is a promontory of the adjoining island of Mageroe. The extent in longitude is through 
nearly seventy-eight degrees, from Cape Eoca, a short distance from Lisbon, in 9° 28' 
west, to the mouth of the smaR Eiver Kara, at the north-eastern extremity of Eussia, 
in 68° 30' east. Tliis longitudinal range involves a difference of about five hours of 
time between the eastern and western bounds. Hence, when the morning sunbeams are 
brightly lighting up the tops of the Urals, it is stUl dark night on the shores of France 
and Spain ; and when it is high, noon at the rock of Gibraltar, the day is approaching 
its decline in the steppes on the borders of the Caspian. The greatest distances that 
can be traversed in a straight line are 2400 miles, from north to south, or between the 
extremities of ISTorway and Greece ; and 3400 miles, in a diagonal direction, between 
the south-western angle of Portugal and the north-eastern corner of Eussia. Insular 



LENGTH AND BEEADTH OP EUROPE. 



127 



adjuncts are very important features of Europe, and extend its limits in both latitude 
and longitude. Candia, a Turkisli island, is more southerly than any part of the 
continental coast ; the British Isles stretch to a more westerly meridian ; and the Azores 
are much further out in the Atlantic. Including the mainland and islands, the area is 




City of Tarif a. 

moderately estimated at 3,700,000 square miles, equal to rather more than one-fifth of 
the magnitude of Asia, but less than one-thh-d the size of Africa, and somewhat exceeding 
one-foiu:th the extent of America. The length of the coast-line falls very little short of 
20,000 miles. 

The contouj of the mainland is much more elaborate in proportion to its area, than 
that of the other principal sections of the globe, and its populations have therefore a 
larger measure of maritime accommodation. This appears from a glance at the world's 
map, and a compaiison of areas and coast-Une. 





Area in Square Miles. 


Linear Miles ot Coast. 


Stiuare 
One 


Miles of Area 
Mile of Coast. 


Europe, 


3,700,000 


19,500 




190 


Asia, 


17,500,000 


35,000 




500 


Africa, . 


12,000,000 


16,000 




750 


North America, 


8,600,000 


24,500 




350 


South America, . 


7,000,000 


14,500 




482 


AustraKa, 


3,000,000 


10,000 




300 



Thus, in proportion to the amount of surface, Europe has more than tmce the extent 
of coast-hne belonging to South America, nearly twice as much as North America, nearly 
three tunes as much as Asia, and about four times as much as Africa. This great amount 
of maritime frontier favours intercommunication and commercial traffic ; contributes to 
render climate temperate ; and has, in no slight degree, promoted the social and intellectual 
progress of Europeans. It arises from the number of inland seas which deeply penetrate 
the mainland, and fringe it Avith a series of large peninsulas. Of these, there are five 
prmcipal basins, the White Sea on the north ; the Baltic and the North Sea on the 
north-west ; the Mediterranean, with its arms, the Adriatic and the Archipelago, on the 



128 GENERAL VIEW OP EUEOPE. 

soiitli ; the Black Sea, mtli its branoli the Sea of Azov, on the south-east. These 
expanses and the outlying ocean, give a shore to every European country, "with the 
exception of Switzerland and some Germanic states ; and bring every part of the surface, 
except ia the heart of Eussia, within 400 miles of a sea-beach. 

A vast level, very slightly raised in any part above the sea, with two systems of 
mountains distinct from each other — a north-western or Scandinavian, and a southern or 
Alpine, in part central — are the prominent internal features of the continent. 

The ' great plain,' as it is commonly styled, is equal in extent to two-thirds of the 
entire surface. It comprehends the whole of Eussia, from the Black Sea and the 
Caucasus on the south, to the shores of the Arctic Ocean on the north, with all Poland, 
ISTorth Germany, Denmark, Holland, and the chief j)art of Belgium, terminating on the 
sandy coast of the North Sea, or, neglecting some minor irregularities, it may be said to 
sweep Tormd the central highlands of France to the foot of the Pyrenees. The greater 
part of this plain may be compared to a triangle in shape, the base of which lies along the 
Ural Mountains, from whence it gradually diminishes in breadth westward, and reaches its 
apex in the Netherlands. At its western limit, the surface is depressed below high-water 
mark; and immense dykes or ramparts of stone and earth, raised on the coast, alone 
prevent destructive incursions of the sea, and the permanent submergence of extensive 
tracts of country. Hence the name of HoUaud, hollow or low land, with that of one of 
its districts, Wateiiarid ; and the general denomination of the whole region, formerly m 
more frequent use than at present, the Nether-lands or Low Countries. By an almost 
imperceptible rise, the height of 1100 feet above the sea is attained in the Yaldai Hills, 
in Eussia, on the slope of which the Volga begins its course, a very trifling elevation for 
the source of a river which flows through more than 2000 miles. It would be possible 
for a traveller to leave London for Eotterdam or Hamburg, proceed by Berlin and 
Konigsberg to Moscow, thence to the eastern frontier of Europe, without any alteration 
of level exceeding the height of the cross of St Paul's. 

The great plain has a very varying aspect and character. Polished city populations 
and rude nomadic hordes appear within its limi ts, along with well-cultivated tracts of the 
highest fertility; natural forests wliich have not yet known the woodman's axe; and 
treeless landscapes not more monotonous than barren. Green meadows abound in 
Holland, Belgium, and Holstein. To these succeed, passing eastward, infertile sandy 
wastes, variously covered with heath, or interspersed with pine-woods and small lakes, 
strangely also bestrewed with erratic blocks of granite, varying in size from pebbles to 
enormous masses, which give to parts of Northern Germany the appearance of a country 
in ruins. Larger and denser forests clothe the surface of Poland, Lithuania, and Central 
Eussia, with which extensive marshes and arable lands alternate. A deep stratum of 
dark vegetable mould, locally called ' black earth,' on which Moscow is seated, extends 
imiformly through a space three times larger than the area of Prance; and yields to 
cultivation, conducted with little labour and without any skill, the wheat wHch Eussia 
pours into the granaries of Emope. Southward stretches the immense region of the 
steppes, apparently interminable, but bounded in that direction by the Black Sea and the 
Caucasus, yet continued easterly into the heart of Asia ; of which it has been said, though 
with an obvious exaggeration, that a calf, beginning to graze at the base of the Carpathian 
Mountains, might eat its way to the wall of China, and arrive there a full-grown ox. 

The word steppe is of Tartar origin, and strictly denotes a flat, open, and imwooded 
country, mantled with a rank, grassy, and herbaceous vegetation. This is the general 
character of the region thus denominated, but it includes extensive swamps, tracts of 
saline sand of the true desert description, small copses in a few favoured spots which 



MOUNTAIN-SYSTEirS OP EUEOPB. 129 

shelter game; and tlie surface is billowy or gently undulatiug, marvellously changing 
its aspect with successive seasons of the year. Tet the uniformity speedily hecomes 
wearisome at every period, whether the ground is mantled with snow as ia winter, or 
green with herhago and variegated with flowers as ia spring, or appears a perfect desert 
of dust and ashes, arising from the baked and pulverised vegetation in the heat of summer. 
But the change from day to night in the steppes has always great effectiveness to the 
stranger. It transpires with a suddenness which is very impressive, and at first somewhat 
awful. In a country of woods and diversified levels, the shadows of the trees and lulls, 
gradually elongating, give warning of the sun's approach to the western horizon. But on 
these great plains, where nothing intercepts his rays tiU the disk of the luminary touches 
their edge, there are no shadows projected premonitory of the universal gloom about to 
cover the face of nature. Earth and sky are in a blaze of light till the sunset actually 
commences. In a few minutes, the whole orb is below the line of the steppe ; the bright 
glow is gone from the landscape ; and the sombre curtains of the night are drawn. The 
suddenness and rapidity with which the transition is effected surprise the traveller, and 
invest a common incident with an air of supernatural majesty and strangeness. 

Of the two mountain-systems, the north-western comprises the heights and table-lands 
which overspread nearly the whole of Norway, and slightly advance into Sweden. They 
are of moderate elevation, though rising far above the snow-line, owing to the high 
latitude j and, being of limited extent, confined to the western part of the Scandinavian 
peninsula, they have no connection with the main body of the continent. But by 
mineralogical composition, as well as by proximity, the erratic blocks of the great plain, 
which have no natural relationship to their present sites, are referrible to these northern 
highlands as their parent-bed, where precisely kindred rocks occur ; and hence, with the 
increase of distance from that site, the travelled fragments gradually become less in 
number and of smaller dimensions. 

The southern mountain-system embraces nearly the whole extent of Europe from west 
to east, or from Cape Finisterre on the coast of Spain to Cape Emineh on the shore of 
the Black Sea. It includes the grand ranges of the Alps, in the centre, winding from the 
Mediterranean-round the north of Italy to the borders of Hungary; the line of the 
Balkan, eastward, running through Turkey parallel to the Danube; the chain of the 
Pyrenees, westward, a natural rampart between Erance and Spain; and the Asturian 
mountains, a continuation of the latter, extending along the shore of the Bay of Biscay 
to the open Atlantic. This series has but a single break to its continuity, of no great 
extent, offered by the Gulf of Lyons, between the Pyrenees and the Alps ; and may be 
considered as a belt of gigantic highlands forming the dorsal ridge or backbone of the 
continent. On the northern side are the ranges of central Prance and Germany, with 
the Carpathians curving round the Hungarian plain; and on the southern side are the 
chains which traverse the Italian, Spanish, and Turkish peninsulas, which stand in the 
relation of offsets, spurs, and buttresses to the primary zone. The loftiest and most 
important portion of the series, the Alps, contain the highest peaks of Europe. In their 
bosom three of its principal rivers have their rise, the Ehine, the Phone, and the Po, 
respectively flowing to widely-separate basins, the ISTorth Sea, the Mediterranean, and the 
Adriatic ; while contributions are sent to the Black Sea by means of some of the principal 
affluents of the Danube which descend the eastern slopes. 

Geographers divide the system of the Alps into distinct portions, to which pai-ticular 
names are attached. The Maritime Alps extend from the borders of the GvJf of Genoa 
to Mont Viso, about 100 miles ; the Cottian Alps stretch from Mont Viso to Mont Cenis, 
about 60 miles ; the Graian or Grecian include the heights between Mont Cenis and the 



130 GENERAL VIEW OF EUROPE. 

Col de Bonhomme, 50 miles ; the Pemiine proceed from the latter to Monte Rosa, 60 
miles ; the Helvetian contiiaue from thence to Mont Bernardine, 50 miles ; the Rhatian 
from thence to the Drey-Herren-Spitz, or Peak of the Three Lords, in the Tyrol, 140 
miles ; and the Noric Alps extend from thence to the neighbourhood of Vienna, ahout 
200 miles. The Carnic, Julian, and Dinaric Alps denominate lower ranges spreading 
over the Austrian provinces of Carinthia, Carniola, and Dalmatia, where the Alpiae 
system becomes connected with the western extremity of the Balkan. In the Pennine 
division there are the highest jseaks, Mont Blanc, 15,750 feet, Monte Rosa, 15,152, and 
Mont Cervin, or the Matterhorn, 14,837, with the most extensive glaciers. The 
Helvetian, largely overspreading Switzerland, ranlcs next, containing the Dorn, or Graben- 
Horn, 15,440 feet; the Pinster-Aar-Horn, 14,111; the Jungfrau, 13,718; and the Monch, 
13,498. No roads practicable for carriages cross the Pennine chain, but four lead over 
the Helvetian, and two traverse the EhiBtian. One in the last division, by the Stelvio 
Pass, leading from the Tyrol into Lombardy, is the highest carriage-road in Em'ope, 9174 
feet, constructed by the Austrian government chiefly for mihtary jjurposes, and completed 
in the year 1824. The highest routes practicable for foot-passengers are the Col de Geant, 
11,172 feet, and Mont Cervin, 11,096, both in the Pennine range. By far the most 
frequented carriage-road from Prance to Italy, across Mont Cenis, in the Grecian Alps, is 
now in process of being superseded by the construction of a tunnel for a railway through it. 
Mont Blanc, the culminating-pomt of Europe, is somewhat singularly situated, being 
very nearly equidistant from the equator and the pole. Seen on the north and south, its 
shape is pjiamidal; but from certain points of view it resembles the back of a dromedary, 
and hence bosse de dromedaire is one of its local names. Prom several sites, as the 
summit of the Plegere, in the Yale of Chamouni, of easy access, and the Val d'Aoste on 
the Italian side, the eye embraces the whole of its huge mass, and the mind responds to 
the truth of the description — 

' Mont Blanc is the monarch of moiintaiiis ; 

They crowned him long ago, 
On a throne of rocks, in a robe of cloxuls, 

"With a diadem of snow.' 

Upwards of 7000 feet of the height of the mountain are within the region of 
perpetual snow and ice, as the snow-line is here met with at the elevation of about 
8000 feet above the sea. Its mass is almost entirely of granite, mth a ridge for the 
summit nearly 200 feet in length. The butterfly has been seen flying over it, an involun- 
tary migrant, doubtless, from the realms below, drifted upwards and onwards by the winds, 
offering a flat contradiction to the sentiment — 

' Ko insect's wing 
Flits o'er the herUess granite.' 
Beetles are found at the height of 8500 feet; spiders at 10,000; and tlirough the 
High Alps generally, the chamois ranges to the latter elevation, with the fox but 
little below him, and the bouquetin or wild-goat, now very rare, slightly in advance 
above. The eagle and the vulture soar far above the tallest pinnacle. The top was 
reached for the first time by Paccard and Jacques Baknat in August 1785. The latter, 
an adventurous chamois-hunter, perished in one of his daring exoui'sions, half a 
century afterwards, at the age of seventy ; and though the spot where he met his doom 
was known, the body could not be recovered. Saussure, the savant, made the second 
ascent in 1786, and remained five hours at the top conducting scientific experiments. 
Summer tourists now commonly stand on the hoary head of Mont Blanc, though not a 
little bodily vigour and seK-possession are requisite for the achievement ; and accidents of 
any land have been rare in recent times, owing to the precautions taken by the authorities 



EIVEE-SYSTEMS OF EDEOPE. 



131 



to allow of none but cfRoient guides to exercise tlie vocation. Five ladies have acoom- 
plisliod the feat — Mademoiselle Paradis in 1809, Mademoiselle d'Angeville ia 1838, Mrs 
Hamilton in 1854, MademoiseUo Formann ia 1856, and Miss "Walker ia 18G2. Tlie 
second of these, when on the summit, ordered her guides to lift her as high as they could, 
that she might boast of haviag been higher than any other person ia Europe. 

The hydrography of Europe includes no rivers comparable in magnitude to the grand 
examiDles of the other continents. A hmited area, and the deep indentations of the coast- 
liae, forbid their development. But the streams of secondary and miaor rank are 
extremely numerous, render every country well watered, and diffuse widely the benefits 
of ialand navigation ; while by means of canals, easily constructed and maintained, owing 
to the great extent of level surface, rivers running to different basins are connected, and 
far-distant seas are brought into communication. Thus, in Eussia, the Caspian and Black 
Sea in the south are united to the Baltic and White Sea in the north by artificial channels 
between their tributaries ; and similarly, in the south of France, the Atlantic and the 
Mediterranean are linked together. Two general slopes of the surface may be distin- 
guished, the one inclined north-north-west, the other south-south-east, in which directions 
the main mass of the superficial drainage is conducted. The line of the water-parting, 
styled the great water-shed of Eui'ope, is variously a ridge high as the Alps, and a very 
slight elevation of the ground, in places scarcely distinguishable. It runs from the 
Strait of Gibraltar through the Spanish peninsula, crosses the south-east of France, follows 
a very tortuous course tlrrough Switzerland and Germany, outs the western part of the 
Carpathian Mountains, and proceeds through Eussia to its north-eastern extremity. The 
southern slope is the most extensive, and considerably more than one-half of the total 
amount of flowing water is conveyed to southerly basins. 

Eepresenting the whole river-discharge of Europe by 100, the White Sea and Arctic 
Ocean are estimated to receive 6 parts ; the North Sea, 11 ; the Baltic, 13 ; the Atlantic, 
13; the Mediterranean, 14; the Caspian, 16; and the Black Sea, 27. The elements of 
the more important rivers are given ia the table : 



RiTcri. 


Lcnirth in 
^ MUc-a. 


Area of Basin. 
Sq. Miles. 


Emboucbure, 


Principal Places from iMouth to Source on the Main Channels. 


Dwina (Norti 


lem), 760 


144,000 


White Sea. 


Archangel, Vologda. 


Neva, 


40 


91,000 


Baltic. 


St Petersburg. 


Dwina (Soutl 


lern), 550 


45,000 


„ 


Eiga, Vitebsk. 


Niemen, 


400 


43,000 


„ 


Tilsit. 


Vistula, . 


630 


76,000 


„ 


Dantzic, Thorn, Warsaw, Cracow. 


Oder, . 


550 


53,000 


„ 


Stettin, Frankfort, Breslau. 


Elbe, 


690 


57,000 


North Sea. 


Hamburg, Altona, Magdebm-g, Meissen, Dresden. 


Weser, 


380 


17,000 


„ 


Bremen, Minden. 


E-liine, 


760 1 


88,000 i 


" i 


Leyden, Cologne, Bona, Coblentz, Mayence, Stras- 
burg, Basle. 


Meuse, , 


.550) 


I 


I 


Rotterdam, Maestriclit, Liege, Namur. 


Thames, . 


215 


6,160 




London, Windsor, Reading, Oxford. 


Seine, . 


430 


30,000 


Atlantic. 


Havre, Rouen, Paris. 


Loire, 


570 


48,000 


„ 


Nantes, Orleans, Nevers. 


Garonne, 


350 


33,000 


„ 


Bordeaux, Toulouse. 


Douro, 


460 


39,000 


„ 


Oporto, Zamora. 


Tagus, . 


510 


34,000 


„ 


Lisbon, Abrantes, Talavera, Toledo. 


Guadiana, 


450 


26,000 


„ 


Badajoz, Merida. 


Guadalquivei 


290 


20,000 


„ 


San Lucar, Seville, Cordova, ViUafranca. 


Ebro, 


420 


34,000 


Mediterranean. 


Tortosa, Saragossa, Tudela. 


Rhone, . 


490 


38,000 


„ 


Aries, Avignon, Lyon, Geneva. 


Po, . 


450 


40,000 


„ 


Ferrara, Cremona, Piacenza, Turin. 


Danube, 


1630 


310,000 


Black Sea. ■[ 


SUistria, Rustchuk, Widdin, Belgi-ade, Buda, Pesth, 
Presburg, Vienna, Ratisbon. 


Dniester, . 


700 


31,000 


„ 


Ovidiopol, Bender. 


Dnieper, 


1200 


200,000 


„ 


Kherson, Kiev. 


Don, 


1100 


205,000 




A^ov, Tcherkaslc 


Volga, . 


2200 


520,000 


Caspian. ■! 


Astrachan, Sarepta, Saratov, Kasan, Nijni- 
Novgorod, Tver. 



132 



GENERAL VIEW OF EUROPE. 



In parts of their coitrse, the Loire and the Seine flow through scenery of the most 
loTely and picturesque description. The Elbe, ahove Dresden, is also remarkable for 
strilsing landscapes; while the Ehine and Ehone, both bom among the glaciers, are 
connected in theu< earlier stages with the gi-andest features of the Swiss highlands. But 




Iron Gites of the Danube 

the former river, after quitting it.3 mountain-cradle, in the middle portion of its course, 
between Bonn and Mayence, is a special point of attraction to tourists. There pleasant 
towns and villages appear nestUng at the foot of vine-clad hills, while romantic valleys 
open out on either hand, and steep towering rocks at intervals closely hem in the channel, 
each with a mouldering fastness of feudal times, or a modern stronghold at the summit, 
presenting — 

' A blending o£ all beauties ; streams and dells, 

Fi-uit, foliage, crag, wood, cornfield, mountain, vine ; 

And chiefless castles, breathing stem farewells, 

From gray but leafy walls where ruin grimly dwells.' 

The banks of the Danube, which have only become widely known since the introduction 
of steam navigation, are fuUy equal to those of the Ehine in natural scenery, vineyard 
cultivation, and monuments of feudahsm, with the additional features of huge palace-like 
monasteries, and vast forests sweeping down from the top of bold heights to the water's 
edge. Steamers began to ply upon a portion of its surface in the year 1830. The first 
to take its departure from Vienna to Pesth, the Nador, started in 1836, -with half the 
population of the Austrian capital in motion to witness the sight ; and in the same year, 
the Pannonia made for the first time the passage of the Iron Gate, on the borders of 
Hungary and "WaUachia, where rocks in the bed of the river, and encroaching mountains 
on either hand, give rise to a succession of rapids. Both the Danube and the Ehine are 
rife with historic memories of the Eoman wars with the barbarians, the arms of 
Charlemagne and Gustavus Adolphus, the campaigns of Marlborough and Napoleon, 
while the former stream has been the scene of many a bloody struggle between the soldiers 
of the Crescent and the Cross. 
Lakes accompany the great mountain-systems of Europe, but are not confined to them. 



EUROPEAN LAKE-SYSTEMS. 



133 



Thoy may bo arranged in two groups — northern and southern. The examples are the most 
numerous and of the largest class in the former, occupying depressions on the southern 
and eastern sides of the Scandinavian highlands, and ia the closely-adjoininn- districts 
^Yhilo many of small size are at a high elevation on the tahle-lands. The Wener Lake in 
Sweden, extends over more than 2000 square miles ; the Saima, ia Fialand, has nearly 
equal dimensions; those of the Onega, in the government of Olonetz, considerably 
exceed them ; and the Ladoga, in the neighboui-hood of St Petersburg, the largest lake in 
Eui'ope, spreads thi'ough upwards of 6000 square miles, an area greater than that of the 
whole kingdom of Saxony. Owing to their prodigious number and occasional magnitude, 
lacustrine formations are characteristic features of all the countries around the Baltic, 
especially of Finland, and hence its name of Suomemna, ' the region of lakes and swamps.' 
Fine scenery surrounds some of the Swedish expanses, but the Finnish and the Russian 
have commonly low rocky shores, void of picturesqueness, often very dreary. In summer 
they interfere with land travelling, by rendering it circuitous ; but in winter, covered 
■with ice, they form an easy pavement for the sledge. Hence the annual fairs of Finland 
are held in the latter season, when journeys are performed in one-horse sledges to exchange 
a few wares for household commodities, equal in extent to the distance between the Land's 
End and the Orkneys. The ^vinter passage of some of these lakes is not always free from 
danger, for they are liable to violent imderground swells, even in the calmest weather, 
and when the siu-faoe is coincidently frozen, the ice cracks or parts asunder with a 
tremendous noise. 

The lakes of the southern group are comparatively small, but are placed in the midst of 
some of nature's most charming or grandest scenes, occasionally exhibiting an aspect of 
savage sublimity. They include those of Geneva, Constance, ISTeufchatel, Lucerne, Zurich, 
and others, on the Swiss side of the Alps, with Lago Maggiore, the lakes of Como and 
Garda, on the opposite Italian slope. The latter are expanses smiling in a warm climate 
under a bright sky, have bold shores richly clothed with the vegetation of the south — 
thickets of orange-trees, olives, and myrtles — studded, too, with villas and palaces, of great 
classical interest. The former have also their bland features, but not far apart are the 
rugged ; and the blue waters that wash a strand of simple beauty alternate with biUows 
dark with the shadows of the rocks they chafe, which rise above them to a stupendous 
height, and with a steepness that is even terrible, as in the little bay of Uri, on Lake 
Lucerne, consecrated to a patriot's memory. 

' That sacred lake withdiawn among the hills. 
Its depth of waters flanted, as with a wall 
Built hy the giant race before the flood ; 
Where not a cross or chapel but inspires 
Holy delight, lifting our thoughts to God 
From godlike men — 

That in the desert sowed the seeds of life, 
Training a band of small republics there, 
"WTiich stiU exist, the envy of the world ; 
"WTio would not land in each and tread the ground- 
Land where Tell leaped ashore ?' 

Mountain-lakes, generally of very smaU. dimensions, occur in connection ivith the 
Pyrenees, the Apennines, the Balkan, and the range of Pindus. In addition to such 
fresh-water formations, there is the Platten See, a brackish expanse of considerable extent 
on the plain of Hungary ; and the shallow birt extremely salt l>reusiedler See in the same 
region, on the shores of which large quantities of the sulphate, muriate, and carbonate of 
soda crystallise in summer. But of all salt water, not only in Europe, but in the world, 



134 GENERAL VIEW OF EUROPE. 

that of Lake Elton, in Enssia, in the stei^pe east of the Volga, has the largest amount of 
saline impregnation. This remarkable sheet of brine is an oval, about eleven miles long 
by nearly nine broad, but nowhere exceeds fifteen inches in depth. In the height of 
summer, it appears as if covered mth ice and snow, owing to the illusion produced by 
the crystalhsed salt along the banks and over the whole surface, vast quantities of wliich 
are annually coUected for consumption in different parts of the empire. The lake is the 
Elton-Nor, or the ' Golden Elton ' of the Mongols. 

Primitive ungainly craft appear upon many of these inland waters, devoted chiefly to the 
transport of produce, as the old JSToah's arks for passenger traffic have been largely 
superseded by steamers or railways. The Ehine is famous for its immense rafts of timber 
from the remote German forests, composed of logs drifted down the mountaia- streams 
from the sites where the trees have grown. They are lashed together at some convenient 
station, and finally formed into a single fabric on the recipient river, which, with the 
wooden huts upon it for the accommodation of the boatmen, and its vast size, has the 
appearance of a floating village. On reaching Dortrecht, in HoUand, the rafts are 
broken up, and the timber sold for ship-building and other purposes. The Danube has 
also its tunber-floats, but of smaller dimensions; and it is not imcommon to see the 
peasantry descending the Drave, one of its largest tributaries, on rafts of barrels. Large 
quantities of wheat are brought down to Dantzic by the Vistula, from the upper parts of 
its basin, in open flats rudely constructed of fix, and covered with as rudely-made mats of 
straw. The grain is heaped upon them, and left exposed to the accidents of showers and 
sunshme. Owing to the tedious mode of navigation, and the length of the voyage — from 
fom- to five hundred miles, it lasts for several weeks, and even months. Upon rain 
falling, it soon causes the wheat to sprout, and the craft becomes like a httle floating 
meadow. But the shooting fibres speedily form a thick mat, wliich prevents the moisture 
from penetrating to any depth, and protects the main buUc. Upon reaching the outport, 
the barges are broken up, and the crews return home on foot. A far longer river-voyage 
is performed in the transport westward of the mineral produce of the Urals. It 
commences towards the close of April, when the streams have lost their ice, but are 
swollen by the melting of the snow; and is carried on in flat-bottomed vessels terminating 
at both ends in a kind of obtuse triangle. Erom the town of Slatoust — ^the starting-point, 
the Ai is descended to its confluence with the Oufa, and that river is followed to its junction 
with the Bielaia, which takes the fleet into the Kama, an afiluent of the Volga. Hero the 
boats are properly fitted to toU against the current of the great stream up to Nijni-Novgorod, 
passing thence to St Petersburg aided by a very short artificial cutting which connects a 
tributary of the Volga -with the basin of Lake Ladoga. The total length of the wmding 
river-line is not less than 3000 miles. 

"With the exception of a small northerly section wliich passes witluii the polar cu-ole, 
the whole of Europe enjoys the great climatic advantage of being in the temperate zone, 
Avhile its most southerly point is somewhat more than twelve degrees removed from the 
tomd zone. But over a wide area of the surface, the climate is so favourably modified by 
various causes as to be rendered much milder than what is to be accounted for by latitude, 
the temperature being higher and more equable than in Asiatic and Trans-Atlantic districts 
under corresponding parallels. These causes, which specially affect the western countries, 
are the proximity of an immense expanse of the ocean in which the warm waters of the 
GuK Stream chculate, the prevalence of south-west winds sweeping up from a tropical 
direction, with the frequent and deep intrusions of the sea consequent on a broken coast- 
line, tending to diffuse over the land the comparatively uniform temperature of the 
waters. Hence in western Europe, exposed to these influences, the summers and winters 



CLIMATE OP EUEOPE. 



135 



arc not in such violent contrast as in tlio sanio latitudes in the heart of the continent, 
whUo tlio mean annual temperatnie is considerably higher. Edinhuigh and Moscow are 
Tinder nearly the same parallel, hut while the Scotch capital has a cooler summer than the 
Eussian, it has a much milder winter, and its annual amount of heat is m\ich greater. 
Tlie climate of Christiania and St Petersburg, of Geneva and Odessa, or any other places in 
western and eastern Europe, similarly situated as to latitude, not differing to any consider- 
able extent in elevation above the sea, may be compared with the like result. In the 
southern countries the climate is affected, and rendered occasionally oppressive in summer 
by exposure to the winds which sweep over the Mediterranean from the burning deserts 
of Africa; while the north-eastern regions, unprotected by a sufficiently high range of 
mountains, are cliilled by the blasts which visit them from the Polar Ocean and the 
Siberian plain. Four principal climatic zones or regions may be distinguished — a southern, 
central, northern, and Arctic ; which may be styled respectively, warm, temperate, cool, 
and cold. 

The southern or warm zone lies to the south of the parallel of 45°, which runs between 
the mouths of the Garonne and the Danube, and therefore embraces the Spanish 
peninsula, the south of Prance, and the greater part of Italy, with Turkey and Greece. 
On the low grounds the winter is short ; the frosts are slight ; snow rarely falls, and 
rapidly disappears from the surface ; and vegetation suffers but little interruption •; while 
the summer heat is very great, especially when the southerly wind blows, called the solano 
in Spain, the sirocco in Italy and Sicily. The central or temperate region may be 
considered as extending generally between the parallels of 45° and 55°. It includes three- 
fourths of France, all Germany, Hungary, and the south of Eussia, with England and 
Ireland. The four seasons are distinct in this district ; but the winter is longer than the 
summer; snow is common over the whole area, with sharp frosts, occasionally of some 
duration ; and proceeding from west to east, the reign of winter becomes more rigorous 
and protracted, while the heat of summer is more excessive. The northern or cool zone 
stretches from the preceding to the polar circle, and comprises nearly the whole of 
Sweden and Norway, with the north of Eussia. Here the winter is constantly severe and 
lengthened ; the ground is mantled with deep snow for months ; the rivers and lakes are 
firmly frozen ; the ports are blocked up with ice, which extends over entire bays and 
gulfs ; and the thermometer frequently descends to 28° below zero at Stockholm, 
sometimes to 54° at St Petersburg. There is, however, a very warm though brief 
suiTuner, which so rapidly follows the winter as almost to obliterate spring from the 
calendar of the seasons. Vegetation advances with astonishing rapidity during the 
change, as if the grasses, shrubs, and trees, had been suddenly enfranchised with 
iudependent life, instead of simply obeying the influence of warmth and moisture. In 
the neighbourhood of Uleaborg, towards the head of the Gulf of Bothnia, graiu has been 
sown and reaped iu the space of sis weeks. Within the Arctic circle, which embraces 
the northern part of the Scandinavian peninsiila, the year is made up of one long wiuter 
night and summer day, during which there is intense cold in the former, and considerable 
warmth in the latter, owing to the accumulation of heat from the contiaued presence of 
the sun above the horizon. 

In relation to the rain-faU, it decreases in amount from west to east, or as the ocean is 
receded from. The annual precipitation is upwards of 100 inches on the coast of 
Portugal; 47 inches on the west coast of Ireland; 24 at London; and only 15 in 
the far east of Europe. Coimbra, in the valley of the Mondego, in Portugal, has a 
greater annual quantity than any other locaUty of the continent, said to exceed 200 
inches. The number of rainy days in the year likewise diminishes from west to east. 



136 GENEEAL VIEW OP BUEOPE. 

Ireland lias 208 days of rain in tlie yearj tho ISTetherlands 170; Nortli Germany 152; 
and the plains of the Volga 90 days. In the most southerly districts, the rain falls 
chiefly in winter ; in the -western and north-western, in autumn ; and in the central and 
eastern countries, in summer. Proceeding from south to north, the annual quantity of 
rain decreases, -while that of sno-w increases. Malta is never touched by a sno-w-iiake ; 
Venice has an average of 5 days in the year on. -svhich sno-iv falls ; Paris of 12; 
Copenhagen of 30 ; and St Petershurg of 170 days. 

In the European flora, there is prohahly not a single product pecuhar to the surface, for 
■while a dhect prolongation of Asia, its southern peninsulas are in close proxin-dty to 
Africa. But the vegetation is remarkably characterised by the prevalence of cruciferous 
and umbelliferous plants, which appear in greater abundance in the temperate and cool 
zones discriminated than in any other part of the globe. To the former class, the 
wallflower, stock, turnip, cabbage, and radish belong; to the latter, the lettuce, carrot, 
artichoke, hemlock, dandelion, and thistle. In this region the cornfields are the richest, 
and the meadows the most verdant, while the predominant trees are of the coniferous and 
amentaceous, or the cone and catkin-bearing famOies, as the various species of fir, the 
-wUlow, poplar, hazel, lime, bhch, alder, elm, oak, and beech. Of these, the beech is the 
first to pass away in a northerly direction, advancing to the parallel of 60°, in favourable 
situations, in Sweden; the oak, elm, and lime, reach to that of 61°; the ash to 62°; 
the hazel to 64° ; beyond which, firs, wiUows, and birches, enter the Arctic region, 
becoming of very diminutive size, tiU. a few traiUng shrubs, herbaceous and flowering 
plants, with mosses, lichens, and saxifrages, alone occupy the surface. In the extreme 
south, the warmer part of the warm zone, sub-tropical forms occur in Hmited areas, as the 
dwarf-palm, cactus, banana, and sugar-cane ; evergreens are largely blended in the woods 
with trees which periodically lose theu' foliage ; a whiter flora exists ; extensive spaces are 
clothed -with the orange, lemon, citron, fig, pomegranate, olive, and vine; but the pastures 
are not so luxuriant and freshly green as in the more temperate latitudes. Among the 
cereals, wheat is grown to the parallel of 64° in Norway; oats reach to 65°; barley and 
rye pass -within the polar chcle ; but none of these products are cultivable to so high a 
latitude in the east of Europe. Eice, which requires great heat and moisture, is confined 
to limited tracts in Greece, Italy, and Spain. 

Two orders of the animal kingdom are entu'ely unrepresented in the zoology of Europe, 
the MarsupiaUa and Edentata, or pouched and toothless quadrupeds. A sitigle species 
of the quadrumanous family occurs, the Barbary ape, which is restricted to the rock of 
Gibraltar ; and one species of the pachydermatous tribe, the -wUd-boar, inhabits the 
central and southern forests. The white polar bear is limited to the far north; the common 
bro-wn bear, in the wooded districts of the Alps and Pyrenees, as well as in Scandinavia 
and Eussia, with the wolf, more numerous and -widely diffused, are the only formidable 
animals, in process of reduction as to number by the spread of population and the habits 
of civilised hfe. Euminants of many varieties and great interest occupy the plains, 
moimtains, and woods : the reindeer and elk, in the extreme north ; the stag, roebuck, 
and fallow-deer, in the central temperate zone ; the ibex and chamois, scaling the snow- 
clad ridges of the grander highlands ; the mouiflon, in Corsica and Sardinia, formerly 
common in Spain, supposed by some to be the original stock of our domestic sheep ; the 
auroch or bison, protected in imperial domaias in Lithuania ; and the Bactrian camel, on 
the steppes towards the Caspian and in the Crimea. Among the rodents, colonies of the 
beaver linger on the banks of some of the more sohtary rivers, but -will probably disappear 
as completely as they have vanished from the streams of Britain, where they were 
formerly well kno-wn. Birds are numerous both as to species and individuals, some of 



MINERALOGY OF EUROPE. 137 

which ai'o summer visitors to very northerly regions, as the swallow, cuckoo, nightingale, 
and stork, retiring to the warm south to spend the winter, passing out of the limits of 
Europe into Africa or Asia. Aquatic birds, both waders and swimmers, are very 
abundant, owing to the profusion of lakes and streams. Eeptiles are all of insignificant 
size, and none are formidable to man. 

The native mineralogy of Europe is poor m relation to gold, silver, and precious stones, 
when compared with that of other sections of the globe. But it is just as rich in the 
possession of the metals and minerals which hourly appeal to the senses in the implements 
and machinery of civilised life, which exercise an infiuence the most important upon 
the comfort of human beings, and are essential to the prosperity of nations. These are 
found within its limits in apparently iuexhaustible stores, and frequently occur in very 
convenient juxtaposition. The countries mentioned in connection with the economic 
miuerals named, are in order distinguished for the amount of their produce. 

Qmcksilver, Idria ill Austria, Almaden in Spain, Wolfstein in Bavaria. 

Iron, . . British Isles, Belgium, France, Russia, Germany, Sweden and ISTorway, Italy, Spain. 

Copper, . Britisli Isles, Russia, Hungary, Sweden and JSTorway, Turkey, Germany, Spain, 

lead, . Spain, British Isles, Illyria, Hungary, Bohemia, Germany, France, Norway. 

Tin, . England, Saxony, Spain. 

Zinc, . . Great Britain, Belgium, Germany. 

Coal, . British Isles, Belgium, France, Germany, Sweden, Hungary. 

Salt, . . Russia, Austrian Poland (GaUcia), France, Spain, British Isles, Portugal, Gennany, 
Italy, Sweden and Norway, Greece. 

In the three great coal-producing countries, the area of their carboniferous beds, its 
proportion to the whole area, and the actual annual production, are as follows : 



British Isles, 
Belgium, 
France, . 



Coal Area in 
Square Miles. 
. 12,000 

4,000 . 
. 2,000 



Proportion to whole 
Area of Country. ; 
. 1—10 . 

1—22 . 
. 1-100 . 



Annual Production. 

80,000,000 tons. 
5,000,000 I, 
4,150,000 ,, 



The deepest of the European mines are in Bohemia. 



Mines. 



Depth. 
Feet. 

Monkweai-mouth coal-mine, Durham, . . 1584 
Shafts in the Newcastle coal-field, sometimes 1800 
Dolcoath copper-mine, Cornwall, . . . 1800 
Tresavean copper-mine, Cornwall, upwards of 1800 
Houenbu-ker mines. Saxony, .... 1827 
Consolidated copper-mines, Cornwall, . . 1920 
Thurmhofer mines. Saxony 1944 



Joachimsthal mine, Bohemia, 

Apendale coal-mine, Staffordshire, . 

Samson mine, in the Harz, .... 

Kongsberg silver-mine, Norway, 

Kitziiulil mine, in the Tyi-ol, 

Eorerhiihel mines, Bohemia, now abandoned, 

Kuttenberg mine, Bohemia, abandoned, 



Deplh. 

Feet. 

2120 
. 2175 

2197 
, 2250 

2764 
. 3107 

3778 



Mining, in districts where it is still carried on, is probably of older date in England 
than in any other part of Europe. Tin was undoubtedly wrought by the ancient Britons 
in Cornwall, where their excavations are at present known by old British names ; and 
lead by the Eomans in Derbyshire. Saxony is entitled to rank as the cradle of scientific 
mining, and is stUl one of its principal schools. 

Eui-ope, in proportion to space, is the most populous of the great divisions of the globe, 
containing more than one-fourth of its entire estimated population, or upwards of 
270,000,000. The aborigines are quite unknown. But the main mass of its people 
belong to that etlmologioal division of mankind called the Caucasian or Aryan, 
sometimes the Indo-European, distinguished by the featiu-es being symmetrical, the 
forehead high, the hair soft, and the form of the skuU elliptical. They are chiefly 
referrible also to three branches of this great group of nations — the Celtic, Teutonic, 



138 GBNEEAL VIEW OP EUROPE. 

and Sclavonian, who snooessively poured in from the parent hire in Asia, variously 
conquering, displacing, and intermingling. The immigrants who formed the Celtic 
races are believed to have come first, and to have been spread at one time exten- 
sively over the surface, but were afterwards overcome, reduced in numbers, and 
driven westward by fresh advancing colonies, permanently occupying the extreme 
west, where pure Celtic blood is found at present, as in Brittany, "Wales, Ireland, and the 
Scottish Highlands. At a much later date the ancestors of the Teutonic nations arrived, 
and established the two principal divisions of the stock, or the Germanic, in the central 
parts of the continent, and the Scandinavian, in the countries around the Baltic, both 
extended eventually to Great Britain, but chiefly the former. The founders of the 
Sclavonic tribes, or as they were originally called, the Scythians and Sarmatians, settled 
principally in the eastern and south-eastern countries, seem never to have passed the river 
Oder in their westerly migrations, and are now represented by the great body of the 
Eussians, the Poles, and the people immediately south of the Lower Danube. By 
alliances of these three principal families with each other, and with aborigines of whom 
we know notliing beyond the probable fact of their existence, the nations of mixed blood 
were formed, or the Greco-Latins, of whom the important sections are the Greeks, 
Italians, French, Spanish, Portuguese, and Moldo-Wallachians. The proof of the 
cranmon origin of aU these peoples, whether purely Celtic, Teutonic, and Sclavonic, or 
variously crossed, and of their claim to be considered /retZo-European, rests mainly upon 
the radical conformity of their languages to the Sanscrit, the ancient, classical, and sacred 
tongue of India. In addition, there are races of the same type generally diffused, as the 
Jews and Gipsies, both late comers, especially the latter, whose appearance in western 
countries dates only from the fifteenth century, and are generally supposed to have 
migrated from the plains of the Ganges to escape the sword of the terrible Tamerlane. 
Europe also contains both tribes and nations distinct from the Caucasian group, belonging 
to the Mongolian division of mankind, similarly derived from Asia, but from its Altaic 
regions. They are natively distinguished by inferior stature, a broad flat face, lank hair, 
and the pyramidal form of the skull. To this variety belong the Lapps, Einns, and 
Samoiedes, in the northern countries ; the Turks in the south-eastern peninsixla ; the 
Tartars and Kalmucks in the south and east of Russia ; and the Magyars in Hungary and 
Transylvania. But since their arrival west of the Bosphorus, the Turks, owing to 
aUiance with Georgian and Cu'cassian. females, and many of the Magyars, from inter- 
marriage with Germans, and other causes, have deviated from the type of their ancestors, 
and correspond in conformation to the great body of Europeans. Dr Kombst makes the 
following estimate 

OF PURE BLOOD IN EUROPE : 



Celtic, 12,000,000 

Teutonic, .... 52,000,000 

Sclavonic, 50,000,000 

Magyar, .... 9,000,000 



Finns and Samoiedes, . . 3,000,000 

Tartar, 2,000,000 

Jews, 2,000,000 

Gipsies 600,000 



A rather higher number will represent the people of mixed blood, Celtic in its various 
crosses, Teutonic-Celtic, Teutonic-Sclavonian, Einnic-Sclavonian, and other diversities. 

The vast majority of the languages of Europe may be classified under the names of the 
four great races of people found within its hmits. They consist of the Celtic dialects, 
vernacular in the west ; the Teutonic, in the north, north-west, and centre ; the Greco- 
Latm, in the south and south-west ; the Sclavonic, in eastern and midland districts. 
These groups have a common parent in the Sanscrit, and form part of the Indo-European 
linguistic family, which geographically ranges from the banks of the Ganges to the 



DIALECTS OF EUROPE. 139 

Tvestom coasts of the Spanish peninsiUa. The firstnamed group, or the Celtic, though 
perhaps the most ancient, and once widely diffused, now occupies a very lunited area, 
hoing restricted to the Erse or native Irish spoken in Ireland, the Gaelic in the north and 
west of Scotland, the Manx in the Isle of Man, the Welsh in the principality of Wales, 
and the Breton, or Armoric, in the old French province of Bretagne. These dialects have 
no important literature, and are everywhere in process of being gradually expunged from the 
list of livmg tongues hy the encroacliment of forms of sjieech more generally current, 
hence more convenient for the practical purposes of hfe, while richly freighted with stores 
of laiowledge. The Teutonic languages, which include the English, German, Dutch, 
Elemish, Danish, and Swedish ; and the Greco-Latin stock, comprising the modern Greek, 
the Itahan, French, Spanish, and Portuguese, are eminently the exponents of literature, 
science, art, and puhlic policy, several of which are extensively cultivated on that account 
in Europe, beyond the hounds of their native seat, while conveyed to far-distant regions, and 
firmly planted m them by commerce, conquest, and colonisation. The Italian is widely used 
on the eastern shores of the Mediterranean; the French is current in all European courts, in 
jUgeria, and Lower Canada ; the English, Dutch, and German have hold upon Southern 
Africa ; English, Spanish, and Portuguese predominate in America ; EngKsh is the pre- 
vailing speech of AustraHa, though, in a few villages, the German occupies that place. The 
Sclavonic languages, which comprehend the Eussian, Lithuanian, Polish, Bohemian, Servian, 
Bulgarian, and others, are spread over a vast area, but remaiu confined to the sites they 
originally occupied, except the Eussian, wliich conquest has extended to the north of Asia. 

Of the languages not belonging to the Indo-European class, as the Finnic, and other 
Tshoudic dialects, with the Magyar, Turkish, Tartar, and Basque, the last is the most 
remarkable. It is spoken by the peasant popidation of the valleys on both sides of the 
Pyrenees, but chiefly on the Spanish, and has no relations at present positively known to 
any linguistic family. The people beHeve that it was not only the origiaal language of 
Spain, but also of the world, from which aU other tongues have been derived. So 
exceedingly difficult is its acquirement, that, accordmg to a popular tradition, the devil 
once tried to learn Basque, and shut himself up for the purpose through seven years, but 
had to abandon the task in despair. The author of the first guide to it, gave to liis work 
the title of El Impossible Vencido, 'The Impossible Conquered;' and so far has this now 
been effected, that under the eye of Prhioe Louis-Lucien Bonaparte, a translation of the 
Bible into this all but impracticable tongue has been executed in London. It is curious 
to remark, that our conglomerate language has a vidgar phrase used to strengthen an 
asseveration, once more current than at present, 'By Jingo,' or 'By the living Jingo,' 
which seems to have come to us from the Pyrenees, where Jainko is the Basque name for 
the Supreme Being. It will be remembered, that provinces immediately north of the 
mountains were under the rule of England in the time of the Plantagenet lungs, and, while 
the Black Prince, son of Edward III., carried his arms to the southern side of the range, 
his great-grandfather, Edward I., had Basque mountaineers conveyed to England to take 
part in the reduction of Wales. 

Though the primitive Europeans are wholly unknown, abundant remains have been 
found of a people who appear to have antedated the oldest of the existing races. Some 
of them were lake-dwellers, who occupied platform habitations sustained by piles driven 
into the beds of the waters. Upon drought or drainage exposing the bottom, memorials 
of these singular villages have appeared, consisting of the piles, with bones, rude pottery, 
implements, and other traces of human inhabitants. The implements are of stone, chiefly 
of flint, many specimens of which have Like^Tise been gathered from sepulchral barrows, 
and refer to a period prior to the knowledge of metals. 



140 



GENERAL VIEW OF EUBOPii), 



Tlie map of Europe comprises forty-eight independent states, vaiTing ia extent from 
more than half its area to less than the smallest of the English counties. 



states. 


Description. 


Area in 
Sq. Miles. 


Populalion. 


Capitals. 


Anhalt-Dessau-Koethen and 1 
Beriibujg, . . . ) 


Duchy, 


914 


182,024 


( Dessau, Koethen, Bem- 
\ burg. 


Austria, ..... 


Empire, 


249,408 


35,019,058 


Vienna. 


Baden, 


Grand Duchy, 


5,904 


1,369,291 


Carlsruhe. 


Bavaria, 


Kingdom, 


29,637 


4,689,837 


Munich. 


Belgirun, .... 




11,313 


4,731,957 


Brussels. 


Bremen, 


Free City, 


97 


98,575 


Bremen. 


Brunswick, .... 


Duchy, 


1,427 


282,389 


Brunsmck. 


Denmark, .... 


Kingdom, 


21,856 


2,605,024 


Copenliagen. 


France, 


Empire, 


210,732 


37,472,732 


Paris. 


IVankfort, .... 


Free City, 


39 


83,380 


Frankfort. 


Great Britain and Ireland, . 


United Kingdom , 


121,518 


29,307,199 


( London, Edinbiu'gh, 
\ DubUn. 


Greece and Ionian Islands, 


Kingdom, 


16,230 


1,343,393 


Athens, Corfu. 


Hamburg 


Free City, 


135 


229,941 


Hamburg. 


Hanover, .... 


Kingdom, 


14,846 


1,888,070 


Hanover. 


Hesse-Cassel, .... 


Electorate, 


3,740 


738,454 


Cassel. 


Hesse-Darmstadt, 


Grand Duchy, 


3,245 


856,250 


Darmstadt. 


Hesse-Hombru-g, . 


Landgraviate, 


106 


26,817 


Homburg. 


Holland, .... 


Kingdom, 


12,600 


3,372,652 


Amsterdam. 


Holstein, and Lauenburg, 


Duchy, 


3,980 


573,000 


Gluckstadt, Lauenburg. 


Italy 


Kingdom, 


95,861 


21,920,269 


Turin. 


Lichtenstein, 


Principality, 


60 


7,150 


Lichtenstein. 


Lippe-Detmold, 




437 


108,503 


Detmold. 


Lippe-Schaumburg, 




171 


30,774 


Buckehurg. 


Lubeck, 


Free City, 


125 


55,423 


Lubeck. 


Luxemburg, 


Grand Duchy, 


990 


196,804 


Luxembui'g. 


Mecklenburg-Schwerin, . 


„ 


5,126 


548,449 


Schwerin. 


Mecklenburg-StreUtz, . 


n 


1,051 


99,060 


New Strelitz. 


Kassau, 


Duchy, 


1,795 


456,567 


Wiesbaden. 




Grand Duchy, 


2,421 


295,242 


Oldenhui-g. 


Portugal, .... 


Kingdom, 


35,260 


3,584,677 


Lisbon. 


Prussia, .... 




108,410 


18,500,446 


Berlin. 


Eeuss (elder), . 


Principality, 


145 


42,130 


Greitz. 


Eeuss (younger), 


„ 


448 


83,360 


Gera. 


Bussia, 


Empire, 


2,041,950 


65,810,752 


St Petersburg. 


Saxe-Altenburg, 


Duchy, 


510 


137,162 


Altenbui'g. 


Saxe-Cobm-g-Gotha, 


„ 


761 


159,431 


Coburg, Gotha. 


Saxe-Meiningen-Hilburghausen, 


„ 


972 


172,341 


Meiningen. 


Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, . 


Grand Duchy, 


1,405 


273,252 


"Weimar. 


Saxony, .... 


Kingdom, 


5,770 


2,225,240 


Dresden. 


Schwarzburg-Eudolstadt, 


Princij)ality, 


370 


71,913 


Budolstadt. 


Schwarzburg-Sondershausen, 




328 


64,895 


Sondershausen. 


Spain, 


Kingdom, 


179,500 


15,454,514 


Madrid. 


States of the Church, 


Ecclesiastical Monarchy, 


4,502 


690,000 


Borne. 


Sweden and Norway, . 


Kingdom, 


292,700 


6,290,622 


Stockholm, Christiana. 


Switzerland, .... 


Federal Republic, 


15,529 


2,510,494 


Berne. 


Turkey and Principalities, . 


Empire, 


208,160 


15,500,000 


Constantmoplo. 


"Waldeck, .... 


Principality, 


464 


58,604 


Arolsen. 


"Wuitembm-g, 


Kingdom, 


7,439 


1,720,708 


Stuttgard. 



Population returns from the Almanack de Cfotha, 1863. 



There are thus foui empires, fourteen kiagdoms, one electorate, seven grand duchies, seven 
duchies, eight principalities, one landgraviate, one ecclesiastical monarchy, and five 
republics, including the free cities. 

Of the empires, the oldest is the Turkish or Ottoman, which dates from the fall of the 
Greek dominion by the Moslem capture of Constantinople, in the year 1453. The 
Eussian was founded by Peter the Great, in the early part of the last century; the 
Austrian and Erench are of recent origin. The more ancient kingdoms are England, 
Spain, Denmark, and Sweden ; the youngest are Belgium, Greece, Hanover, and Italy. 
States of the first rank are Great Britain, Franco, Prussia, Austria, and Eussia, commonly 



EBLIGION OF EUROPE. 141 

called tlio five great jjowers, wlioso oonourreut voice is conclusive iri tlie settlement of 
continental affairs, and wliose separate influence is never overlooked. In the second 
ranlc are Spain, Tvirkey, Sweden, Holland, and Italy; and in the third, Belgium, 
Denmark, Switzerland, Bavaria, and Portugal. Population is the densest in Belgium, 
England, and Holland ; and the thinnest in ISTorway, Sweden, and Eussia. Hereditary 
monarchy is the universal form of government, except in Switzerland, the papal states, 
and the free cities ; hut in France, Belgium, Prussia, and Turkey, the succession is 
limited to the male line. In Eussia, the papal states, and Turkey, the monarchy is 
perfectly ahsolute. In Prance and Austria it is so practically, though popular represen- 
tation is nominally admitted. In Great Britain, and all other European countries, except 
those named, the supreme power is more or less vested in the sovereign and the estates of 
the realm, and the monarchies are constitutional. Each government has a standing army, 
varying in numher, from the mere handful of men which the petty German powers are 
hound to furnish for federal piu-poses, to vast hosts of from 400,000 to 600,000, which is the 
usual complement maintained, or the peace establishment, in Prance, Austria, and Eussia. 
AH the European nations profess Christianity, with the exception of a few millions, chiefly 
of Mohammedans and Jews. Though belonging to an endless number of religious sects, 
they may be reduced to three grand denominations : the Eoman Catholic, Greek, and 
Protestant churches, each of which has a specific geographical distribution. As another 
general rule, the Celtic and Greco-Latin races are Eoman Catholics, while the Sclavonic 
tribes belong to the Greek communion, and the Teutonic nations are mostly Protestants. 
Eomanism has the greatest number of adherents, amounting to more than the other two 
confessions taken together. But in point of general inteUigenoe, the arts of civilised life, 
civil liberty, a comparatively satisfactory social and moral condition, the Protestant 
communities are eminently the advanced nations of Europe, owing their superiority 
mainly to that freedom of thought and speech, with an unfettered press, which their 
religious principles directly favour and enjoin. 




Europa Point, Gibraltar. 




Sinclair Castle, d'lthno ?— Fiom a Photogiapli by tlie Earl of Caithness. 



SECTION I.-THE BRITISH ISLES AND EUROPEAN DEPENDENCIES. 

CHAPTER I. 

GENERAL VIEW OE THE BEITISH ISLES, 

HE large island of Great Bi'itam, of wliicL. England and 
Wales form tlie southern division and Scotland the northern, 
with the smaller insular mass of Ireland, and very numerous 
adjuncts closely investing their shores, constitute the United 
Kingdom, subject to the British crown, the home-territory 
and head-quarters of the most extensive and influential empire 
of the glohe. The aroliipelago is situated to the westward 
of the European mainland, from which it is separated hy the 
EngUsh Channel on the south, and the ISTorth Sea on the 
east. These are arms ■ of the Atlantic Ocean, which directly 
enclose it in other directions, where the power of the magnificent bUlows is strikingly 
proclaimed hy the shattered and invaded aspect of the coasts. The most southerly 
point, one of the SciUy group, is in 49° 53' north latitude ; and the most northerly, one of 




SUNRISE AND SUNSET IN THE BRITISH ISLES. 143 

the Shetland cluster, in G0° 49'. This range of latitude, amounting to 10° 56', gives 
a resulting distance of ratlier more than 750 miles in the direction of the meridian, 
which is the entire extent of the insular series, north and south. But the great 
iwoportion of the territory, and the vast majority of the population, have a much 
smaller latitudinal range. Taking the parallel of 55° for a dividing-line, there are nearly 
equal portions of latitude to the north and south of it. The northern portion includes 
the main mass of Scotland, with its neighbouring isles, and very small sections of England 
and Ireland, while the southern embraces nearly the whole of Ireland and England, with 
Wales, and their adjacent islands. In the south division, the proportion of territory is 
more than two and a half to one, as compared with that in the north, while the amount 
of population is in the ratio of nearly eight to one. Lowestoft ISTess, on the coast of 
Suffolk, 1° 46' east of Greenwich, and the Blasquet Isles off the coast of Kerry, 10° 30' 
west, define the extent of the archipelago in longitude. This amounts to 1 2° 1 6', equivalent 
to a linear distance of 500 miles. 

Sunrise and sunset visit the most easterly coasts full three-quarters of an hour before 
they are witnessed on the more westerly, owing to difference of longitude ; and at the 
southern and northern extremities of the kingdom, there is a marked variation in the 
length of the days and nights at the solstices, occasioned by the range of latitude. In the 
south, the midsummer day extends to sixteen hours, eight minutes ; and in the north, to 
eighteen hours, forty-eight minutes, leaving an interval varying from somewhat less than 
eight hours to rather more than five for the length of the night. But at both extremities, 
the sun then dips to such a small extent below the horizon, that his rays continue to 
reach the higher regions of the atmosphere, and the interval is one of twilight only. This 
is specially the case in the northern localities where the solar declension is the least, and 
hence, with a sky clear of clouds, there the midsummer night is day-like. In the 
Orkneys and Shetlands, reading, writing, and other delicate operations may be performed 
without artificial light, when the time-piece is marking the close of one day and the 
beginning of another. ' At midnight,' says a correspondent at Balta Sound, ' on the 21st 
of June, I have often read such print as Chainbers's Edinburgh JournaU The note of 
life from the animal creation, though less frequent than by day, is far from being inter- 
rupted. In their respective haunts may be heard the merry tune of the sedge-warbler, the 
bleating cry of the snipe, the whistle of widgeon and teal, the quack of the mallard, with 
a clamorous outburst at intervals from varieties of waders and water-fowl. 

The geographical position of the British Isles is peculiar, interesting, and influential. 
They are so closely sca-gu't, that no portion of territory is more than 120 mUes from 
a shore ; and there is only a very small area at this inconsiderable distance. The 
greater part of England, with the whole of Wales, Scotland, and Ireland, is within fifty 
miles of the salt-water line. Yet the central point of the hemisphere, which contains 
the greatest amoimt of the land-surface of the globe, falls within the limits of the 
archipelago, and is only a few miles from the port of Ealmouth, in Cornwall. This land- 
hemisphere embraces the whole of Eui'ope and Africa, all Asia and America, except the 
narrow peninsula of Malacca, and the tapering extremity of South America. A vast 
oceanic surface distinguishes the opposite hemisphere, in which, with the excejitions 
named, the land is whoUy insular, and its coUcctivo area is quite insignificant in com- 
parison with that of the great continents. 

Great Britain is the largest of the European islands, the most important in the world, 
and the seventh in point of magnitude, ranking after Australia, Borneo, New Guinea, 
Niphon, Sumatra, and Madagascar. The nearest approach to the continent is made by 
the south-east corner of England, where the distance is little more than twenty mUes to 



144 GENERAL VIEW OP THE BRITISH ISLES. 

tlie opposite shores of France. Prom tlie correspondence of the rooks on botli sides of the 
intervening strait, and the existence of the same animals in historic times, as the bear, 
wolf, and heaver, with the comparatively shallow depth of the water, it is inferred that an 
isthmus here once connected the island with the continent as a peninsular projection, 
which the constant gnawing of the waves or some sudden irruption removed. This idea 
was current long before attention had been paid to the geology of the shores, and is 
mentioned by Sir Thomas More in his Utopia. To the westward, the separating Enghsh 
Channel gradually increases in breadth till the extremities of England and France in that 
direction are upwards of 100 miles asunder, whUe to the northward the JSTorth Sea 
expands to 400 miles between Scotland and Denmark. 

The extreme points of the island are Dunnet Head, on the north, a high promontory in 
Caithness overlooking the Pentland Firth; the Lizard Point, on the south, a headland 
chiefly of serpentine in Cornwall, commonly the last land seen and the first observed by 
sliips entering the Atlantic, and returning from it; Lowestoft JSTess, on the east, a low cape 
adjoining that port in Suffolk ; and Ardnamurchan Point, on the west, a projection of the 
county of Argyle. ISTo line can be drawn intersecting the whole surface due north and 
south, owing to the general inclination of the land in the direction of the meridian being 
north by west. But a straight line, extended from Cape "Wrath, in Sutherlandshire, to 
the coast of Sussex, or north-west and south-east, will measure about 600 miles, with- 
out cutting any portion of the sea. The greatest breadth, due east and west, is from 
St David's Head, in Pembrokeshire, to the ITaze in Essex, and amounts to nearly 300 
nules. But the contractions are numerous and marked, owing to the occurrence of 
far-penetrating inlets and firths. Generally, the island narrows from south to north, 
and hence its form is often described as rudely tria,ngular. The idea originated with 
Julius Ctesar, w^ho estimated the entire circuit at 2000 miles. But the actual extent 
of the coast-line, measuring inlets and estuaries up to the termination of their broader 
parts, is upwards of 3000 miles, distributed as follows : 

Miles. 
East Coast — from the South Foreland in Kent, to Duncansby Head in Caithness, 1010 

Nprth Coast — from Duncansby Head to Cape Wrath in Sutherlandshire, . . 108 

"West Coast — from Cape "Wrath to the Land's End in Cornwall, . . . 1546 

South Coast — ^from the Land's End to the South Foreland, .... 448 



England has an area of 50,922 square miles; Wales, 7398; and Scotland, inclusive 
of islands, 30,685 — ^making a total of 89,005 square miles. The respective proportions 
have been ingeniously illustrated by the Eegistrar-general. Adopting the figure of a 
perfect square, the area of England is equal to one of 226 miles to the side ; Wales, to 
one of 86 miles; Scotland, to one of 177 miles; and the whole of Great Britain, to a 
square of 299 nules to the side. Or adopting the figure of a ou'cle, the area of England 
is equal to one with a radius of 127 miles ; Wales, to one of 49 miles ; Scotland, to one 
of 100 miles; and the w^hole of Great Britain, to a cu-cle with a radius of 169 miles. 
The surface varies in its level from below high-water mark in the fens of Lincolnshire, 
to the height of 4406 feet above the sea, in Ben JSTevis, Inverness-shire. 

Ireland, smaller, less important, and more compact, lies to the west of Great Britain, 
from which it is separated by the Irish Sea, and the straits by which that confibaed 
expanse commimicates with the ocean, St George's Channel in the south, and the K"orth 
Channel in the opposite direction. The two islands make then- closest approach at the 
outlet of the northern channel, where the shores on either hand are within thirteen nules 
of each other, at Fairhead, in the county of Antrim, and the Mull of Cantire in Scotland. 



GEOGEAPHIOAL POSITION OF IRELAND. 



145 



Across tlio southern channel, the shortest distance is rather more than fifty miles, between 
Carnsoro Point ia Wexford, and St David's Head in Wales. The island extends in a 
northerly direction to ahoirt the latitude of the centre of Ayrshire in Scotland, and the 
town of Alnwck in England. Its southern extremity corresponds in latitude very nearly 
to that of Bristol and London. It rudely resembles in shape an oblique parallelogram, 
the longest diagonal of -which runs from north-east to south-west, and measures somewhat 
more than 300 miles. But due north and south, the greatest extent is not more than 
230 miles, from Horn Head in Donegal to near Poole Head in Cork ; and due east and 
west, the greatest breadth is 180 miles, from Achris Point in Gal way to the coast between 
Dublin and Drogheda. The breadth is contracted to little more than 100 miles, between 
the opposite Bays of Galway and Dublin; and to less than 90 miles between those 
of Donegal and Belfast. The extreme points of the mainland are the coast of Down on 
the east ; Dunmore Head, in Kerry, on the west ; MaUn Head, in Donegal, on the north ; 
and Mizen Head, in Cork, on the south. Cape Clear, more southerly, • is a high pro- 
montory at the extremity of a small, wild, and romantic islet. Ireland has a coast-line 
estimated at upwards of 2000 miles, measuring the inlets, which are numerous and deep 
on the northern and western shores. The surface rises to 3404 feet above the sea in 
Carn Tual, one of the mountains of Kerry. Its superficial extent amounts to 32,513 
square miles, which, added to that of Great Britain, gives a total of 121,518 square miles 
for the area of the United Kingdom. 

The minor islands associated with the two larger sometimes occur singly, but are more 
generally arranged in groups, and are situated chiefly along the northern and western 
shores. Great Britain, for important examples, has the Orlmeys and Shetlands on the 
north; the Inner and Outer Hebrides, Bute and Arran, the Isle of Man, Anglesea, and 
the Scilly Isles, on the west ; the Isle of Wight on the south. Ireland has Eathlin and 
Tory Islands on the north, with those of Achill, Clare, Arran, the Blasquets, and Valentia 
on the west. The east coasts, in both instances, correspond in having very few and only 
insignificant insular tracts. The total number of small size has not been ascertained 
with exactness. But it must be very considerable, if those are included which, though 
not permanently inhabited by man, have patches of verdure, are visited by fowlers and 
fishermen in their boats, by shepherds in summer, and are the breeding-stations of vast 
flights of aquatic birds. Defining an island to be any piece of solid land surrounded 
by water, which afibrds suflicient vegetation to support one or more sheep, or which is 
occupied by man, the Census Commissioners, in 1861, found 787 such sites in connection 
with Scotland alone, of which 186 were inhabited on the census day. Some of these 
are of great extent, and supply pasturage to flocks of from 300 to 400 sheep, though 
without regular human tenants, while others are so smaU. as to admit of only one sheep 
being left at once, which is removed when fattened, and its place supplied by another. 
The most isolated inhabited spot is the precipitous St Kilda, the outermost of the 
Outer Hebrides, mth a village of bird-catchers and fishermen, 45 miles from the 
nearest neighbour. More solitary is EockaU. ; but it is simply a block of granite peering 
up above the waves, 184 miles from the last mentioned, the nearest land, and 260 miles 
from the north coast of Ireland. The rock is now a convenient guide-post to an important 
cod-fishery. 

The enclosing seas, 

' Which God hath given for a fence irapregnahle,' 
vary gTeatly in their depth. The ISTorth Sea is comparatively shallow, except towards 
the Iforwegian shores, for its mean depth for the whole basin does not exceed thirty-one 
fathoms. The depth in the centre is generally less than on the eastern and western sides, 



146 GENERAL VIEW OP THE BRITISH ISLES. 

except close to the coasts, owing to the aociiimilations of debris ■which encumber that 
part of its heel. One of these, the Dogger Bank, a well-known, station for cocl-fishiag, 
hut now greatly exhausted, extends upwards of 300 miles from off Elamhorough Head 
towards the coast of Denmark, where it terminates almost ia a point, though ia yarious 
places not less than sixty miles hroad. Another enormous hank, known, to mariners as 
the Long Forties, trends more than 100 rrules in a north-easterly dhection from the 
Fu'th of Forth. It has been calculated that the soUd contents of these shoals, mth 
the minor ones, if evenly distributed over the surface of Great Britain, supposing it to 
be a level plain, woirld cover it with a stratum, of soil twenty-eight feet in thickness. 
The shallowest part of the Enghsh Channel, about twenty-five fathoms, is at the narrow 
eastern extremity, between Eomney Marsh and the ojiposite coast of France. From 
thence westward, the soundings increase to sixty-three fathoms at the oceanic entrance. 
In general, there is greater depth of water on the Enghsh than on the French shores, 
and the ports and harboiu's are better. The Irish Sea has considerable depth throughout, 
except towards the north-east corner, amounting to sixty-six fathoms between Holyhead 
and DubUn. But these depths are trifling in relation to that of the outlying ocean. 
The Atlantic, to the distance of about sixty miles from the west coasts of Ireland 
and Scotland, has a depth of 100 fathoms. It increases rapidly with a further 
distance till, at under 200 miles, the phmimet suddenly plunges to 1750 fathoms, 
or 10 500 feet, and the deep bed of the ocean begins. Hence it follows, that the 
comparatively shallow British seas occupy and conceal the gentle depressions and 
deeper dells of a plateau, of which the British Islands are the elevated and exposed 
portions. 

The tides are very conspicuous on most of the shores, affect many of the rivers in a 
marked manner to a considerable distance inland, and give rise to some striking 
phenomena. On reaching our narrow seas, the ridge of the great oceanic tide-wave 
extends diagonally from the south-west coast of Ireland to the north-west projection of 
France and sends off' two branches owing to the interruption offered by the masses of 
land. An eastern branch enters the English Channel, and carries high-water to the 
opposite shores ; a central branch runs up the Bristol Channel, and passes through St 
George's into the Irish Sea ; while the main or oceanic wave continues its course with 
immense velocity along the western coasts of Ireland and Scotland. This last, after 
roundinw the Orkneys and Shetlands, becomes a great wave from the north, traverses the 
whole extent of the jSTorth Sea, and determines high-water along the coast to the mouth 
of the Thames. The tidal rise varies in its height at different points owing to the 
varying configuration of the shores, the form of the bottom, and the direction of incidence 
of the wave, attaining its maximum where bays and estuaries have then- openiug-s turned 
towards its advance, and rapidly contract in their breadth. This condition is best fidfilled 
by the Bristol Channel, and accordingly there the ordinary rise of the tide is the greatest. 
It amounts to 30 feet in Swansea Bay, 38 feet at Cardiff, 40 feet at the mouth of the 
Bristol Avon, and occasionally to 60 feet at Chepstow on the Wye. In other places 
under similar circumstances, though not so marked, the tides rise as high as 22 feet 
at the entrance of Milford Haven, 26 feet at the mouth of the Mersey, 21 feet at the 
entrance of the Solway Firth, and 23 feet at the mouth of the Wash. Spring-tides, with 
coincident westerly gales, produce an immense accumulation of water in the upper part 
of the Bristol Channel, the estuary of the Severn. The flood remains pent up for a 
time by the narrowness of the river channel, till, having acqmred sufficient power for 
disengagement, it violently breaks bounds, and rushes up the stream as a wall of water, 
with a crest of foam. Boatmen are warned of its approach, and thus enabled to secure 



ACTION OF TIDES AND CURRENTS ON THE COAST. 



147 




their craft, by hearing the distant roar. Precisely similar to this ' bore ' of the SeTern, 
and produced in the same manner, is the ' heygre ' of the Trent. 

Bold projecting elifis, and narrow channels between islets or shoals and the main 
shores, by obstructing the tide- wave, originate impetuous cm-rents on many points of the 
coasts, justly dreaded in the days of timid and unskilful seamanship. Around the 
peninsula of Portland in Dorsetshire, and between it and a shoal on the south bearing 
the ominous name of the Shambles, with Deadman's Bay in the neighboiu'hood ; the tide 
rushes with extreme violence, raising furious eddies and a dangerous surf. This has 
obtained the name of the Eace of Portland ; and has the turbulence of its waters typified 
on old charts by a fierce-looking monster or sea-cbagon lashing them into foam. The 
Boost of Sumbm'gh designates the strong and tiunultuous tidal flow between the Orkneys 
and the Shetlands, so called from Sumbiu'gh Head, at the southern extremity of the latter 
group, and the Scandinavian rooat, the term applied to agitated and powerful searstreams. 
In the contracted Pentland 

Firth, between the Orkneys ' J 

and the mainland of Caith- 
ness, the force of the tides 
and currents have, in many 
places, undermined the 
rocks, producing most fan- 
tastic shapes in the old red 
conglomerate — the prevail- 
ing formation of Pentland 
Firth. One of these fan- 
tastic forms, off the island 
of Hoy, is exhibited in the 
accompanying engraving, 
copied from a dra^wing made 
by Lord Bury, kindly lent 
to the publishers by the 
Earl of Caithness. All the 
softer portions of the head- 
land have been washed 
away by the erosive action 
of the waves, leaving the 
harder conglomerate of 
gneiss and sandstone a 
beautiful example of strati- 
fication. In those narrow 
seas the navigation is dan- 
gerous thi'oughout to small 
craft, from the force of the 
tide, and the strong eddies 
formed by currents on either 
side which iim counter to fe?^^ 
the main stream. Vessels 
seldom venture to bring up, 
or if an anchor is let go, it is generally left at the bottom. The little isle of Stroma, 
on the southern side of the channel, has its ScyUa and Charybdis : the one a whirlpool 




The ' Old Man ' of Hoy. 



14:8 GENERAL VIEW OF THE BEITISH ISLES. 

called the Swalchie ; the other, an expanse of broken water, lioiling like a witch's caldron, 
termed the 'Merry Men of Mey;' the word men being here a corruption of main. 
Between the islands of Jura and Scarba, two of the Southern Hebrides, the remarkable 
intermittent whirlpool of Corrivreckin is formed by the collision of opposite tidal currents. 
It attains its maximum of disturbance at the foui'th hour of the flood — ^boils, foams, 
and rolls away in successive whirls — throwing up everything from the bottom with strong 
ebullition. The name is said to be derived from a Danish prince who perished at the spot. 

' Wliere the wave is tinged with red, 
And the russet sea-leaves grow, 
■ Mariners, with prudent dread. 
Shun tlie shelving rocks below. 

As you pass through Jura's sound, 

Bend your course by Scarba's shore ; 
Shun, O shun, the gulf profound, 

"Wliere Corrivreckin's surges roar.' 



On the low coasts the tidal oscillations diurnally abridge and extend the area of the 
shore by submerging and leaving dry extensive tracts. This is specially observed 
around the "Wash, where the permanent reclamation of 200,000 acres from the sea 
is contemplated, in the Solway, and in Morecambe Bay. The latter estuary interposes 
between the towns of Lancaster and Ulverstone. They are about twenty miles apart in a 
direct line, but t^vice that distance passing around the head of the bay. By the ebbing of 
the tide, the intervening space is left perfectly dry, except in the narrow channels of two 
small streams, the Kent and the Leven ; and it is then traversed by travellers on horse- 
back, and by vehicles. But the route of the ' Sands ' has occasionally its perils, when 
dense fo"s arise, or driving snow-storms come on, or when a strong westerly wind springs 
up, which accelerates the return of the waters, and gives great violence to their flow. 

Both formidable and interesting animals, the bear, beaver, wolf, and wild-boar 
have become extinct withia the limits of the kingdom 'siace the dawn of authentic 
history. The bear was common in the Eoman times, and conveyed to Eome for 
the sports of the amphitheatre. It existed in Scotland in the eleventh century, 
for in the year 1057 one of the Gordons was allowed to carry three bears' heads on his 
banner in honour of his valour in killing one. Several places in "Wales retain the name 
of Pennarth, or the bear's head, indicating its presence in. the principality. The wolf so 
infested the homesteads of the Anglo-Saxons in winter, that the month of January was 
called Wol/-7nonat. It was extirpated in England by systematic measures taken for its 
destruction by Edward I. ; but remained in Scotland four centuries later, the last having 
been killed by Cameron of Locliiel in 1680. In Ireland, the last is said to have perished 
about the year 1710, in the county of Cork. A few examples of the wild-boar, once 
stringently protected for purposes of the chase, were in the New Forest down to the reign 
of Charles I. "Wilberfel, or "Wild-boar EeU, denominates a district in "Westmoreland. The 
urus or wild-ox, a gigantic creature, roamed in the forests near London in the time of the first 
Plantagenet, and is mentioned at a much later date in other parts of the country. The 
beaver, the broad-tailed animal of the "Welsh, was in the principality at the conunencement 
of the thirteenth century, inhabiting the Teify. A few pools there bearing the name of 
Lhjn yr afangc, ' the beaver lake,' preserve its memory, as does the name of Beverley 
in Yorkshire, ' the place of beavers.' Some birds have lilcewise disappeared, as the 
capercailzie, or cock of the wood, a splendid member of the grouse tribe, not uncommon 
in Scotland at the beginning of the last century; the great bustard, last seen in the 
eastern counties of England, in the early part of the present century ; and the stork, 



NATIVE ANIMALS AND PLANTS. 149 

once a regular summer visitor from a warmer climate to tlie fenny districts, and still a 
migrant to Holland. 

Fully exposed to the influence of those causes wMcli elevate the temperature generally 
in Western Europe, mentioned in the preceding chapter, the climate of the kingdom is 
remarkably mUd, considering its position in the northern half of the temperate zone. 
Those great extremes of winter cold and summer heat, which are experienced in corre- 
sponding contiuental latitudes, both eastward in Northern Germany and Central Eussia, 
and westward in Trans- Atlantic regions, are unknown ; while the average of temperature 
throughout the year is much higher. Tliis absence of violent seasonal alternations is 
favourable alike to comfort and health. It specially applies to the southern and south- 
western shores of England, where the winters are so mUd, that in sheltered bays, myrtles, 
citrons, camellias, hydrangeas, magnoHas, cactuses, and other exotics, bear unharmed the 
open air without any protection but what is afforded by the neighbouring hills. The 
(eldest district is an easterly section, extending from the Naze, in Essex, to the Firth of 
Forth, and stretching some distance inland. The warmest embraces the Isle of Wight, 
with parts of the counties of Hants, Dorset, Devon, Cornwall, Somerset, Gloucester, and 
Glamorgan. The hottest month in general is July, and the coldest January. Ireland 
has a milder winter than England, especially on the western side, but the summer 
is cooler, owing to the greater humidity of the atmosphere. While the rain-fall is 
abundant over the whole surface, it is more copious in western than in eastern localities 
— an obvious consequence of more immediate exposure to the vapours raised from the 
Atlantic, and the westerly position of the high lands and mountain-ranges. But though 
more westerly, Ireland is distinguished from Great Britain not so much by a larger 
amount of precipitation, as by its more equable distribution throughout the year, rendering 
the number of the rainy days greater. Hence, from this prevalent humidity, the face of 
the' country has that freshly verdant aspect for which it is reno^vned. The pastures are 
never parched ; the trees remain long in leaf — characteristics which have won for it the 
title of the 'Emerald Isle,' ' the green isle of Erin.' But the same circumstance limits the 
growth of the more important cereals, as well as the ripening of various kinds of fruits. 
Mists and freqijent weather changes, with cold easterly winds in spring, are the principal 
defects of the British climate ; but the measure of health enjoyed by the people, with the 
average duration of life, is not surpassed, if equalled, in any other country. 

The vegetation of the British Isles varies with the several localities : in many respects 
the mountain vegetation differs widely from the vegetation of the plains and valleys. 
The flowers which deck the woods and fields have no representatives in mountain regions. 
Where a few hardy kinds do succeed in climbing to the summits of the Highland hUls, 
a recent anonymous writer says, ' they assume strange forms which puzzle the eye, and 
become dwarfed and stunted by the severer climate and ungenial soil. All alpine plants 
found in the Highlands,' the same writer adds, ' are imiversally admitted to be of arctic 
or Scandinavian origin. Their primitive centres of distribution lie within the arctic 
circle, where they are found in profusion, constituting the sole flora of very extensive 
regions. From these northern centres they were gradually distributed southwards over 
the British hills during the glacial epoch, when the summits of these hUls were low 
islands, or chains of islands, extending to the area of Norway through a glacial sea. 
This floral migration may be traced from the arctic regions to the higher ranges of the 
Alps.' 



150 




0ENT3RAL VIEW OF THE BRITISH ISLES. 



The mass of the vegetation is identical with that of the neigh- 
boxmiag continent. But a wanderer from afar appears on the 
west coast of Ireland and in the Hebrides, which has established 
itself from transatlantic regions, owing doubtless to seeds having 
been drifted thither by the Gulf -Stream, still retaining the power 
of germination. This is tlie jointed pipewort, a grass-like plant, 
growing in lakes which have a muddy bottom, and exhibiting 
small globular heads of flowers. But it bears little resemblance 
with lis to its congeners in their more congenial natural habita- 
tion, wliich are shrubby, from four to six feet high, with leafy 
1 tranches on their stems, and are prominent features of the vege- 
'.:ition in parts of South America. Another migi-ant, the three- 
toothed cinque-foil, abundant in the Eacky Mountains and Aixtic 
America, occurs on a Forfarshire hill in Scotland, to which it is 
limited. A third intmder, of recent date, the water weed, 
Anaclutrsis alsinastrum, first observed in the year 1842, and now 
well known in the rivers, canals, and drains of the midland 
counties of England, is supposed to have sprung from seeds 
brought with timber from Canada during the construction of the 
railways. 

The native flora may be divided into four groups — Germanic ; 
Scandinavian ; Asturian ; and Armorican, so called from the 
continental localities where the same species are now found, and 
whence, in the opinion of Professor Forbes and other geologists, 
they originally came to our shores. I. The Germanic group com- 
prise the principal components of vegetation, such as Sibaldia 
procumbeus{a), Arenaria nthellalfi), Gentiana nivalis (c), and all 
the widely diffused species — trees, shrubs, weeds, and wild-flowers 
— wliicli belong equally to the middle latitudes of Europe. 
II. The Scanduiavian group is cliiefly represented in the High- 
lands of Scotland, to a smaller extent on the loftier mountains 
and bleak moorlands of England and Wales, and very sparingly 
m Ii-eland. It consists of mosses, lichens, and grasses, some 
highly beautiful flowering plants, and prized berry-bearing 
shrubs, as the cranben"y, bilberry, and 
cloudberry, wliich are abundant in 
Scandinavia, on alpine heights in 
general, and also in the arctic low- 
lands. Among those selected for illus- 
tration are, Verbascum hjchnides {d), 
Linum pei'cnncc, common flax (e), 
Rubus chamcemceus, the cloudberry (/), 
Gentiana pneumonanthe (g), Thlaspi 




ORIGIN OF NATIVE PLANTS. 



pcrfoUalum, shepherds' purse (A), Dipsaeus pilosus, common 
teazel (J), and Caucalis dawcoides, the small burred parsley (i). 
III. and rV. The Astiu'ian and Ai'morican groups are extremely 
local. In the hilly regions of the south-west Irish coast, some 
heaths occiu', as Erica Mediterranea [o], St Patrick's cabbage, 
more commonly loio'ivn (Saxifraga umhrosa) as London-pride 
(p), Arabis ciliata, the waU-cress (g), Arbutus unedo, the straw- 
beriy-tree (r), and some others not known really wild in any 
other pai-t of the Idngdom, but which are common in the 
Asturias, on the opposite coast of Spain. Tliis vegetable coloni- 
sation is referred to a long bygone geological epoch, when 
there is supposed to have been solid land from the Spanish 
peninsula to Ireland, in the place of the now intervening 
waters, along which the plants gi-adually travelled from the 
former to the latter, without being able to proceed fm-ther, 
or multiply in species before the highway was broken up. 
Sunilarly on the south-east coast of Ireland and the south- 
west coast of England, a vegetation appears which is closely allied 
to that of the opposite shores of Bi-ittany and Normandy, the 
ancient Armorica, but which is precluded from a more northerly 
advance by the less genial character of the climate. Such are 
Subia peregrina, wild-madder [l), Erica vagans, the Cornish 
heath («.), and Scrophularia, schrcedania, fig-worts (m). 

The native woods include the oak, elm, bii'ch, beech, ash, alder, 
aspen, willow, poplar, maple, pine, yew, hoUy, hazel, black- 
thorn, and hawthorn ; whUe the lime, chestnut, walnut, spruce- 
fii', larch, weeping-willow, Lombardy poplar, laburnum, mul- 
berry, and cedar have been introduced by man from foreign 
countries. The common elm, maple, and beech are peculiarly 
English, occurring chiefly in southerly localities, dunimshmg 
northwards, or not ranging to Scotland. This is the case also 
with several striking ornamental plants, as the mistletoe, sweet 
violet, daffodil, mezereon, star of Bethlehem, and the fami- 
liar creeper, Clematis vitalba, or 
' traveller's joy,' 

• Name well bestowed 
On that wild plant which, by the road 
Of Bouthevn England, to adorn 
Tails not the hedge of piicklj thorn.' 
The birch, alder, mountaui-ash, 
■\vych-elm, poplar, and pure, or 
Scotch-fir, are eminently charac- 



151 





152 



GENERAL VIEW OF THE BRITISH ISLES. 




teristic of Scotland. There the latter is frequently a very noble 
object, altogether different to what it appears on the stiff clays 
of England, for the natural character of the pine is best developed 
in bleak situations, aniid mountains, crags, and "waterfalls, where 
* iVIoor'd in the rifted rock, 
Proof to the tempest's shock, 
Firmer he roots him the ruder it blows.' 
Vast tracts of woodland have disappeared from the surface, 
owing to the increase of population, the extension of culture, 
and the demand for timber, mth the abatement of the passion 
for the chase. Seventy-seven forests were once enumerated in 
England alone as the property of the crown. They were suc- 
cessively disafforested till the number was reduced to eleven ; 
but only six of these have now any important extent — the New 
Eoie'^t, m the south-west, and Woolnier Forest, in the south- 
east of Hampshire ; Dean Eorest, between the Severn and the 
'Wye , Wliittlebury Forest, in the south-east of N"orthampton- 
sline, "Windsor Forest, Berks ; and Delamere Forest, Cheshire. 
Yet out of a total area somewhat exceeding a hundi'ed thousand 
acies, httle more than one-third is actually woodland. Many 
i^ai ts of the countiy still retain the denomination of forest, which 
have entirely lost that distinctive character, as Macclesfield 
FoiCbt, Chesliire ; Needwood Forest, Staffordshire ; Chamwood 
Forest, Leicestershire ; and the Forest of Arden, Warwickshire. 
Among the wild native animals, the large examples are rumi- 
nants They consist of the faUow-deer, semi-domesticated in 
parks , the red-deer, roaming the soHtudes of the north of Scot- 
land m herds, found also in a few retired localities in England 
and Ii eland; the roebuck, limited to the Scottish Highlands; 
the goat, semi-wild in Wales ; and the wUd cattle preserved in 
the paiks of the nobility, perhaps the descendants of a domes- 
ticated breed which broke from the homesteads in turbulent 
tinicb, and returned to natui'al habits in the woods. The cami- 
voious lace is represented by the fox, five of the weasel family, 
and the otter, foi-merly much more common than at present ; 
the wild-cat and badger, both very scarce ; the hedgehog, found 
-■n abnost eveiy part of our islands, but not numerous ; the 
mole, % ery common in England, but not known in Ireland, or 
north of the Pentland Firth ; and nine species of bat. Of the 
rodents, varieties of the hare and rabbit are generally diffused, 
as IS the squirrel, in England and Scotland; but it has only 
recently been known in Ireland, by introduction to the county 
of Wicklow. The reptiles include the blindworm, ringed-snake, 
and adder, or common viper, the last of which alone is venomous, 



NATIVE BEPTILES, BIRDS, AND FISHES, 

but none of them occur in the sister-kingdom, nor does the com- 
mon toad. According to popiJar superstition, St I'atrick, the 
patron sauit, cleared tlie island of the ' v^amiint' by a malediction. 
Of upwards of ten thousand British insects known to natm'alists, 
and described by them, somewhat more than one-third range to 
Ireland. The glowwomi is among the absentees, and some of 
the more splendid of the butterflies. 

The feathered tr-ibes mmrber a very large proportion of 
species, considerably more than one-half of the total belonging 
to Europe ; and individuals are equally numerous with species, 
not\vithstanding much thoughtless destruction. An insulai 
position invites the families of waders and swimmers to the 
shores, while the great extent of cultivated comitry, and the 
abimdant vegetation, j)rovide a supply of food for the smallti 
birds. Some are summer visitors from the southerly latitudeb, 
which range over the entire kingdom, as the cuckoo and swal- 
low; wliile the two splendid warblers, the nightingale and 
blackcap, are comparatively local. Tlie nightingale does not 
visit Scotland, Ireland, or "Wales, although M'CTilivray mentions 
instances of its being heard in the Lothians ; nor is it known m 
Coi-nwaU, the west of Devon, or much further north in Iilngland 
than about the neighbourhood of York. Examples noticed 
beyond these limits are accidental stragglers. The fig-eater, 
common in Italy and the south of France, is an annual migrant 
to the fig-orchards in the neighbourhood of "Worthing, Sussex, 
about the time of the ripening of the frait. Of the game- 
birds, the black grouse is found on moors in England and Scot 
land, but not in Ireland ; the led grouse occms geneiaUy, and is 
peculiar to the British islands , the white grouse, or ptarmigan, 
is only met with on the wildest ind highest of the Scotch iiioun 
tains. Most of the common domestic fowl, with the peacock, 
turkey, and pheasant, are of foreign origin The seis, rivers, 
and lakes yield a supply of those varieties of fish m gieat quan 
titles which are most serviceible for human sustenance — the 
saUnon, cod, herring, mackerel, and pdchard The last three 
periodically leave the deep watei is the spawnmg season 
approaches, and draw near to the shores m vast swarms when 
the respective fisheries are prosecuted with gieat activity The 
herring is the most_^iffiised, though far moie abundant on some 
points of the coast than othei^, the mackeiel i^ chiefly taken 
on the southern and south eastern shores of England , the 
pilchard shoals confine themselves to its south western comer, 
the counties of Cornwall and Devon , the cod abounds on the 
western shores of Ireland 




154 GENEBAL VIEW OF THE BRITISH ISLES. 

In no part of tlie world is there known to be an amount of mineral wealth within the 
same area equal to that of the United Kingdom. Gold occurs ; and the Eomans conducted 
regular mining operations for it in Caermarthenshire, Wales. Stream-gold was found on 
the southern borders of Lanarkshire, Scotland, about the commencement of the sixteenth 
centiu'y; and towards the close of the eighteenth, in the rivers of "Wicklow, Ireland. 
Both discoveries excited considerable expectation, but the search eventually proved 
unremunerative. Silver is also met with in a native or pure state, and it accompanies 
galena, a sulphuret of lead, frequently in sufficient quantity to render the extraction 
profitable. But the mineral stores of inestimable importance are those which are the 
prime producers of wealth and comfort in the hands of an instructed and industrious 
people ; and these are possessed in vast abundance and convenient juxtaposition. They 
include iron, copper, lead, tin, zinc, coal, and salt, with other varieties of less consequence, 
as antimony, manganese, graphite, alum, and fuller's-earth, besides ample supplies of 
building stone, roofing-slate, marbles, and the clays which are suitable for the commonest 
ware and the finest porcelain. Tin and lead works are of the oldest date. The tin of 
Devon and Cornwall was wrought by the ancient Britons, whose mining labours in the 
latter county, at the extreme angle, are commemorated by the singular excavations, called 
the 'Pit,' the 'Land's End Hole,' and the 'Devil's Fi-ying Pan.' Lead was certainly 
wrought by the Eomans, as blocks of the metal bearing Latin inscriptions have been 
found on the moors of Derbyshire. Mineral waters, or springs impregnated with saline, 
chalybeate, and sulphureous compounds, variously cold, tepid, and warm, are numerous. 
But no warm springs occur in Scotland, nor are they known in England further north 
than the DerbysMre Peak. 

The earliest record of the existence of the British Isles at a known date occurs in the 
writings of Aristotle, who, wiitiag about 340 b. c, refers to them under the names of 
Albion and lerne, which are described as the principal members of a group. The 
former name is supposed to signify the 'fair or white land,' in allusion to the appearance 
of the chalk-cliffs prominent on the southern coast of England ; and the latter applied 
to Ireland, is commonly regarded as a relative designation, meaning the ' western island.' 
Eather more than half a century before the Christian era, Juhus Cassar landed on the 
shores intent on conquest, but made no stay, and accomplished no important result, with 
the exception of becoming acquainted to some extent with the inhabitants, character and 
resources of the region, and imparting his knowledge to the civilised world. About a 
century later, his enterprise was followed up by other leaders, and the larger part of 
Britain was gradually reduced to the condition of a Eoman province. Pour centuries later, 
the declining power of the empire enforced the retirement of the legions, and the aborigines 
were left independent. They consisted of numerous Celtic tribes belonging to two main 
branches of the family, the Gaelic and the Cymric, who migrated from the continent 
prior to the dawn of history, and spoke widely distinct languages, though offshoots of a 
common stock. The Gael seem to have come first, and to have been driven northward to 
the Scottish Highlands, and westward into Leland by the intruding Cymri. With these 
last-named natives the Eomans came chiefly in contact. After the departure of their 
masters, having largely lost the spirit of freedom by long subjection to them, they fell a 
prey to Teutonic invader's of the Germanic race, and numbers were reduced to servitude, 
finally coalescing with them ; while others withdrew to the mountain fastnesses of Devon, 
Cornwall, Cumberland, and Wales, to preserve their liberty, and remained a distinct 
body. This expatriated class received the name of Wilisc-men, ' strangers ' or ' foreigners,' 
expressive of their relation to the new-comers, while their territory was called 
Wilise-land, terms from which Welshman and Wales have been formed. But the 



ABORIGINAL INHABITANTS. 155 

"Welsh, proper have continiiecl to the present day to distinguish themselves by the name 
of Cymri. 

The conquering immigrants are historically known as Jutes, Angles, and Saxons. 
Thoy came from the river-basias of the Eyder, Elbe, "Weser, Ems, and Ehine. "With the 
second of these tribes the denomination of England arose, vrhich is only an abbreviation 
of Angle-land. After several separate states had co-existed, the larger and more powerful 
absorbed the small and weak, till all were inoluded in a single Anglo-Saxon monarchy, 
about the year 823, which had an imiaterrupted succession of sovereigns for very nearly 
two centuries. But during almost the whole of this term, the Danes and other 
Scandinavians, a different branch of the Teutonic family, infested the coasts. They 
seized the Orkneys, Shetlands, and Hebrides ; occupied a considerable portion of the north 
of Scotland ; acquired possession of the eastern and midland districts of England, which 
liad the name of the Danelagh, or ' Dane-law,' from being formally ceded to them ; and 
iinally founded a short-lived Danish dynasty for the whole kingdom. Soon after its 
close, the ISTormans effected its conquest in 1066. A considerable number of that race 
continued to come over for a century and a half afterwards, or while IsTormandy and 
England were politically united; and during the period a broad distinction subsisted 
between the Norman and the Saxon part of the population. It was gradually effaced 
upon the separation of the two countries by association and alliances, till victors and 
vanquished were fused into one homogeneous people. Some leading epochs in the 
subsequent history of the British Isles are, the estabHshment of the English power in 
Ireland, during the reign of Henxy II. ; the conquest of "Wales by Edward I. ; the union 
of the kingdoms of England and Scotland imder one crown in the person of James I. ; 
their legislative union in one kingdom in 1707 ; and the similar incorporation of Ireland 
in 1799. 

Existing nomenclature commemorates the Celt, the Eoman, the Saxon, and the Dane. Commonly the 
enduring objects of natui-e, as rivers, lakes, mountains, and valleys, have names which are significant only in 
a Celtic dialect. Thxis afon or moan, a rimning stream, appears as the denominative of numerous rivers, the 
Avons, five of which are in England, two in Wales, and three in Scotland, the latter sometimes called Aven. 
The Ouses and Esks, the Axe, Exe, TJsk, and Wiske, are related to uisge, water, or to isca, the Latinised form 
of the word. As a prefix, heinn, hen, or pen, a mountain, lidl, or promontory, is >videly diffused. The 
examples are Ben Lomond, and numerous others in the Scotch Highlands ; Penygent in Yorkshire ; Pendle- 
hill in Lancashire ; and Pen-maen-mawr, mountain of the gi-eat stones, one of the Snowdonian heights in 
Wales. The term glen or gljm, a narrow valley, with various afiixes, is equally general, and the instances 
repeatedly occur, Gleucoe in Scotland, Glendalough in L'eland, Glendon in England, and Glyntaf in "Wales. 
Among ancient monuments, the grassy mounds or baiTOWS common on downy heath-clad plains, in which no 
coins are found, but only human bones, with articles of the rudest description, may be regarded as belonging 
to the purely Celtic age. 

Many names of inhabited sites are derived wholly or in part from the Latin, and bear v/itness to the 
presence of the Romans. Thus coin, the abbreviated form of colonia, a colony, appears in Lincoln ; and wich, 
a derivative from vicus, a village, in iTorwich, Greenwich. The word strata, a street or paved way, is a com- 
ponent in the many Stratfords, and occurs with shght alteration in Streatham, Stretton, and the names of 
many villages, even some solitary houses, on the line of the great Koman roads. Erom castrum, a camp, 
we have Chester, cester, caster, and caistor, occurring alone, and in various combinations, forming both pre- 
fixes and terminals, as Chester, Chesterfield, Manchester, Cirencester, Tadcaster, and Gaistor-St-Edmmids. 
The association of the word with the name of some adjoining 'river is frequent, as Lancaster, the camp 
on the Lune ; Doncaster, the camx^ on the Don ; Colchester, the camp on the Colne.- Material memorials of 
the Koman age embrace coins and medals of the empire, inscribed blocks of tin and lead, tesselated pave- ■ 
ments, and bronze statues ; remains of highways, baths, villas, temples, amphitheatres, fortresses, and the 
great northern wall ; with altars, urns, vases, weapons, domestic implements, and tombs. 

Traces of the Danes and Northmen remain in the districts principally visited or occupied by them, where a 
nomenclatui'e of Scandinavian origin is prevalent. Among the maritime examples are, Jirth, an estuary — 
Dornoch Firth, Solway Firth ; and ness, a promontory — Tarbet Ness, Winterton Ness, of which the Naze, in 
Essex, is only an altered fonn. Iiiland sites have dale, a valley, frequent in the south of Scotland and north 
of England, ranging towards the midland counties — Tweeddale, Teesdale, Dovedale, and Dale Abbey ; fell, a 



156 



GENERAL VIEW OP THE BRITISH ISLES. 



mountain— Soa Fell, Cross Fell, Fountain's Fell ; and force, a waterfall— Mickle Force on the Tees, Scale Force 
on a small Cumbrian stream. In the names of inhabited places, the occurrence of toft, a field, as Lowestoft, 
points to a Danish origin ; hut the instances of its use are limited, amounting to only twenty-two times in 
England, while absent entirely from Wales. A far more general terminal is hy or high, signifying originally 
a single farm or dwelling, and then extended to a town, as Whitby, Derby, Denbigh. It occurs 195 times 
in Lincolnshire, 160 in Yorkshire, 63 in Leicestershire, and 42 in Cumberland, or altogether 570 times in 
England, and 8 in Wales, but not once in the counties of Middlesex, Berks, Oxford, Buckingham, Herts, 
Hants, Surrey, Sussex, Wilts, Dorset, Devon, Hereford, Worcester, Salop, Bedford, Huntingdon, Cambridge. 
In the designation of inhabited places, names of Anglo-Saxon birth vastly predominate, and are most 
widely diffused, but are rare in Cornwall, Wales, the west and extreme north of Scotland. They include 
hurst, a wood — Chiselhurst, Penshurst ; ford, the point of passage over a stream — Oxford, Brentford ; stead, 
a station — Grimstead, Wanstead; lea or ley, a plain — Finchley, Bromley; worth, a manor — ^Isleworth, 
Handsworth ; burh, burgh, or borough, a regularly constituted or fortified town — Edinburgh, Gainsborough. 
Far more common is ham, a home — Waltham, Farnham. It thus occurs as a terminal 678 times in England, 
chiefly in the eastern and south-eastern counties, and only tliree times in Wales, besides being met -with as a ' 
prefix, as in Hampstead, Hampshii-e. But ton, originally used to denote any enclosed space, or single farm- 
house, and thence extended to a collection of dwellings, village, or town, has an immense numerical majority 
of examples. The instances of its occurrence as a terminal, as in Stockton, Burton, Clifton, number 2793 in 
England, and 78 in Wales. It is most frequent in Yorkshire, and then successively in Cheshire, Somerset- 
shire, Lancashire, the counties of Lincoln, Gloucester, and Wilts. In addition, the word ham forms a 
compound with ing, son of, or descendant, as in Bockingham, * the home of the family of the Rock,' instances 
of which are not included in the above enumeration. Nor are those reckoned in which ton enters into the 
same combination, as in Bridlington, Islington. The information upon wiiich the preceding statements are 
founded is derived from an unattractive but instructive table appended to the Census Ketums of the year 
1851, entitled ' Common Terminations of the Names of Places in England and Wales.' 

The area in wliioli Celtic blood at present prevails to a greater or less extent, though 
only comparatively piire in general, embraces "Wales, Cornwall, the Isle of Man, the 
Highlands of Scotland, its Western Isles, and great part of Ireland, especially the -west 
and south. In tliis region, the extant dialects of the Celtic stock are the Welsh, the 
Manx, the Gaelic, the Erse or Irish, but all declining rapidly as vernacular modes of 
speech; and a comparatively slender form, a volatile temperament, a quick perception, 
with a want of caution, providence, and perseverance, distinguish the purest representa- 
tives of the race. Another dialect, the Cornish, closely allied to the Welsh, formerly 
spoken in Cornwall and the adjoining part of Devon, stood its ground till the period of 
the Reformation, when the service of the church in English being introduced, the old 
language began gradually to give way before it. Carew, "writing at the commencement of 
the seventeenth century, states, that though English was then generally understood, some 
of the people would affect ignorance of it, and reply to the question of a stranger, Mee a 
navidra cousa Sawznech, ' I can speak no Saxonage.' In villages towards the south- 
western extremity of the county, the Cornish was spoken in the reign of Queen Anne. 
It lingered longest in the neighbourhood of MoiTsehole, between Penzance and the Land's 
End, and was not finally blotted from the list of living languages tiU the middle of the 
last century. Specimens remain both in manuscript and print. The inhabitants of 
Cornwall now speak a remarkably pure EngHsh. 

The region of Teutonic blood, more or less pure, derived from the immigrant Germanic 
and Scandinavian tribes, includes England generally, the Lowlands of Scotland, the 
maritime portion of its northern counties on the eastern side, the Orkneys and the 
Shetlands, with the north-east and east of Ireland. Great bodUy strength distinguishes 
the people of the purest blood, with a disposition more incKned to the grave than the gay, 
a reserved manner to strangers, a slow but accurate perception, a preference of the useful 
to the brilliant, a strong desire for personal and political independence, a love of 
enterprise, and a common predilection for maritime occupations. The languages are the 
English, based upon the Anglo-Saxon ; and the Lowland Scotch, a parallel and sister- 
dialect, derived from the same source, but marked with N'orse or Scandinavian featirres, 



ANGLO-SAXON LANGUAGE. 



157 



now rapidly giving -way to pure modern English. The Anglo-Saxon is believed to have 
heen formed out of the respective dialects of the Jutes, Angles, and Saxons, when they 
became consolidated as one people in a common monarchy. It was spoken in its purity 
from the age of Alfred to the Norman Conquest, and was one of the earliest cultivated 
languages of modern Europe, made the vehicle of written laws, poetry, and history, before 
a single hne had been penned in ItaHan, French, or Spanish. After the Conquest, it 
underwent a change to Semi-Saxon, influenced by that event, with various other causes ; 
and subsequently passed through the successive stages of Early English and Middle 
English, into the beautiful and copious, but composite mother-tongue of the great mass 
of the population, which has gathered its vocabulary from almost every nation under 
heaven, and is now spoken ia different countries by more than 50,000,000 of the 
human race. ' Not one hour of the twenty-four,' remarks an exponent, ' not one round of 
the minute-hand of the dial is allowed to pass, in which, on some portion of the surface 
of the globe, the air is not filled with accents that are ours. They are heard in the 
ordinary transactions of life ; or in the administration of law — in the deliberations of the 
senate-house or council-chamber — in the offices of private devotion, or in the public 
observance of the rites and duties of a common faith.' 




The Land's End, Cormvall. 




Cornwall and Devonshire Coasts. 



CHAPTEE 11. 



EIJQLAND AND TVALES. 



OUTH BEITAIlSr, comprehending England and Wales, hj far tlio 
largest and most populous division of the island, is separated from 
the northern part, or Scotland, mainly by the lower course of the 
Tweed, the line of the Cheviot Hills, and some small streams which 
fall into the Solway Firth. In other directions the frontier is 
formed by the ITorth Sea on the east, the English Chamiel on the 
south, the Irish Sea on the west, and the Atlantic on the south- 
west. WhUe the coast-line is not so minutely varied as that of the 
northerly portion, it presents an almost rmiuterrupted series of 
curves, bays, estuaries, and headlands, but is the most irregular, 
and at the same time the boldest, on the western side. The more 
considerable inlets and projections on the east are the Wash, the 
estuaries of the Thames, the Humber, and the Tees, with the rounded protuberance formed 
by the county of ISTorfolh, the taperiug Spurn Point, and the far-advancing promontory 
of Elamborough Head iu Yorkshire. The shore is generally high and rocky to the 




GE0GRjU?H1CAL limits of ENGLAND AND WALES. 159 

northward, but tliroiigli the greater par-t of its extent southerly, low walls of chalk or 
clay form the strand, with flat marshy lands, and occasional sandy downs, where the 
s^nres or towers of churches are frequently the only distinguishable landmarks to the 
seaman. Its prime defect is the want of really good harbours, and the occim-ence of 
shoals and sandbanks, which have often been the scenes of grave maritime disasters. On 
the south coast, the lowest and Mghest points are within the limits of Kent and Sussex, 
where Eonmey marsh, reclaimed from the sea, is preserved from submergence by an 
artificial embankment, and Beachy Head, nearly midway between Hastings and Brighton, 
formed of chalk-cUffs which overhang the beach, and are occasionally dislodged, 
rises upwards of 550 feet. The shore becomes extremely sinuous towards Hampshire, 
and forms the inlets of Portsmouth Harbour, Southampton Water, Studland, and 
Weymouth Bays, with the three broad openings of West Bay, Plymouth Sound, and' 
Moimt's Bay, each of which has minor indentations, and oxliibits prominent headlands. 
The west coast, besides the deep and expanded Bristol Channel and Cardigan Bay, has 
the most extensive inlet of the sea within the circuit of the kingdom, formed between 
North Wales and South Scotland, containing the estuaries of the Dee, the Mersej'-, and 
the Eibble, Avith Moreoambe Bay and the Solway. The finest shore scenery belongs to 
the north of Devon and Cornwall, and to Caernarvonshire, where the Snowdonian moun- 
tains advance to the water's edge, and rise almost perpendicularly from it to the height 
of 1500 feet. 

The greatest extent of England, north and south, coincides with the meridian of 2" 
west, which interaects the country centrally from Berwick-upon-Tweed to St Alban's Head 
in Dorsetshire. The distance between these places measures 363 miles. This meridian, 
in its northerly extension, only toiiches the mainland of Scotland at its angular eastern 
extremity, and passes between the Orkneys and the Shetlands, Norway and the Faroe 
Isles. In. the opposite direction, it intersects the peninsular part of Western France, the 
east of Spain, Western Africa, and passes eastward of the island of St Helena. A direct 
line drawn from south-west to north-east, connecting the Land's End in Cornwall with 
Winterton Ness in Norfolk, closely corresponds in length to the measurement north and 
south. The breaflth, due east and west, attains its maximum near the parallel of 52°, and 
amounts to 280 miles, between the coast of Essex and that of Pembrokeshire. But 
owing to the deep estuaries on the eastern and western shores being frequently opposite 
to each other, or nearly so, as those of the Thames and the Severn, and the Humber and 
the Eibble, the contraction is very considerable at these points, and dwindles to little more 
than sisty miles between the outlets of the Northumbrian rivers and the head of the 
Solway. Further north, the ividth narrows tiU it finally becomes almost a point at 
Berwick. 

Bold and rugged features are conspicuous on the western side of the country, and 
appear through its whole extent from north to south, subject only to a few interruptions, 
and making a close approach towards the central districts. They consist of elevated heathy 
moors, with rounded masses rising above the general level, where stone walls often take 
the jjlace of hedgerows ; and of properly mountainous tracts in the form of ranges and 
groups. Fom' distinct regions are thus constituted — the Pennine chain, the Cumbrian 
or Lake group, the; Cambrian or Welsh ranges, and the south-western highlands. 

The Pennine chain starts from the Scottish border, and is a continuation of the 
Cheviot HiUs, the highest point of which, distinctively called the Cheviot, 2668 feet in 
elevation, is ivithin the limits of Northumberland. From the western extremity of these 
hills, the range has a southerly course of upwards of 200 miles. It terminates in the 
central part of Derbyshire, thus advancing through the northern coimties towards the 



160 



ENGLAND AND WALES. 



midland ; and is locally styled, from its longitudinal extent, the ' backbone ' of England. 
There is no well-defined continuous ridge, but a succession of Mgli moors, from ten to 
thirty miles broad, upon which mountainous masses are u'regularly interspersed. One 
material depression occurs, formerly traversed by the Eoman Wall, now available for the 
passage of the l^ewcastle and Carlisle EaUway. Several heights in the west of York- 
shire are considerably above 2000 feet; but the loftiest is in Cumberland, near its 




Limestone Eocks, Dovedale. 

convergence -with the counties of "Westmoreland and Durham. This is Cross Fell, the 
summit of which rises to 2927 feet above the sea, and long retains the winter's snow, 
feeding the South Tjoie and the Tees, both of which have their sources on the eastern 
slope. The Pennine chain forms the great water-shed of the north of England, di^'iding 
the rivers which flow westerly to the Irish and easterly to the iN'orth Sea. It is entu'ely 
composed of rocks belongiag to the carboniferous system, the mountain limestone, and 
millstone grit ; and is remarkable for its picturesque dales, with numerous and extensive 
cavern formations. 

The Cumbrian mountain group, thoiigh connected with the preceding range, is 
geologically distinct, rises higher, and has an entirely different and much grander 
character. It overspreads the south of Cumberland, a portion of Westmoreland, and a 
small part of the north of Lancashire, having an extent of about thirty-five miles from 
east to west, and the same from north to south, where the expansion is the greatest. 
Slate rocks are the main constituents, steep, bold, and angular, well clothed with wood, 
and with the finest greensward on the lower slopes, associated ^nth clear lakes in the long 
narrow valleys, and with numerous waterfalls, forming a combination of scenery which 
annually attracts a crowd of summer visitors. Sea Fell, in Cumberland, the principal 
elevation, has two summits separated from each other by a deep chasm, and differing but 
little in their height. The loftiest, styled the High Man, 3229 feet above the sea, is the 
highest point of England, from which the whole western coast may be seen stretching 



MOUNTAIN GROUPS. 161 

from the island of Anglesey to tlie Mull of Galloway. Not a blade of grass appears at 
the top, hut there are tufts of crisp hrown moss, and splendidly-coloured lichens. 
HolveUyn, hut littlo lower, 3055 feet, is much larger in huUf, yet is so closely invested 
with huge neighbours that there is scarcely a point of view from which the eye can 
embrace its fuU proportions. Skiddaw, the third in elevation, 3022 feet, is the most 
imposing member of the group, as it is so far isolated that the entire mass can be seen at 
once from base to summit. 

The Cambrian Mountains, so called from the ancient name of Wales, consist of several 
ranges which occupy a large area of the principality, and are more or less connected, 
composed chiefly of rocks belonging to the Upper and Lower Silurian series. The 
principal chain is the Snowdonian in the north-west, which runs abont twenty-four miles 
across Caernarvonshire, by an average breadth of eight miles, and contains the culminating- 
point of Britain south of the isthmus between the firths of the Clyde and the Forth. 
This is Snowdon proper, the ' snow-clad hill,' forty miles in circuit at the base, with 
three summits, the loftiest of which, called "Wyddfa, the ' conspicuovis summit,' attains 
the height of 3590 feet. There are several subject heights near, which, though giants of 
lesser gTowth, are not much inferior to the monarch. Cader Idris, to the southward, in 
Merionethsliire, belonging to another range, has an altitude of 2959 feet. Phinlimmon, 
further south, at the head of a third, 2481 feet, is distinguished by its vast size, being also 
a remarkable hydrographical point, giving birth to five rivers, the Severn, the Wye, the 
Eheidol, the Llyffliant, and the Clevedoc. In South Wales, the principal range, in one 
part of its course, has the name of the Black Mountain, or Forest Fawr, from the dark 
appearance of the heather, when out of blossom, with which extensive tracts are clothed. 
The greatest height here is attained by the Beacons of Brecknock, which rise to 2862 
feet, near the town of Brecon, formerly used as a station for fire-signals in the event 
of an enemy appearing. Outliers of the Welsh mountain-system appear in the EngKsh 
border districts, as the Wrekin, the Clee and Caradoc Hills, in Shropshire, with the 
Malvern Hills on the dividing-line between the counties of Hereford and Worcester. 
The latter are a short narrow ridge of moderate elevation, with a beautiful outline, and a 
rich appearance, forming one of the finest boundaries of the valley of the Severn on the 
western side. 

The south-western highlands consist of a series of ranges and plateaus bordering on the 
estuary of the Severn and the Bristol Channel, and extending through the counties of 
Devon and Cornwall. They include the ooHtic Cotswold Hills, in Gloucestershire, on 
the eastern slope of which the Thames has its principal source, named after the numerous 
shesp-oots upon them in former times ; the Mendips, in the north-east of Somerset, chiefly 
of mountain limestone, with a flat summit, and rapidly sloping sides ; the Quantock Hills 
and the Blackdowns, in the same county, forming the northern and southern boundaries 
of the vale of Taunton ; the high tracts of Dartmoor and Exmoor in Devon ; and some 
granitic heights m-egularly distributed through Cornwall. Several points closely approach 
the altitude of 2000 feet, but only one exceeds it, Yes Tor on Dartmoor, 2050 feet, an 
elevation which no other part of England attains to the south of Yorkshire. Dartmoor is 
an extensive plateau, more than twenty miles across, lying between Exeter and Plymouth, 
bleak, woodless, and extremely wild, broken into numerous knoUs, on many of which are 
blocks of granite of enormous dimensions, provinciaUy termed tors, while intersected with 
rapid streams, torrent-hke after heavy rains. Exmoor, in the north of the county, 
extending into Somersetshire, has similar features, and culminates in Dunkerry Beacon, 
1688 feet. The Brown WUly, the loftiest of the Cornish heights, does not reach that 
altitude. k 



162 



ENGLAND AND WALES. 



High grounds, not included in the preceding regions, are the eastern moorlands of 
Yorkshire, chiefly of oolite, -which terminate on the shore in hold headlands ; and the two 
challc-ranges which diverge eastwardly from Wiltsliire, and traverse the southern counties. 
The South Downs run through Hampsliire into Sussex, gradually nearing the coast, and 
protecting it from cold north mnds, extending to Beaohy Head, where they meet the 
waters of the Channel. They are cut by transverse valleys into separate masses, have a 
remarkahly smooth romided outline, exhibit great bay-Uke openings, and are clothed with 
the short sweet herbage which renders them famed as a sheep-walk. The North Do^wns 
stretch through the north of Hampshire, intersect Surrey and Kent, terminating iu the 
chffs beyond Dover. The Inkpen Beacon, near the converging points of "Wilts, Hants, 
and Berks, rises 1011 feet, and is the highest mass of chalk in the kingdom. A third 
'chaUi-range rans from the Thames, through Oxfordshire, Bucks, and Herts, under the 
name of the ChUtern Hills, and proceeds north-east to the coast of Norfolk, but with a 
greatly declining elevation. 

The whole of the central and eastern districts of England, with large tracts in the 
northern, western, and southern counties, and portions of the "Welsh principality, have a 
sm-face diversified occasionally with bluff hills, but more generally exhibitmg gentle 
knolls and broad river-valleys, in connection with some entirely level lands. These 
form the country of the hawthorn-hedge, the daisied mead, and shaded homestead, in 
which 

' Corn-waving fields, and pasture green, and slope 
And swell alternate.' 

The greatest extent of level land lies around the shores of the "Wash. Tliis is the district 
of the Fens, so called from the meres and marshes with which it was formerly overspread, 
now one of the most productive parts of the country, though unfortunately held by a 
somewhat precarious tenure. It comprehends portions of the counties of Lincoln, 
Norfolk, Cambridge, Huntingdon, and Northampton, but chiefly belongs to Lincolnshhe; 
extends about fifty miles from north to south, by from twenty to thirty in the opposite 
direction ; and embraces an area of 700,000 acres, where hedges are scarce, trees rare, the 
roads straight, drains and embankments multitudinous, while steam-engines for the 
movement of hydrauHc machinery abound. By such means a vast area has been recovered 
from submergence j and their continued action is necessary to prevent the return of the 
flooding, owing to the region being below the high-water level of the "Wash, while its 
flatness is opposed to a suflicient outfall for the numerous rivers. 

Prom the principal highlands running north and south, while occupying a westerly 
position, it follows that the general slope of the country is from west to east, in which 
direction the more important rivers are formed, flowing to the North Sea, with the 
exception of the Severn. In the order of magnitude of their basins, they rank as 
follows : 



Area of Basin Length, 
in Sq. Miles. Miles. 



9S50 
8580 
6160 



Humber, 
Severn, 
Thames, 

Great Ouse, 2960 

Mersey, . 174S 

Avon, "Wilts, 1210 

Tare, . . 1180 

Nen, . 1132 

Tyne, . . 1100 

"Witham, 1050 



171 
239 
220 
150 
70 
70 



North Sea. 
Bristol Channel. 
North Sea. 

Irish Sea. 
laiglish Channel. 
North Sea. 



Hivers. 

Eden, . 
Dee, 
Tees, . 
Eibble, . 
TVelland, 
Parret, . 
Exe, . 
Taniar, . 
Towy, . 



Area of Basin Length, 
in Sq. Miles. Miles. 



991 

862 
744 
720 
708 
653 
643 
603 
506 



Termination. 
Irish Sea. 

North Sea. 
Irish Sea. 
North Sea. 
Bristol Channel. 
English Channel. 

Bristol Channel. 



ElVER-SYSTEMS. 163 

The Humber includes the minor basins of the Trent and Yorksliire Ouse ; the Severn 
comprises those of the Wye, Bristol Avon, and Usk ; and the Thames that of the Medway. 
The Humher is the largest not only of English hut of British rivers in the area of its 
basin, though the name has a very restricted application, being confined to the estuary in 
■which the Trent and Ouse unite their waters, thicty-five miles long, and from two to five 
miles broad, narrowed at its confluence with the sea by the projection of Spurn Point. 
The Severn has the greatest length, following a very circuitous route from its head-sprmg 
on Plinlimmon, which renders the distance by the channel about twice the direct distance 
from source to mouth. But the Thames is commercially the most important river on the 
face of the globe, and surpasses all others in the amount of wealth on its surface and 
banks. Its som'ce is at Seven Springs, on the south-eastern side of the Cotswolds, in 
Gloucestershire, where there are seven separate outbursts of doubtless the same fountain, 
in a secluded dell overhung with a luxuriant canopy of foliage. ' The water gushes clear 
and piu-e as crystal out of the grassy fountain, and after whirling round a few times, starts 
off swiftly down the narrow stony channel it has scooped out for itself.' Under the name 
of the Churn, the stream flows to Cricklade, where it receives an affluent, and becomes 
the Thames, a border river through the remainder of its course, dividing the counties of 
Oxford and Bucks from Berkshire, next Middlesex from Surrey, then Essex from Kent. 
At London Bridge the river is 290 yards wide ; at "Woolwich, 490 ; at Gravesend, 800 ; 
at Coal House Point, thi'ee miles below, 1290 yards; and at the ISTore, sis miles. Between 
Greenmch and London, the depth ui the fau'way is upwards of twelve feet, while the tides 
have a mean range of seventeen feet, and an extreme rise of twenty-two feet. In the 
middle part of its course, the stream is rendered picturesque by little islands, locally 
called aits, occurring singly and in clusters, sheltering the water-hen and some tame 
swans. The general character of the current is accurately described in the couplet : 
' Though deep, yet clear ; though gentle, yet not dull ; 
Strong without rage ; without o'erflowing, full.' 

Of all our rivers, the Thames has been historically known the longest. It was crossed 
by Julius Cfesar, at a point commonly believed to be near Chertsey, in Surrey, where the 
name of Conway Stakes is supposed to commemorate the stakes which the Britons drove 
into its bed to prevent the passage of the legions. One of its affluents, the Lea, which 
joins it in the neighbourhood of the East India Docks, was, in the time of Alfred, made 
part of the boundary between his dominions and the Danelagh, or the territory occupied 
by the Danes. 

The Mersey, though of inconsiderable length, expands into a flne estuary, and ranks 
the second as a commercial water-way, forming the port of Liverpool. It receives the 
Irwell from Manchester, and the two have been aptly styled the ' hardest-worked rivers 
in the world,' flowing through the cotton manufacturing districts. The Tyne, Wear, and 
Tees are of vast importance in the lower part of their course as coal-shipping rivers, while 
connected with very striking scenery in their upper parts. The streams remarkable for 
their flow through wild, picturesque, and beautiful landscapes, include the rapid Wharfe, 
an affluent of the Yorkshice Ouse ; the Dove, in Derbyshire, associated with Izaak 
Walton, his disciple Cotton, and Sir Humphrey Davy ; the Welsh Dee, in its passage 
through the vale of Llangollen ; the Wye, from its mouth into Herefordshire ; the Towy, 
in South Wales ; the Tamar, belonging equally to Devon and Cornwall ; and the Duddon, 
celebrated by Wordsworth, with the Eden, Lune, and Derwent, during their passage 
through the Cumbrian Mountains. The latter district is the only part of England in 
wliich lakes, properly so called, are formed, all comparatively small, but numerous, 
occupying glens in the highlands, and possessing great scenic attractions. Windermere, 



164 ENGLAND AND TTALES. 

the largest, is nearly eleven miles long, and from one to two broad. Next iii extent arc 
Ullswater, Coniston-water, Derwentwater, and Bassenthwaite-water, mostly long and 
narrow, or oval-shaped expanses. Wales has only examples of any size in Bala Pool, on 
the course of the Dee, and the shallow Brecknock Mere, near the town of that name. 

The superficial area of England amounts to 50,922 square miles, and that of Wales to 
7398, making a total of 58,320 square miles. With the exception of a few tracts, the 
whole country consists geologically of sedimentary rocks, generally rich in organic remains, 
animal and vegetable, but of various ages, different mineral character, and diverse fossils. 
Passing from east to west, or from the coast of Suffolk to that of Pembrokeshu-e, and 
from south-east to north-west, or from the shores of Kent to those of the Solway Pirth, 
all the great fossUiferous systems known to geologists are encountered in regular succes- 
sion, with nearly aU the subordinate members belonging to each group, containing those 
mineral masses which are best adapted to supply the wants and stimulate the energies 
of mankind. A line drawn from the mouth of the Exe in South Devon to Bath, and 
thence continued with moderate curvatures by Gloucester, Leicester, JS'ottingham, and 
Tadcaster to Stockton-upon-Tees, divides the surface into two principal sections differing 
in their natiu'al aspect, geology, and social features. East of the hue is an undulating 
region of the more recent secondary formations, largely oohtic and cretaceous, with 
tertiary strata ; and on the western side is a district of hUls and mountains, composed 
of the older secondary, transition, and primitive rocks. The same line separates generally 
the mining and specially manufacturing districts from the eminently agricultural, for 
all the coal deposits, with the metaUiferoua ores, except iron, lie to the westward of it. 
Including small detached tracts, seventeen distinct coal areas may be enumerated, five 
of which are of great national importance. These are the fields of Northumberland and 
Durham, the longest worked, that of Yorkshii-e and Derbyshire, of South Lancaslui-e, 
South Staffordshu-e, and South Wales, the latter the least worked and the largest, 
embracing an area of 900 square miles. There are 1880 collieries in England and 310 
in Wales, yielding a total produce exceeding 60,000,000 tons annually, in connection 
with which vast quantities of iron ore are raised from the coal-bearing strata, and smelted 
at the surface. Oxides and silicates of iron are also very abundant in the greensand 
of the cretaceous system, in the Weald of Kent, Surrey, and Sussex. This district, now 
a region of quiet sylvan scenes, was the great seat of the iron manufacture in the age 
of the Planfagenets, Tudors, and Stuarts, while wood converted into charcoal was alone 
used in the process of smelting. The first cannons cast in England were made at Buxted 
in Sussex, in the reign of Heniy VIII. ; and the balustrades aroimd St Paul's Cathedi-al 
camo from Lamberhurst furnace in the same coimty. Upon mineral fuel being substituted 
for wood, the manufacture was transferred to those localities where pit-coal and iron ore 
are in close proximity. Tin is almost exclusively found in Cornwall, where it occurs 
both as vein-tin traversing the granite and slaty rocks, and is obtained by regular mining, 
and as stream-tin in the superficial deposits of valleys and low gTounds, from which the 
metallic particles are separated by washing, or stream-works. Cornwall also yields the 
largest supply of copper, but it is -wi'ought in Devonshire, Staffordshire, Glamorganshire, 
and the Isle of Anglesey. Lead is procured in Devonshire, North Wales, and Derbyshire, 
but the most productive mines are in the high moorlands towards the convergence of the 
northern counties, Northumberland, Cumberland, and Dm-ham. Owing to the immense 
amount of mineral wealth annually extracted from the soil, especially of coal, which is 
constantly and rapidly increasing, it becomes a highly-important and interesting question, 
How long win the supply last ? Only a very dubious answer can be returned ; yet it is 
satisfactory to know in general, that the time for nervous apprehension respecting its 



MINERAL PEODUOTS. 165 

failure is yet far distant, thoUgli it may beconie a costly article at a much earlier date, 
owing to tlic great waste which occurs at the pit's mouth, and to the enhanced price of 
production caused by the necessity of going to greater depths, and of opening more 
extensive workings. 

In the variety, extent, and value of its manufactures, England surpasses every other 
country, wliile the products have a high character for excellence in all the markets of 
the world. This eminence is the joint result of moral, political, and physical causes. 
Much is undoubtedly due to the practical temperament and energy of the people, 
along with the mechanical genius of individuals. But the security attending the 
accumulation of property under a government which respects its rights, enters into the 
solution of the problem, as well as that immvmity from foreign invasion which is the 
consequence of an insular position. At varioiis times, skUled artisans have flocked 
to these shores in great numbers from the I^Tetherlands and France, to escape from civil 
or religious oppression, and have introduced new industrial pursuits, or given the benefit 
of their experience and knowledge to existing handicrafts. But one of the main causes 
of the superiority is the pogggssioii of the vast mineral stores teferred to — the natural 
implements of manufactures— ^with a convenient highway in the surrounding ocean 
along which to receive the raw material of other nations, and return the products 
of industry in their manufactured form. 

England is divided into forty counties or shhes of veiy Varying dimensions, and 
Wales iuto twelve. With the esoeption of eight formed by Henry VIII., the other 
English Cottnties were familiarly known in the Saxon age ; but the date and circumstances 
of their origin arc quite uncertain, though some very probably arose out of older divisions 
of the country, without precisely corresponding to their limits. Thus, Kent in general 
represents the first founded of the small Saxon kmgdoms, as well as the old British 
priaeipflUty of the Cantii. The word ' shire ' is of Saxon origin, and denotes a share 
or division ; while ' coimty ' is derived from the counts or earls by whom the government 
of certain districts was originally administered, who had the Latin title of Ooines. In 
the later Eoman age, there was a Count of the Saxon shore in Britain, Ooines liUoris 
Suxonici per Bntfciniam, whose duty it was to superintend the eastern aad South-eastern 
coasts, upon which some of the Germanic tribes had already then settled. 

Most of the counties are distributed into Mndreds, a minor division of long standmg, 
being mentioned in Domesday Book. The name is supposed to refer originally to a 
hundred heads of famihes, and to have acquired a fixed territorial meaning owing to 
population being a fluctuating element. In the four northern counties, Korthumberland, 
Cumberland, Westmoreland, and Durham, the subdivision is into loards, m aUusion 
doubtless to the obligation of the inhabitants of the border districts to keep ' watch and 
ward' against the incursions of theu' northern neighbours. In Yorksliire, Lincohishire, 
and Nottinghamshire, the corresponding subdivisions are styled tuapentakes, a term said 
to be derived from the usage observed by the followers of a chieftain at his uistallation, 
who touched his weapon planted in the soil as a token of allegiance. Yorkshire has, 
besides, a special distribution into three large portions, called ridiiigs, or more properly 
thriMngs. Kent and Susses have also similar intermediate sections, of five lathes in 
the former, and sis rapes in the latter, both with subordinate himdreds. Eor ecclesiastical 
purposes, the division of the country is into two archiepiscopal provinces, that of 
Canterbury with twenty bishoprics, and that of York with sis. The parochial distribu- 
tion is into upwards of 18,000 parishes, and is as old as the tenth century. Large tracts 
of the surface still retain particular denominations, some of which allude to a physical 
condition which has wholly or for the most part passed away, and others to ancient 



166 



ENGLAND AND WALES. 



feudal divisions, as the Weald or -woodland of Kent, Surrey, and Sussex; the Isle of 
Ely, in the north of Camhridgeshire ; the Isle of Axholme, in the north-west of 
Lincolnshire ; the peninsular district called Ilolderness in Yorkshire ; Cleveland and 
Craven in the same county, with HaUamshire, which includes Sheffield and a portion 
of the neighbourhood. 




High and Low Level Bridges, 

For the purpose of detailed description, the counties may he conveniently arranged in 
groups, consisting of six northern, five north-midland, five western, five eastern, nme 
south-midland, ten southern, and twelve Welsh. In each of the lists given, the names of 
the county towns are placed first. 



Counties. 

Nortliumberland, . . 

Durham, . . • 

Cvunherland, . . . 
■Westmoreland, . . 

Lancashire, 

Yorkshire, North Riding, 
n East Riding, 
r. West Kiding, 



L NORTHBEN COUNTIES. 

Principal Towns. 



Area in 
Sq. MileF. 
1952 Newcastle, Tynemouth, North Shields, Morpeth, Alnwick, Berwick, 

Durham, Sunderland, Gateshead, South Shields, Stockton, Darlington, 

Hartlepool. 
Carlisle, Whitehaven, Cockermouth. 
Appleby, Kendal. 
Lancaster, Liverpool, Manchester and Salford, Preston, Bolton, Oldham, 

Blackburn. 
York, Scarborough, Whitby, Middlesborough, Eiohmond. 
Hull, Beverley, Bridlington. 
Leeds, Bradford, Huddersfield, Halifax, Sheffield, Wakefield. 



973- 

1564 

758 

1905 1 



5983 



NORTHUMBERLAND. 



167 



This portion of the country, witli the exception of the larger part of Northumberland, 
formed in the time of the Eomans the sub-province of Maxima Ctesariensis. Along its 
northern border, from the Tyiie to the Solway Fu'th, ran the Eoman Wall, nearly seventy 
miles in length, fortified with military stations, castles, and watch-towers, of which 
numerous and massive remains are extant. The village of Wallsend, just below 




Newcastle-on-Tyne. 

Newcastle, so well known by name from the vast quantity of ' Wallsend coal ' sent to 
London, commemorates the rampart, and marks the site of its eastern terminus. In a 
later age, Northumberland, Durham, and Yorkshire formed two of the original Saxon 
kingdoms, Bernicia and Deira, till both merged in the single state of Northumbria, which 
extended along the eastern side of Scotland, up to the Fh-th of Forth, and preserved an 
independent existence to the commencement of the ninth century. The other three 
couDities, Cumberland, Westmoreland, and Lancashire, formed the contemporary British 
kingdom of Cumbria, sometimes united with Strath-Clyde, or the west of Scotland up to 
the Firth of Clyde ; and they were not incorporated fuUy in the monarchy of England till 
some time after the Norman Conc|uest. 

NoETHUJiBERLAND, the most northerly county, extends along the coast from the mouth 
of the Tyne to a httle beyond that of the Tweed, so as to include the town of Bermck, 
which was formerly considered a neutral spot, not belonging to either England or 
Scotland. The round-topped Cheviot HOls appear on the north-west, clothed with 
beautifid green verdure, affording pasture for an excellent breed of sheep. But other high 



168 ENGLAND AND WALES. 

grounds on the western side are dreary moorlands, covered with heath, peat, and morasses, 
some of which are the seat of important lead-mines. In the lowland districts, towards the 
coast and on the south, arahle hushandry is prosecuted with success; hut the prime 
industrial featijres of the county are connected with the great coal-field, contiuuous with 
that of Durham, which stretches twenty-five miles northward from the Tjme, has a 
hreadth of eighteen mUes from the sea, and dips to an unknown extent beneath its waves. 
The small streams are the Blythe, Wanshcck, Coquet, Aln, and Till, the latter an 
affluent of the Tweed. Off the mouth of the Coquet, is the httle isle of that name, a 
tract of rich pasture, once the site of a fortress, now of a light-house. The river has 
Warkworth hermitage on the north bank, a secluded and highly-picturesque spot, foimded 
at an uncertain date for a single hermit, the subject of a well-known ballad by Dr Percy. 
Holy Island, on the north part of the coast, two mUes distant, but accessible by vehicles 
at low water, obtained its name from being a celebrated ecclesiastical site at an early 
period, the seat of a bishopric, finally transferred to Durham. It has a circuit of about 
nine mUes, is occupied by fishermen, and contains imposiag ruins of a priory church — 

' A solemn, huge, and dark-red pile. 
Placed on the margin of the isle.' 

On the south-east, nearly opposite the basaltic headland of Bamborough Castle, are the 
Parne and Staples islets, seventeen in number, forming two groups, inner and outer. The 
largest contains about twelve acres. The down of the eider-duclt, a winter-visitor, is 
obtaiued here in considerable quantities. 

The .town of Neiocastle, ten miles from tho mouth of the Tyne, extends upwards oi two miles along the 
north hank ; and has Gateshead opposite, a separate borough in Durham, but really a suburb, with which 
communication is maintained by a magnificent double bridge, for the accommodation of foot-passengers, 
ordinary vehicles, and railway transit. Few places have undergone such a complete change in appearance 
during the last half-century, amoimting to a total reconstruction of a large portion of it in a vei-y superior 
style. Though coal-shipping is the principal industry, sent coastwise and oversea, there are glass, 
earthenware, oil, lead, and chemical works, with engineering establishments, carried on upon a vast scale. 
The coal-trade has been in existence upwards of six centuries, as a grant relative to the right of digging for 
coal is dated in the year 1239, the reign of Henry m. Newcastle has its name from a castle built upon the 
site of an old fortress by Robert, son of William the Conqueror, the massive square keep of which still remains, 
and is a striking object in every point of view, being on rising-ground. The list of natives contains tho 
names of Lords Eldon and Stowell, brothers and jurists. Admiral Lord CoHingwood, Aienside the poet, and 
Hutton the mathematician. Bewick, the reviver of wood-engraving, was born in the neighbourhood, and 
long a resident, with the two Stephensons, father and son, in whose locomotive factory here the Eocket 
engine was constructed, which aiforded the first exaniiole of great speed being attained with a heavy railway 
train. Tpnemouth, as the name imports, is at the mouth of the river, frequented as a watering-place, and has 
a striking appearance on being approached by sea, owing to the numerous shipping outward and homeward 
bound, with its peninsula of stupendous rooks, crowned by a light-house and fine remains of an ancient 
priory. It foiTus a single town with JSforth Shields by proximity, and for parliamentary purposes. At 
Morpeth, inland on the "Wansbeck, the largest cattle-market in the north of England is held weekly, chiefly 
supplied with stock from the southern districts of Scotland. Further north, Almaick, on the Aln, claims 
attention from its castle on the opposite bank of the stream, one of the seats of the Dukes of Northmnber- 
land, completely renovated at a recent date, and now exliibiting a model of a baronial residence in the days of 
border chivalry. Berwick, near the mouth of the Tweed, on the north bank, surrounded by walls, is the 
frontier town of England in this direction towards Scotland, and was of great military importance when the 
two kingdoms were separate. The river is here crossed by the Eoyal Border Bridge, a viaduct of twenty- 
eight noble arches, one of the finest structures of the railway age, opened by the Queen on her way to the 
Highlands in 1850. The principal trade of the town is the export of salmon caught in the Tweed, sent cliiefly 
to London packed in ice. Hexham, near the jimction of the north and south branches of the Tyne, the seat 
of an episcopate in early times, retains a memorial of its former ecclesiastical distinction, in a large abbey- 
church, used as the parish church, with other relics of monastic buildings. On the high western moors, 
where the winter's snow drifts deep and lies long, the hamlet of Allenheads is the centre of the populous 
lead-mining district of Allendale, where the residence of the overseer, 1400 feet above the sea, is said to be 
the highest inhabited house of its magnitude in Great Britain. In Northumberland, near the foot of the 
Cheviots, the fatal battle-field of Flodden is indicated, with that of Otterbum, which is conmionly identified 
with the Chevy Chase of border minstrelsy. 



DURHAM. 169 

Durham is tlio comity immediately to the soutli. It extends from the Tyne to the 
Toes, and from the sea to the moimtains and moorlands of the Pennine range. It has a 
largo proportion of high, rugged, and heathy surface, hut the valleys are fertile, and the 
great northern coal-field stretches tlirough nearly its whole extent along the coast. 
Besides the horder-rivers, the Wear intersects it somewhat centrally from west to east, 
and separates in the middle and upper part of its course the district of Weardale Forest 
on the north, from that of Teesdale Forest on the south, both of which are now hare of 
trees. The latter district is jcelehrated for its breed of short-horned cattle ; but the 
prevailing occupations are connected with the subterranean products, coal and hon. 
Durham, a small episcopal city, occupies a series of rocky eminences, nearly siu-roimded 




iJuiliam Cathedral and Castle, from a Photograph by Dr Holden. 

by the Wear, towards the heart of the county. It is distinguished by an ancient 
cathedi-al and a modern university. The cathedral, in the Norman style, with Early 
English insertions, is a singularly grand and massive edifice ; and, standing on the loftiest 
of the summits on which the city is buUt, it is seen from a great distance, rising high 
above the horizon. The west front surmounts a steep declivity clothed with trees and 
gardens, at the foot of which flows the river. From the opposite bank of the stream, 
the fajade and its battlemented towers, with the fohage below, descending to the water's 
edge, form a very strikmg picture. Neville's Cross, at a very short distance from the 
suburbs, on the west, marks the site of a decisive battle in which the Scots were 
defeated, and then- king taken prisoner, while Edward III. was absent on the contment. 



170 



ENGLAND AND WALIS. 



Sunderland, at the mouth of the "Wear, Blshop-"Wcannouth adjoining, and Monk-'Wearmouth on the 
opposite bank, form a vast town, where ship-building, tlie expoi-t of coal, and various manufactures are 
extensively pursued. The river is crossed by a remarkable iron bridge, with a single arch of 237 feet span, 
and nearly a hundred feet above the surface of the water. Southward of Sunderland lies the largest 
colliery property in the world in the hands of one individual, a district of 12,000 acres, with an average 
annual produce of nearly 1,000,000 tons of coal, which the Marchioness of Londonderry brought to her 
husband as the heiress of the Vane-Tempest family. Gateshead, on the Tyne, opposite to Jfewcastle, 
corresponds to it generally, but is much smaller, while South Shields bears the same relation to North Shields, 
but is much larger. Between the two is the village of Jarrow, in the parish of which Venerable Bede was 
born, lived, and died. The southern part of the county contains Stockton and Darlington, the first places 
united by a railway for the conveyance of passengers. Hartlepool, on the coast, a fishing-port, is the 
provincial resort for sea-bathing. Barnard Castle, an inland town on the Tees, adjoins very striking 
scenery, extending some miles up the valley of the river, especially at the High or Micklc Force, where, 
surrounded with steeps and woods, the stream dashes do^^Ti a perpendicular precipice of seventy feet, forming 
one of the noblest water-falls in the country, 

Cumberland, the most northerly of the English counties on the western side, lies along 
the Solway Firth and the Irish Sea, extending inland to the Pennine range, the highest 
point of which, Cross Fell, is comprised within its limits. It includes two principal 
natural divisions, an extensive plain on the north and north-west, with the rugged tract 




Silver How and the Eothay, Grassmere. 

mentioned on the east, and the mountains of the Lake district on the south. Sea Fell 
and SkiddaAV are in the county, and the mighty Helvellyn on the border towards 
Westmoreland, whose heights have been given. The other principal elevations are, 
Great Gavel, 2925 feet; PiUar, 2893; Saddlebaot, 2787; Grassmere, 2756; Bed Pike, 
2750 ; and Grisedale Pike, 2680 feet. The lakes are Derwentwater, Bassenthwaite, 
Thirlmere, Buttermere, Crummock "Water, Ennerdale, and Wast Water, with UUeswater, 



CUMBERLAND AND WESTMORELAND. 171 

larger than any of tlie preceding, tut equally shared by Westmoreland. Tlie chief river is 
tho Eden, which, after winding through the highlands, intersects the great plain, and 
discharges in the Solway. It affords one of the very few examples in England of an 
important river flowing mainly in a northerly direction. ISText is the Derwent, remark- 
able for its limpid water and beautiful scenery, wliich carries to the sea the drainage 
of several lakes. But with tho Duddon, which forms the border from Lancashire, it 
has no navigable value, both being almost entirely mountain-streams. The climate is 
extremely humid, the Lake region being one of the rainiest districts in Eiu'ope. At 
Wliitehavcn, on the coast, the average annual ramfaU amounts to 52 inches ; at Keswick, 
in the heart of tho mountains, to 70 inches ; and at Seathwaite, on Derwentwater, the 
extraordinary- quantity of 140 inches has been registered. In consequence of this 
excessive moisture, the farmers attend chiefly to stock-husbandry, green crops, and dairy 
produce. Tho minerals are lead, coal, iron, plumbago, and slates. The principal lead- 
mines are towards the !N"ortliumberland border, in the district of Alston Moor, and were 
part of the estates of the Earl of Derwentwater, confiscated for his share in the Eebellion 
of 1715, and transferred to Greenwich Hospital. 

The episcopal city of Carlisle, the ' bonny Carlisle' of border song, occupies a gentle eminence on the south 
bank of tlie Eden, and is the seat of considerable manufactures of cottons, wooUens, and hardwares. But 
situated only a few miles from the Scottish frontier, its aspect was in former times that of an important 
military jiost, possessing a strong fortress, with embattled walls and gates. Part of the old castle remains, 
and the whole restored is now a conspicuous object. Tlie names of English Street on the south and Scotch 
Street on the north, connected thoroughfares, indicate the position of the place, bordering the two countries. 
Equally prominent is the cathedral, standing on the higliest ground within the city, a venerable edifice, 
containing the remains of the celebrated Paley. Carlisle sustained one of the most memorable sieges in our 
history, when held by the Eoyalists during the great civil war, an interesting narrative of which is among the 
Harleian manuscripts in the British Museum, written by a citizen. It commenced in October 1644, and 
lasted tni June 25th of the following year, when famine enforced a surrender. Whitehaven, Workington, 
and Maryport are seaport toivns, from which large quantities of coal are shipped to Ireland, and iron ore to 
South Wales. Around Wliitehaven the coal is obtained from mines excavated under the town, and at other 
points they extend to a considerable distance beneath the sea. Fatal accidents have occurred from tho 
irruption of the siiperincmnbent water. Coclcermouth, an inland town, at the junction of the Cooker with 
the Derwent, is distinguished as the birthplace of the poet Wordsworth. Kesimck, the head-quarters of 
many Lake tourists, is beautifully situated in a fertile vale near the foot of Skiddaw, and on the margin of 
Derwentwatei'. Thejnanufacture of the so-caUed black-lead pencils is one of its prevailing industries. 
The peculiar mineral employed, provincially termed ' wad,' a carburet of iron, of which fine specimens are 
very rare, is obtained from a mine a few miles to the southward, on the side of a mountain at the head of 
Borrowdale, but now in an exhausted condition. 

"Westmoreland, with the exception of a small south-western section which reaches the 
head of Morecambe Bay, is an inland region. It is generally elevated, rugged, and bleak ; 
and contains the lowest average of population of any of the English counties. The 
mountains of the Cumbrian group appear on the western side, and those of the Pennine 
chain on the eastern, where the surface is either in natural pasture or under wood, except 
in the narrow romantic dales which have fertile soil. The Eden, the Kent, and the Lune, 
have their upper courses in the county; Hawes Water is whoUy within its limits; 
UUeswater and Windermere are on the western border. 

Appleby, the smallest county town in England, consists of a single street, -with the population of a 
moderate-sized village. Kendal, in the pleasant valley of the Elent, from which the name is derived, is the 
only place of importance, having a wooUen manufacture foimded by a colony of Flemish weavers in the reign 
of Edward III. Its green druggets were for several centuries the ordinary clothing of the lower classes, and 
became widely known under the name of Kendal-green. Ambleside, near the head of Windermere, and 
JBowness, on the eastei-n shore, depend upon summer excursionists and the neighbouring -villas. The lake, 
about eleven miles long by one broad, is daily traversed by small steamers in the visiting-season, and has 
quiet beauty for the distuictive features of its scenery. The greater part of its margm belongs to Lanca- 
shire. A medicmal spring on the high moorland tract of Shap Fell has rendered one of the dreariest 
regions in the kingdom a place of considerable resort. Shap Abbey, the remains of which are in a lonely 
vale, belonged after the dissolution to the ancestors of Hogarth the painter. 



172 



ENGLAND AND WALES. 



Lancashire, tlie chief seat of the cotton manufacture, extends along the coast of the 
Irish Sea, and consists of two portions, a small northerly section heing detached hy the 
intervention of Morecamloe Bay. This isolated tract is the hundred of Furness, also 
termed ' North of the Sands,' an integral part of the Cumbrian mountain-region. It 
contains Coniston Water, the third of the lakes in size, with Coniston Old Man, 2577 feet 
in height, and the small port of Ulverstone. Walney Island, ten miles long, and nowhere 
more than a mile broad, being very narrow and low, Ues off the shore, stretching south- 
south-east from the estuary of the Duddon. It contains a considerable extent of moss, the 
remains of an ancient forest. The remainder of the coimty has a coast-line broken with 
inlets, through wliich the" Lune, Wyre, Eibble, and Mersey reach the sea ; and a surface 
consisting of sandy maritime flats, numerous peat-mosses, and high grounds towards the 




Panoranoic View of Liverpool, 

Yorkshire border. The prime natural feature of the county is the great coal-field, which 
ranges in the form of a crescent, from the central to the southern districts, 'wrought upon 
an extensive scale for the supply of the manufacturing establishments upon its surface, 
and the domestic use of the vast population congregated in the locality. Though now 
more densely peopled than any other part of the realm after Middlesex, and a wonderful 
theatre of invention and activity, nearly the whole region was once very desolate, where 
scarcely penetrable forests alternated with moors, either clothed with heather and brush- 
wood, or presenting a series of marshes and shaking bogs. In the time of James I., the 
antiquary Camden approached its frontier with dread, and commended himself to the 
Divine protection on entering its tangled 'wUds. In the early stages of parliamentary 
representation, through six successive reigns, the sheriffs made the return that there were 
no cities or boroughs within its bounds, from wliich ' any citizens or burgesses ought, or 
have been accustomed to come to parliament, by reason of their poverty.' Its many gTeat 
towns and crowded parishes have been formed during the cotton-manufacturing era, and 
chiefly since the apphcation of machinery and steam-power to production. 



LIVERPOOL AND BIRKENHEAD. 



173 



Liverpool, on tliQ riglit bank of the Mersey, near the mouth of the river, which forms the harhour, is now 
second only to tlio metropolis in point of population. It is the cliief port of entry for raw cotton, and of 
export for cotton fabrics, whUe carrying on a vast miscellaneous commerce with all parts of the Idngdom, and 
every countiy of tho globe. The public buildings are remarkable for magnitude and architectural execution, 
wliilo tho docks form a chain of basins extending from four to iive miles along the river, with a total quay 
space fourteen miles in length. Seen from the bosom of the broad stream, the view of the forest of shipping, 
with tho flags of all nations flying, with warehouses, churches, and other edifices, is in the highest degree 
imposing. It might bo mistaken by a stranger for the capital of a powerful state, and is indeed excelled 
by few continental capitals, not merely in size and wealth, but in institutions as well for social and 
educational improvement, for the promotion of science, literature, and art. A Free Public Library, of 
recent foundation by one of its ' merchant princes,' has reached an average daily issue of several thousands 
of volmnes. Few things are more surprising than the quick yet solid growth of its commercial greatness, 
with tho increase of its inhabitants. According to the best accounts that can be obtained, the population 
somewhat exceeded five thousand at the commeucement of the last century, and is now rapidly advancing 




and the Mersey iTom Birkenhead. 

to half a million. l4veriJOol shaa'ca with Manchester the distinction of having originated the First Grand 
British Experimental Railway, connecting tho two places, opened September 15, 1830. The scheme was 
contemplated principally to facilitate the transit of r.^Av produce and goods, which was so enormous, 
amounting to 1200 tons daily, that the canals and road wagons had long been utterly inadequate to acoonmio- 
date manufacturers and merchants in reasonable time. Passenger traiSc was a very subordinate consideration. 
In the execution of this work, Chat Moss, one of the most extensive and dangerous of the Lancashire bogs, 
deemed utterly irreclaimable, was drained. It consisted of a covering of long, coarse, sedgy grass and heath, 
overlying a spongy moss, in some places thirty feet deep, nearly the whole of which has now been 
turned to profitable accoimt. 

In the south-east quarter of the county, Manchester and Salford, though separate boroughs, form one con- 
tinuous city, simply divided by the narrow stream of the IrweU, over which numerous bridges are thrown. 
The population falls slightly below that of Liverpool. Though of ancient date, having been a Roman station, 
if not an old British settlement, Manchester has no venerable structures, except a collegiate church, which 
became a cathedral by the constitution of the bishopric in 1S47. But it is amply supplied with spacious 
streets, commodious commercial buildings, literary and benevolent institutes, and public parks, suitable to 
its character as a great industrial centre, the capital of the cotton-manufacturing district. Factories and 
warehouses are everywhere prominent. The latter are occasionally superb palatial structures, while the 
former are simply huge pUes of brick studded with multitudinous windows, yet remarkable generally in the 
interior for cleanliness, ventilation, regulated temperature, and orderly economy. There are upwards of two 
hundred of the first-class, from five to eight stories in height. Besides cotton-miUs ; silk, flax, print, and 



174 



ENGLAOT) AND WALES. 



chemical works are numerous, ■vrith brass and iron foundries, and almost every branch of industry is 
represented. A recent experiment, that of Public Dining Booms for artisans, promises to be a great social 
improvement. Manchester has not been connected with many events of historical importance ; but the first 
blood that stained its streets was shed in the contest between Charles I. and the parliament. At the 
beginning of the Georgian era, it was described by Dr Stukeley as ' the largest, most rich, populous, and busy 
village in England.' There were then four cumbrous private carnages in the place. Its prosperity is mainly 
due to the introduction of machinery, and the proximity of a rich coal-field. The first steam-engine was 
set up in 1790. Dalton, the great chemist, was a native. In the immediate vicinity Oldham and Ashtou- 
under-Lyme are remarkable for the rapidity with which they have advanced from small hamlets to great 
mimicipalities. 

The other cotton towns have similar general features ; but in a few instances, points of particular interest 
are attached to them. Preston, on the north bank of the Eibble, near the head of its estuary, is of great 
antiquity, said to have its name, originally Priests Town, from the number of religious houses which it once 




Lancaster Castle. 

contained. Guilds are celebrated every twenty years, when the trades meet, and hold a jxibUee. Arkwright, 
the successful constructor of the water-frame, was a native, and made here his first attempt to improve the 
machinery. Blackburn,, to the eastward, produced Hargreaves, the inventor of the spinning-jemiy. Bolton, 
is similarly associated with Crompton, a poor weaver, who contrived the mule-jenny, after devoting every 
spare moment through five years to the task. He then occupied a garret at the HaU-in-the-'Wood, 
an old manor-house, in a retired and beautiful spot, close to the town. During the great civil war 
Eolton suffered severely, especially when it was taken by storm by the Royalists under Prince Rupert and 
the Earl of Derby. In remembrance of this, the earl, when captured at the battle of "Worcester, was 
removed to the to^vn, and publicly beheaded. The production of woollen goods is largely combined with 
the staple manufacture of the county at Bury and Rochdale, with that of glass and small hardwares at 
Warrington. In connection with the former town, the first Sir Robert Peel made his fortune, and at 
Chamber Hall, in the neighbourhood, his son, the great statesman, was bom. On a lofty adjoining height, 
commanding an extensive view, a monument to the memory of the latter has been erected. Wigan, Burnley 



TOEK M00K3 AND YORKSHIRE TfOLDS 



175 



anil StaUji BriJga liavo large artizan populations. Slaclqiool, SouthpoH, Zytham, and Fleetwood are 
watering-places on the coast, the latter of very recent date, its site having been a rabbit-warren when the 
age of railways commenced. 

Lancaster, the county town, towards the north extremity of the county, on the south bank of the 
Lune, is of little importance in comparison with the hives of industry in the centre and south, but 
retains a fine feudal castle on a commanding site, wliich renders it a striking feature in the general view 
of the town. 

YoRKSHmE, the largest county of England, and tlie tliird in point of population, lies 
on tlio Nortli Sea, between tlie estuaries of the Tees and the Humber ; and has an area 
exceedmg that of the continental kingdom of Saxony. It consists generally of a long 




York Minster, from a Photograph by Wilson. 

central valley, stretching south-south-east from the northern frontier, and gradually 
widening till it terminates in a series of extensive and somewhat swampy levels. This 
valley is hounded hy tracts of considerable elevation. Eastward are the York Moors 
and Yorkshire Wolds, separated by the vale of Pickering ; and westward are the Pennine 
highlands, which rise in Whernside, Ingleborough, and Pennigant, to the respective 
heights of 2384, 2361, and 2270 feet above the sea. K"early the whole drainage of the 
sm'face is conducted by the Ouse through the central valley to the Humber. The river 
has its remotest and principal soujrce at Swalehead, on the mountain of Shunnor EeU, 
near the border-line towards Westmoreland. It is formed by the junction of the Swale 



176 



ENGLAND AND WALES. 



and Yore below tlie town of Borouglibridge, and receives on its flow the Mdd from 
Knaresborougli, tlie Wharfe from Tadcaster, tlie Aire from Leeds, the Derwent from 
Malton, and tlie Don from Sbeflield. Tidal water ascends the cbannel to a lock about 
fonr miles below York. Several of the affluents are connected with scenes of great 
natural magnificence in the iipjier parts of their course. The county consists of three 
principal divisions, the Iforth, East, and West Eidings. Agriculture is chiefly pursued 
in the two former. Manufactures and collieries distinguish the latter. Its coal-field 




Scarborough from the Castlo. 

ranges from the north-east of Leeds southward into the counties of Derby and ITottlngliam, 
a distance of more than sixty miles. Iron ore in vast abundance is extracted from it, 
smelted at the spot, and worked tip in great foundry establishments into massive hard- 
wares. In addition to the large local consumption of the coal for this piu-pose, and for 
household use, it competes by means of the railways with sea-borne coal in the 
metropolitaii market. 

The city of York, on the bauks of the Onse, is eciitrally seated in the great river-valley, at the convergence 
of the three ridings, but is associated with tlie northern for electoral piu'posos. Founded in the earliest 
historic times of Britain, it was a metropolis under the Eomans, where died the Emperors Severus and 
Constantius Chlorus, and where the son of the latter, Constantino the Great, was bom. In the primitive 
Saxon age, it was the capital of Northiunbria, became an arcliiepiscopal see, acquired continental fame as a 
seat of learning, possessed a library which had few rivals abroad at the period, and produced Alenin, the 
best scholar of his day, the pupil of Bede and the counsellor of Charlemagne. It has smce been conspicuous 
in most of the great epochs and events of the nation's annals, and is now the second city of the kingdom 
in point of ecclesiastical rank, as the seat of the northern archbishopric. The walls to a considerable extent 
remain, forming an agreeable promenade ; and four principal gates, with a few of the posterns, are extant. 
Tile castle, a restoration on the site of the old fortress, used as a prison, contains ' Clifford's Tower ' within 
its enclosure, a memento of the past preserved with the most sci'upulous care. But the object of special 
interest is the minster or cathedral, commenced in its present form in the twelfth century, and completed 
in the fifteenth, the finest ecclesiastical edifice in tho empire. Five miles to the south-west of the city is 
Marston Moor, where the Eoyalists were disastrously defeated by Cromwell at the close of a summer day 
in 1644. A few miles further on, in the same direction, lies the battle-field of Towton, the scene of a 
murderous conflict during the "Wars of the Eoses, fought in a snow-storm on Palm Smiday 1461. Small 



THE EAST RIDING. 177 

agricultural towns are numerous in this division of the county, some of which, as JRichmond, are surrounded 
with very striking scenery. On the coast, Scarborough, seated on an amphitheatre-like shore, combines tho 
advantages of mineral springs with sea-bathing, a beach of the finest sand, and high rocks, one of which 
has remains of tho historic castle. Fxirther north, WIntby, the native place of Captain Cook, has an 
interesting natural history museum, and a long line of precipitous cliffs in its vicinity, abounding with alum- 
slate, from which several thousands of tons of alum are annually manufactured. At the mouth of the Tees, 
Middlesborough is almost wholly of modern erection, called into existence to serve as an outlet for the 
mineral produce of the neighbourhood. 

In tho eastern and smallest division, Hull is the only town of importance, occupying low ground 
on the north bank of the Hiunber, about twenty miles above its mouth, from which there is a main channel 
available for ships of .the largest size. It is one of the principal ports of the kingdom in relation to foreign 
commerce, ranking next after London, Liverpool, and Bristol, whUe remarkable for its inland trade, 
conducted by means of the far-spreading arms of tho Ouse and Trent. The incorruptible patriot, Andrew 
Marvel, and also "Wilbcrforce, were natives, both of whom received part of their education in the free 
grammar-school, and represented the town in parliament. A few miles to the north is Beverley, greatly 




Bums of Knaresborough Castle. 



inferior, but of much older date, with a superb minster in the Perpendicular and Decorated styles. On the 
coast, Bridlington, frequented for sea-bathing, is in an interesting neighbourhood. At a short distance 
northward are the bold cliffs and dark caves of Plamborough Head, with the broad sands of Filey beyond, 
its noble bay and so-called Bridge, but recently a mere fishing-hamlet, it is now a favourite summer resort. 
The bridge is a ledge of rock which acts the part of a natural breakwater to the bay, runs out about half 
a mile iuto the main deep, covered by the tide, but to be explored to its extremity at low-water, 
* On that wild causeway nature strews 
Rare shells, and plants of brilliant hues.* 

From Bridlington southward to Spurn Point, a distance of thirty miles, the coast consists of low soft cliffs, 
upon whicli the sea is constantly encroaching, a process which has effected great changes in the lapse of 
centuries. Towns and villages have been swept away by the action of the waves in stoi-ms, and the regular 
grinding of the tidal currents. Eavenspur, a borough which sent members to parliament through several 
reigns, and a port at which Bolingbroke and after him Edward IV. landed, to contend for the crown, perished 
gradually and titterly from this cause. Much of the material of the wasted coast is carried by the flood-tide 
into the Humber, where it is deposited, forms shoals and mudbanks, extensive tracts of which along-shore 
have been reclaimed from the waters by human industry, and converted into cultivable land. 

The western and largest division has an area greater than that of any of the counties except Lincolnshire, 
and a pojiulation next in number to Lancashire and Middlesex, devoted chiefly to woollen manufactures 
and hardwares. 



178 



ENGLAND AND WALES. 



Leeds, on the Aire, is the fom'th of the p;-ovincial towns in extent, being only exceeded hy liverpool, 
Manchester, and Binninghani. It had formerly an uninviting appearance, but several elegant public 
buildings have been erected of late years, besides a magnificent town-hall, and many handsome streets have 
been laid out. Wliile principally a cloth mart, flax and worsted spinning are extensively carried on, with 
the production of glass, earthenware, and machineiy. One of the flax-mills consists of a single story, and 
a single room, but tliis extends over nearly two acres of ground, or includes five times as much space as 
'Westminster HaU. Two weekly cloth-markets are held in two large and plain buildings or halls, one of 
which is for wlute or undyed cloths, and the other for coloured, where the goods are disposed of by 
manufacturers to merchants. The cloth-factories are immense pUes, in which every process is conducted 
coimected with the reduction of crude wool to finished cloth. But in the rural districts the domestic 
system of manufacture is extensively followed by persons of small means, who possess from one to three 
or four looms in their own dwellings, and are at the same time small farmers, or engaged in other avocations. 
"Worsted-spinning has its main seat at Bradford, nine miles distant, a borough which has made extraordinaiy 
progress durmg the last half-century, and is extending its buildings in all directions. It has very picturesque 
environs naturally, blurred with collieries and foundries. Some of the finest warehouses in the world may 
be seen in the town; and upon commercial prosperity social improvement has been grafted, of wliich 
evidence appears in the provision of the Peel Park for the people, and the erection of the noble St George's 
HaU. About foiu- mUes distant is ' Saltaire,' a kmd of model manufacturing establishment upon a vast scale, 
opened ui 1853. Already the nucleus of a rising town. The name is compoimded of the fomiders, Mr Salt, 
and that of the river Au'o on which it is situated. Between Bradford and Leeds are i;hs splendid ruins of 



r^v'v -•' 




Interior "Views of York Minster. 

EirkstaU Abbey, which offer a striking contrast to closely-adjoining industrial sites. Cloths, worsted and mixed 
party-coloured fabrics are made at Halifax and Huddersfield, blankets at Dewshury, and hnens at Barnsley, 
■ employments which large surrounding villages and townships share in common with them. In the parish 
of Halifax, one of the largest in the kingdom, of greater extent than the whole county of Rutland, some 
refugee Plemings settled at an early date, and stimulated the wooUen manufacture in the district, if it did 
not originate with them. To a recent period, the dialect of the working-classes strikingly resembled 
that of the operatives in the Low Countries, especially in Friesland; and hence the rude commemorative 
distich: 

* Gooid brade, better, and sheese, 

Is gooid Halifax, and gooid Friese.' 

Magnificent scenery renders the site of the town scarcely inferior to that of any other in the kingdom, 
while it is second to none in the public gifts conferred by the mimifioence of its manufacturers, as the Crossley 
Park, the Ackroyd Almshouses, and All Souls' Church, a gem of Gothic architecture. The Town HaU, opened 
in 1863, a noble building, was designed by the late Sir C. Barry, his last work, carried into execution by his 
son. Wakefield, on the Calder, though smaller than many of the other towns, is the electoral head of the 



THE WEST BIDING. 



179 



West Riding. Besides sharing in the general iudustiy of the district, it has become an emporium for corn and 
a mart for cattle. Poniefract, a few miles to the east, is one of the historic sites, with some remains of 
its ancient castle, tho scene of many tragic events, especially of the murder of Richard II. Nurseries and 
gardens now surround the town, in which a considerable quantity of liquorice is raised. Northward of Leeds, 
tho coimti-y is chiefly agricultural, and. contains Harrowgate, widely famed for its chalybeate, sulphureous, 
and saline waters ; Knaresborough, beautifully situated on the Nidd, on the bank of which, opposite the 
ruins of the castle, is the Dropping Well, a curious petrifying spring ; and Bipon, in an interesting neigh- 
bourhood, on the Tore, with an ancient cathedral, was made a bishop's see in 1836. "Within a few miles are 
the highly-attractive grounds of Studley, the grand remains of Fountain's Abbey, the deep-wooded glen 
of Haokfall, and the Brimham Eocks— perpendicular masses of grit on an elevated moorland, with tumuli 
dispersed among them. 

Fifth on tho list of the great towns is Sheffield, very finely situated towards the southern border of 
Yorkshire, being enclosed and overlooked on all sides except the north-east by an amijhitheatre of hills, 
while five manageable streams converge towards it, and finally blend, the Eivelen, Losley, Porter, Sheaf, 
and Don. 

* Five rivers, like the fingers of a hand. 
Flung from black mountaiiia, mingle, and are one 
^Vhere sweetest valleys quit the wild and grand.' 

Its industry is wholly distinct from that of the other places mentioned, consisting of cutlery in all its 
branches, plated goods, brassfounding, and metal wares in general, to which that of armour plates for ships 
of war has recently bee;i added. The cutlery manufaotui'e was in bemg here in the foiu-teenth centiuy. 
Chaucer mentions in one of his poetical tales a ' Shefiield whittle,' or large knife, usually carried about the 
person for convenience and defence. The natural advantages of the site led to its establishment, and have 
contributed to its extension, abundance of iron ore and coal in the vicinity, suitable clay for firebricks, 
excellent gi-indstones, and tho five rapid streams supplying water-power. Ironv/orks and collieries are 
prominent at Rothevham, lower down tho Don ; and on tho same river, as its name implies, is Doncaster, 
well-known in the annals of horse-racing, and an important cprn-market. 




Counties. 


Are.i in Square Miles 


Derbyshire, 


. . 1029 . 


Staffordshire, 


1138 


Nottinghamshire, 


. 822 . 


Leicestershire, 


804 


Rutland, . 


. . 150 . 



Derby from the Burton Road. 

n. NORTH-MIDLAND COUNTIES. 

Principal Towns. 
Derby, Belper, Chesterfield, Buxton, Ashbourne, Glossop. 
Stafford, Stoke, "Wolverhampton, WalsaU, West Bromwich. 
Nottingham, Newark, Mansfield, Worksop. 
Leicester, Loughborough, Hinckley, Ashby. 
Oakham, ITppingham. 



ISO 



ENGLAND AND WALES. 



Derbyshire consists of a hilly region in the north, termed the High Peak; a less 
elevated tract in the centre, or the Low Peak ; and a gently undulating level in the south. 
There is no single point answering to the name of Peak, but a series of high lands, with a 
few prominences, among which Kinderscont, the loftiest, closely approaches the height of 
2000 feet. Some of the village churches occupy more elevated ground than any others 
in the kingdom. Dales of an extremely romantic character are numerous, generally with 
streams flowing thi'ough them, and occasionally with grand caverns opening on their sides. 
The county has great mineral wealth, consisting of coal, iron, lead, zmc, and marbles. 
Nearly all the drainage is conducted into the Trent, which intersects the southern portion 
from west to east. 

Derby, on both banks of the Derwent, one of its principal affluents— a great railway centre— has the silk- 
manufacture for its staple industry, with hosiery and lace. The first silk-mill in the kingdom was erected 
here on an island in the river in 1720; and the first cotton-mill which exhibited anything like a development 
of the factory system, appeared on the same stream, thirteen miles higher up, at Cromford, in 1771. Both 
buildings still exist, and are still devoted to their original purpose. At Derby, also, the first English calicoes 




^S^^"^^^'"' 



High Tor, Matlock. 



were made, the first fireproof mill was built, and the first public park, called the Arboretum, was provided by an 
opulent manufacturer for the recreation of the working-classes. Liuacre, founder of the Eoyal College of 
Physicians, was a native, with Flamstead the first astronomer-royal, Hutton the topographer, Richardson the 
novelist, and "Wright the painter. The southerly advance of the Pretender in 1746 terminated here, though 
some scouts of the army pushed on to the Trent. BeJper, on the Derwent, eight miles nortii, is a new, 
thriving, stone-built town, with extensive cotton-mills, and gives the title of Lord Belper to the present head 
of the firm to whom they belong. Chesterfield, towards the centre of the county, is connected with iron- 
works, collieries, and potteries. Its church-spire at once arrests the attention of a stranger, having a twisted 
appearance, and really deviating considerably from the perpendicular. Various places in Derbyshire 
annually attract visitors from a distance by their beautiful scenery, natural curiosities, and mineral springs, 
of which Matlock and Buxton are the principal centres. 

Matlock Bath, in the district of the Low Peak, occupies a deep ravine about two miles long, lined on one 
side with high perpendicular limestone cliSs, while on the other are the richly-wooded slopes of loftier 
elevations, between which the Derwent winds its way with a placid and anon a fretful flow. The most 
striking natural object, the High Tor, at the north extremity, rises 400 feet above the river, with a slanting 
base covered with foliage, and a superstructure of bold, naked, precipitous rock. In Derbyshire, as well 



DOVEDALB AND THE PEAK. 



181 



as Devon and Cornwall, isolated rooks aro commonly called ' tors,' a Saxon tenn, from which some derive 

tlie word 'tower.* Mineral springs, three in number, containing much carbonic acid gas, have planted 

a pleasing village in the glen, with first-class hotels, batliing establishments, and viUa-like lodging-houses, 

some of which are picturesquely seated on the heights. Chatsworth, the stately seat of the Dukes of 

Devonsliii-e, is within easy distance, as well as Haddon Hall, one of the most perfect examples remaining of 

an old baronial residence, the delight of antiquaries and artists. Buxton, suiTOunded by bleak liiUs and 

extensive moors, has long been cele- _ 

brated for the medicinal value of its ■%; _ .g 

waters, which were visited occasionally ^ ^ -C~'*s3^ 

by Mary Queen of Scots, during her ^ -^ — ~ 

long imprisonment at Sheffield. St i^, 

Anne's Well rises at a temperature of "'"s 

33° above that of the vicinity, and has -gr ^ 

a cold sprmg in very close contact with ^ "^^"^ 

it. Objects of interest are numerous ^^"^^ - ' — 

in the neighbourhood : Poole's Hole, a, ■°Ss_— ~~ ~~ 

stalactital cavern ; Axe Edge, from the 

summit of which the heights of North 

Wales may be seen on a favourable day; 

Chee Tor, a limestone cliff overhanging 

the valley of the Wye ; Mam Tor, the 

shivering mountain, on the road to 

Castleton; and at the latter place, the 

Blue John Mine, the Speedwell Mine, 

and the Peak Cavern, one of the grandest 

formations of the kind in the kingdom. 

But the most charming scene in the 

county, Dovedale, is on the western 

side, where the Dove pours its waters 

between abrupt and vast rooks, now 

still, now murmuring, and anon dashing 

over the blocks and stones that havo 

fallen from the heights into its bed, 

while miniatiu'e islands further diversify 

its course. Tlie valley is nearly three 

miles long, but nowhere more than a 

quarter of a mile wide, and in some 

places the opposite cliffs approach so 

closely as scarcely to leave room for a 

pathway by the stream. The bounding 

waUs are perforated with caves, and 

largely clothed with copses of hazel and 

the mountain-ash, while huge and lofty 

detached masses of rock occasionally 

appear in front of them. This dale is 

approached from the north through a 

narrower one, where a few cottagers 

dwell, who never see the sun in winter 

unless they go out of it; and when his beams begin to reach them as the spring advances, it is only 

at first -for a brief interval after mid-day. Hence arose the phrase of the Narrow-dale noon, formerly 

in local use as a proverb for anytliing delayed. Ashbourne, in a fertile vaDey by the Dove, possesses an 

exquisite sculpture by Chantrey, that of the Sleeping Child, in the parish church. The sound of the bells 

suggested the lines ' Those evening bells ' by Moore during his residence at Mayfield, an adjoining village, 

■where much of Lalla SooJch was composed. 

Stapfordshieb, one of the decidedly mining and manufactuiing parts of the country, 
has high dreary moors in the north, a generally level surface in the centre, and some 
hold, bluff hOls in the south. On the northern moorlands, the Trent commences its 
changing course. It flows thence southerly to Trentham Park, where the river expands 
into a noble pool, then bends gradually to the east, and turns to the north-east on the 
Derbyshire border, finally proceeding due north to its estuary. There are two distinct 
and very valuable coal-fields at opposite extremities of the county, one called, from the 




Matlock Church and Heights of Abraham, 



182 ENGLAND AND WALES. 

locality, tlie JSTorth Staffordsliire or Pottery Field, and tlie other the South Staifordshire 
or Dudley Field. The last is the most important, remarkahle for its stores both of coal 
and iron, though of limited extent, having only a superficial area of about sisty square 
miles. One bed, distinguished as the Main or ten-yard coal, consists of thirteen distinct 
seams, so close together as to form almost a single stratum. These subterranean treasures 
have stimulated manufactures, and given to the county the largest average of population 
after the metropolitan and Lancashire. 

Stafford, a centre of the shoe-trade, the native place of Izaak 'Walton, is situated inteiTnediato to much 
more considerable northern and southern to^vns. StoIce-iqion-Trent comprehends various to\vnships and 
hamlets mthin its borough limits, or the region known by the name of the ' Potteries,' from the distinctive 
handicraft. Tliis district, extending about ten inUes in one direction by from two to three in the other, has 
nothing antique or ornamental in its appearance. The prominent features are huge cones of brick, forming 
the kilns or baking-ovens, with tall chimneys, volumes of smoke, and hmnbly-attired artisans, who produce 
wares varying from the ordinary and useful to the decorative and artistic. A statue of Josiah "Wedgewood, 
the Father of the Potteries, who diffused the manufacture by rendering it ornamental, has recently been 
placed in the scene of liis laboiu'S. In the opposite direction, Wolvevlmmpion, Walsall, West Bromwich, and 
other closely-contiguous towns, compose the iron region or the black country, where foundries and collieries 
meet the eye on every hand. Its aspect is equally definite, and not a little striking to the stranger. Trees and 
hedges are rare, and the few are poverty stricken, apparently maintauiing an almost hopeless struggle for 
existence by the side of dingy patches of grass and bits of garden. Houses are many where streets are 
wanting, being scattered around forges and steam-engines, amid piles of coke, and heaps of ore. Sinkings of 
the surface are continually met with, and dwellings declining from the perpendicular, either deserted as too 
dangerous to be occupied, or propped up to prevent their fall, owing to the subterranean excavations. By 
night, the tongues of flame from the chimneys of the ever-burning furnaces light up the sky, with startling 
effect to the visitor, and suggest the idea of a grand centre of volcanic action. Staffordshire, apart from 
these two districts, includes on the eastern side Tamworth, a capital of the Mercian kings in the Saxon age ; 
Xiichfield, the birthplace of Dr Jolmson, with a beautiful cathedral ; and Burton, with extensive breweries at 
the head of the Trent navigation, where the river is crossed by an old stone bridge of thirty-four arches, one 
of the longest in the kingdom. Leelc, a silk-manufacturing town, and Nciocastle-under-Lyne, are in the north. 
The appended phrase, ' under Lyne,' similarly attached to Ashton, on the southern border of Lancashire, 
refers to an ancient forest so called in tht intervening county of Cheshii'e. 

ISToTTiNGHAMSHiEB, without any prominent natmal featui'es, has a pleasingly varied 
surface, and a remarkably dry cHmate, probably owing to the moist westerly winds being 
intercepted by the hOls of Derbyshire. It is intersected by the Trent from south-west to 
north-east, -whicli is navigable throughout by barges, and by larger vessels up to 
Gainsborough, where the first bridge is met with on ascending the stream. 

The town of Nottinglmni, populous and flourishing, occupies a hilly site a short distance from the northern 
bank, with cotton-hose and maoliine-laco for the principal manufactures. Its castle, entirely "modern, and 
without a castellated appearance, stands on a perforated sandstone rock, the site of the old fortress in which 
Mortimer was seized by the friends of Edward III., who gained admission to it by a subterranean passage, 
still indicated under the name of 'Mortimer's Hole.' On an eminence within the grounds, Charles I. set up 
liis standard at the commencement of the civil war, and Standard HUl is now the name of a street or terrace 
at the spot. The place was speedily in the hands of the parliament, and the famous Colonel Hutchinson 
became the governor. Beautiful and extensive views are obtamed of the Trent valley from various points, in 
which the meadow crocus abounds, the violet colour of wliich in spring finely contrasts with the fresh green of 
the early grass. Newarlc, on the eastern side of the county, a principal mart for agricultural produce, was 
fonnerly an important miUtary stronghold, in which the wretched King Jolin ended his daya. Warmly 
adhering to the fortunes of Charles I., the inhabitants and garrison successfully resisted two sieges, and the 
place was only given up on his voluntary surrender to the investing Scotch army in a neighbouring field. 
Extensive ruins of the castle remain, but are rendered nnpioturesque by the proximity of inferior erections. 
Its enlargement at an early date, the ' New "Work," originated the name of the town. Mansfield, on the 
western side, is on the border of Sherwood Forest, in which Henry 11. had a hunting-lodge, and met -with 
the adventure commemorated in the old ballad of the Miller of Mansfield. The tract is now mostly bare of 
trees, but here and there huge gnarled and mossed oaks, battered and '. solitary, represent the ancient 
woodland in which Robin Hood disported with his men, and administered the Forest laws. Newstead Abbey, 
the fine inheritance of Lord Byron, and the scene of his early days, is in the neighbourhood. Worksop, on 
the north verge of the Forest region, had formerly four ducal residences in its vicinity, which procured for 
the district the name of the Dukery. There are at present two, Climiber Park and Welbeok Abbey, occupied 
by the Bukes of Newcastle and Portland. 



LEICESTEESnmE — EDTLANDSHIEE. 



183 



Leicestershire, a central county, contains the district of Cham-wood Forest, wMoh 
lias lost its wooded aspect, but is stUl conspicuous from afar owing to its craggy pinnacles 
of sienitic granite. Though of no great height, they arrest attention hy abruptly rising 
from a widely-extended level, with a very sharp and distinct outline. Bardon HiU, the 
loftiest point, has only a positive elevation of 853 feet ; hut from the great range of 
siuTounding lowland, the view from the summit probably embraces as wide a sweep of 
landscape as can be observed from any other spot in the kingdom. The eye looks down 
upon Bradgate Park at the base, the birthplace of Lady Jane Grey ; and may discern in 
clear weather Lincohi Cathedral and the Derbyshdre Peak in one direction, the lulls about 
Dunstable in another, with the Malverns in Worcestershire, the Wrekin in Shropshii-e, 
and even some eminences in Wales. 

Tlu-ougli the greater part of the county grazing husbandry pievails and a large amount of dairy piodi oe 
is raised ; hut on the westeni side tliere is a small coal field worked to a considerable extent The centiil 
position of Leicestershire is indicated by its 
drainage being carried by the Soar through the 
Trent to the Humber, whUe minor portions aio 
talvcn by tlie WeUand to the Wasli, and by the 
Avon to the Severn and the Bristol Channel 
Tlie Swift, a little affluent of the Avon, is con 
nectcd mth the memoiy of 'Wickliffe, rector of 
Lutterworth on its banks, whose bones were 
exhumed, biuiicd, and the aslies cast into tho 
stream. On a spacious plain close to Market 
Bosworth, tho decisive battle Was fought wliich 
changed the dynasty by the death of Bicliaid 
IIL The site of King Richard's Well, so called 
from a tradition that he drank of it dm'iug the 
heat of the action, is indicated by a monument 
witli an inscription by Dr Parr. Leicester, on 
the banks of tho Soar, is memorably associated 
witli the fallen Cardmal "Wolsey, who died soon 
after reaching the adjoining abbey of St Mary 
and was buried in an rmknown grave. It i 
the centre of the worsted hosiery district, an 1 
has a large population, but to some extent 
engaged in kindi'ed and miscellaneous industries 
The district includes the town of Loughborough 
ten miles on the north, where also machine-iacc 
is made ; and that of Hinckley in tlie opposite 
dii'ection, -with a number of contiguous villages. 
Asliby-de-la-Zoucli, in the centre of the coal- 
field, is of ancient date, and derives its distinc- 
tive name from an old Norman family, once 
lords of the manor. It was made widely known 
by Scott's brilliant novel of Ivanhoe, as the 
scene where he laid tho famous passage of arms 
described, and has the ruins of a castle, with 
Ivanlioe Baths, plentifully supplied with strongly 
saline waters. Melton Mowhray, on the north- Eiver Dove, 

east, is one of the chief marts for Stilton cheese, 

first made at a village in the neighbourhood, and still largely produced. Owing to the openness of tho 
countiy, and other circumstances, it has long been the head-quarters of a large number of sportsmen 
dm-iug the hunting season. 

EuTLANDSHiEE, the Smallest of the English counties, is a district of rich vales divided 
by gently sweUing hills, entirely agricultiu'al. With a single exception, it has the 
smallest of the county towns, Oakham, which numbers one of the most diminutive of men 
in the list of its natives, Jeffrey Hudson, the court dwarf in the reign of Charles IL 




184 



ENGLAND AND WALES. 



The town is pleasantly situated, has a fine old church, and a hall used for county business, one of the 
most beautiful specimens of the domestic architecture of the t^yelrth century In this hall a number of 
horseshoes are suspended, to which the names of noble personages are attached, some of the blood-royal. 
By a curious custom of ancient date, the authorities exact a horseshoe from every peer o the realm on his 
first nassine through the manor. This tribute is still strictly enforced, and was comphed with by Lord 
Chief Justice Campbell in March 1858. During the Wars of the Koses, a battle was fought at the -"Uage o 
Empingham, in which Edward IV. defeated some insurgents. A spot near the scene of the action still 
retains the name of Lose-Coat Field, where the fugitives threw away their coats-of-maa to facihtate their 
flight. Kemains of the slain were turned up in the year 1851. 




Counties. 


Area in Square Miles. 


Clieshire, . 


. 1105 . 


Shropshire, 


1291 


Herefordshire, . 


. . 836 . 


Monmouthshire, 


576 


Gloucestershire, 


. 1258 . 



Heiefoid from Hastings HilL 

HI. WESTERN COUNTIES. 

Principal Towns. 
Chester, Stockport, Macclesfield, Birkenhead. 
Shrewsbury, Madeley, Bridgenorth, Ludlow. 
Hereford, Leominster, Boss. 
Monmouth, Newport, Tredegar, Cliepstow. 
Gloucester, Bristol, Cheltenham, Stroud. 

Cheshire, cWefly inland, has a small maritime portion on tlie Irish Sea, forming a 
long, narrow peninsula between the estuaries of the Deo and the Mersey. These rivers 
are boundary-lines in relation to the county, but an important affluent of the latter, the 
Weaver, is whoUy within its limits. On the eastern side are high grounds, and elevations 
occur in other parts, but the surface is generally level, studded with many small pools. 
The South Lancashire coal-field passes the north-eastern border ; lead, copper, and cobalt 
occur ; but the important mineral produce is fossil or rock-salt, the supply of which seems 



CHESHIRE — SHROPSHIRE. 185 

to be inexhaustible. It was discovered two centuries ago near ISTorthmch, at the depth 
of from thirty to forty yards below the surface, and is reached by shafts in various parts 
of the surrounding country. There are two beds, one upj)er, the other lower, separated 
by a stratum of indurated marl. In the upper, the salt is of a dull reddish or brown 
sugar-candy colour, and has to be boiled down and purified to be fit for use. lu the 
lower bed, which is chiefly excavated, and extends to an unknown depth, the pure, 
white, serviceable mineral occurs. The mines are agreeable places to enter, being clean, 
dry, and free from noxious gases, while their snowy waUs and pillars present a remarkable 
appearance when lit up by a multitude of torches. They are hence often visited by 
picnic-parties. Canning, the statesman, was present at a ball given in the Marston 
mine, the principal vista of which has the name of Eegent Street. The coimty, partly 
mining and manufacturing, is much more extensively agricultural ; and dairy husbandry 
is the primary object, as the moist climate and rich soil favour the production of a 
luxuriant green-swaid. Its cheese, long in high repute, is sent by thousands of tons 
annually into the market for export to foreign countries as well as for home consumption. 

Chester, an episcopal city and port on the Dee, is a place ot great antiquity and interest. It was a principal 
station of the Roman legions, and an important military stronghold in later times, from being proximate to 
the Welsh border. Much of its early aspect is still retained. The old wall remains entire, and forms the 
only perfect specimen of ancient fortification extant in the kingdom. It is from five tosis feet broad, and 
nearly two miles in circuit, passed by four gates facing the cardinal points of tlie compass. Tliis serves as a 
convenient promenade for the citizens, from which extensive and beautiful views arc obtained. Tlie interior 
of tlie city contains many examples of old domestic architecture, especially the elevated and covered footways, 
piazzas or ' rows ' as they are called, let into the houses on the second story, with several veiy picturesque 
timber dwellings, now fast disappearing. Cliester has little commerce as a port, and no important manu- 
factures, but is the seat of considerable trade in the produce of tlie county, and the scene of great passenger 
and goods traffic, as the central terminus of several lines of railway. Stockport, the largest town, a few miles 
to the south of Manchester, shares its industry and features. A magniiicent railway viaduct here spans the 
bed of the Mersey and the adjoining valley. The general Smiday school is remarkable for its magnitude, 
being regularly attended by upwards of 3000 children, who are accommodated in a single building erected by 
subscription for the pui'pose, witli which district schools are connected. Macclesfield, second in populatior, 
has sillc-throwing and the production of broad silks for its leading pursuits, v/hich are also carried on at 
Congleton, and theu' respective neighbourhoods. Birkenhead, on the Mersey, opposite to Liverpool, with 
spacious docks, ship-buildmg yards, squares, abattoirs, houses with special conveniences for the working- 
classes, and a public park, is one of the new to^vns, and has risen to importance with extraordinary rapidity. 
It occupies ground on which the fox has been hunted within memoi-y of the living. 

Sheopshirb, intersected by the Severn from west to south-east, is divided by the river 
into two nearly equal portions. It has an extremely varied surface, level in the north, 
but marked southerly both with detached masses, steep craggy ridges, and some round 
topped hills, between which are fertile . pasture lands. There are several coal-fields, but. 
only one of importance, that of Coalbrookdale, a district prolific in iron ore, containing 
many populous townships and hamlets, Madeley, Eroseley, and "Wellington, connected 
with collieries and ironworks. The dale itself is a beautiful valley winding between 
steep hiUs covered with trees towards their summits, and studded with cottages below. 
Here 'the Severn is crossed by an iron bridge, erected in 1779, the first that was ever 
constructed. 

Shrewsbury, pleasantly situated on an elevated peninsula formed by a horseshoe bend of the river, has 
suburbs across the stream, one reached by the English Bridge, and another by the "Welsh, so called from 
their respective directions. This fine old town is rendered picturesque by timber houses ivith antique 
gables and overhanging stories, with which many handsome modem erections are intermingled. While 
the centre of considerable inhand trade, it is widely known for its roy.al free grammar-school, richly 
endowed, and raised to celebrity by distinguished masters. Few places have been more conspicuous m our 
history, partly owing to its position near the frontier of Wales. Edward I. made it his temporary residence, 
removed hither the pubUo courts of justice, and held a parliament, at which the barons sat in judgment 
upon the Welsh prince David, while the commons met at Acton Bui-nel, a village seven miles distant, the 



18G ENGLAND AND WzVLES. 

scat of the Chancellor Burnel. Farm-buildings occupy the site of the manor-house, but two ends of a 
bam are traditionally regarded as remnants of the hall in -which the Imights and burgesses assembled, and 
passed the Act for the Recovery of Debts which mainly governed proceedings till the present reign. The 
battle of Shrewsbury between the forces of Hotspur and Henry IV. was fought about three miles eastward 
of the walls, whei-e the site is now called Battle-field, and has a ruined church built on behalf of the slain. 
In the vicinity is the village of Wroxeter, on the site of the Eoman city of TJriconium, interesting remains 
of which have in our own day been discovered. Bridgenorth, a seat of the carpet manufacture, is divided 
into two portions by the Severn, the high and low towns, connected by a bridge. Ludlow, towards the 
southern verge of the coimty, is of interest from the remains of its castle, in which Milton's masque o£ 
Gonms was first performed, and Butler vn-oie part of Hudibras. Osioestry, near the frontier of Wales, has 
its name from the Saxon king Oswald, who fell in battle at the spot, and is commemorated by a spring in 
the neighbourhood called Oswald's "Well. Close to the Staffordshire border is Boscobel House, in the woods 
of wliioh Charles II. was concealed, when a fugitive after the battle of Worcester. The oak he ascended for 
the purpose has jiassed away, but another reared from one of its acorns occupies the site. 

Heeefordshiee, traversed by tlie Wye in a very wiadiug manner, with lovely scenery 
on its banks, exhibits a constant succession of MU and dale, in many parts rioMy wooded, 
especially with oak timber. While ordinary agriculture prevails, it is one of the chief 
districts in which hops are cultivated, and apple-orchards for cider. The latter give a 
remarkably beautiful appearance to the landscapes in sprLug when the trees are in blossom, 
and in summer when laden with fruit. They sometimes occupy fifty, sixty, and even 
a himdred acres, but the ground between the trees is occasionally ploughed and tilled. 
The orchards began to be planted with care, as to the quality of the fruit, in the reign 
of Charles I. ; and cider was somewhat common in the time of Charles II. Its general 
use was strongly urged in order to exclude the wines of France during the subsequent 
wars with that country. But while a universal beverage mth the rural jsopulation of 
the producing districts, the home consumption elsewhere has always been Hmited, though 
exported in considerable quantities to hot countries. 

The county is famed for a breed of middle-homed dark-red cattle, inferior as milkers, but susceptible of 
being rapidly fattened, and of great strength. Hence oxen are commonly employed at the plough, and 
in general team-work, instead of horses. Hereford, centrally situated, on the north bank of the Wye, 
surrounded with garden-like scenery, has a cathedral remarkable for its extremely massive tower, profusely 
ornamented with bulb-work, and a much-admired Lady ChapeL The beautiful river meanders southerly 
by swelluig hills, hop-grounds, orchards, and woods, to the small, quiet, cheerful-looldng town of Boss, on 
an eminence of the left bank, immortalised by Pope's poetical commemoration of the ' Man of Eoss.' This 
was John Kyrle, a resident dm-ing the reigns of William IH., Aime, and George I., who planted the elms 
in the chui'chyard, laid out an adjoining avenue which overlooks a lovely prospect, and devoted a small 
fortime to objects of public utility. After visiting the house in vAich he Uved, Coleridge wrote the lines 
begiiming 

*Ilichcr than misers o'er their countless hoards, 

Nobler than kings, or liing-pollutcd lords, 

Here dwelt the Man of Koss ! O traveller, hear I 

Departed merit claims a reverent tear.' 

Leominster, a mart for wool, hops, cider, and wheat, is in the north part of the county, where at the 
distance of a few miles a modern column marks the site of the battle of Mortimer's Cross, fought during the 
Wars of the Eoses, which raised the Yorkist leader to the throne -with the title of Edward IV. 

MoNMOUTHSHiEE, southerly on the Bristol Channel, has the Wye for its eastern 
boundary, and is centrally traversed by the Usk. The maritime portion is low, flat, 
and marshy, but the general surface is highly diversified, and becomes mountainous on 
the western side, which forms part of the coal-field of South Wales. Its miueral 
produce, coal and iron, is very considerable, while the soil in many parts is fertile, and 
large cereal crops are raised. Previous to the time of Henry VIII., the county was 
considered to be an integral part of Wales, and though it was then united to England, 
the administration of English law was not fuUy established tiU. the year 1689, the first 
of WiUiam and Mary. Down to the present day, the habits and characteristics of the 
people in the rural districts, especially on the westei-n side, are Welsh; the language 



MONMOUTHSHIRE — GLOUOESTEESHIEE. 187 

is extensively that of the principality ; and old British prejudices relative to everjrthing 
English or Saxon are not whoUy extinct. 

Many Komaii rolios aro found at Caerleon and Caorwent, inconsiderable places at present, but once 
important cities, with the names of Isca Silurum and Vcnta Silurum, The remains of castles and abbeys 
are among the most extensive and picturesque in the kingdom ; and holy wells are numerous, or springs 
formerly held sacred, believed to be endowed mth supernatural virtue for the cure of diseases. Monmouth, 
the ' delightsome,' as Shakspoare calls it, still answers to the description, having an attractive aspect, a 
charming situation, and beautiful environs. But it is now simply a small, qiiiet, romantic place, with very 
few traces of its historic celebrity. Tlio position on rising-groimd by the Wye at its junction with the 
Miumow originated the name, a contraction of Monnow-niouth. Only inconsiderable fragments remain of 
the castle in which Henry V. was born, popularly known as Han'y of Monmouth, and of the priory with 
which another native was long connected, the romancing chronicler, Geoffrey of Monmouth. Nexoport, much 
the largest town, but not long ago a mean village, is seated on the banks of the TJsk, which is navigable for 
large vessels, and has risen to great commercial prosperity as the shipping port for the mineral and agricultural 
produce of the comity. Principal ironworks are at Tredegar, Pontyijool, and near Abergavenny. The latter 
town, close to the "Welsh border, is finely surrounded with an amphitheatre of mountains of contrasted 
shape, the even ridge of the Blorenge, the broken summit of the Skirrid, and the conical form of the Sugar 
Loaf, the highest point, 1682 feet above the sea, Chepstoil\ a considerable trading port, below which the 
"Wye terminates its com'se, has a striking object in extensive remains of its castle on a cliif overhanging 
the stream, clasped by the ivy, and adorned with patches of wild-flowers. A few miles above, the river 
passes the glorious ruins of Tintern Abbey, and piu'sues its sinuous way to the "Wyndcliflf, a lofty mass of 
ahnost perpendicular rock bestrewed with thickets, but easily ascended by zigzag paths cut on itsiace. The 
view from the summit embraces the greater part of nine counties, with the Severn estuary, and the broad 
Bristol Channel expanding towards the ocean. A bridge of remarkable construction Carries the South 
"Wales Railway over the "Wye at Chepstow, combining the suspension and tubidar principles. The Taff 
Vale Extension lino is convoyed across the valley of the Ebwy, a scene of picturesque beauty, by a lofty 
viaduct composed of open ironwork, of such magical lightness, as to soem a spider-Uke production upon 
a gigantic scale in the distant view. 

GLOUOESTEESHIEE, a maritime county, intersectfed by ths SeVem from north to south, 
and divided by it into two unequal portions, consists of three naturally distinct regions — - 
the chain of the Cot9"wold Hills, parallel to the river, on the eastern side ; the elevated 
tract of the Forest of Deftn on the "western, 

' The queen of forests all, that T,rest of SaVoi'n lie J ' 
and the intervening river-valley, "(vith luxuriant meadows On either hand, called the 
Vale of Gloucester above the city, and the Vale of Berkeley below. The forest district, 
once an extensive "woodland, has still a considerable area devoted to the gro"wth of timber 
for the navy, and a valuable coal-field, yielding also iron ore of superior quaUty. Another 
field is in the south of the county, supplying the "wants of Bristol and its neighbourhood, 
and extending into Somersetshire. The cloth manufacture, particularly of the imer 
kinds, is a promiaent industry ; but agriculture is most general, and dairy produce the 
special object. 

The city of Gloucester; a river-port on the east bant of the Severn, in command of considerable trade, 
shares a bishop's see with Bristol, and is distinguished by a cathedral of m.aiestic proportions, with many 
splendid features. The tomb of Edward II., murdered in Berkeley Castle in the county, with his effigy, is 
one of the attractions of the interior. ISTear the pUe, a monument has recently been erected in honour of 
the martyred prelate. Hooper, on the spot where he was consigned to the flames. The eloquent "Whitfield 
was a native, and the benevolent Eaikes, who originated Simday-school instruction, commencing it in the 
place of his birth. Bristol, on the Avon, one of the most ancient cities of the west, and by far the largest 
as well as the most important seapoi-t after London and Liverpool, is provided with docks for the reception 
of the largest vessels. Besides the foreign, coasting, and Irish shipping trade, the manufactures of glass, 
earthenware, sugar, leather, and other articles, are very extensive. It has an unusual proportion of public 
buildings, schools, hospitals, almshouses, and other charities, with a cathedral, and perhaps the finest parish 
church in the kingdom in that of St Mary Eedchfie. Sebastian Cabot, Chatterton, and Southey were natives. 
The city has a circuit of nearly ten miles including the suburbs, the most important of which, Clifton, seated 
on high rooky groimd, as the name imports, forms a delightful retreat for the wealthy inhabitants, and 
attracts many visitors o^ving to its thermal waters, genial climate, and romantic situation. A chasm in the 



188 



ENGLAND AND WALES. 



rocks, 250 feet deep, 600 feet wide, through which the Avon flows on its way from Bristol to the Channel, 
is a very striking natural gorge, whether viewed from above or below, now in process of being spanned by 
the Hungerford Suspension-bridge, removed from London. Chdtenham, styled the 'Queen of Watering 
Places,' combines many advantages to vindicate tlio distinction. Seated at the base of the Cotswold Hills, 
it is sheltered from the cold winds, possesses highly-valued medicinal springs, has lovely environs, and 
intermingles the charms of rural scenery with elegant town architecture, noble trees being promiscuously 
distributed, or arranged in fine avenues, in connection with the streets, squares, and villas. Stroud, among 




Bristol. 



the declivities of the Cotswolds, is a central seat of the fine cloth manufacture, originally planted there 
owing to the excellent fleeces obtained from the local breeds of sheep, and the numerous streams of pure 
water available for purifying and dyeing purposes. Tewkesbury, at the confluence of the Upper Avon with 
the Severn, was the scene of a decisive battle in 1471, which firmly placed Edward IV. upon the throne, and 
has several monuments in memory of persons slain in the action in its parish church, a remarkably fine 
old structure. 



Counties. 
Lincolnshire, 
Cambridgeshire, 
Norfolk, 
Sufi'olk, . 
Essex, 



IV. EASTEEN COUNTIES. 
Area in Squ.ire Miles. Principal Towns. 

. 2770 . , . Lincoln, Boston, Louth, Grimsby, Stamford. 
Cambridge, Wisbeach, Ely, Newmarket. 
. Normch, Yannouth, Lynn, Wymondham. 



819 
2116 
1481 
1657 



Ipswich, Bury St Edmonds, Lowestoft. 
Chelmsford, Colchester, Harwich. 



LiNCOLNSHiEE, tlie second of the English counties in point of size, is a maritime 
district extending from the Humber to the AVash, and stretching inland to the Trent, 
which, after serving as a border-lme, enters within its hmits to terminate its course. But 
the Witham is locally the most important river, as nearly the whole of its flow of seventy 



lilNCOLNSHIRE — CAMBRIDGESHIRE. 1 89 

miles is in tho comity, wliilo the navigation is connected with that of the Trent by the 
Foss Dyke, a work begun by the Eomans, intended to answer the purpose of a canal and 
drain. With tho exception of some chalk-downs on the north-eastern side, or the Wolds, 
and a ridge interior to them running north and south, kno'wii in one part of its course as 
Lincoln Heath, the surface is an uninterrupted plain, naturally exposed to inundation 
from the sea, being below its level, and to flooding from the streams, owing to the want 
of a sufficient outfalL The southerly portion of this tract once consisted of ' melancholy 
fens,' where shallow waters abounded in every direction, loading the air with fog, and 
afflicting the inhabitants with ague : but by scientific engineering at an immense cost, 
pools, marshes, and quagmires have been converted into dry and solid land, clothed with 
luxuriant grasses, or waving with golden harvests. The richness of the pastures renders 
grazing husbandry prominent. 

Lincoln, on tho banks of the Witham, occupies the base, slope, and summit of an eminence, on which 
stands the cathedral, one of the noblest in the kingdom, visible from afar over the level of the fen-countiy. 
Fuller remarks that the floor of this church is higher tlian the tops of most other churches. Tlie 
west front is superb, and the stained glass and sculptured figures are among tho veiy best examples of 
Early English art. As a place of importance under the Eomans, the city retains a monmnent of their urban 
architecture in the semicircular arch of Newport Gate, which forms the entrance to it by tho old north road. 
There are also veiy interesting medieval remains. Various manufactures are now carried on, and horse, 
sheep, and cattle fail's of great magnitude are held. Boston, a considerable port on tho same stream, a little 
above its outlet in the T^ash, is distinguished by a vei-y lofty and finely-proportioned church-steeple, which 
serves as a landmark to seamen on the adjoining waters, and is surmounted by an elegant octagonal lantern, 
apparently intended to bo lighted up at night. Some of the early settlers in America, having belonged to this 
town, gave its name to the place founded near tho point of their landing, now Boston, the large and opulent 
capital of Massachusetts. Grimshy, an old port at the mouth of the Hiimber, after long decay, has been 
revived by the construction of convenient docks, and the extension of railway communication to it, by wliich 
means cargoes of fish from the North Sea are quickly conveyed to mctropoUtan and other distant markets. 
Louth, Stamford, Spalding, Grantham, and Gainsborough, are inland towns of local trade, ■with the exception 
of the latter, which shares in the important navigation of the Trent. Lincolnshire produced Sir I^aac 
Newton, born at "Woolsthorpc manor-house, near Grantham. — a cottage-liliie tenement, preserved as a venerated 
rehc by the j)resent owner. In the town the great philosopher is commemorated by a moniunent inaugurated 
by Lord Brougham. The two Wesleys were natives of Epworth, a small unimportant place to the north-west 
of Gainsborough. On Lincoln Heath, now a highly-cultivated district, a singular memorial remains of a 
by-gone condition, in Dunston PiUar. It was erected to serve the purpose of a light-house to guide the 
traveller at night_through the sloughs of the trackless waste — the only land light-house that was ever raised. 

Cambridgeshire, wholly inland, but closely approaching the shores of the Wash, is 
crossed by the Ouse near its centre, running from west to north-east, and is divided by it 
generally into two naturally distinct districts. Iforth of the river, the country belongs to 
the fen-region, and retains its old name, that of the Isle of Ely, where the few rising- 
grounds Ti'ere once completely insulated by tracts of water, nearly the whole of which 
have been reclaimed for cultivation by artificial draining. The southern division is 
cretaceous, and has some grassy chalk-downs occasionally swelling into hills. 

Cambridge, the seat of one of the two ancient universities of England, derives its name from the Cam, an 
affluent of the Ouse, on which it is placed. Occupying a veiy level site, with taU trees surrounding the 
principal buildings, its importance is not indicated by external appearances to the approaching visitor. 
Seventeen colleges compose the illustrious academical institution, with which the names of Erasmus, Bacon, 
Coke, Milton, Cowley, Newton, Barrow, Diyden, are imperishably associated. St Peter's, the oldest, dates 
from the year 1257. King's College possesses the distinguishing architectural feature in its glorious chapel. 
Trinity College, the largest and most eminent, entertains the sovereign during a royal visit. An observatory 
of recent origin occupies a gentle eminence out of the town, commanding a good north and south horizon. It 
boasts the gi'eat telescope of nearly twelve inches aperture, and twenty feet focal length, executed by M. 
Oauchoix of Paris, and presented by the Duke of Northumberland. The Fitzwilliam Museum, equally 
modern, owes its origin to the noble whose name it bears, and is one of the most classical structures in the 
country. Ely, a small episcopal city on the Ouse, is of early date as an ecclesiastical site. Some lines 
attributed to Canute, but probably composed about him, and not older in their present form than the 



190 



ENGLAND AND WALES. 



tliirteenth century, mention the delight witli which ho listened to tho chanting of the monks while on the 
adjoining river : 

* Merrily (sweetly) sung the monks :n Ely, 

AVhcn Canute the king rowed thereby ; 

" Ko\v, ye knights, near the land. 

And let us hear these monks' song." ' 

The cathedral is the longest Gothic church not only in England but in Europe, 535 feet, though several cover 
much more ground. It is of special interest and value to architectural students, from presenting an 





Camljiidje. 

unbroken series of the v.irioiis styles prevalent from the Early Norman to tho Late Perpendicular, so nicely 
blended as to fonn a singularly noble whole. Wisbeach, a well-buiit old to"'.vn on the Nen, possesses a 
museum of natural history and antiquities, in which are many objects found in the peat of the fens, as 
canoes, hatchets, and bronze swords, relics of the ancient Britons, with Eoman remains. 

NoEFOLK, a maritiinG county, the fourth, in point of extent, has a coast-line rmining 
eastward from the "Wash, and then gradually curving to the south tiU it meets the 
Suffolk border. The two districts originally formed northern and southern divisions of 
the kingdom of the East Angles, who were called the ITorth-foIk and the South-folk, 
whence the present names. The Ouse, which has its lower course on the western side of 
the county, and the Yare, flowing from the centre to the east coast, are the principal 
livers. Except some slight swells and depressions in limited spaces, the surface is flat, in 
many parts a dead level, without any prepossessing natural features, but exhibits on every 
hand that careful cultivation which has rendered it celebrated for successful agriculture. 
Besides the cereals, chiefly barley and green crops, vast quantities of turkeys and other 
poultry are reared for the markets of the metropolis. 



NORFOLK. 191 

Norwich, tlio capital of the eastern counties, and a bishop's see, stands on the "Wensum, immediately above 
its junction with the Yare, and has an agreeable appearance from being interspersed with large spaces 
planted with trees, or cultivated as gardens. Its cathedral, outwardly meagre of embellishment, is of huge 
size, with a veiy lofty tower and spire. In the centre of the city, on a considerable eminence, the massive 
keep of the old castle remains externally entire, and is an impressive object both in the near and distant 
view. The manufactures are very extensive, consisting of shawls, crapes, bombazines, damasks, and 




City of Norwich 



imitations of French fabrics, to v/hich that of shoes has recently been added. The st?,ple industry was estab- 
lished by immigrant Flemings, some of whom settled at "Worstead, a noiglibouring vUlage, and hence the 
name of ' worsted ' goods, first applied to their products. Yarmouth, on a slip of land between the Yare and 
the sea, has the river for its harbour, along wliich the quay stretches upwards of a mile in length. It is the 
principal seat of the English herring-fishery, which it formerly almost entirely monopolised. The fishing- 
ground extends upwards of forty miles to seaward, in from fifteen to twenty fathoms water, along a 
considerable range of the east coast. In the early part of the season, which commences in September, large 
quantities of herrings are disposed of fresh, and are sent far inland by the railways. But the main object is 
to obtain a supply for curing. The full-grown fish, which have not been injured by the nets, are selected 
from a cargo to form the well-known ' bloaters,' which are simply salted, whUe the rest are cured as red 
herrings by being salted and smoked. Off the town, parallel to the shore, extensive sand-banks form 
Yarmouth Eoads in the intervening channel, which offer a natural harbour of refuge to vessels in distress. 
Lpnn, on the Ouse, a few miles from its outlet, besides a general shipping trade, exports the fine siliceous 
sand suitable for glass-making, obtained from a district of some extent in the vicinity, Sandringham HaU, 
the hunting-seat of the Prince of "Wales, is eight miles distant on the east. Wi/mondham, Tlief/ord, and 
East Dereham, are the other chief market-towns, the latter containing the grave of Cowper. Cromer, the 
principal sea-bathing place, picturesquely situated, is without, a harbour, and overlooks a bay so dangerous as 
to have acquired the name of the Devil's Throat. The village of Bumliam Thorpe is distinguished as the 
native place of Lord Nelson, who is commemorated by a beautiful and lofty column at Yarmouth. 



192 ENGLAND AND 'WALES. 

Suffolk extends southward from the Yaro on the Norfolk border to the Stour, -wliich 
defines the houndary from Essex, intermediate to which are the Dehen and the OrweU 
the latter forming a broad estuary navigable by vessels of considerable burden. The 
coast-line is remarkable at various jjoints for the rapid manner in which the sea under- 
mines the low cUifs, consisting of alternations of clay, sand, and gravel, and makes havoc 
with the shores. No liigh grounds anywhere mark the surface, and varied features aro 
only occasionally mot with, but the tameness of the landscape is generally reUeved by 
skilful cultivation and luxuriant verdure. Tillage husbandry is most extensively pursued, 
and very rich crops are obtained. 

The county possesses a valuaUe breed of horses for farm-service, short, active, and strong, adapted for 
heavy as well as light work ; arid its cows are famed for the extraordinary quantity of milk they yield. 
Suffolk, according to ancient local proverbs, is renowned for its milk, its maids, and its stiles. But of one 
product of the former made for domestic use, it has been said that, by having a hole bored through tho 
centre, a cheese would become a good grindstone. The rural poet, Bloomfield, a native, attributes to tliis 
article the common properties of a post — 

*Too big to swallow, and too hard to bite.* 

Ipswich, the site of a very extensive manufacture of agricultural implements, is on a gentle elevation rising 
up from tho Orwell, the banks of which aro well wooded, and abound with pleasing views. Cardinal 
"Wolsey, born here in the parish of St Nicholas, commenced a college in the place of his nativity, but it fell 
with its founder. ISurp St Edmunds, in the westom diidsion of the county, a veiy agreeable and interesting 
town, with excellent free schools, was once an ecclesiastical shrine of great celebrity, the site of one of the 
largest and wealthiest abbeys iu the country, fine remains of which are ext.ant. It was founded in honour of 
Edmund the Martyr, one of the kings of East Anglia, who was crowned at the spot. Before the high- 
altar, the confederate barons singly bound themselves by oath to compel King John to grant the 
Great Charter. Lowestoft, on the coast towards the northern border, the most easterly town in England, 
has become by modern improvements a bathing-place, and has trading communication with the opposite 
continental ports of Holland and Denmark. The herring-fishery is a principal pursuit, with that of 
mackerel, large quantities of which are sent to London. Aldboroiiffh, further south, the birthplace of 
Crabbe, tho poetical painter of real life, is at one of those points of the shore which suffer from the 
encroachments of the sea. The old borough stood some distance eastward of its present representative, anJ 
twenty-four feet of water roll over its site. This is the case also with ancient Dunwich adjoining, once a 
parliamentaiy borough, with twelve churches, the seat of the first East AngUan bishopric. Almost every 
remnant of it has been engulfed ; and but for the inhabitants retreating inland, and forming a village, tho 
name itself would not now represent a single dwelling. 

Essex, a contmuation of the great eastern level to the Thames, is low and marshy in 
its maritime districts, but more inland, a pleasant alternation of gentle hill and dale is 
general. Several islands lie close off-shore, among which Canvey, Mersea, and Foulness 
are fertile and of some extent. Besides the Thames, Stour, and Lea, which are boundary 
rivers, the coimty contains the Colne, Blackwater, and Chelmer, forming considerabls 
estuaries. The marsh-lands are excellent grazing-grounds ; heavy crops of corn of the 
finest quaHty are yielded in the other districts ; caraway and coriander seeds are raised ; 
the teazle, or fuUer's thistle, is also cultivated for the woollen cloth manufacture, though 
not to the same extent as formerly ; and the saffron-yielding crocus is grown, the culture 
of which near the to'mi of Saffron-Walden originated the name. Fine woodland scenery 
distinguishes the south-western division, the locality of Epping and Hainault forests, 
towards which the suburbs of the metropolis are rapidly advancing. 

CkeJmsfm'd, in a beautiful valley between the Chelmer and the Cann, which here unite, has only local 
consequence as the county-town and an agricultural mart. Colchester, far larger, a few miles above the 
mouth of the Colne, has a coasting trade, and an oyster fishery in which a considerable number of the 
inhabitants are engaged. The oysters are bred in the estuaries of the rivers, and in the creeks between the 
islands and the main shore. The town is supposed to occupy the site of the Roman colony of Camelodunum, 
and very mmierous antiquities have been gleaned from it. It was taken after a long siege by Fairfax in 
1618, when one of the most melancholy episodes of the Civil War occurred — the military execution of the two 
royaUst commanders. Sir Charles Lucas and Sir George Lisle. Sarioich, on the coast, at the mouth of the 



ESSES — WOEOESTERSHIBE. 193 

Stour, has ono of tho best harboui's on the wliolo eastern sea-board, and is the only place between Yarmouth 
Roads and the Thames capable of affording refuge to vessels in easterly gales. It is now chiefly visited for 
soa-bathing, but was formerly a flourishing port, and the ordinary point of passage between England and the 
Netliorlands. Walton-on-the-Nazc, near the headland after whioli it is distinguished, and Southend, at tlie 
raoutli of tho Thames, are favourite summer resorts with metropolitans and provincials. Small towns are 
very numerous inland, and there are several villages of great interest. The little secluded hamlet of 
Greenstead, near Ongar, has a church tho nave of which is of wood, worn by time and black with age, 
believed to be tlie genuine relic of an Anglo-Saxon wooden chapsl. One of the very few round chiirches in 
England, after the model of that of tho Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem, is at Little Maplestead, built by the 
Knights-Hospitallers, the same as when it was erected, except the addition of a porch. TUbury Fort, now a 
regular fortilication, on the Thames opposite Gravesend, marks the site where Queen Elizabeth reviewed her 
troops in expectation of the arrival o£ the Spanish Armada. 

V. SOUTH-MIDLAND COUNTIES. 

Principal Towns. 
"Worcester, Dudley, Kidderminster. 
Warwick, Birmingham, Coventry, Leamington. 
Northampton, Peterborough, "Wellingborough. 
Huntingdon, St Ives, St Neots. 
Bedford, Luton, Leighton. 
Oxford, Banbury, "Woodstock. 
Aylesbury, "Wycombe, Great Marlow. 
Hertford, St Albans, Hemel-Hempstead. 
London, Brentford, Enfield. 

WoROESTEESHiRE, an inland district, "belongs entirely to the basin of the Severn, hy 
which it is traversed from north to south, nearly in the centre. It abounds "mth smiling 



A 


roa in Square Miles. 


"Worcestershire, 


73S 


AVarwickshire, . 


. 881 . 


Northamptonshire, . 


985 


Himtingdonsliire, 


. 361 . . 


Bedfordshire, . 


462 . 


Oxfordsliire, 


. 739 . . 


Buckinghamshire, . 


730 . 


Hertfordshire, . 


. 611 . . 


Middlesex, 


282 . . 




"Worcester Cathedral, 
valleys, and richly-"wooded landscapes, overlooked on the western side by the fine 
eminences of the Malvern HUls. The county contaias coal in the extreme north ; and 
salt is made extensively from brine-springs at Droitwich, where the salt-pans have sent 
up their clouds of white vapom- from the time of the Eomans, who extracted heaps of the 
snowy mineral from the saliferous waters. In addition to the ordinary products of tillage, 
hops are largely cultivated, with apples and pears for cider and perry. 



194 ENGLAND AND WALES. 

Worcester, an episcopal city, on the eastern side of the Severn, is the chief mart for the agricultural 
produce, and has manufactures of gloves and porcelain. The cathedral, externally a plain building, makes 
nevertlieless a pleasing impression, being spacious and of liglit architecture, crowned at almost every angle -with 
spire-lilce pinnacles. It contains the tomb of the inglorious King John. The battle of "Worcester, in which 
Cromwell defeated the forces of Cliarles II., was fought partly in the south-eastern meadows, and in the 
streets of the city. Previous to tlie action, the Icing stood upon tlie roof of the catliedral to view the hostile 
preparations. Dudley, the largest town, occupies a detaclied portion of the county, wholly within the limits 
of Soutli Staffordsliire, and is prominent in that wonderful scene of activity, a principal centre of coal- 
mines and ii'onworlcs. But it possesses a veiy strilcing feature. Close to the town rises a somewhat lofty 
limestone hill, crowned by the remains of a feudal fortress, consisting of the keep, with fragments of walls, 
doors, and windows, partly surrounding a green, once the great courtyard, while clumps of trees clothe the 
hillside. The whole is enclosed for a protective purpose, but admission is granted to all visitors ; and the 
contrast is striking in tlie extreme, turning from the smoking furnaces "without to the sylvan solitude 
and the feudal relics witliin. Kidderminster, a principal seat of Brussels carpet-weaving, with tapestry and 
other fabrics, is in the northern section of the county, which includes Bromsgrove and Stourbridge, where 
various hardwares are produced. The large village of Eedditch and its vicinity chiefly supply the domestic 
demand for needles, witli an immense quantity for export, a manufacture in which young women are 
extensively employed. The total production in tlie district of these minute articles of convenience is 
estunated at 70,000,000 per week. Evesham, in tlie opposite section of the county, on the south-eastern 
border, is seated in a fertile valley, nearly encircled by tlie Avon, and surrounded by gardens, from which 
fruit and vegetables are sent to the great centres of population. The bell-tower remains of a once famous 
abbey, in possession of princely revenues, with some of the outbuildings. On the adjoining plain the battle 
was fought in 1265, which restored Henry III. to the throne, and proved fatal to his opponent, Simon de 
Montfort, the ' Sir Simon the Eighteous ' of the common people, and the real founder of popular represen- 
tation. Great ifalvern, on the soutli-western side, the head-quarters of hydropathy, is beautifully situated 
at the foot of the Worcestershire Beacon, the summit of which rises to the height of 1300 feet, over- 
looks a magnificent prospect, and is daily ascended by the summer visitors to the place. Two springs, St 
Anne's and the Holy "Well, are distinguished by the extreme purity of their waters. 

Wab'WICKSHIEE, to the east"ward, -while -without any marked ineq-uality of the surface, is 
diversified hi almost all parts, and picturesque in some, -watered by affluents of the Trent 
in the north, but chiefly hy the Avon and its tributaries flowing to the Severn. In 
ancient times, it was comprehended in the great forest of Arden, and stUl retains 
abundance of fine timber both in hedgerows and plantations. A small but valuable 
coal-field Hes within its Hmits, passing into Staffordshhe. On the south-eastern side, 
where the Edge HiUs form the border from Oxfordshire, the first battle between the king 
and the parliament was fought in the reign of Charles I. A plain, then kno"wn as the 
Vale of the Eed Horse, on the Warwickshire side of the range, was the scene of the 
indecisive action, October 23, 1642. During the previous march of both armies through 
the coimty, the artisans of Bu'mingham refused to supply the royal troops with swords, 
but readily furnished them to the opposite party, while the blacksmiths left their homes 
to avoid shoeing the horses. 

The town of Warmick, ancient and quiet, is seated on the right bank of the Avon. It has a striking 
feature in its old baronial castle, close to the river, stUl in perfect preserv.ation, and the residence of the 
Earls of "Warwiclc. Tlie towers, the stream, the bridge, and fine trees around, form a very picturesque 
scene. Leamington, in the immediate -vicinity, larger, fashionably arr.^nged, and ahnost entirely modern, 
has been raised from obscurity by its mineral springs, twelve in number, consistmg of the three varieties of 
salme, chalybeate, and sulphureous waters. A short excursion northward from both places leads to two 
memorable spots — the wooden knoll of Blacklow HiU, -with its monumental stone, scene of the summai-y 
execution of Piers Gaveston by the barons in the time of Edward II. ; and to Kenilworth, where splendid 
ivy-clad remains of castellated strength revive the memory of Queen Elizabeth, entertained within its -walls, 
then standing in their pride, by her minion the Earl of Leicester. Fiu-ther on in the same direction is 
Coventry, a city which shares a bishop's see -with Lichfield, and -n-as of high importance in the middle ages, 
long fanuliar with royal progresses and sacred pageants. Many narrow streets and overhanging timber 
houses remain as memorials of the past, with St Mary's Hall, now the to-svn hall, of the time of Henry "VT!., 
and St Michael's Clmrcli, a master-piece of the lighter Gothic style. Pew places have more frequently 
changed their industry. Under the Plantagenets, it was famous for caps and bonnets ; under the Tudors, 
for wooUen broadcloths, and a blue thread so celebrated for its permanent dye, that ' true as Coventiy 
blue ' became a proverbial expression ; next followed the production of tammies, camlets, shalloons, and 



WAEWIOKSHmE NOETHAMPTONSHIRE. 195 

calimancoes ; then succeeded broad silks and ribbons, which last remains, in connection with watch-making. 
The county contains Eughy, a centre of railways, the seat of a popular and richly-endowed school ; and 
Slraiford-upon-Avon, reverenced as the birthplace of Shakspeare. But its consequence is mainly derived 
from Bmninffham, the third of the provincial towns in population. This capital of the midlands is situated 
near the north-western border, towards the centre of England, on an insignificant stream, a sub-tributary of 
the Trent. It is the greatest seat of hardware production in the world, embracing articles remarkable for 
their diversity and discordance, the massive and the minute, the costly and the cheap, the domestic and the 
warlike, tlie ornamental and the useful, made of gold, silver, iron, copper, or a compound of metals, with 
plated and japanned wares. The premises of the largest firms are Hie villages for extent ; their workmen 
are of tlie superior class as to habits and intelligence ; and their show-rooms are wondrous repositories of 
beautiful objects. The manufacture of firearms was first introduced in the reign of William III., for whom 
some infantry muskets were made. Dui'ing the Crimean war, three thousand Minie rifles were supplied to 
the govermnent weekly, with the same number of bayonets. Priestley the philosopher, Hutton the historian, 
and Watt the improver of the steam-engine, were long associated with the town. Birmingham has no 
advantages of position and few attractive features, but it was one of the first places in the provinces to erect 
a civic building worthy of its o^vn wealth and entei'prise, adapted for coi'porate purposes, and the holding 
of large assemblies. This is essentially in the form of a classical temple, with ranges of majestic Corinthian 
columns along the sides and fronts ; and being well placed, it is a very striking object. The free grammar- 
school, in the Tudor style, is also a beautiful structure; and a public park is a modem addition. 

NoRTHAjiPTONSHiEE borders on the preceding county, and also on eight others, owing 
to its extent and irregular shape, which is narrow and elongated. It contains a succession 
of smooth waving liOls and vales, amply watered, with the remnants of three ancient 
forests, Wliittlehury, Salcey, and Kockingham. But the ground generally is elevated, 
and hence while streams are sent out into adjoining districts, none whatever are received 
from them. The highest land is on the north-western side, and forms the line of 
water-shed between the basins of opposite seas. Here, in the parish of Ifaseby, rises one 
branch of the ISTen, the principal river, flowing to the Wash ; and in the garden of the 
little inn opposite the vUlage church is the source of the Avon, which descends to the 
Bristol Channel. 

The field of Naseby, once a moor, now distributed into farms, was the scene of the decisive battle in which 
the royalists were defeated by Fail-fax and Cromwell, and the cause of Charles I. received a blow from 
which it never recovered. He was soon afterwards a captive at Holdenby House in the county. Wliile 
under tillage to a considerable extent, the greater part of the surface consists of luxuriant grass-lands. 
Northampton, pleasantly situated on the north bank of the Nen, has the boot and shoe manufacture for its 
staple, an industry shared to some extent by Wellingborough, Kettering, Daventiy, and contiguous villages, 
giving employment to not less than 30,000 persons. Large orders are executed for the government 
and foreign export. The trade has here been localised for many centuries. When Cromwell's soldiers 
marched through the place nearly barefoot, the citizens were able to furnish them with fifteen hundred pairs 
of shoes. Further back. King John here bought his boots at a sliilling a pair, and his slippers for sixpence. 
Fuller remarks, that ' the town of Northampton may be said to stand chiefiy on other men's legs, where, if 
not the best, the most and cheapest boots and stockings are bought in England.' The stocking mamifaoturo 
has ceased. Northampton contains an interesting example of the Norman style in St Peter's Church, and 
one of the round churches in St Sepulchre's, built by the Knights-Templars, with a few vestiges of the castle. 
There are large open grounds for recreation, and an extensive promenade between rows of Hme-trees. The 
town was long the residence of Dr Doddridge, and for a brief period of Akenside and Colonel Gardiner. It 
is historically known as the scene of Thomas-a-Becket's final breach with the first Plantagenet, and has a 
spring called Becket's Well, from a tradition that he there knelt down to pray on escaping by night from the 
walls. A mUe to the south, stands one of the beautiful crosses, the most perfect remaining, erected by 
Edward I. in honour of his queen Eleanor. In the meadows along the river, the Yorkists triumphed over 
the Lancastrians, in a battle fatal to numbers of the nobility. Peterborough, a small episcopal city, towards 
the noi-th extremity of the county, possesses a noble object in its cathedral, charmingly secluded hi a green 
close, with garden-flowers and shrubberies around it. The structure is remarkable for its massiveness, and 
has a west front unlike any other in the kingdom, and unequalled tor simple grandeur and majestic beauty. 
It contains the tomb of Catherine of Aragon, and afforded a grave to Mary Queen, of Scots prior to the 
removal of her remains to Westminster. The same sexton officiated at the funerals of these two queens, 
though half a century intervened between them. His portrait hangs near the western entrance of the cathe- 
dral, representing him with the emblems of his vocation — a bunch of keys, a spade, a pickaxe, and a skuU. 
In the southern division of the county are two costly and difficult works, a cutting and a tunnel, on the line 
of the London and North- Western Kailway. The Blisworth cutting passes through Umestone nearly as hard 



19G ENGLAND AND WALES. 

as flint, witli soft strata above and below. 'Wliere the excavation is confined to the limestone, the rock fomis 
complete natural walls on both sides ; but where it descends to the imderlying blue shale, a portion of this 
had to bo scooped out and replaced ivith artificial walls, continuing the natural ones to the required depth. 
Upwards of 800 laboui'ors, aided by horse and steam power, were employed tipon this work ; more than 
1,000,000 cubic yards of material wore removed ; 3000 barrels of gunpowder were used in blasting ; and about 
£250,000 expended. The Elsby tunnel, upwards of a mile and a quarter long, passes through shale of the 
lower oolite. But in the process of excavation, an extensive quicksand was tapped, practically a subterranean 
lake, from which tlio water poured out in apparently exhaustless quantities. Thirteen steam-engines, 200 
horses, 1250 men, were engaged in carrying it off, which required eight months to be effected, though the 
drainage was conducted night and day, at the rate of 1800 gallons per minute. Two years and a half were 
occupied in completing the tunnel, at the cost of about £300,000. Thirty-six millions of bricks were 
consumed in the lining, wliich would nearly make a footpath a yard wide from London to Aberdeen. 

HuNTiNGDONSHiBB, of Very limited extent, wliolly agricultural, belongs partly to the 
level of tlie fens, and was the scene of the last great work of drainage in that district in 
1851, when the bed of Whittlesea-mere was laid dry. This was the largest English sheet 
of water apart from the lake district, two niUes and a quarter long hy one and a quarter 
hroad, abounding with fish and aquatic fowl, much frequented by sporting-parties. It is 
now a succession of cornfields and pastures, intersected with hedges, and occupied with 
fann-buildmgs. Tliroughoiit the whole region of the Fens, both the flora and fauna have 
been largely affected by the removal of the surface-waters, and the reduction of spongy 
lands to fiim ground. Wliile reeds and sedge have given place to crops of corn, the wild- 
fowl they sheltered have been compelled to seek fresh nestling-places and feeding haunts. 
Curious birds found in solitary swamps are no longer met with. The edible frog, rare in 
England, but once common in this district, locally known as the ' Cambridgeshire 
nightingale ' and the ' Whaddon organ,' from its musical croak, has become scarce ; and 
the beautiful swallow-taUed butterfly, deMghtmg in mai?shes, is a somewhat rare object. 

Huntingdon, on the Ouse, and the line of the Great IsTorthcm Ballvray, consists of a single principal street, 
and is distmguished as the birthplace of Oliver Cromwell. At St Ives, equally small, lower down on the 
same river, he was a resident farmer, and acquired the popular title of Lord of the Fens from some disjilays 
of public spirit relative to their improvement. St Ncots, higher up the stream, has a considerable paper 
manufacture. The best, richest, and Iiighest-priced cheese in the market, called Stilton, has the name from 
a viUage in this coxmty. It was not originally made at the place, nor is it at present. But it acquired the 
name from travellers on the great north road becoming acquainted with its quality at the village irni, the 
landlord of which obtained it from a relative in North Leicestershire, the first and still the chief site of 
production. 

Bedfordshire, but Uttle more extensive, belongs mostly to the basin of the Ouse, 
which runs through it from west to east in a very tortuous manner, answering to the 
descriptive touches of Cowper, long a resident by its banlcs— ' Ouse's silent tide,' 

' Slow winding through a level plain 
Of spacious meads with cattle sprinkled o'er,' 

and fringed with flags and reeds. Challt-hiUs vary the southern part of the county, and 
oohtic strata compose the surface in the northern. Between the two, there is a belt of 
iron-sand interposed, running from south-west to north-east, varying from one to five 
miles in breadth. Tlais sandy tract is specially adapted for horticultural purposes, and on 
it, as weU as the adjacent chalky soils, culuiary vegetables are raised for the metropolitan 
and other markets. 

Bedford occupies both banks of the Ouse, and attracts residents of moderate means for the educational 
term and pei-manently, owing to the advantages offered by excellent free-schools, with which other important 
benefactions are connected. The original endoivment by Sir "William Harpur, about three centuries ago, 
now yields a very large annual income, as it consists of land in the very heart of London. The schools, 
preparatory, commercial, and others, are included in a building in the Tudor style, and have exlubitions 
to the universities. The other charities comprise donations on going out to sei-vice, at the commence- 
ment and close of apprenticeship, with marriage-portions, almshouses, a hospital for poor children, and 



BEDFORDSHroE — OXFOEDSHIEB. 197 

miscellaneous distributions. Two imperisliablo names are associated with the town, John Bimyan — ^tho 
author of the Pilgrirn'a Frogress, who here lived, preached, and was imprisoned, many relics of whom are 
preserved — and John Howard, the philanthropist, whose seat was in the immediate neighbourhood. The 
Bedford Catalogue is a valuable and bulky record of observations of the stars made by Admii-al Smyth at 
his private observatory while a resident. Luton, on the river Lea, near its source, is the principal seat of 
the straw-plait manufacture, in which a large number of females are engaged, both preparing the material 
and working it up into hats and boimets. Besides the native wheat-straw and other grasses, confined to 
inferior ai-ticles for the himibler classes, Italian straw is imported, and ItaUan modes of treating it are 
adopted. . 'Dunstable, in the centre of the chalk-hiUs, shares this branch of industry, and is noted also for 
the great quantities of larks taken in the vicinity, of large size, which are sent to the London market. 
The production of straw-plait, requiring no machinery, prevails extensively among the rm-al population of 
the coimty, and can be pursued in fine weather out of doors, while the younger members of families 
are competent to the work. 

OsFOEDSHiEE lias the Thames for its frontier on the south, to which the general 
draitiage of the siu-face is conducted hy the Cherwell, the Isis, and other streams. The 
chalk-range of the Chiltern HUls, richly wooded, diversifies the south-eastern portion of 
the county, while on the north-western border rise the Edge HUls, belonging to the 
lias formation. Passing from the one to the other, different members of the oolitic 
series appear, several of which have local names, as characteristic simply of the sites 
referred to, and not confined to them. The Oxford clay, prominent in the valley of the 
Isis, generally of a deep-blue colour, is met with in the fenny districts of Lincohishire, 
where it is kno-\vn as the fen-clay, and has been bored through to the depth of 500 feet 
at Boston in sinking for water. Stonesfield slate, used for roofing, forms the hiUy 
sides of a valley, near a village of the name in the county, and is of singular interest on 
a,ccount of its fossils, comprising land plants, insects, reptiles, and marsupial animals. 
Prom "Wychwood Forest on the western side, stOl a wooded tract of some extent, the 
forest marble is obtained, a fissUe limestone, often a congeries of dark-coloured shells 
susceptible of being pohshed. The great oolite or Bath stone is quarried near Burford, 
and the small old town is entirely bmlt of it. 

Oxford, a cathedral city, and the seat of one of the most celebrated universities in the world, is situated 
on an acclivity between the Cherwell and Isis, at the confluence of the streams, and but a short distance 
from the Thames. Towers, spires, turrets, and domes, intermingled with masses of foliage, render its 
appearance in the highest degree attractive from the surrounding meadows ; and its principal thoroughfare, 
the High Street^'long, broad, and gently curving, fronted by noble structures, with several quaint old houses 
and modem shops between them, is one of the finest in Europe. The university consists of nineteen colleges 
and five halls, many of them very magnificent buildings, in possession of charming seclusions. Merton 
College, the oldest, <iates from the year 1267. Christ-church, the most extensive and splendid, furnishes the 
see with a cathedral in its private chapel; but St Mary's, in the High Street, is the university clnirch, 
conspicuous from its riclily-decorated tower and graceful spire. The establishments belonging to the general 
body of the university are important featiu'es of the city. They include the Bodleian Library, rich in books 
and manuscripts ; the RadcUffe Library, a noble edifice ; the EadcUife Observatory, in the northern sxiburb ; 
the Theatre, in which great meetings of the gownsmen are held ; the Clarendon, used for offices and lecture- 
rooms ; the Public Schools, devoted to the examination of candidates for degrees ; the Taylor and Randolph 
Institutes, founded for the exliibition of works of art and the teaching of modern languages, associated in a 
stately pile ; the Botanic Garden, one of the oldest of the kind ; and the Museum, containing the specimens 
of geology and mineralogy collected by Dr Buckland during his professorship. The Martyrs' Memorial, an 
elegant monument, erected close to the church of St Mary Magdalene, and near the spot where Cranmer, 
Latimer, and Eidley perished in the flames, is a recent and interesting addition, Oxford has been the scene 
of many stirring incidents and important historical events, repeatedly the residence of the court and the seat 
of parliaments. WoodsiocJe, 'seven miles distant, of ancient date, was the residence of Chaucer during a 
considerable portion of his life, and his house remained till the beginning of the last century. The town is 
often visited on account of the adjacent palace and grounds of Blenheim, the present of the nation to the 
first Duke of Marlborough, and the inheritance of his descendants. The town has a manufacture of gloves. 
Banbury, for more than two centuries, has given its name to a well-known article of confectionary. 
Chipping Norton and Witney produce flannels and coarse woollens. 

BucKiNGHAMSHiEE, of Very irregular shape, extends from the Thames on the south to 



198 ENGLAND AND WALES. 

the Ouse in tlie north, and has the Chilterns running tlirough it in the direction of 
north-east and south-west, with the rich and spacious vale of Aylesbury in the centre. 
The metropolis is largely supplied with dairy produce from its homesteads, to the extent 
of from four to five millions of pounds of butter annually, with a vast amoimt of poultry, 
especially ducks, which are bred in greater quantities than in any other part of the 
kingdom. 

Though chiefly an agrioiiltiiral district, rarioiis tranches of manufacture are carried on. "Wooden wares 
of different kinds are made of the fine timber of the hiUs, beeches and elms ; paper-mUls are numerous upon 
the streams ; straw-plait is produced ; and hand-made lace is an industry, but has become limited, since the 
composition of machine-lacc reduced earnings to a miserable pittance. The county does not contain a single 
town of any considerable size, and is barren of monuments of antiquity. Buckingham simply gives its name 
to the shire, as all public business is transacted at Aylesbury, while the largest group of population is at 
Hiffh Wycombe. But there are many sites of great general and literary interest. At Hamiiden Home, eight 
miles south of Aylesbury, in a beautiful seclusion, lived the patriot of that name, who was buried in the 
parish-church, but in a grave which has not been positively identified. The ' Queen's Gap ' is the name of 
an avemie on one of the adjoining hUls, which was cut through the woods to facilitate the progress of Queen 
Elizabeth, while on a visit to one of Hampden's ancestors. At Chalfont St Giles the Paradise Lost of Jlilton 
was finished and the Paradise Regained begun. Beaconsfield possesses the remains of Waller the poet and 
Burke the statesman. The churchyaid of Gray"^ Elegy, with the ' ivy-mantled tower,' the ' rugged elms,' 
and the ' yew-trees' shade,' where 

* The rude forefathers of the hamlet sleep,' 

is at StoTce Pogis, towards the southern verge of the county, where the poet also has his resting-place. At 
Olney, on the northern border, Cowper spent the greater part of his days, and versified for all generations. 
Wolverton, in this part of the county, on a site desolate within the memory of the living, has become a 
considerable township, and is in process of rapid extension, owing to the factories of the North-Western 
Eailway Company. Eton, on the Thames, opposite Windsor, is celebrated for its college, foimded by 
Henry VI., the highest in rank of the great public schools, where many of the upper classes receive their 
education before proceeding to the universities. 

Heetfobdshirb, one of the smaller counties, immediately north of Middlesex, is chiefly 
a chalk district, well watered and timbered, -with a great number of private mansions and 
ornamental plantations distributed over the surface. It contributes to the water-supply 
of the metropolis by means of the JSTew Eiver, constructed in the time of Charles I., the 
head springs of which are within its bounds. The principal stream, the Lea, after flowing 
through the centre from west to east, forms the boundary from Essex, and discharges . into 
the Thames near the East India Docks. Paper-making has long been a distinguisliing 
feature of its industry, and was certainly established in the county by the close of the 
fifteenth century. In a book of the date of 1495, by Wynkyn de Worde, mention is 
made of a paper-mill near Stevenage belonging to John Tate the younger. Both the null 
and the person are named in Henry VII. 's Hmiseliold Booh. About the commencement 
of the present centmy, the machine for the manufacture of continuous paper was brought 
to perfection by the brothers Fourdrinier at their mill at Two Waters. 

Hertford, a small, neat, and clean-looking town, on the banks of the Lea, is the county town, contains a 
blue-coat school, a branch of Clirist's Hospital, and once possessed a castle in which two sovereigns were held 
in durance together, John of France and David of Scotland, in the reign of Edward III. St Albans, much 
more ancient, occupies an interesting site, close to that of the Roman Verulam, out of the ruins of which it 
arose. Its abbey church, part of a celebrated monastery made parochial at the Eefonnation, being on 
elevated ground, is an imposing object, with aU the appearance of a cathedral. The tomb of Lord Bacon, 
who resided near the town, and derived his title from it, is in the church of St Michael. St Albans was the 
scene of the first battle fought during the Wars of the Hoses, in 1455, in which the Lancastrians were 
defeated, and Henry VI, found concealed in the house of a tanner, was taken prisoner. A second battle at 
the same place in 1461, terminated to the disadvantage of the Yorkists. The town, a seat of the straw-plait 
trade, derives its name from St Alban, said to ha,ve been a native and a martyr in the Eoman tunes, but on 
very doubtfid authority. Hemel Hempstead, with a sunUar industry, has the manufacture of paper for its 
staple, and some of the largest paper-mills in the country are iir the neighbourhood. At Tring, on the 
North-Western Railway, the largest cutting on the line occurs, passing through chalk strata. It extends 



nEUTFOBDiSHIEE — MIDDLESEX. 



199 



nearly two miles and a half ; lias an average depth of forty feet, but in some places amounting to sixty ; and 
1,400,000 cubic yards of challc were removed in forming it. Three bridges, each of three arches, with a 
smaller one, are thrown across the gap. Cheshunt was the retreat of Eichard Cromwell Tinder a feigned 
name, and the scene of liis death in the reign of Queen Aime. The Si/e Souse remains by the lea, now an 
inn and fisliing-plaoe, but once counected with a real or pretended plot for the assassination of Charles H. 

Middlesex, of very inferior extent, but distinguished as tlie metropolitan site, extends 
along the Thames hetween the counties of Essex and Bucks, with a gently-varied 
surface— in some places it is a dead level ; the exception being the heights at Hampstead, 
Highgate, and Harrow, which, however, have only a moderate elevation. Its prominent 
features are meadows and pastures, nurseries and market-gardens, some extensive 
commons, with tlie seats and grounds of resident gentry, a few small towns, besides the 
capital of England and of the British Empire. 

London, the largest, wealthiest, and most populous city in the world, is seated in the south-eastern 
quarter of Middlesex, on the north bank of the Thames, about forty miles above its mouth. The 
centre of the dome of St Paul's is in latitude 51° 30' 48" north, and longitude 0° 5' 38" west of Greenwich. 
That portion to which the phrase, ' the city,' properly belongs, is oiJy a fractional part of the area occupied 
by the metropolis, which extends on the same side of the river in every direction around it, and over sections 
of the counties of Sui'rey and Kent on the opposite bank. The space, densely packed with dwellings, 
warehouses, chui-ches, edifices of various kinds, streets and squares, stretches more than seven miles east and 
west, by nearly six in the opposite direction, including a superficial extent of fifty square miles. But the 
London of the census commissioners, which embraces the suburbs from Hampstead to Norwood, from 
Hammersmith to "Woolwich, with oidy trifling breaks in the lines of houses, occupies an area of more than 
115 square nailes, and contains a population now closely approaching to 3,000,000 in number. The name is 
derived from the Londinium of the Eomans, mentioned by Tacitus about 61 A.D., as a chief mart of com- 
merce, which is probably the Latinised form of Llyn dun, 'city or town by the waters,' belonging to an 
old British settlement on the spot. It did not become the capital during the Saxon age, a distinction enjoyed 
by Winchester, nor did it rise to the rank of being the undisputed metropolis of the reahn tUl the dynasty 
of the Plantagenets ascended the throne. Its vast magnitude is entirely modem, for down to the seventeenth 
century it lagged behmd Lisbon and Paris in population. London and Westminster long remained distinct 
cities, separated by the open comitry. In the reign of James II., Eed Lion Square was a field, and the site of 
the British Museum was occupied by a suburban mansion. 

The Tower, a foundation of the Norman conqueror, may be regarded as the original nucleus of the modem 
city, and is one of the principal memorials of the past. It occupies an area of twelve acres, near the centre 
of which rises the keep of the ancient fortress, a conspicuous object from the river, but so altered by repairs 
that scarcely a feature can be approximately called primitive. Besides its military purpose, it has been used 
as a palace and a prison, has possessed a mint and a menagerie, and is now an arsenal containing the regalia. 
Westminster Hall, built by William Eufus, and rebuilt of the same dimensions by Richard 11., is one of the 
largest enclosed rooms in Europe without pUlars. Westminster Abbey, a noble Gotliic structure, dating from 
the time of Henry m., is a chief point of historical interest, as the scene of coronations and the mausoleum 
of kings, containing the honorary monuments of illustrious subjects, many of whom lie interred within its 
walls. Whitehall, of the time of James L, is the beautiful fragment of an unfinished palace, the first 
example of the purely Italian style of architecture introduced into the country. St Paul's Cathedral, erected 
after the great fire of 1666, is a grand temple in the Grecian style, rises to the height of 404 feet froin the 
groimd, and is hence a prime feature in the view from various suburban elevations. Among other edifices 
worthy of notice may be mentioned, Somerset House, the Royal Exchange, the Bank, Mint, and Custom 
House, the British Museum, the Treasury, and the Houses of ParUament. The latter, a vast and magnificent 
pile in the Tudor Gothic, has a loftier square tower than any other stracture, so elaborately embeUished with 
cliiseled kings and heraldic designs, as to be appropriately called a sculptured history of the nation— the 
'monarchy in stone.' 

While architecturally inferior to several continental capitals, having been built mainly^ to answer the 
purposes of commerce, London has the pre-eminence in many features. Its social conveniences are more 
complete, and involve substructions upon a gigantic scale for water-supply, gas-lighting, and sewerage, to 
which an underground railway is a recent addition, at present unique. The wealth in the shops is 
unparalleled, vnth the tlirong of passengers and vehicles in the streets, unceasing from the early dawn to late 
at night, and exliibiting a wonderful exemplification of orderly activity. The parks, numerous, extensive, 
and conveniently at hand, favoured by the climate, are freshly green through the summer, when the 
pastures of the contment are brown or ashy, parched with heat and drought ; they excite the adnuration of 
every foreigner. No city can present kindred places of agreeable suburban resort equal to the Zoological 
Gardens, E«gent's Park," the Botanic Garden at Kew, and the Crystal Palace, wliile the highways across the 
river, Waterloo, Westminster, Southwark, and London bridges, are confessedly the finest structures of their 



200 ENGLAND AND WALES. 

kind. Th3 iirot n.imecl, with its level roadway, is doomed hy many tlie most perfect bridge in the world, worth 
a iourncy from Home to sec it in the judgment of C.anova, the great sculptor. ^ But the highway under the 
river, or the Thames Tmmel, is commonly one of the first objects to which foreign visitors repair, as entirely 
unexampled. The Port of London, extending to BlackwaU, with ranges of spacious docks and files of 
shipping on either hand, lines of wharfs and warehouses, in connection with intermediate traffic, exhibits 
a spectacle not to be witnessed elsewhere. In this part oi its course, the Thames still retains the Saxon 
name of 'the Pool.' This was descriptive of its aspect in former times, that of a shallow expanse, spreading 
languidly without restraint to the hills which bound its basin, till changed by embankments into a deep and 
rapid stream. The charities of the metropolis are specially worthy of remark, as without precedent in their 
number variety, and revenue. In 1861, they amounted to no less than 640 institutions, founded or sup- 
ported by private benevolence, and enjoying an income of nearly £2,500,000 per annum. Estimated by 
three recent sales of sites in different districts, the value of land in central London may be reckoned at 
above £100 000 per acre. The roar of the metropolis, as heard by aeronauts in a balloon a mile above it, is 
a rich, deep, imceasing hum. 

Brentford, the nomuial capital of Middlesex, at the junction of the Brent with the Thames, is the place 
where the parliamentary elections for the county are held. Staines, lower down the river, marks the Umit 
in that direction of the jurisdiction exercised over it by the coi'poration of London, and is supposed to derive 
its name from an ancient stone which defined the boundary. TTxhridf/e, towards the western border, is a 
considerable corn mart. Enfield, on the northern side, gives its name to rifles made at a great government 
factory in the vicinity. Harrow, on high ground rising out of a rich vale, is the seat of a public school, 
originally founded by a yeoman of the place for the poor, now chiefly a classical school for the sons of the 
nobility and gentry, the rival of Eton. 

VL SOUTHEEN COUNTIES. 
Area in Square Miles. Principal Towns. 

Maidstone, Canterbury, Rochester, Chatham, Greenwich, Dover. 

Guildford, Croydon, Richmond. 

Lewes, Brighton, Hastings, Chichester. 

Winchester, Portsmouth, Southampton, Newport. 

Reading, Windsor, Newbury. 

Salisbury, Trowbridge, Bradford, Devizes. 

Dorchester, "Weymouth, Poole, Bridport. 

Taunton, Bath, Bridgewater, Frome. 

Exeter, Plymouth, Devonport, Tiverton, Barnstaple. 

Bodmin, Tniro, Penzance, Falmouth. 

Kent, the south-east angle of England, has a northern, eastern, and southern coast-line, 
marked by the two high promontories of the ISTorth and South Forelands, with the flat 
projection of Dungeness. Off the east coast lie the Goodwin Sands, forming with the 
shore the well-known roadstead of the Downs. These sands are aeoumtdated on blue clay 
and subjacent chalk. Left dry to a considerable extent at low water, they then become 
quite firm, so as to admit of a landing being made, but immediately loosen on the return 
of the tide. On the north coast, the Isle of Sheppey is separated from the maialand by a 
narrow branch of the Medway. But the Isle of Thanet, on the north-east, has entirely 
lost all appearance of insulation, though once detached by a ship channel, which is stiU. 
traversed by the small stream of the Stour in one part, and reduced to a mere ditch 
in others. In the interior of the county, the surface has almost everywhere a very 
pleasing aspect, owing to the natural scenery originated by the chalk-range of the North 
Downs, which runs through it from west to east, added to its advanced agriculture. The 
principal river, the Medway, winds from the Sussex border to the north coast, and falls 
into the estuary of the Thames. Hops, linseed, canary-seed, cherries, filberts, and other 
fruits, are extensively cultivated. 

Maidstone, the county town, centrally situated, is the chief seat of the hop trade, in which Canterhury 
also shares, while best known as the ecclesiastical capital of England, with an archbishop who ranks as the 
first peer of the realm after the blood-royal. The city, seated in the fertile vale of the Stour, surrounded 
with sylvan scenery, dates from ancient times, and has a cathedi'al with a very grand interior. It contains 
the tomb of the Black Prince in wonderful preservation, and is historically memorable as the scene of 



Kent, . 


1,627 


Surrey, . 


748 . . 


Sussex, 


1,458 


Hampshire, 


1,672 . 


Berkshire, . 


705 


Wiltshire, 


1,352 . 


Dorsetshire, 


988 


Somersetsliii-e, 


1,636 . . 


Devonshire, . 


2,589 . 


Cornwall, 


1,363 . 



KENT — SURREY. 201 

Tliomas-il-Beckot's murder, whose shrine, still indicated, was annually visited by thousands of pilgrims 
jirevious to the Reformation, as Chaucer sings : 

' And Bpccially ft'ora every shire's end 
Of Englc-land to Canterbury they wend.' 

Tlie more ancient buildings include the ruined monastery of St Augustine, and the church of St Martin, still 
used, built of Roman bricli, one oi the oldest in the country. Rochester, an episcopal city, and Chatham, a 
modern contmuation of it, are on the east bank of the Medway, at the head of its estuary. The latter is an 
important military dcp6t and naval establishment, with which Shcerness corresponds, on the adjoining island 
of Sheppey, commanding the mouth both of tire Medway and the Thames, and the station of a port-admiral. 
Greenwich, a metropolitan suburb, is distinguished by its palatial hospital for the reception of seamen, and 
the Royal Observatory, the astronomical capital of the Idngdom, on an eminence in the park ; -with its 
neighbours, Dcptford, on tho one hand, the site of a dock-yard, and Woolwich, on the other, the greatest 
warUko establishment of the nation, it forms a single borough for parliamentary purposes. Gravcsend, a 
river-port, Margate, Ramsgate, Deal, Dover, and Folkstone, seaports, are resorted to as bathing-islaces. 
Dover, a considerable town, and a place of great antiquity, is of importance as the advanced post of England 
towards the continent, to and from wliioh there is constant passenger-traffic. The celebrated castle, on a 
lofty chalk-cliff which has been hoUowed out for barracks and stores, is a very picturesque and striking 
object, consistmg of extensive buildings which spread over nearly tliirty acres, of various ages and styles, 
now tending to ruin. ' Shakspeare's Cliff,' a short distance from the' town, scarcely answers to the 
description of tho one in the tragedy of Lear, which suggested the name, but it has suffered from immense 
landsUps, some of recent occurrence, sufficient to accoimt for the discrepancy. The summit no longer ' looks 
fearfully in the confined deep,' but rather recedes, though still a ' dizzy height,' commanding a magnificent 
view. Dover has naturally veiy defective maritime, accommodation, but operations are in progress by the 
government to run out a gigantic pier, in order to protect the present harbour from the shingle which 
accumulates at the mouth during westerly gales, as well as provide a port of refuge. Folkstone, six miles 
distant, is another point of regular communication with the continent. Between the two towns runs the 
South-Eastern Railway, by and through the magnificent range of chalk, which there forms a bold escai-pjnent 
on the coast from 200 to 400 feet in height. The large headlands are tmnielled, the smaller were 
blown down, while the line is carried by cuttings through chaotic masses of underclifT, and on sea-walls over 
pebbly beaches in the little bays formed by the landward recession of the rooks. Tunbridge Wells, on the 
Sussex border, visited for its strongly chalybeate springs, to which the town owes its origin and prosperity, 
occupies a site once supposed to resemble that of Jerusalem, which led to the application of the names 
Mounts Ephriam and Zion to two of the hills. 

Surrey, wlaoUy ialand, lies on the south bank of the Thames, and contributes to it the 
"Wey and the Mole. The latter river has been honoured by the notice of Milton, but is 
somewhat misrepresented by him, as ' the sullen Mole, that runneth underneath,' as well 
as by Pope, ' the sullen Mole, that hides his diving flood.' In very dry summers the 
stream is simply absorbed in places by its porous bed, and becomes a series of detached 
ponds. The JSTorth Downs are the main diversities of the surface, and form the wild 
region on the western side, called the Hog's Back, where they contract to a single narrow 
ridge. 

Oi^-ing to the vicinity of the metropolis, mansions and parks occupy a considerable area, with market- 
gardens and orchards, but there are extensive tracts of almost barren heath, where the lower green-sand of 
the cretaceous formation conies to the surface. This sand, though commonly loose, is occasionally formed 
into sandstone by a calcareous cement, and appears at the elevation of nearly a thousand feet, in Leith Hill, 
in the neighbourhood of Dorking. Hops are objects of cultivation, with a great variety of medicinal and 
aromatic plants, as chamomile, poijpy, horehoimd, wormwood, anise-seed, peppermint, and lavender. The 
common box-tree flourishes vigorously, and originated the name of BoxliiU. Fuller's-earth, in request in all 
the clothing districts, has been dug up for oentm-ies near the ^'i^age of Nutfleld, which is still the principal 
source of supply. The county contains the metropolitan boroughs of Southwark and Lambeth, with several 
populous subm'ban districts, but the separate towns are of small extent, though numerous and of ancient 
date. Guildford, seated on the y^&y, ranks as the county town, but shares the assizes with Croydon and 
Kingston. It has a striking appearance from hiU and valley combining in the site, which is overlooked by 
the keep of the old castle. Croydon, much enlarged by railway-connection, and its convenient distance from 
the metropolis, contains, in its parish-church, many interesting monuments of the archbishops of Canterbury, 
who once occupied a palace in connection with it. The archiepiscopal provincial residence is now at 
Addiscombe in the vicinity. Kinrjston, on the Thames, frequently in association with royalty in the Saxon 
times, as the name imports, has increased from the like cause. Biclimond, higher up the river, offers one of 
the finest views in the kingdom from the brow of its hiH, and is a thoroughfare for excursionists to the 



202 ENGLAND AND WALES. 

palace and grounds of Hampton Coui't. Ascending the stream, -within the parish of Egham, the Thames 
flows by a justly-famous site, that of Eunnymede, where the barons compelled Bang John to sign the Great 
Charter. A little isle in its channel bears the name of Magna Charta Island, but an adjacent meadow was 
the real scene of the transaction. Epsom, a few mUes from Croydon, of horse-racing celebrity, has a mineral 
spring from which the well-known Epsom salts were at one time manufactured. Dorking, in the pleasant 
valley of the Mole, has a peculiar breed of highly-prized poultry, with five claws to each foot, believed to 
have been brought over by the Romans. Rcigate, higher up on the same stream, stands on a bed of fine 
white sand, much used in the manufacture of glass. Farnham, towards the Hampshire border, is widely 
known for the superior quality of its hops. Some picturesque ruins of the castle remain, with which the 
principal official residence of the bishops of Winchester is connected. The proper orthography of the name is 
i^'ermham, in allusion to the adjoining fern-growing heathy districts. 

Sussex, on tlie south coast, is varied hy tlie chain of the South Do-wns, -which runs •west- 
ward from Beachy Head for some distance along the shore, then diverges inland, passing 
into Hampshire, interior to which is the Forest Ridge, scarcely less elevated, but more broken. 
Both ranges originate a repeated succession of hOl and dale. The county belongs 
chiefly to the old district of the "Weald, or woodland, which embraced the adjacent parts 
of Surrey and Kent, was once an almost unbroken forest, and stiLl possesses sylvan glades 
for a distinctive feature. The chief rivers are the Eother, the Ouse, the Adur, and the 
Armi, aU falling into the English Channel. 

Pastoral husbandry prevails over tillage ; argillaceous iron-ore abounds ; and a limestone, largely composed 
of fresh-water shells, susceptible of high polish, is quarried, and was extensively employed in the middle ages 
for ornamental purposes. Lewes, on the Ouse, navigable for river-craft, has Newhaven, at the mouth, for its 
port, a starting-point for steamers across the Cliannel. Its name occurs in history as the scene of the battle 
in the reign of Henry III., which transferred all power for a time from the crown to the barons, and led to 
the first parliament on record, consisting of the three estates. Brighton, on the coast, an insignificant fishing- 
place in the last century, has rapidly become an important mimicipaHty, and a splendidly-buUt town, iinder 
the patronage of fashion — in fact, a miniature representation of the west end of London. A chain-pier, 
stretching nearly a quarter of a mile into the sea, of light construction, passes over the site of houses 
belonging to the old town, now covered by the waves. A carriage-road and promenade, one of the finest in 
existence, runs a mUe and a half along the clifis, with noble houses on the one hand, open to the sea-breeze on 
the other, supported by a magnificent marine walL The visiting season is the autumn and early winter. 
Hastings, a trading port, but chiefly a watering-place, on the eastern part of the coa.st-liiie, occupies a 
picturesque looaUty in an interesting neighbourhood. "Westward is Pevensey Bay, the landing-point of the 
ISTorman conqueror, and northward the small town of Battle, which has its name from the contest which 
placed the crown of England upon his head, commonly caUed the battle of Hastmgs. This town, with 
■Winchelsea and Eye, in the county, and Eomney, Hythe, Dover, and Sandwich, in Kent, have the name of 
the Cinque Ports, and were formerly of great maritime imijortance, invested by the croi\'n with peculiar 
privileges, but under obUgation to render certain services in time of war. Some of them have suffered from 
natural causes. Old Winchelsea was destroyed by an influx of the sea, and its successor has been changed 
into an mland town by the encroachment of the land upon the sea. The harbour of Eye, in which a sixty- 
four gmi ship could once ride in safety, will now scarcely admit a vessel of 200 tons. Westward in 
succession from Brighton are several places more or less frequented for sea-bathing, as Shoreham, a port of 
some commercial consequence, near the outfall of the Adur; Worthing, protected from bleak winds by 
the adjoining hills, where figs are grown and ripen properly ; Littlehampton, at the mouth of the Anm, 
with Armidel Castle a short distance inland, the residence of the Dukes of Norfolk ; and Bognor, the site of 
complete memorials of an extensive Eoman villa, "with rich mosaic pavements and painted walls, the colours 
of which are identical in composition with those employed in the houses of Herculaneum and Pompeii. 
Chichester, a few miles from the shore, towards the western border, possesses a cathedral distinguished by 
five aisles in the interior, and a campanile or lofty detached bell-tower, features shared by no other structure 
of the kind in the kingdom. It was also the only cathedral in England visible from the sea, and a 
noted landmark to mariners, till tower and spire fell, February 21, 1861, after a night of terrific tempests. 
Collins, bard of the Passions, a native of the place, lies buried in St Andrew's Church. At Eartham, a 
neiglibouring village, Hayley long resided, and gathered the notables of his day to his charming 
viUa — Gibbon the historian, Eomney the painter, Flaxman the sculptor, Howard the philanthropist, 
Charlotte Smith, Miss Seward, Hurdis, Warton, Cowper, and Mrs Unwin. The property passed from him 
by sale to Huskisson the statesman. 

HAiiPSHffiE embraces a central part of the coast of the channel, marked by the inlets of 
Langston Harbour, Portsmouth Harbour, and Southampton Water j and has an insular 



nAMPSHIEE. 203 

adjunct in tliG beautiful Isle of Wight. The mainland, watered by the Itohin, Anton, 
and Avon, is traversed by both ranges of the North and South Downs, which are 
connected by a transverse ridge, and both have theh highest points within its limits. 
Tliough fertile in many parts, there is a considerable extent of heathy and wild 
woodland surface. The New Porest, an interesting tract of about twelve square miles, 
lies between the shore of the Channel, of Southampton "Water, and the banks of the 
Avon, in which the supposed spot where the Eed King, "WiUiam Eufus, met his death 
from a chance arrow while hunting, is marked by a monumental stone. This district, which 
still produces a large quantity of oak and beech timber for the navy, presents landscapes 
combining woody scenes with vast sweeps of wild country, and distant marine views. 
The ancient practice of feeding swine in the forest is allowed to the borderers during the 
'pannage' month, which commences towards the close of September, and lasts for six weeks. 
Besides these seasonal visitors, there is a semi-wild race in the more solitary parts, 
with haLf--\vild horses of shaggy exterior and small dimensions, fallow and red-deer. 

)Vinchesfcr, in a valloy between chalk-hills on the Itchin, is an episcopal city of very early origin and 
historic note, where sovereigns have been born, crowned, and buried. But its consequence belongs almost 
entirely to the past. Tlie cathedral is spacious and singularly interesting. An old collegiate institution, 
connected with Winchester College, Oxford, furnishes preparatory training for the university, and is 





"Winchester Cathedral. 

celebrated for its Dulce Bomiim, a vacation chant, at least two centuries old. Eomsey, Petersfield, Andovcr, 
and Basingstoke, are other inland towns. The important places are maritime. Portsmouth, the grand 
naval arsenal of the kingdom, strongly fortified, is on the eastern shore of an inlet, which fiirnishes a sate, 
deep, and capacious harbour. The tovm, and its sxxburb Portsea, included witliin the same lines of defence, 
Southsea adjoining, and Gosport on the opposite side of the inlet, form one cluster of population, arranged in 
four divisions. The dock-yard, covering the great space of 120 acres ; the gun-wharf, devoted to the 
accumulation of naval ordnance; the Eoyal Clarence victuaUing-yard, an immense provision storehouse 
and biscuit manutactoiy ; Haslar Hospital, for the reception of sick and disabled seamen and marines ; 
Nelson's old ship the Victory, moored in the harboiu- and carefully preserved ; and the Excellent, with 
its gunnei-y-practice, are the sights of interest. New batteries and fortifications are in progress to meet 
the requirements of modern warfare. Numerous vessels always at anchor at Spithead, or going in and out of 
harbour, with military parades, bands, and salutes, render Portsmouth a scene of great animation. 



204 ENGLAND AND WALES. 

SovMiamplon, near the licad of the estuary which bears its name, consists of a now to%vn grafted on tlie old, in 
consequence of its extended connnorce. Though perfectly blended, the line of division is marked by one 
of tho ancient gates, which is now nearly central, and crosses the principal street. The position of the town 
in relation to the metropolis and tho Atlantic, with docks capable of receiving the largest vessels, has made 
it the chief packet station for tho "West Indies and the Mediterranean. It contains a branch of the ordnance 
department, at which the maps of tho national survey are executed. A public park, called tho Watts Park, 
in honour of Dr Isaac W-atts, a native, with a statue of him, is a recent addition. Lymington and 
Chrutclmrcli are watering-places near tho south coast, along with Boxirnemouth, in a valley difectly on the 
shore distinguished as ' the evergreen valley,' ' the winter-garden of England,' from its tall firs and pines 
overshadowing a rich gro-vvth of the arbutus and rhododendi-on. 

The insular part of the county, the Isle of "Wight, is separated from the mainland by the channel of the 
Solent and the roadstead of Spithead, about four mUes in average width, but contracted to a vei-y narrow 
passage on the western side, by the projection of HiU'st Castle sliingle-bar. Tho greatest extent of the island 
is twenty-three miles from east to West, by fourteen from north to south, with a.cu'cuit of nearly sixty mUes. 
The name occurs as "Weoht or Wilit in Domesday-Boolc, a corrupt contraction of the Teotis of the Eomans. 
High cUffs haunted by sea-fowl; caves hollowed out in them by the dash of the ocean; detached rocks, some 
arched, others needle-shaped or fantastically moulded ; narrow chasms, locally called ' chines,' descended by 
streams and clothed with copse-wood, are features of the coast scenery, with the 'undercliS'' region, a long 
strip of tlie shore remarkable for its widely-broken surface, evidently formed by subsidence from heights in 
the backgromid. Towards the narrow western extremity, the cliifs are among the loftiest on the English 
shores, from many of wliich samphire is gathered. In this direction are the well-kno'wn Needles, isolated 
rocks projecting above the waves, with Alum Bay, which presents a very extraordinary spectacle of variegated 
colours, from the strata on its side being impregnated with oxide of iron. The island is well watered, chiefly 
by the Medina, which divides it into eastern and western portions. It is also cut into two nearly equal parts, 
northern and southern, by a chain of hiUs and downs. Newport, the piiucipal tomi, occupies a central 
position m the pleasant valley of the Medina, encircled with fertUe hUls, and has an interesting object 
adjoining in the ruins of Carisbrook Castle, in v/hich Charles I. was confined. Part of the chamber he 
occupied remains, with a grated window through wliich he made an unsuccessful attempt to escape. Cowes, 
at the mouth of the river, on both shores of the estuary, is distinguished as the head-quarters of the Pioyal 
Yacht Club. EastAvard on the coast is Osborne House, the marine residence of the Queen, with strictly- 
secluded grounds, and Bydc, offering animated sea-views to its crowds of summer visitors. Vcntnor, on the 
south-eastern coast-Une, the capital of the Undcrcliii, mostly modern, is famed for the mUdness of its winter 
climate, exquisite scenery, and rich vegetation, which embraces myrtles and hydrangeas of large size, with 
tree-like fuchsias and geraniums. 

Behkshibe, aa in.la.iid diBtrict, with the Thames for its northern horder, helongs entirely 
to the hasin of that river, to which it contributes the Kennet, the Ock, and the Loddon. 
The valleys traversed by thosa affluents are renowned for then" fertility ; but on the 
eastern side of the coiuity there is a considerable extent of waste surface, combined with 
woodlands. This is the locality of "Windsor Forest and the Bagshot Sands. One of the 
most productive tracts, the spacious vale of the White Horse, has its name from a colossal 
figure of the animal, the emblem of the Saxon race, carved on the side of a bordering 
chalk-hill by incision of the material. This rudg menjorial was a well-laiown object 
soon after the Norman Conquest, and is supposed to have been formed to commemorate 
King AKred's victory over the Danes, fought in the neighbourhood. The inhabitants of 
the vale have an ancient custom of assembling to ' scour the horse,' by removing the 
grass which tends to obliterate the figure. 

Biciding, on the Kennet, has a few manufactures, but is chiefly a mart for the agricultural products of 
the coimty. The burial-place of Henry I. and his queen is within the precuiots of an abbey now iu 
ruins. Windsor, on an acclivity rising up from the Thames opposite to Eton, has only interest derived from 
its palatial castle, the principal residence of British royalty, immediately cast from the town. This 
magnificent structure occupies a commanding position, which renders it visible from afar, while from its 
battlements the eye ranges over a richly-varied and extensive prospect, embracing portions of twelve comities. 
The buildings and courts cover more than twelve acres, and are surroimded by a terrace, except on one side, 
nearly half a mile in length, said to be the finest walk of its kind in Europe. "William the Conqueror 
planted a stronghold and hunting-lodge at the spot. Edward III., bom at "Windsor, raised a palace. Queen 
Elizabeth caused the north terrace to be constructed. But in its present state the castle is recent, having 
been rescued from dilapidation, thoroughly renovated, and provided with new accommodations smce the 
year 1824 St George's Chapel, of Edward IV.'s time, within the precincts, is tlie largest, most varied, 
and elegant of the three chapels-royal. Henry VIII. and Charles I. slumber in the vaults without 



BERKSHIBT3 "WILTSHIRE. 



205 



monument or inscription, while in the tomb-houso on tlic eastern side, constructed by George III., his 
remains repose, with those of hia crowned sons, George IV. and 'William IV. "Woodland scenes of exceeding 
beauty are iu the Great Park, which is eighteen miles round ; and Windsor Forest, iif fcy-six miles in ciixiiit, 







Windsor Castle. 

abounds with gladeS which retain their primitive wildness and seclusion. Nevjbury, one of the historic 
towns, was the scene of two indecisive battles during the Civil "War, 1643-44, in the first of which lord 
Falldand fell. Wantage, is distinguished as the birthplace of Alfred the Great, where the event was 
oonunemorated by a gathering of people from various^ parts of the realm, October 25, 1849, a thousand 
years afterwards. 

WiLTSHiEB, to tlie -vvest-ward, of a compact quadrangular sliape, consists largely of 
upland tracts, wliicli present the appearance of levels at a distance, but are traversed 
with downs, and fmrowed with valleji-g. Thus Salisbury Plain, in the immediate 
neighbourhood of that city, is only properly so called with reference to the distant view, 
as it has almost everywhere a billowy surface, while intersected with numerous and 
extensive -depressions, This remarkable region, about twenty miles long by fourteen 
broad, is an elevated, woodless, ovnl-sliaped tract of chalk, clothed with a fine green-sward, 
in the midst of which, and on one of its most level sites, rises Sfconehenge, a circle of 
enormous upright blocks, some of which must weigh thirty, and two at least seventy 
tons. Though commonly referred to the Druids, the monument remains a mystery as 
to its purpose. The comity has for its principal rivers, the Kennet, flowing through Berks 
to the Thames; the Lower or Bristol Avon, descending to the estuary of the Severn; 
and the Salisbury Avon, travelling through Hants to the English Channel. Its general 



20G 



ENGLAND AND TMLES. 



superficial elevation may be inferred from the fact, that wliile tliere are no inflowing 
streams, the drainage is thus carried off in three different directions. A very considerable 
portion of the surface is in natural pastiu-e, has never been touched by the plough, and 
is quite unenclosed. Hence the industry is chiefly pastoral, upon which manufactures 
in wool were early grafted. 

SaHshuri/, an episcopal city, the offspring of the adjacent Old Sarum, which is now a deserted site, is 
situated near the confluence of two streams with the Avon. Tliis copious water-supply led to the 
transference to a new position. Its cathedral, one of t]ie purest specimens of the Early Gothic, has a spii-e 
rising 40J: feet from the ground, the loftiest in the Idngdom, remarkable for its lightness and rich 
ornamentation, * a poem graved in stone.' The neighbourhood is associated with many names of eminence — 
as Addison, born at Millston, George Herbert, rector of Bemerton, and Sir Philip Sidney, who wrote liis 
Arcadia at 'Wilton House. Wilton, from which the county derives its name, has long been a seat of the 
carpet manufacture. Devizes, centrally situated, produces silks, but is principally connected with agricultural 
products, and was celebrated for its market in the time of Henry VIII. TroiDhridge, on the western side, 
with Bradford, Melksham, and adjacent places, have fine broad-cloths and other wooUen goods for their 
staple. Malmshury, in the same district, was at a very early date the seat of a celebrated monastery, and 
the birthplace of one of tlie best of English chroniclers, hence called "William of Malmsbury. The nave 
of the cluu'ch belonging to tlie ancient establishment is now one of tlie parish churches. Marlborough, on 
the north-east, in the midst of chalk-do^vns, has a supposed Druidical monument at Abury in the vicinity, 
similar to Stonchenge, witli barrows or tumuli in the neighboiu'hood, one of which, Silbiuy Hill, evidently 
artificial, is the most enormous tumulus in Europe. If the barrows are funereal monuments, "Wiltshire may 
be regarded as a vast grave-yard, as it is studded with them, of varying form and si^e, from low hillocks to 
colossal mounds. 




The Chesil Bank from Portland. 



DoHSETSHiRE, a maritime county, has an interesting coast-hne, marked by the indenta- 
tions of Poole Harbom- and Weymouth Bay, with the promontory of St Alban's Head, 



DORSETSHIEB. 



207 



and tlie so-called Isle of Portland, really a peninsula attached to the main shore by 
the Chesil Bank. This hond of union is the most extraordinary formation of the kind 
in Europe. It extends upwards of ton miles, running parallel with the maialand, and 
has a narrow arm of the sea on the eastern side, with the open deep on the other. It 
is "enerally about two hundred yards broad, occasionally a quarter of a mile, and rises 
with a slope about forty feet above high-water mark. The bank consists of shingle or 
pebbles loosely restiug upon blue clay. These from south to north diminish from tlrree 
or four inches in diameter to the size of horse-beans ; and so regular is this diminution, 
tliat, on the darkest nights, the smugglers who used to land could tell precisely their position 
by examming the stones. On the coast westward, the cliffs are remarkable as a grand 
repository of the fossil saurians, which were here first exhumed. The interior of the 
county presents a succession of downs, some of which are crowned with small round 
clumps of hazel and other woods, locally called ' a hat of trees.' Its principal rivers are 
the Stour and the Frome. 

Dorcliester, on the latter stream, a few miles from the coast of the Channel, is of very ancient date and 
gi-eat interest, as the site of many British and Roman works, the most remarkable of which is an amphitheatre 
of vast dimensions in the immediate vicinity, the most perfect in the kingdom. Shaftesbury, the largest 
inland town, is towards the border of "Wilts. Poole, a seaport, in command of one of the safest harboui-s on 
the Chamiel, an inlet of some extent, near its mouth, and Wareham, at the further extremity, are largely 
engaged in transmitting potter's clay to the seats of earthenware production. The "clay, of very pure quality, 
is obtained from the adjoining isle or peninsula of Purbeck, which forms the south-eastern section of the 
coimty. Weymouth, on the western side of its semicircular bay, is chiefly a bathing-place, brought into 




"Weymouth from the North. 

notoriety by the visits of royalty to it at the close of the last century. The beach consists of a long stretch 
of gently-sloping sand, smooth and firm at low water ; the cUmate is mild and equable ; and hence wmter 
is the visiting season nearly as much as summer. Pox-tland Island, as it is styled, in view from the esplanade, 
is a remarkable district, about nine miles in circuit, with steep rugged shores, consisting mainly of a mass 
of freestone, thrown up in the Verne Hill, at the north extremity, to the height of 458 feet. This stono 
has been extensively quarried for two centuiies and a half, and used for many public buildings in the 
metropolis, "Whitehall, St Paul's, and Somerset House. The island is now the seat of a gi-eat convict 



208 ENGLAND AND WALES. 

estalilishment, with an immense breakwater projectins from the eastern side, recently completed hy convict 
labour, and forming a liarbour of refuge on the exposed coast, intended to be a principal naval station 
protected by formidable batteries on the Verne heights. There are several villages, aU of stone, tlio largest 
of which, on the slope of the hiU, has the name of Fortune's Well, from a copious spring. BridpoH and 
Lyme Regis are trading ports on the western part of the coast-Une. The latter, with striking environs, has 
become a fashionable watering-place, and is celebrated for its defence by Blake on behalf of the Parliament 
in 1644, and the landing of Monmouth iu 1885. By Miss Anning, a native of the town, the fossil saurians 
were discovered in the lias cliffs of the neighbourhood, 

Somersetshire, exteiiding along tlie southern shore of the Bristol Channel, emhraces a 
large proportion of hilly and of lowland surface. The Mendips, a very definite ridge, 
rich in zinc and calamine, rise on the north-east ; the Quantock Hills are western and 
more elevated ; but the wild region of Exmoor, in the extreme west, contains the highest 
point of the county in the superb brown mountain of Dunlcerry Beacon, 1706 feet 
above the sea-level. The hiUy ranges are separated by spacious valleys, and there are 
also dividing tracts of very low flat land, marshes and fens in their natural condition, 
which is to some extent retained. One of these districts, where a piece of rising-ground 
covered with wood was insulated by flood-waters and a morass all but impassable, is 
memorable as the place to which King Alfred retreated in his misfortunes. It afterwards 
received the name of Athelney, or the Prince's Island. The spot can be identified in 
the parish of East Ling, though the natural features have mostly disappeared, and 
Athelney now names a station on the railway between Bridgewater and Yeovil. [Nearly 
aU the diaiuage of the county is carried to the Bristol Channel, chiefly by the Parret, 
and its affluent the Tone. 

Taunton, the county town, on the latter stream, is situated in a beautiful vaUey, surrounded with orchards, 
gardens, and rich meadows, overlooked by the noble church of St Maiy Magdalen, in the decorated and 
later English styles. The town has manufactures of silk and lace, but its business relates chiefly to 
agricultural produce. It suffered severely from the ' bloody assise ' held by the notorious Jeffreys on accomit 
of Monmouth's insurrection. Bath, a large and splendid city, is situated in the deep valley of the Lower 
Avon, and on surrounding acclivities which display to great advantage its ranges of elegant houses, built 
of the white ooKtio freestone of the vicinity. It owes its origin and importance to its thermal waters, and 
the beauty of the site, though not so popular at present with the fashionable world as in the last century, 
when it was the gayest place in the Idngdom. The springs, three in number, differ slightly in their 
temperature, that of the Hot Bath being 117°, the King's Bath 114°, and the Cross Bath 109°. They were 
kno^vn in the tune of the liomans, and the place is mentioned under the name of Aquce Solis in the Antonine 
Itinerary. In the early Saxon period it was called Acliamunnuni, ' the city of the sick.' Bath is at the 
head of a diocese jointly with Wells, small, neat, and unpretending, but with a magnificent cathedral, 
situated at the southern base of the Mendip HUls, Olastonhury, a few milos distant,now a seat of the shoe trade, 
is one of the most ancient ecclesiastical sites in Britain, with interesting nuns of its famous abbey, the abbots 
of which lived in ahnost regal state, tUl tho last was hanged in his robes for contumacy by order of Henry VIII. 
Frame, towards tho "Wiltshiro border, has considerable woollen manufactures, and gloves are extensively 
made at Yeovil, on the verge of Dorset, Bridgeieaier, a shipping port on the Parret, near its mouth, pro- 
duces the peculiar kind of red brick, sold under the name of Bath brick, and used for scouring purposes, 
composed of a mixtiure of clay and sand obtained from tlie river. To the eastward lies the field of Sedgemoor 
where Monmouth was defeated in the reign of James II., the last impoi'tant battle fought on English soil. 
Northward on the coast from Bridgewater Bay are the small watering-places of Wesion-super-Mare and 
C'levcdon. The last was onoa the residence of Coleridge, and contains the graves of Hallam, the historian, 
and his family. The dialect of the county, passmg into Devon and Dorset, now much modified and confined 
chiefly to the rural districts, is very peculiar. Its distinctive featui-es are the use of obsolete Saxon or 
Danish terms, and of obsolete forms of speech, with a deep intonation, and a vicious mode of pronouncing 
some of the consonants. The s and / are converted into s and v, as in Zuminerzet for ' Somerset ' and vatker 
for ' father.' The sound of d is frequently given to th — tliread being pronounced dread ordird, and thrash 
drash. It is conmion to meet with we'm, yoiCin, they^m, for we are, you are, they are ; Ise is substituted 
for I, er for he, her for she ; and war always takes the place of was and were. In the Exmoor Courtship, a 
production of the last century intended to illustrate the dialect, Margery, having dismissed her suitor with 
disdam, calls him back with an ulterior object in view, but ostensibly to ' zup a ziji o' zider.' 

Devonshiee, the third largest county, lying between the English Channel on the south 



DEVONSHIRE. 209 

and the Bristol on the north, has generally steep rocky shores on both sides, abounding with 
extremely pictmescpe and impressive scenery. The southern coastline is by far the most 
extensive, owing to the niimerous inlets and projections. In the interior, the features of 
the surface are very varied, the soft and the stern, the fertile and the sterile, being equally 
prominent in its aspect. The high regions of Dartmoor and Exmoor, previously noticed, 
with their masses of granite, tracts of bog, and piercing winds, remarkably contrast with 
the luxuriant vale of Exeter, and with the bays of the south coast, where the winter 
climate is so mild that invalids, to whom a genial air is essential, are attracted to them 
from distant parts of the country. Elvers are numerous, chiefly flowing to the southward, 
as the Exe, Dart, Plym, Tavy, Teign, Sid, and Axe, which give their names to towns on 
their coiu-se, or at their mouths, Exeter, Dartmouth., Plymouth., Tavistoak, Teignmonth, 
;S"?mouth, and .4.rminster. The streams flomng to the opposite basin, or the Bristol 
Channel, are the Tawe and Torridge. Tin, copper, lead, and manganese, occur among 
the minerals, with granite quarried for building purposes, and potter's clay forwarded to 
the pottery districts. Eioh dairy produce is extensively sent to the metropolis, and cider 
is produced from the apple-orchards, chiefly for the consumption of farm-labourers. 

Exeter, the head of a diocese, is a large and handsome city, on the east bank of the Ese, some miles above 
its outlet. Though of great antiquity, it has a modem appearance, the old houses being chiefly in the 
by-streets. The cathedral, built at diiferent periods, is yet of uniform architecture, and of an intermediate 
character, not being either ornate or plain, light or heavy, belonging to the Middle Gothic. Exeter College, 
Oxford, was founded by one of the prelates in the former part of the foui-teenth century ; and Sir Thomas 
Eodley, the founder of the Bodleian Library, was a native of the city. Tiverton, twelve miles higher up the 




Daifanouth. 

river, with lace manufactures ; Honiton, in the eastern portion of the county, a centre o£ the same industry 
to a considerable district ; and Tavistock, on the western side, the birthplace of Sir Francis Drake, producing 
woollen goods, are among the more important of the inland towns. The great group of population is at 
Plymouth, on the south-western coast, which, with Dcvonport, its neighbour, formerly called Plymouth Dock, 
forms one of the principal naval arsenals, strongly fortified. To the old dock-yard, scarcely less extensive 
than the one at Portsmouth, steam-docks have recently been added, extending over an area of seventy-three 
acres, at an adjoining site, for the outfit and repair of war-steamers. Three miles out in Plymouth Bay is 



210 ENGLAND AND WALES. 

tlie breakwater, constraotcd for the protection of the harbour, nearly a mile long, which consiuned upwards 
of 3,000,000 tons of stone in its formation, and yet seems only a thin dark line on the surface of the 
water, as seen from the shore. Fourteen miles distant, in the broad opening of the bay, is the Eddystone 
Light-house, fixed on a rock submerged by the waves at liigh water, which has withstood the shock of storms 
for more than a century. The South Devon coast is studded with small towns and large villages, some of 
which are beautifully situated in romantic bays, well protected by high lands from ungenial winds, where 
myrtles clothe the shores, lemon and orange trees bear flower and fruit in the gardens, and the mean vriuter 
temperature is as mild as m far more southerly latitudes. They are sought as watering-places in summer, 
and are the retreats of the delicate in winter. Passing from east to west, Sidmouth, Exmouth, DawUsh, 
Teigmnouth, Torquay, Dartmouth, and Salcombe, answer generally to this description. Torquay, the 
largest, is interestmgly seated on the northern shore of Torbay, a considerable inlet, celebrated as the 
landing-place of the Prince of Orange in 1688, and a point of the coast to which Napoleon was brought by an 
English man-of-war, prior to his final exile to St Helena. ' Wliat a beautiful country ! ' he exclaimed, ' how 
much it resembles Porto Ferrajo in Elba!' North Devon has Barnstaple, on the river Tawe, for its 
principal port, with Ilfracomle, LynmMuth, and Linton, associated with very stiikmg scenery, and rare 
forms of marine life, the summer resorts of many inland dwellers. Lundy Island, less than three miles long 
by one broad, and twelve miles oiF shore, at the mouth of the Bristol Channel, where it opens as if to receive 
the roUin" biUows and clearer waters of the Atlantic, belongs to the county. It is a sombre mass of granite 
with a few inhabitants, so guarded by steep or overhanging chfis, and girded with insulated rocks, that 
accordin" to a popular saying, ' there is no entrance but for friends.' The Erenoh effected a landing by 
stratao-em in the reign of WiUiam and Mary, and remained for a few days the lords of the islanders and their 
rabbit-warrens. 

Cornwall, tlie soutli-west extremity of Britain, is a peninsula surrounded by the sea 
on all sides except the east, where it is bounded by Devon. The shores of the county 
are generally rocky and high, occasionally wild and stern, broken by bays, especially on 
the sou-them side, and marked with far advancing headlands. Among the latter, the 
Lizard chiefly a mass of serpentine, is the most southerly porut of the entire island, and 
the Land's End, a projection of granite, is the most westerly part of England. The 
former lofty and precipitous, overlooks a long stretch of noble coast, with the ocean 
grandly iu view, and is interesting to the botanist from the splendid heaths which 
flourish on the serpentine formation. The latter, with a name which at once excites the 
ima^uiation, is not distinguished by any peculiarity from several neighbouring promon- 
tories • and the stranger reaches the particular ridge of rooks as the result of inquiry. 
But less than a mile distant, the district is indicated by a house bearing the inscription 
on one side, ' This is the first Inn in England,' and on the other, ' This is the last Inn in 
England ' a curious instance of the exclusive view taken by the inmates of the attributes 
of then locality. The country between the two remarkable headlands is indented by the 
beautiful expanse of Moimt's Bay, the largest of the inlets, which derives its name from 
St Michael's Mount, an isolated conical rock, 250 feet high, on the northern side. It 
forms a semi-island, being completely insulated at high-water, but connected with the 
main shore by a causeway, which is left dry on the recession of the tide. From the 
summit crowned by a castellated ecclesiastical structure fitted up as a private residence, 
the view is magnificent. In the interior of the county, the surface consists generally of 
slaty rocks, with a substratum of granite, which has burst through the covering at 
intervals, and appears in large detached masses. Erom the decomposition of the granite, 
beds of porcelain-clay have been formed, which is extensively shipped to the seats of 
porcelain production. The many singularly-shaped detached rocks, called 'hurlers,' 
' rooking-stones,' and the fantastic ' Cheesewring,' have probably been fashioned by the 
decomposing process, assisted by the rains, which have removed the softer parts of their 
material, and left the hard skeletons remaining. Tin and copper are the important 
mineral products, but lead, silver, zinc, manganese, antimony, and cobalt, are also 
obtained, workings for which are occasionally conducted in very extraordinary sites. 

The Botallack copper-mine is entered on the very verge of cUffs of the boldest character, wliich rise 
abruptly from a boisterous ocean ; and, as the excavations are carried beneath its floor, the thunder of the 



CORNWAlt/. 211 

wdvos overhead is distinctly heard by the miners. The pilchard-fishery is also a leading industry, the value 
of which is indicated by the common toast of ' tin and pilchards.' Bodmin, conveniently situated in the 
centre of the county, ranks as the capital, but is of very moderate size, as are all the Cornish towns. St 
Ausiedj near a bay of the south coast, has a large tract of kaolin in its vicinity, and several stream-tm works 
one of which, called the Happy Union, in the valley of Pentuan, has yielded for generations a considerable 
quajitity of the metal. The valley contains an accumulation of gravel, sand, and clay, extending in places 
to the depth of sixty feet, below which 
is the tin-ground, resting on the solid 
rock. The ore occm'S in the form of 
coarse sand, and of pebbles up to ten 
pounds' weight. Truro and Redruth, 
on the south-west, besides being among 
the most important towns, are the 
centres of a large but scattered popu- 
lation, being in the principal copper- 
mining district. In this neighbourhood, 
the natural aspect of the landscape is 
unattractive, consisting of moors en 
livened only by the furze and heath, oi 
of gi'anite protuberances, bare of vtgc 
tation. But the transforming effects 
of industry appear on every hand, m 
cottages of stone with white washed 
fronts, two or three together, or 
arranged in hamlet-like groups, pos- 
sessing gardens in which vegetables are 
raised for use, and flowers tor orna- 
ment. These are occupied by the 
miners. At the same time, tall engme- 
houses and still taller chimneys are 
prominent in the scenery. At the 
Consolidated Copper-mines, m the 
parish of Gwennap, the excavations 
have a total extent of sixty three 
miles. Falmouth, on the slioie of a 
south-western bay, often mentioned as 
the rendezvous of the fleet in time of 
war, and once a principal mail packet 
station, has lost jnuch of its import- 
ance in the last respect, having been 
superseded by other places, and is 
now cliiefly a trading port. St Ives, 
on the north coast, and Penzance on 

the south, are the head-quai-fcers of the pilchard-fishery. Millions are animaBy taken. A small proportion 
is sold fresh on the beach at a very cheap rate, but the greater part is cured, packed in hogsheads, and 
exported to Italy. Penzance, beautifully situated on the western side of Mount's Bay, is the most westerly 
English town, famed for the mildness of its climate. Sir Humphry Davy, bom in the parish, served his 
apprenticeship in the town. On the opposite shore of the bay, Marazion, the ' Bitter Zion,' received its 
name from the Jews, who occupied the place, and farmed the tin-mines, till Edward I. banished the race from 
the kingdom. Between Penzance and the Land's End, a sUght divergence from the road leads to the cele- 
brated Loggan Stone. This is a mass of granite, estimated to weigh upwards of eighty tons, so delicately 
poised on the top of another rock that the strength of one man will suflice to set it in motion. It was once 
vulgarly supposed only to respond in this way to the touch of the imiocent, 

* Firm as it seems, 
Such is its strange and virtuous property. 
It moves obsequious to the gentlest touch 
Of him whose breast is pm'e ; bub to a traitor, 
Though e'en a giant's prowess nerved his arm. 
It stands as fixed as Snowdon.' 

On the extreme western horizon, looking out from the Land's End in ordinarily clear weather, the ScUly 
Islands may be seen, about thirty miles distant. They form a compact group of from one to two hundi-ed 
islets and rocks, rise out of a deep sea, and with little exception are composed of granite, which the tempests 
have worn at various points into strange and striking shapes. So stormy is the climate that there are said to 




Coast near Teen, Cornwall. 



212 



ENGLAND AND WALES. 



be, on an average, not more than six really calm days in the year. Forty of the islands bear herbage, 
consisting o£ thin short grass intermixed with heath, dwarf-furze, fern, and moss. Twenty-seven have an 
area of an acre and upwards. Six are inhabited — St Mary, Tresco, St Martin, St Agnes, Bryher, and Samson. 
St Mary, the largest, has a circuit of from nine to ten miles. It contains Hugh Town, the little capital, on 
the western side, and has some timber and fruit-trees in a few sheltered spots. The names of the Piper's 
Hole, the Cow and Calf, the HeUwethers, Buzza Hill, the Dutchman's Cam, the Kettle and Pans, the Monk's 
Cowl, the Tooth, the Pulpit, the Hangman's Isle, and the Old Man cutting Turf, designate caves, reefs, and 
rocks. Groups of cabins may be occasionally met with, ambitiously styled Bristol and London. The 
inhabitants are fishermen, sailors, and pilots. In the year 1707, a fleet under Sir Cloudesley Shovel was 
driven in thick tempestuous weather upon the south-western members of the group, and totally wrecked, 
with the loss of 2000 lives. The body of the admiral was cast ashore on Perth Hellick, the 'cove of 
■willows,' in Isle St Mary, and buried, but was subsequently removed to Westminster Abbey for interment. 




Eoman Wall, Northmnberland. 




lloel-Siabot from the Lledd^vr Valley. 



VII. NORTH WALES. 



Counties. 



Caernanronshire, 
Denbighshire, 
Flinislrire, . 
Merionethshire, . 
Montgomeryshire, 



Area in Sgtuare Miles. Principal Towns. 

. 302 . . . Beaumaris, Amlwch, Aberffraw, Holyhead. 

579 . . Caernarvon, Bangor, Conway, Llandudno. 

, 603 . . . Euthin, Denbigh, "Wrexham, Abergely, Llangollen. 

289 . , Flint, Mold, HolyweU, St Asaph, EhyL 

. 602 . , . Dolgelly, Barmouth, Harlech, Bala. 
. 735 . . Montgomery, Welshpool, Newtown, Llanidloes. 



Wales, once an independent territory, was gradually encroached upon under tlie Norman 
sovereigns of England, by powerful nobles who were placed in charge of the border 
districts, or the Marches, with the title of Lords "Warden, for the purpose of securing them 
from attack. But these aspiring barons soon added the work of incursion to the task of 
guardianship. "With their own retainers, they sought aggrandisement from the "Welsh ; 
and, as their private enterprises added to the dominions of the crown, they were allowed 
to keep possession of the conquered lands, securing them with forts and castles. In this 
way, the whole maritime district of South "Wales was wrested from its ancient occupiers, 
and formed a convenient highway to Ireland in the time of the first Plantagenet, who 
embarked at Milford Haven for the conquest of the sister-island. ISTorth Wales, or the 
princedom of Aberffraw, remained independent to the reign of Edward I., who effected its 
reduction ; and began the division into counties and hundreds, in order to assimilate the 



214 ENGLAND AND WALES. 

acquisition to Ms Englisli dominions. Eight only of the counties -were constituted by 
Mm. The remaining ioxa, Eadnor, Brecknock, Montgomery, and Denbigh, were created 
by Henry VIIL, in whose reign the principality was fully incorporated -with the 
kingdom. 

Anglesey is separated from the mainland of Wales by the Menai Strait, but is 
connected with it by a suspension and a tubidar bridge across the channel, both of which 
are justly classed with the most remarkable monuments of engineering skiU. The 
insular county, about twenty miles long by seventeen broad, and upwards of eighty miles 
in circuit, is of great public importance as the nearest and most convenient jDoint of 
communication with Dublin, traversed by the railway from Chester to Holyhead. Its 
general aspect is unattractive, being comparatively flat, and deficient in woodland scenery, 
but it possesses considerable mineral wealth. A gray marble is extensively quarried for 
building purposes, and a vast amount of copper has been obtained from the Parys mines. 
The island, a chief sanctuary of the Druids and their last stronghold, is rich in 
antiquities and memorials of their time. It was originally distiagmshed by the old 
British name of 3f6n, signifying '^remote,' whence the Mona of the Eomans, and received 
from the Saxons the present denomination. Angles ey, 'the isle of the Angles or Enghsh.' 
Priestholm or Puffin Island, close in shore at the north-east extremity, has the former 
name from a religious recluse of the sixth century,'] who made it Ms retreat, and the 
latter from vast swarms of the puffin-aulc, wMch resort to it as a breeding-station. It 
was the scene of the melancholy wreck of the Rothesay Castle in 1831, since wMch period 
a hght-house has been erected on the southern point. On the western side of Anglesey, 
lies the semi-island of Holyhead, detached by a sandy channel fordable at low water, and 
connected by an artificial embankment, with a bridge near the centre, tMough which the 
tide rushes with extreme violence. The northern coast scenery of this appendage is wUd 
and rocky, marked with precipices and caverns, haunted by innumerable sea-fowl, wMle 
the falcon eagle wheels roimd the Mghest crags. 

The insular capital, Bemimaris, a port with some coasting-trade, but chiefly dependent upon summer 
visitors, is pleasantly situated on the shore of a spacious bay, at the northern opening of the Menai, and 
commands fine views of the Caemarvonslrire Mountains, overtopped by the majestic Snowdon. Euins 
remam of a castle, the parent of the town, erected by Edward I., now ornamented with walks, shrub- 
beries, and plantations, for public recreation. Amlwch, on the north coast, is indebted to the copper-mines 
in its vicinity, for its rise from a petty hamlet to a thriving town, and has a harbour excavated out of the 
solid rock as an outlet for their produce. The metallic wealth of the Parys slate-mountain was discovered 
March 2, 176S, a day which has ever smce been observed as a festival. The site speedily became renowned 
for its productiveness, and the little expense involved in profiting by it. No shafts were necessary, but an 
immense mass of ore had simply to be quarried on the summit of a hill of moderate elevation. It added 
vast wealth to the family of the Marquis of Anglesey, and raised to opulence that of Mr Hughes, a 'Welsh 
cm-ate, who was in part proprietor of the ground. The yield has long declined, but the mines are stni 
worked, and are estimated to have furnished a grand total of 85,000 tons of pure copper, valued at the 
enormous sum of £7,650,000. Aherffmw, near the south coast, now a small village, was once the seat of the 
native princes of North "Wales, in memory of whom tlie little inn, resorted to by anglers, has the name of 
Prince lleweUyn. Solyhead, on the northern side of its semi-island, the largest toivn, has become so by 
being made the govermnent steam-packet station for Dublin, while brought into direct communication with 
London by railway. At great national cost, the harbour has been improved, and by the construction of 
a huge pier or breakwater, the exposed bay has been converted into a secure roadstead, available for vessels 
of the largest class, in all ivinds and all states of the tide. Por the execution of this last work, material 
was at hand in tlie adjoining rocks, which were dislodged by means of gunpowder and the voltaic battery. 
On one of these Masting occasions in the year 1857, which attracted visitors from afar, a charge of 16,000 
pounds of powder brought down not less than 120,000 tons of the hardest quartz, in masses of various sizes, 
not one of which was propelled a hundred yards from the face of the rock, while a goat browsing on 
the verge at the time, descended with the debris, but sustained no harm beyond the fright. 

The Menai Strait is about twelve nriles long, by from one-third to half a mile in average breadth, but has 
a contraction to less than 200 yards at one point, through which the tide flows with such violence as 
to resemble the rapids of a great river. It was crossed by the Roman general Suetonius, who passed his 



CAERNARVONSHIRE. 



215 



infantry over in flat-bottoined boats, -while the cavalry swam tlieir horses. Previous to the erection of the 
first bridge, connection between the opposite shores was maintained by six ferries, wliile the herds of 
Anglesey cattle were compelled to effect the passage by s^vimming. The Suspension Bridge, a beautiful and 
dm-ablo specimen of engineering, towards the north extremity of the strait, has a total length of about one- 
third of a mile ; a height of a liundi'ed feet above high water ; a weight, as to the iron-work, of upwards of 
2000 tons ; ajid for more than thirty years it has borne uninjured the crossing of heavy vehicles, and the 
strain of storms. It was completed in the early part of the year 1826, and on the morning of Monday, 
January 30, the London mail passed over it. About a mile to the southward, the channel is spanned by a 
bolder and more novel highway — the Britannia Tubular Bridge — constructed for carrying the Chester and 




The Menai and Tubular Bridge. 

Holyhead Railway. It consists of two lines of iron tubes, or hollow girders, each more than a quarter of a 
mile in length, which rest on three towers, besides the abutments on the shore, and are at the bottom rather 
more than a hundred feet above liigh water. These enoi-mous corridors were put together on the land, 
conveyed by pontoons to the base of tlie towers, and raised to their final resting-place by means of 
hydrauUo presses, considered to be the most gigantic mechanical operation ever perfonned. The first train 
passed through this extraordinary structure on March 6, 1850. Not only are the tubes strong enough to 
bear their o^vn weight through the vast span between the towers, but a line-of-battle-ship might be 
suspended from them without danger. The most furious gales that sweep the strait cause only a trifling 
oscillation; but, like a huge snake, the iron bridge creeps backward and forward, dilates and contracts during 
the twenty-four hours, from half an inch to one or more, as the efi'ect of change of temperature. 

Caernarvonshire, part of tlie adjoining mainland and its north-western extremity, is 
the most elevated portion of Wales and of South Britain, largely overspread by the 
Snowdonian mountains. The rooks are of majestic proportions and shaip outline, 
disposed ia the -wildest maimer, but are mostly bare of vegetation, except in hoUows 
filled "with peat or clay, where a coarse herbage grows, sustaining a hardy race of sheep 
and smaU black-cattle, with a munber of goats. The principal heights are Carnedd 
Dafydd, Camedd LleweUyn, and Snowdon, respectively 3429, 3469, and 3590 feet above 
the sea. Level and fertile tracts oceui to a limited extent, especially in the vale of the 
Conway Eiver, which forms for some distance the eastern border, and flows to the north 
coast, expanding into a considerable estuary. The Seiont and the Ogwen descend west- 
ward to the Menai, and the Glasslyn southward to Cardigan Bay. These and other 



21G 



ENGLAND AND WALES. 



streams are connected witli small but very cliarming highland lakes. Slates of the finest 
quality are -wrought at Penrhyn and Nantle, where the quarries are of unsurpassed 
magnitude, give employment to thousands of workmen, and have transformed mountain- 
wastes into scenes of industry and prosperity. 





Pass of Uanberis. 



Cae^inamon, at the month ot the Seiont, near the southern entrance of the Menai, is a well-huilt town and 
considerable sliipping port. It is also a place of great antiquarian and historical interest. The ancient walls 
remain, hut the houses and streets pass far beyond their limits ; and the stately castle is still externally 
entire, one of the most formidable fortresses of the middle ages. Edward II., commonly called Edward of 
Caernarvon, was bom here, and became the first English Prince of "Wales, a title which has ever since been 
bestowed upon the eldest son of the reigning sovereign. Bangor, at the northern opening of the strait, a 
small episcopal city, occupies a romantic valley between two rocky ridges, "within easy distance of very fine 
scenery, and is a favourite place of summer resort. The cathedral, a plain but pleasing building, contains 
the graves of several Welsh princes and bishops. Conway, at the mouth of the river of that name, exhibits 
the ancient and the modern in close contact. The old fortifications, consisting of a wall, with towers, 
battlements, and gateways, are in a good state of preservation ; the remains of the castle, once a noble 
stronghold, are extensive ; while hard by, the river is crossed by a suspension and a tubular bridge, side by 
side. The pearl-muscle is found in the stream, and was abundant there in the time of the Eomans. Coracles 
are in common use with the Conway fishermen, as in several other parts of Wales, identically the same in 
construction as the craft which floated the ancient Britons. They are made ot wicker-work or laths, 
covered with skins or strong canvas coated with pitch, and are so small and Ught as to be readily carried 
upon the backs of their owners. Llandudno, a modem and elegant watering-place, is seated near the base 
ot the Great Orme's Head, in a detached portion of the comity, which forms its north-eastern extremity. 
In the opposite south-western direction several islands fringe the shore, the largest of wliich, Bardsey, was a 
favourite retreat ot the bards, and hence obtained from the Saxons the name of Bards-ey, ' the isle of the 



DENBIGHSHIRE. 



217 



bards.' It was called by the Britons, Ynys Erilli, ' the island of the current,' from the strong tidal flow 
between it and the mainland, which often renders communication difficult and perilous. 




Denbighshire, tlie liorder county on tlie east, and the most populous division of North 
Wales, has a short northern coast-line, hut considerahle extension inland, with an 
extremely irregular shape. Though generally hiUy and occasionally rugged, the elevations 
are not important, and there are many finely-contrasted scenes of quiet beauty, particularly 
in the lovely vales of Clwyd and Llangollen. The latter is traversed hy the Dee, wliich 
passes through the county from "west to east. The Conway flows along the western 
border, and the Clwyd along the eastern. Two noble aqueducts by Telford carry the 
Ellesmere Canal across the valley of the Dee and that of its afftuent the Ceriog, but are 
now surpassed in extent and massive grandeur by two viaducts over the same streams for 
the Shrewsbury and Chester Eailway. Coal-pits, ironworks, lead-mines, and slate-quarries 
are numerous, indicating the chief mineral produce of the district. 

Ruthin, the assize town, occupies the slope and summit of a hill rising up from the right bank of the 
Chvyd, not far from the southern termination of its vale, in the midst of very pleasing scenery. Its Welsh 
name, Rhudd-ddyn, signifies the 'Bed Fortress,' in allusion to a castle built by Edward I., so called from the 
colour of the stone of which it was constructed, now replaced by a corresponding modern edifice. Denbigh, 
a genteel town, is likewise on a steep hillside, about the centre of the vale, but some distance from the 
western bank of the river. Speaking of the valleys of Wales, Burke has remarked, that ' the Clwyd is the 
most rich ; Llangollen, the most picturesque ; Ffestiniog, the most abounding in beautiful and subHmc 
combinations ; the Glamorgan, the most rural ; the Usk, the most graceful ; and the To^Ty, by far the most 
adapted for a quiet and elegant retirement.' Fine ruins of Denbigh Castle crown the summit of the hill, 
once under the government of Richard Myddelton, father of Sir Hugh, the enterprising projector of the 
New River, London. Wrexham, the largest town, and Rualon, a populous parish, are the principal centres 
of mining industry. In the neighbourhood of Abergele, a small seaport and bathing-place, Mrs Hemans 
spent many of her early years, and formed that attachment to Welsh scenery, music, and traditions, which 



218 



ENGLAND AND WALES. 



appears in her poems, Llangollen, a lively village in the excursion season, as a station for tourists and 
anglers, gives its name to the charming valley in which it is situated, through which the Dee flows with a 
rapid current. The high conical hill of Dinas Briin, crowned with the remains of a fortress, rises directly 
opposite, and VaUe Crucis Abbey, is a strildng ecclesiastical ruin in the immediate vicinitj''. 




Snowdon from Capel Carig. 

rLiNTSHiRE, the smallest of the Welsh counties, but with a denser population than any 
other except Glamorganshire, consists of a narrow maritime tract between the mouth 
of the Clwyd and the estuary of the Dee, with a detached portion whoUy inland. It corre- 
sponds to the preceding district ia superficial features and mineral produce, has 
numerous antiquities, interesting historical relations, and a mixed race of inhabitants, 
partly Welsh and partly EngHsh, owing to its position on the frontier of England. 
Offa's Dyke, a ditch and rampart constructed in the eighth century by the powerful 
Saxon king of that name, to protect his territory against the Welsh, had here its northern 
termination, and extended thence southward to the outlet of the Wye. Some portions 
of it remain, and the line may be generally traced. 

Flint, a small shipping port on the Dee estuary, simply gives its name to the county, having been 
superseded by Mold, on the Alyn, as the assize town. But Soli/well is the chief manufacturing and mining 
centre. This place has its name from a spring early consecrated to St "Winifred, the most copious in the 
kingdom. It is estimated to discharge upwards of twenty tons of water per minute, is very little affected by 
long droughts or excessive rains, varies but slightly in its temperature, and is so clear that the minutest 
object at the bottom of the basin may be readily perceived. In former times, afflicted pilgrims came from 
afar both to bathe in the well and drink of the water, which was believed to possess supernatural efficacy in 



MEBIONETHSHIRE — MONTGOMEEYSHIRE. 219 

the removal o£ disease. It is now more usefully employed in di-iving the machinery of several factories. 
St Asaph, with the rank of a city, being the seat of an episcopate, has only village dimensions, but exhibits a 
picturesque appearance, occupying an eminence near the confluence of the Chvyd and Elwy. The see is of 
very ancient date, and numbers the distinguished prelates, Beveridge and Horsley, in the list of those who 
have presided over it. The name is derived from that of a pious scholar of the sixth century, Asa or Asaph, 
who became the first bishop. Bhuddlan, three mUes to the northward, now an obscure town, was fomierly 
a place of great importance, and retains memorials of it in massive fragments of a strong fortress. It was 
the grand military post of Edward I., and liis magazine of provisions during the conquest of the principality. 
Here he held a parliament in 1283, which enacted the Statute of Khuddlan, declaring formally the 
annexation of "Wales to England, while charters of incorporation were granted to various towns, and old 
customs deemed detrimental were abolished in favour of others more advantageous. Part of the wall of the 
building in which the council sat is still standing, and is distinguished by a tablet bearing an appropriate 
inscription. Morfa Bhuddlan, or the marsh of Khuddlan, denominates the lowland between the town and 
the sea, and is also the name of a sweetly-plaintive air composed on the occasion of a great slaughter of the 
"Welsh in the district in the Saxon times. Rhyl, on the coast near the outlet of the Clwyd, with smooth 
firm sands adjoining, is a bathiag-iDlace whoUy modern, having been called into existence by the Chester and 
Holyhead Hallway, which affords easy access to it from the populous districts. 

Merionethshiee, on the west coast, extends along the shore of Cardigan Bay, from the 
mouth of the Glasslyn on the north to that of the Dovey on the south. Besides these 
border rivers, it is "watered by the Ma"wddaoh, the D-wyiid, the Disia"wy, and the upper 
co'urse of the Dee, "svith many torrents and cascades ; contains Lake Bala, and a great 
number of pools dispersed among the hills ; and is throughout a region of mountains and 
deep valleys, "which present a constant succession of magnificent landscapes. The highest 
summits are Cader Berwyn, 2563 feet ; Arrenig, 2816 feet ; Arran Fo-wddy, 2955 feet ; and 
Cader Idris, 2959 feet. Some of the valleys are remarkably fine, especially those of 
Ffestiniog and DolgeUy, and contain fertile tracts, but the soil is in general poor and only 
fit for pasturage. Cattle and sheep are fed upon the hills, and the small native ponies are 
reared, called Merlins, sure-footed and hardy, though not so common as formerly. Slates 
are quarried in various places ; several lead-mines are "worked ; and some gold is obtained 
by crushing the auriferous veins wliich traverse the primary rooks. 

This county is the only division of the principality which retains its old British name, Mcirionydd. It is 
veiy thinly peopled, contains but few antiquities, and has little historical interest, owing to its remoteness 
from the scene of action during the struggles of the "Welsh -with the Saxons, Normans, and early EngUsh. 
At the present date, there is no person of title resident witliin its limits — no borough, mayor, or corporation ; 
and it is not uncopmion for the county jail to be without a single tenant. DolgeUy, the principal town, has 
its name, which signifies ' the dale or vale of hazels,' from the wide and wooded valley in which it is situated, 
through which an affluent flows to the Mawddach. Mountains, lakes, and waterfalls distinguish the 
neighbourhood. Southward rises the majestic mass of Cader Idris, with its steep and frowning precipices, 
the summit of which is six mUes distant. The view from it embraces Snowdon, with its dependent heights, 
on the northern horizon, and Phnlimmon on the southern, -with the whole semicu-cular sweep of Cardigan 
Bay, while eastward the eye catches indistinctly the "Wrekin, rising up dimly from the plain of Salop. The 
town has a manufacture of coarse woollens, and is a frequented station for tourists. It was for some time the 
head-quarters of Owen Glendower, during liis Tinsuccessful rebellion in the reign of Henry TV"., who survived 
to die a natural death, hid in various retreats, one of which .still bears the name of Og Owain, or Owen's 
Cave. Barmouth, the only port, ten miles westward, a summer resort for sea-bathing, is beautifully 
situated on the northern shore of the Mawddach estuary, at the foot and on the side of a steep roclcy 
acclivity. The route between the two places presents at every point the most splendid scenery. HiTearly 
midway is the Vigra gold-mine, with its crushing mill, romantically seated on a mountain-stream. Harlech, 
near the coast noi-thward, once an important borough, has dwindled to an insignificant village by the 
side of its ruined castle. Sala, at the lower extremity of the lake to which its name is given, clean and 
neat, is the assize town alternately with DolgoUy, wliile Harlech remains the head of the county for 
parliamentary purposes. The lake, often called Pimble-mere, is about four miles in length by half a mile in 
average breadth, has great depth, very pure water, and abounds with fish. 

MoNTGOJiERTSHiEE, whoUy inland, and of compact form, belongs almost entirely to the 
basin of the upper Severn, ■which descends from the side of Plinlinimon, on the south- 
western border. This mountain, 2481 feet in height, consists of three huge masses, the 
loftiest of "which is further divided into two heads, each marked by a carnedd, or pile of 
stones, Ifatives of the principality rarely visit the summits mtliout adding a stone to the 



Connties. 


Area in Square Miles. 


Cardiganshire, 


. . 693 . 


Pembrokesliire, . 


. . 628 


Caermarthansliu-e, 


. 947 . 


Glamorganshire, 


855 


Brecknoclfshire, . 


. . 719 . 


Eadnorshire, 


. . 425 



220 ENGLAND AND WALES. 

heaps. The general surface is rugged, yet well wooded, occupied with sheep-walks, except 
in the great river-valley, where the soil is fertUe and under tillage, and the "Welsh flannel 
manufacture has its principal seat. 

Montgomery, a small borough close to the English border, has its name, and likewise the county, from 
Roger de Montgomery, Earl o£ Shrewsbury, in the time of "William Eufus, who founded the castle, the 
remains of wliich crown an adjoining eminence. In the vicinity, the line of Offa's Dyke may be traced for a 
considerable distance. The famous Lord Herbert was born here, and also Dr Eees, the editor of the 
well-known cyolopsedia which bears his name. Welshpool, Newtown, and Llanidloes, all on the Severn, are 
the populous to^vns, where woollen goods are produced, cliiefly flannels, and extensively disposed of at 
fortnightly markets. Abundance of pure water, and the numerous sheep reared on the hiUy tracts, led to the 
establishment of the manufacture. 'Welshpool has its name, properly Pool, from a small lake in the vicinity, 
to which the prefix is added to distinguish it from the English Poole in Dorsetsliii-e. 

Vin. SOUTH WALES. 

PrincipaliTowns. 
Cardigan, Aberystwith, Lampeter. 
Haverford-west, Pembroke, Tenby, St Davids, 
Caennai-than, Llandeilo, Llanelly. 
Cardiff, Merthyr-Tydvil, Swansea, Llandaff. 
Brecon, Crickhowell, Builth. 
JTew Eadnor, Presteign. 

Cardiganshire, on the curving shore of the spacious hay to which its name is given, 
extends from the outlet of the Dovey Eiver on the north, to that of the Teify on the 
south ; and is also watered by the Eheidol and Ystwith, with numerous streams often 
swollen into furious torrents. The greater part of the maritime region is level and fertile, 
but highlands largely overspread the interior, which being generally destitute of natural 
woods, clothed with peat and heather, have a bleak and dreary aspect. The population is 
spare ; the manufactures insignificant ; but the mineral wealth is very considerable, 
consisting of lead, copper, zinc, and slate, with a proportion of silver extracted from the 
lead ores. Hardy cereals are grown, with wheat of fine quality on the coast levels, and 
great numbers of sheep and black-cattle are reared on the uplands. 

Cardigan, a small port on the Teify, a little above its mouth, engaged with the herring-fishery, derives its 
name, and also the county, from that of a native prince, Caredig, of which it is a slightly-corrupted form. 
Aherystwilh, near the outfall of the conjoined Ystwith and Eheidol, is the principal town, with a good 
harbour, considerable coasting-trade, exceUei^t accommodation for summer visitors, and pleasant adjoining 
heights, where the advantages of the mountain-air and the sea-breeze are combined. One of the chief points 
of attraction in "Wales, the Devil's Bridge, is some eleven miles distant, the whole route to which is replete 
with interest. Two arches, one above the other, are here thro"\vn across a tremendous chasm, the sides of 
which are well clothed with coppice-wood. Through tliis passage the Mynach rushes to join the Eheidol 
immediately below, wliile the latter stream hurries through a similar ravine to the junction, both leaping in 
a series of cascades. It is ' a scene to be feasted on, trembled at, and dreamed of, sleeping and waking ; but 
not to be preconceived, painted, or described.' The lower arch is of ancient but uncertain date, traditionally 
referred to the monks of Strata Florida Abbey. The upper, of thirty feet span, with an improved roadway, 
was constructed in the middle of the last century. Lampeter, ' the Church of St Peter,' a to^vn on the Teify, 
is the seat of St David's College, opened in 1827, for the training of candidates for holy orders, who are 
unable to meet the expenses of education at the old universities. 

Pembrokeshire, a peninsular district, enclosed on all sides by the sea except the east, 
forms the south-west extremity of the principahty, and is indebted to this position for its 
more humid and genial clunate, being fuUy exposed to the south-west winds of the 
Atlantic. Hence milder winters, cooler sununers, and the greater rainfall. The coast is 
indented by the extensive inlets of Milford Haven and St Bride's Bay, with several others of 
minor dimensions; and presents romantic scenery and majestic headlands at various points. 
Agricultural produce is raised for export to the EngHsh markets, and the fisheries are of 
great value. The population is only partly Welsh. In the reign of Henry I., a number 
of Plemings applied to him for permission to settle in his dominions ; and were planted 



PEMBROKESHIRE — CAEEMARTHENSHIRB. 



221 



in tho soutliern part of tliis county to secure possession of it for his crown. These 
colonists and their descendants, heing viewed with dislike by the natives, did not 
amalgamate -with them, but adopted tho language and customs of the English ; and the 
district they occupied received the name of Little England beyond Wales. The two 
classes are stDl to some extent distinct in speech and habits. 




Milford Haven. 

Haverford-west, on a small affluent flowing into the northern head o£ Milford Haven, is a flonrishing town 
and river-port, anciently the principal station of the Flemisli settlers. Pembroke, at the head of a creek on 
the southern side of the same great inlet, has a conspicuous feature in its dilapidated historic castle, the 
hu'fchplace of Henry VII.; and acquires importance from the royal dockyard at a short distance, seated 
du'cctly on the main shore. This is the youngest of the naval arsenals, having been formed within the 
present century. It occupies an area of eighty acres, and has sent out some of the finest ships of the navy. 
Milford Haven, so called after tlie small town of that name on the northern bank, is the grandest natural 
harbour of Great Britain, and was pronounced by Lord Nelson to be the finest in the world. It runs inland 
from west to east about ten miles, branches into a number of bays, creeks, and roadsteads, is in many parts 
two miles wide, has sufficient sea-room for the largest fleets, can be entered at all times of the tide without a 
pilot, and has sheltering-places from every wuid that blows. Tenby, on the south-east coast, a popular 
watering-place, occupies a very picturesque locality, specially interesting to the lovers of natural history, 
from the various forms of marine life with which the rocks and sands abound. Oysters are taken in great 
quantities, mth other sea-fish, and sent chiefly to the Bristol market. Caldy Island, two miles from the 
harbour, containing about 600 acres, abounding mtli sea-fowl, is often visited by boating-excursions. 
St Margaret's Island, only detached from it at high water, is celebrated for its caverns. St Davids, near the 
west coast, the seat of an episcopate, is a completely decayed place, containing farm-labourers and a few 
clergy for the performance of service in the old cathedral. Offl' the shore are seven remarkable rocks called 
the Bishop and his Clerks, with Eamsey Island, occupied by two or three families. 

Caermajrthenshire, the largest division of "Wales, lies on the northern shore of 
Caermarthen Bay, extends to a considerable distance inland, acquires proportionate 
expansion, and has the Tave and Towy for its principal rivers, the latter being by far 
the most important. The valley in which it flows, through nearly fifty miles with an 
average breadth of two miles, is renowned for its fertility and beauty. Though generally 
hilly, embracing rugged tracts of moorland, long narrow valleys are more characteristic of 
the surface, sometimes contractiag to deep wooded glens. A south-eastern section of the 



222 



ENGLAND AND WALES. 



county falls witliiii tie area of the groat coal-field, in wHcli both coal and ironstone 
are obtained. There are also some valuable lead-mines. But -while ironworks and 
manufactures of other metal wares are carried on, the general industry is agricultural. 

Caermarthen, pleasantly situated on the north bank of the Towy, nine miles above its outlet, has a 
flourishing shipping trade in the export of agricultural produce, and the import of articles for domestic 
consumption through an extensive district. An obelisk at the western entrance commemorates Sir Thomas 
Pioton, who feU at ■Waterloo, a native of the town, and its representative in parliament. Sir Kiohard 
Steele, the chief founder of periodical literature, lies in the chancel of the church. The dwelling in which 
he died is now the principal inn ; and that in wliich he resided in the immediate vicinity is a farmhouse. 
Llandeilo, higher up the river, is in one of the most attractive parts of its valley, with sites of special 
interest in the neighbourhood ; the ruins of Dynevor Castle, long the residence of the native princes of 
South "Wales ; Golden Grove, the retreat of Jeremy Taylor ui troubled tunes, where he wrote his Lihei-ty of 
Prophesying ; and Grongar Hill, the subject of a poem by Dyer, who was born on the estate. Llanelly, 
within the area of the great mineral district, occupies a creek of the coast, and is provided with a 
convenient harbour and docks for the export of coal, and the import of copper ore from Cornwall for 
smelting, while in connection by lines of railway with the centres of mining industry. 

Glamobganshire, the most populous of the Welsh counties, commercially also the 
most important, has an extensive coast-hne on the Bristol Channel, marked by the fine 
opening of Swansea Bay, and by conspicuous headlands, some of which are fringed with 
detached rooks at the base. The interior has richly-varied natural features. The 
northern and especially the middle portion of the surface rises in bold bills, separated by 
river-vaUeys, whUe the southern division, ranging from the foot of the bills to the sea, is 
an undulating plain, popularly styled the 'Garden of South Wales,' from the richness 
and early development of its horticultural produce, consequent on the fertility of the soU 
and the mildness of the climate. But though tillage husbandry is pursued to a consider- 
able extent, the main industry is mining and manufacturing, embracing the smelting of 
copper and other ores, with the production of various kinds of hardware. The county 
may be regarded as the greatest depot of coal and ironstone in the empire, the working of 
which is conducted on a groat scale, but has only hitherto contributed to illustrate the 
vastness of the store. Its principal rivers are the Taflf, the Tawo, and the Neath. 

Cardiff, near the outfall of the Taff, one of the chief sMpping-ports of the mineral produce, is of ancient 
date, and combines much of the venerable in its aspect with the expressions of modern commercial 
enterprise, a ship-canal and docks, the Glamorgan Canal, the Taff Vale and South "Wales railways. In its 
castle, superseded by a mansion of recent date, with the exception of the keep, Robert, Duke of Normandy, 
eldest son of the Conqueror, underwent a long imprisonment. Llandaff, two miles distant, the seat of a 
bishopric, is simply a hamlet with a cathedral, but without the service peculiar to such buildings, being used 
only as tlie church of a small rural parish. Mertltyr-Tydvil, by far the largest town in "Wales, situated in 
the wild northern p.irt of the county, has advanced to consequence with extraordinary rapidity. It was a 
mere village at the commencement of the century, and now contains upwards of 60,000 inhabitants, 
with ironworks which rank with the largest in the kingdom. Tliis prosperity dates from the development 
of the coal and iron mines in the neighbourhood, and is shared to some extent by Aberdare and other places 
in the circumjacent district. The name of the town is a corruption of Blartyr St Tydfil, a native princess, 
traditionally said to have suffered death for her religion. Swansea, next in importance, at the mouth of the 
Tawe is centrally seated on the shore of a spacious and beautiful bay, flatteringly compared by some to the 
Bay of iNaples. It is a great steam-packet station, and has a vast traffic in minerals, as the chief locaUty for 
the smelting of copper ores, embracing not only those of Cornwall and other home-districts, but freights from 
distant parts of the world, as Chili and Australia. Neath, on the river of that name, a few miles above its 
outlet is likewise distinguished by metal-works. The vaUey of the river abounds with highly-picturesque 
scenery, more especially in the upper part of its coui'se. The south-western extremity of Glamorganshire 
forms a peninsula, called Gower, originally Gwyr, signifying ' crooked ' or the ' crooked country,' in allusion 
to its irregular shape, containing ten or twelve parishes. Here some of the Flemings settled who came over 
in the time of Henry I. ; and after the lapse of seven centuries and a half, their posterity are a distinct race, 
in dress, dialect, and even personal appearance. Their language, radically Saxon, includes a nmnber of 
obsolete Enghsh words, sometimes Flemish, and the pure "Welsh is very rarely heard. In the frontier parish 
of lilanrhydian the distinction is curiously illustrated, the people being "Welsh in one portion of it, and of 
foreign extraction in the other, with little intercourse subsisting between them. 

Beecknockshieb, an inland district to the northward, lying on the English border, is 



BADNOBSHIEB — THE ISLE OF MAN. 223 

occupied with several mountainous ranges and groups, some of wMch, spread out into 
liarren moors, and embrace a large i^roportion of tlio surface. The most definite chain is 
iu the southern part of the county, runs west and east, is wild and rugged in the extreme 
and has the name of the Forest Fawi in the central portion of its course, and that of the 
Black Mountaius westwardly, from the dark appearance of the heather, when out of 
blossom, with which they are clothed. It contains the liighest summits of South "Wales. 
The greatest elevations are — Capellante, 2394 feet; Pen-y-Cader Fawr, or the Cradle 
Mountain, 2545 feet ; and the Eeacons of Brecon, 2862 feet. The latter are two peaks 
majestically seen from the town named. Fertile river-valleys are, however, numerous, the 
most extensive of which is that of the Usk. It intersects the county from west to east, 
and, with the valleys of its afluents, embraces most of the cultivable land. A few 
woollen manufactures are carried on ; ironworks are conducted on the southern confines ; 
but agriculture is the chief employment of the people, who have generally very neat farm- 
houses and buildings. 

Brecon, centrally seated on the Usk, is one of the most attractive towns of the principality, rendered so by 
good streets and dwellings, interesting architectural remains, luxuriant groves, agreeable public-walks, and 
magnificent moimtain scenery for a southern background. It was the birthplace of Mrs Siddons. Crickhowe!, 
lower donTi the river, -with vestiges of a castle of the time of Edward I., is in an equally beautiful locality, 
and forms a favourite station for sportsmen, fish being abundant in the stream, and g.ame upon the hUls. 
Builih, on the Wye, is at the point where its much-admired scenery commences on descending the river, and 
adjoins the Park "Wells, three powerful mineral springs, respectively saline, sulphureous, and chalybeate. In 
a neighbouring dell, called Cwm LleweUyn, the unfortunate "Welsh prince of that name, the last holder of the 
regal power, perished in a skirmish during the winter of 12S2. 

Eadnoeshire, divided from the preceding county by the "Wye, is traversed by several 
of its tributaries, and belongs almost entirely to its basin. Lofty uplands are prominent 
features of the surface, not forming ranges, or rising in peaks, but spreading out in broad 
moors, studded with bogs. Several of these tracts, though now bare, were once clothed 
with woods ; and hence the name of Eadnor Forest, still applied to a treeless district, the 
most elevated of all, 2163 feet above the sea. But artificial planting has been largely 
adopted by the proprietors of estates. Distinct traces remain of both British and Eoman 
encampments ; medicinal mineral springs are numerous ; natural curiosities and striking 
landscapes might be indicated ; but in every respect this division of "Wales is of 
comparatively inferior interest, and is the least populous part of the whole country south 
of the Tweed. Pastoral husbandry is the chief occupation. The English language is 
prevalent, except among the few scattered peasantry on the western side who are wholly 
tmacquainted with it. 

The towns are extremely small. New Radnor, once fortified, consists of a mere handful of houses. 
Presteign, where the assizes are held, is pleasantly situ.^ted on the Lug, on the verge of Herefordshire, from 
which it is separated by the river. The graves of two distinguished statesmen of the present century are in 
the neighbourhood— Sir S. EomiUy at KuiU Court, and Sir G. C. Lewis at Harpton Court. 

The Isle of Man, iu the broader part of the Irish Sea, generally noticed in connection 
with England, occupies a singularly anomalous position. It is nearly equidistant fcom 
"^''ales, England, Ireland, and Scotland, though most proximate to the latter. It is in 
view from the nearer points of each of these sections of the kingdom in clear weather, and 
has portions of their shores in sight from the summit of its own highland range. Yet it 
forms no part of any of their counties, nor a county of itseK ; and while on the sea- 
road between Liverpool, Dublin, Belfast, and Glasgow, with upwards of 50,000 
inhabitants, it has judicial institutions and revenue laws peculiar to itself, and is without 
representation in the imperial parliament. The island extends thirty miles from north to 
south, and has an average breadth of ten miles, except at the two extremities, where it 
narrows considerably. A chain of slate-mountains runs tlirough it, in the direction of its 
length, the highest point of which, Sneafell, is nearly central, and rises to the height of 



224 ENGLAND AND WAIBS. 

2004 feet above the sea. Lead, copper, iron, and zinc are tlie mineral products, but only 
the former is extensively obtained. Mines, fisheries, and agriculture furnish the chief 
employments. The natives are a Celtic race, speak the Manx language, but it is rapidly 
becoming obsolete, English being generally understood. 

Douglas, the largest town, occupies the shore of a crescent-shaped bay of the east coast, and has a striking 
object in the ruins of Castle Mona. But Castletown, on the southern coasi-Une, ranks as the capital, being 
the residence of the governor, and the seat of the law-courts. King "William's College, in the neighbourhood, 
opened in 1833, is for the training of candidates for holy orders. Towards the south-west extremity, a bold 
sea-cliff has the name of the Spanish Head, in memory of the destruction of part of the Spanish Axmada in 
the •ricinity. Off the main shore is the Calf of Man, a small rocky islet. Peel, with a dilapidated fortress, is 
on the west coast, made familiar by Sir "Walter Scott's novel of Peveril of the Peak, as the scene of many of 
its incidents. The Isle of Man, after being successively subject to the Northmen and the Scotch, came into 
the hands of the English, and was held by the Earls of Derby from 1406 to 1736. It passed from them to 
the Dukes of Athol, who eventually disposed of their rights and patrimony to the crown. The government 
is now administered by a lieutenant, appointed by the sovereign, who is assisted by a local body of twenty- 
four principal landholders ; but no enactment is law tiU it has received the royal assent. 

Throughout England and Wales, except the central portion of the latter, the means of 
intercommunication are developed to an astonishing extent, and are conveniently "within 
reach of the smaller groups of the population, both for their cwn transit, and that of 
commodities of every description. In this respect, the country is "without a rival. The 
turnpike-roads have a total length of nearly 30,000 miles, and the cross-roads of 100,000, 
which, together, would form a line sufficient to describe five times the equatorial circiim- 
ference of the globe. Improved by artificial means, the rivers have been rendered 
navigable to the imited extent of about 2000 miles beyond that for which they are 
naturally adapted. Canals link together their respective basins, connect thi'ough them 
the opposite seas, or diverge into streamless districts, which have involved not less than 
3000 miles of excavation. EaUway communication stretches over a total of at least 7000 
mUes, permeating aU the Enghsh counties, most of them in a very complete manner. 
It is extended also to most of the divisions of Wales, leaving only a central tract as yet 
untouched, or portions of the counties of Cardigan, Merioneth, Brecknock, and Eadnor, 
where the surface is mountainous, and inhabitants are very sparingly distributed. 

The country has considerably more than doubled its population in the course of the 
present century. At the date of the census of 1861, it amounted to 20,061,725, 
which, supposing equable distribution, wiU give an average of 344 persons to each square 
milo of the surface. iN'o other part of Europe can shew so high a ratio, with the exception 
of Belgium. But the actual allotment to the square mile in the different counties 
strilringly varies, from 59 persons in Eadnorshire, and 80 in Westmoreland, to 1275 in 
Lancashire, and 7822 in Middlesex. The vast and dense groups of population are found 
in the metropolitan area, the district which includes Liverpool and Manchester, the tract 
embracing Leeds and Bradford, the region around Birmingham, and the banks of the 
Tyne and Wear along their lower courses. In one of these sites, occupied by a crowd of 
cotton-manufacturing operatives, it has been exemplified, and for the first time in aU 
history, that great aggregations of people, high-spirited and comparatively independent, 
can bear the trial of a bitter destitution, knowing it to be inevitable, and receiving under 
it the practical sympathy of the affluent, not only "without senseless clamour and political 
insubordination, but -with patience and dignity. Amid much ignorance and vice, 
appertaining to large communities, this fact decisively proves the co-existence of a 
preponderating amount of sound intelligence and healthy moral feeling. 



POPULATION OF THE rRINClPAIi TOWNS. 



POPULATION OF THE PRINCIPAL TOWNS ACCORDING TO THE CENSUS OP 1861. 



225 





pop. 




TOP. 




TOP. 




POP. 




pop. 


Alioravon, . , 


2,916 


Bromsgrove, . . 


5,262 


Droylsden, . . 


6,980 


Torsham, 


6,747 


ilarket Rasen, . 


2,468 


Abcrt'iivcnny, . 


4,621 


iuckingham, , 


3,849 


Dudley, . . . 


44,975 


Houghton-Ie- 




Market Weighton 


2,178 


Alieiystwith, , 


5,641 


3nngay, . . . 


3,805 


:>ukinHeld, . . 


15,024 


Spring, . . 


3,824 


Marlborough, . 


3,684 


Abingdon, . . 


6,680 


Juniley, . . . 


28,700 


Dunstable, . . 


4,470 


Ilounslow, . 


5,760 


Marlow (Great), 


6,496 


Acoringlon, . . 


13,872 


Burton-upon- 




Durham, . . . 


14,088 


Sowden, . . 


2,376 


Slar.vlebone, . 436,252 | 


Adpar, .... 


1,473 


Trent, . . . 


13,671 


Dursley, . . . 


2,477 


Huddersficld, 


34,877 


VTaryport, . . 


6,037 


Alford 


2,658 


3ury, .... 


37,663 






Hull, . . . 


97,661 


Melbourne, . . 


2,194 


Alfielon, . . . 


,4,090 


Bury St Edmonds 


13,318 


Eastbourne, . . 


5,795 


llungerford, . 


2,031 


Melcombe Regis and j 


Alnwick, . . . 


5,670 






Egremont, . . 


2,511 


Huntingdon, 


3,816 


Weymouth, . 


11,383 


Alton, .... 


3,286 


Ilaermarthen, , 


9,993 


Elland, . . . 


3,643 


Hyde, . . . 


13,722 


Melksham, . . 


2,462 


Altrinchani, . . 


6,028 


::aernarvon, . . 


8,512 


EUcsmere, . . 


2,114 


llythe, . . 


3,001 


Melton Mowbray 


4,047 


Auilwch, . . . 


S,207 


Jalne 


2,494 


Ely 


7,423 






Merthyr Tydville, 83,S7o | 


AmptlliU, . . . 


2,011 


;;:amborne, . . 


7,208 


Epsom, . . . 


4,890 


[Ifracombe, . 


3,034 


Mid'Uesborough, 


1»,992 




5,221 


Cambridge, . . 


26,361 


Eton 


2,840 


Ilkeston, . . 


3,330 


Miiidleton, . . 


9,876 


Arundel, . . . 


2,49S 


Canterbury, . . 


21,324 


Evesham, . . . 


4,680 


Ilminster, 


2,194 


Mi.idlewioh, . . 


3,146 


Ashborne, . , 


3,501 


Cardiff,, . . . 


32,954 


Exeter, . . . 


33,738 


Ipswich, , . 


37,9a0 


Midhur.-t, . . . 


6,405 


Ashbiii'ton, . . 


3,062 


Cardigan, . . . 


3,543 


Exmoutb, 


6,228 


Ironbridge, . 


3,095 


Milford, . . . 


3,007 


AshbydelaZouch 


, 3,772 


Carlisle, . . . 


29,417 


Eye, . . . 


2,430 






Milton-next-Sitti 


tl,s- 


Ashford, . . . 


5,522 


Castle Donington 


, 2,291 






Keighley, . . 


15,005 


bourne, . . . 


2,731 


Ashton-under- 




Castleford, . . 


3,876 


Fakenham, . . 


3,182 


Kendal, . . 


12,029 


Mold 


3,735 


Lyno, . . . 


34,836 


Chard 


2,276 


Falmouth, 


6,709 


Kenilworth, . 


. 3,013 


Monmouth, . . 


6,783 


AthiTstonc, . . 


3,857 


Chatham, . . . 


30,177 


Fareham, . . 


4,011 


Keswick, . . 


2,610 


Montgomery, 


1,276 


Alherton, . . 


2,692 


Cheadle, . . . 


3,191 


Parnham, . . 


3,926 


Kettering, 


. 5,498 


Morpeth, . . . 


4,296 


Aylesbury, . . 


27,090 


Chelmsford, . . 


6,513 


Farnworth, . 


8,720 


Kidderminster, 


15,399 


Much Woolton, 


3,296 


Aylsham, . . . 


2,338 


Cheltenham, 


39,693 


Farringdon (Grt 


), 2,943 


Kinfare, . , 


. 2,163 










Chepstow, . . 


3,364 


Faversham, . 


5,858 


King's Lynn, 


. 16,170 


Nantwich, , . 


6.223 


Bacup 


10,935 


Chertsey, . . . 


2,910 


Finsbury, . . 


387,278 


Kingston-upon- 




Narberth, . . 


1,209 


Bakowell,. . . 


2,704 


Chesham, . . . 


2,208 


Fishguard, . . 


1,593 


Hull, . . 


. 97,661 


Neath 


6.810 


Banbury, . . . 


4,059 


Chester, . . . 


31,110 


Fleetwood-on- 




Kingston-upon- 




Nevin 


1,818 


Banffor, . . . 


6,738 


Chester-le-Stree 


, 2,550 


Wyre, . . . 


3,834 


Thaines, . 


. 9,790 


Newark, . . . 


11,515 


Barking, . . . 


5,o;6 


Chesterfield, . 


9,836 


Flint, ... 


3,428 


Kirkham, 


. 3,380 


New Brighton, . 


2,404 


Bernard Castle, . 


4,178 


Chichester, . . 


8,059 


Folkstone, . 


8,507 


Knaresborough 


5,402 


Ncwburv, . . 


6,161 


Barnslev, . . . 


17,890 


Chippenham, 


1,603 


Frome, . . 


9,522 


Knighton, . 


. 1,655 Neweastle-unrier 




Barnsta'iile, . . 


10,743 


Cbipping-Norton 


. 3.13? 






Knutsford, . 


. 3,575 


Lyiie, . . . 


12,938 


Barton-upon- 




Chipping-Wy- 




Gainsborough, 


6,320 






Newcastle-upon- 




llumber, . , 


3,797 


combe, , . 


4,221 


Gateshead, . 


33,587 


Lambeth, . . 


294,883 


Tyne, . . 


109,108 


Basingstoke, 


4,654 


Chorley, . . . 


15,013 


Glastonbury, 


S,496 


Lancaster, . 


. 14,487 


Newchurch, . . 


3 115 


Bath 


52,528 


Christchnrch, 


9,368 


Glossop, . . 


19,126 


Launceston, . 


. 2,790 


Newmarket, . . 


4.069 


Batley, . . . 


7,206 


Church, . . 


3,000 


Gloucester, . 


16,512 


Leamington, . 


. 17,958 


Newport (Hants 


, 7.934 


Beauuiarn, . . 


2,558 


Cirencester, . 


6,336 


Godalming, . 


2,321 


Ledbury, , . 


. 3,263 


Newport (Mon.), 


23,249 


Beccles, . . . 


4,266 


Clay Cross, . 


3,601 


Godmanchester, 


2,43S 


Leeds, . . . 


207,165 


Newport (Salop) 


2.8.i6 


Bedford, . . . 


13,413 


Cleekheaton, . 


4,721 


Goole, . . . 


6,8.i0 


Leek, . . . 


. 10,045 


Newport Pagnel 


, 3,676 


Bednoith, . . 


3,968 


Clitheroe, 


7,000 


Gosport, . . 


7,789 


Leicester, . . 


. 68,056 


Newton Abbot, 


5,221 


Belper, .. . . 


9,509 


Cockermouth, 


7,057 


Grantham, . 


4,954 


Leigh, . . . 


. 10,621 


Newton-in-Maek 




Berkbampstead 




Coggesball, i. 


3,166 


Gravesend, . 


18,782 


Leigbton-Buzzard,4 330 


field,. . . 


5,909 


(Great), . . 


3,631 


Colchester, . 


23,809 


Great Harwood 


3,294 


Leominster, . 


. 5,658 


Newtown, 


5,916 


Berwick-upon- 




Colne, . . . 


6,315 


Greenwich, . 


139,436 


Lewes, . . 


. 9,716 


Northallerton, 


4,756 


Tweed, . . . 


13,265 


Congleton, . 


12,344 


Grimsby (Great 


, 11,067 


Lichfield, . . 


. 0,893 


Nortliampton, 


32,813 


Beverley, . . 


9,6o4 


Conway, . . 


2,523 


Guildford, . 


. 3,0-'U 


Lincoln, . . 


. 20,999 


Norwich, . . 


74,891 


Bewdley, . . 


2,905 


Coventry, 


40,936 


Guisbrough, . 


. 3,794 


LisUeard, . . 


. 4.689 


Nottingham, . 


74,693 


Bicester, . . 


2,793 


Cowbiiilge, . 


1,094 


Guiseley, . . 


. 2,226 


Liltlehampton, 


. 2,350 


Nuneaton, 


4,643 


Bidefoid, . . 


5^42 


Cowes (West), 


5,482 






Liverpool, . 


443,938 






Biggleswade, 


4,027 


Crediton, . . 


4,048 


Hadleigh,. . 


. 2,779 


Llandovery, . 


. 1,«66 


Oakham, . . 


2,943 


Bingley, . . 


5,238 


Crewe, , . 


8,159 


Halesowen, . 


. 2,911 


Llanelly, . . 


. 11,446 


Oldhury, . . 


15,615 


Birkenhead, . 


51,649 


Crewkerne, . 


3,666 


Halesworth, . 


. 2,382 


Llanlyllin, . 


. 1,068 


Oldham, . . 


72,333 


Birmingham, 


296,076 


Cricklade, . 


36,893 


Halifas, . . 


. 37,014 


Llangefni, . 


. 1,317 


Olney, . . . 


2,263 


Bishop-Auckland, 6,480 


Crowland, 


2,413 


Halstead, . . 


. 5,707 


Llanidloes, . 


. 3,127 


Ormskirk, 


6,426 


Bishop-Stortfoid 


, 4,673 


Crowle, . . 


2,304 


Hanley, . . 


. 31,953 


Llantrisaint, . 


. 1,493 


Oswestry, . . 


5,414 


Blackburn, . 


63,126 


Croydon, . . 


20,325 


Harrogate, . 


. 4,737 


London (.■» ioi<,}, 2,803,034 


OIley, . . . 


4,458 


Blackpool, . 


3,506 


CuUompton, . 


2,205 


Hartlepool, . 


. 12,245 


Longtown, . 


. 2,717 


Ottery St Mary, 


2,429 


Blandtord, . 


1,521 






Hartlepool(West),ia,603 


Loughborough 


10,830 


Oundle, . . 


2,460 


Bodmin, . . 


4,466 


Dalton, . . 


2,812 


Harwich, . . 


. 6,070 


Loulh, . . . 


. 10,560 


Overton, . . 


1,397 


Bognor, . . 


2,623 


Darlington, . 


15,781 


Haslingden, . 


. 6,929 


Lowestoft, . 


. 10,663 


Oxford, . . 


27,560 


BoUington, . 


3,845 


Dartford, . . 


5,314 


Hastings, . . 


. 22,837 


Ludlow, . . 


. 6,178 






Bolton, . . 


70,395 


Dartmouth, . 


. 4,444 


Haverfordwest, 


. 7,019 


Luton, . . . 


. 15,329 


Padiham, . . 


. 5,675 


Boston, , , 


14,712 


Darwen (Over), 


. 14,327 


Heckmondwike 


8,680 


Lutterworth, 


. 2,289 


Paignton, . . 


. 2,628 


Bourn, . . . 


3,066 


Daventry, 


. 4,124 


Helston, . . 


. 3,843 


Lyme Regis, . 


. 2,318 


Pembroke, . 


. 15,071 


Br.ackley, . . 


. 2,239 


Dawley (Magna), 6,365 


Heracl-Hemp- 




Lymington, . 


. 2,621 


Penrith, . . 


. 7,189 


Bradford-on-Avon,4,291 


Dawlish, . . 


. 3,505 


stead, . . 


. 2,974 


Lytham, . . 


. 2,656 


Penryn, . . 


. 3,547 


Bradford, . . 


106,218 


Deal, . . . 


. 7,531 


Henley-on- 








Penzance, 


. 9,414 


Braintree, . 


. 4,305 


Denbigh, . . 


. 5,946 


Thames, . 


. 3,419 


Macclesfield, 


. 36,101 


Pershore, . . 


. 2,905 


Brampton, , 


. 2,379 


Derby, . . 


. 43,091 


Hereford, 


. 15,585 


JIachynlleth, 


. 1,645 


Peterborough, 


. 11,735 


Brandon, . . 


. 2,203 


Dereham, 


. 3,070 


Hertford, . . 


, 6,769 


Jlaidenhead, 


. 3,896 


Petersfleld, . 


. 5,655 


Brecknock, . 


. 5,235 


Devizes, . . 


. 6,638 


Hexham, . . 


. 4,655 


Maidstone, . 


. 23,016 


Petwortli, . 


. 2,326 


Brentford, . 


. 9,621 


Devonport, . 


. 50,440 


Heywood, 


. 12,824 


Maldon, . . 


. 4,785 


Pickering, . 


. 2,640 


Brentwood, . 


. 2,811 


Dewsbury, . 


. 18,148 


Hinckley, . 


. 6,344 


Malmsbury, . 


. 6,881 


Plymouth, . 


. 62,699 


Bridgenorth, 


. 6,240 


Diss, . . . 


. 3,164 


Hindley, . . 


. 8,477 


Malton (New) 


. 8,072 


Poeklington, . 


. 2,671 


Bridge water. 


. 11,320 


Dolgelly, . . 


. 2,217 


Hitchin, . . 


. 6,330 


Malvern (Grea 


t), 4,484 


Pontefract, . 


. 6,346 


Bridlington and 




Doncaster, . 


. 16,406 


Holbeaeh, 


. 2,083 


Manchester, . 


333,72 


Pontypool, . 


. 4,661 


Quay, . . 
Bridport, . . 


. 5,775 
. 7,719 


Dorchester, . 
Dorking, . . 


. 6,823 
. 4,061 


Holmflrth, . 
Holt, . • . 


. 2,466 
. 1,00E 


Mansfield, . 
March, . . 


. 8,34 

. 3,60 


Poole, . . . 


. 9,769 
. 94,799 


Portsmouth, . 


Brigg, . . . 


. 3,138 


Dover, . . . 


. 26,325 


Holyhead, . 


. 6,193 


Margate, . . 


. 8,87 


Prescot, . . 


. 6,066 


Brighton, . . 


. 77,693 Downharo, . 


. 2,458 


Holywell, . . 


. 5,33E 


Market Drayton, 3,66 


Presteign, . 


. 1,743 


Bristol, . . 


154,093 Driffield (Great), 4,24d 


Honiton, . . 


. 3,301 


Market Har- 


Preston, . . 


. 82,985 


Brixhara, . . 


. 4,390 Droitwich, . 


. 3,124 1 Horncastle, . 



. 4,84 


borougb, . 


. 2,302 1 Pwllheli, . . 


. 2,818 



236 




ENGLAND AND 


WALES. 








POP. 




POP. 




POP. 




POP. 




POP. 


Radnor (New 


, . 2,262 


Sandwich, . 


2,944 


Stourbridge, 


. 8,166 


Tonhridge, . . 


5,919 


Westbury, 


. 6,495 


Kamse)-, . . 


. 2,354 


Scarborough, 


18,377 


StowmarUet, 


. 3,531 


Tunbridge Wells, 13,807 


Westminster, 


254,623 


Ramsgate, . 


. 11,865 


Seaham Harbou 


■, 6,137 


Stratford, . . 


15,994 


Tyldesley, . . 


3,950 


Weymouth and Mel- j 


Reading, . . 


. 25,045 


Selby, . . . 


5,271 


Stratford-upon- 




Tynemouth, . . 


34,021 


combo Regis, 11,383 


Reddltch, . 


. 5,571 


Shaftesbury, 


2,497 


Avon, . . 


. 3,672 






Whitby, . 


. 12,051 


Redruth, . . 


. 7,919 


Sheenioss, . 


12,016 


Stroud, . . 


35,517 


Diversion, . . 


6,630 


Whitchurch, 


. 3,704 


Reigate, . . 


. 9,975 


Sheffield, . . 


185,172 


Sudbury, . . 


. 6,879 


Uppingham, . . 


2,176 


Whitehaven, 


. 18,842 


Retford (East 


, . 2,982 


Shepton 51allet, 


4,868 


Sunderland, . 


78,211 


Usk, .... 


1,546 


Whitstablc, 


. 4;i83 


Rhayader, . 


. 1,030 


Sherborne, . 


6,523 


Swaffham, . 


. 2,974 


Uttoxeter, . . 


3,645 


Whittlesey, 


. 4,496 


Rhuddlan, . 


. 1,406 


ShifTnal, . . 


2,046 


Swansea, . . 


. 41,606 


Uxhridge, . . 


3,816 


Widnes, . 


. 4,803 


Richmond (Sm 


rey),7,423 


Shoreham (New 


, 32,622 


Swindon (New) 


4,167 






Wigan, . 


. 37,668 


Richmond (York), 4,290 


Shrewsbury, . 


22,163 






Ventnor, . . . 


3,208 


Wigton, . 


. 4,011 


Ripon, . . . 


. 6,172 


Sidmouth, 


2,672 


Tadcaster, 


2,327 






Wilton, . . 


. 8,657 


Rochdale, 


. 38,114 


Skipton, . . 


4,633 


Tamworth, . 


4,326 


Wakefield, . . 


23,350 


Wimborne, 


. 2,271 


Rochester, . 


. 16,862 


Sleaford, . . 


3,745 


Taunton, . . 


14,667 


Wallingtord, . 


2,793 


Winchester, 


. 14,776 


Romford, . . 


. 4,361 


Slough, . . 


3,425 


Tavistock, 


8,857 


Walsall, . . . 


37,760 


Windsor, . 


. 9,520 


Romaey, . . 


. 2,116 


Southampton, 


46,960 


Teignraouth, 


6,022 


Walsham (North), 2,896 


Wirksworth, 


. 2,592 


Ross, . . . 


. 3,715 


Southmoltou, 


3,830 


Tenby, . . . 


2,982 


Waltham Abbey, 


2,873 


Wisbeach, 


. 9,276 


Rotherham, , 


. 7,598 


South Petherton 


, 2,031 


Tenterden, . 


3,762 


Wantage, . . . 


3,064 


Witney, . 


. 3,458 


Rugby, . . 


. 7,818 


Southport, , 


8,940 


Tetbury, . . 


2,285 


Ware 


6,002 


Wokingham, 


. 2,404 


Rugeley, . . 


. 4,362 


South Shields, 


35,239 


Tewkesbury, 


6,876 


Wareham, . . 


6,694 


Wolverhampton, 60,860 | 


Runcorn, . . 


. 10,434 


Southwark, . 


193,693 


Thame, . . 


2,917 


Warminster, 


3,675 


Woodbridge, 


. 4,513 


Ruthin, . . 


. 3,372 


Southwell, . 


3,095 


Thetford, . . 


4,208 


Warrington, 


26,431 


Woodstock, 


. 7,827 


Rvde, . . . 


. 9,269 


Southwold, . 


2,032 


Thirsk, . . 


5,350 


Warwick, . . 


10,670 


Worcester, 


. 31,227 


Rye, . . . 


. 3,738 


Sowerby Bridge 


5,382 


Tliorne, . . 


2,591 


Watford, . . . 


4,386 


Workington, 


. 6,467 






Spalding, . . 


7,032 


Tiverton, . . 


10,447 


Wednesbury, . 


16,298 


Worksop, . 


. 7,112 


Saffron Walden, 5,474 


Stafford, . . 


12,532 


Todmorden, . 


. 11,797 


Wellingborough, 


6,067 


Worthing, 


. 5,805 


St Albans, . 


. 7,675 


Staines, . . 


2,5S4 


Topsham, . . 


2,772 


Wellington 




Wotton-under- | 


St Asaph, . . 


. 2,063 


Staley Bridge, 


24,921 


Torquay, . . 


16,419 


(Salop),. . . 


5,576 


Edge, . 


. 2,734 


St Austell, 


. 3,825 


Stamford, 


8,047 


Torrington, . 


3,29S 


Wellington 




Wrexham, 


. 7,562 


St Helens, 


. 18,396 


Staveley, . . 


2,400 


Totness, . . 


4,001 


(Somer.), . . 


3,689 


Wymondham 


. 2,162 


St Ives (Cornwall), 7,027 


Stockport, 


54,681 


Towcester, . 


2,417 


Wells 


4,648 






St Ives (Hunts), 3,321 


Stockton, 


13,357 


Tower Hamlets, 


647,845 


Wells-nest-tbc- 




Yarmouth, 


. 34,810 


St Neots, . . 


. 3,090 


Stoke-upon- 




Tredegar, . . 


9,383 


Sea 


3,098 


Yeadon, . 


. 4,109 


Salford, . . 


102,449 


Trent, . . 


101,207 


Tring, . . . 


. 3,130 


Welshpool, . . 


7,304 


Yeovil,. . 


. 7,957 


Salisbury, . 


. 12,278 


Stone, . . . 


4,609 


Trowbridge, . 


. 9,626 


Wenlock, . . 


19,699 


York, . . 


. 40,433 


Sandbacta, . 


. 3,252 


Stony Stratford, 


2,005 


Truro, . . . 


11,337 


West Bromwich 


17,024 








.££ 




,--^ 


. 






■f " "A^^ffl^® 




^k\ 




*" 


lM||73-=- Mt-^S"* "1 




Hi 








Md 


mkMT 














^^^WfxW 


^^^^1 




^Km' 


















r'>=s^ 


^^^^S 




^Sm" 






„^^t^ 


^^^^^^^B 




^^^Sf 








^^^^^^^ff 


^^^^^^^^^^S 


^^mt^ 






^■^^^^^^ 


^^^B' 




w 








The Stack Kocks. 








EdiDturgh from the Calton Hill. 



CHAPTER III. 



GOTLAND, the northern and smaller division of Great Britain, is 
bounded on the east by the North Sea, on the west and north 'by 
the Atlantic Ocean, on the south by England and the Irish Sea. It 
formerly constituted a separate kingdom, and is naturally, in 
various respects, a distinct cUstrict. The shores are much more 
broken than those of the southern portion of the island, present 
grander headlands, are in general more rocky, and have a distin- 
guishing feature ia the immense number of insular masses adjacent 
to them. Few of the broad open valleys and spacious imdulatmg 
plains, distinctive of the English landscape, mark the interior; but 
in most pai-ts, ranges of bold hills or mountains limit the view of 
*^® observer in one or several du-ections, often at no great distance. 
Ihe highlands of Scotland are' not only more extensive but also loftier than those of 
England, and contain a far larger number of lakes. The two sections of the island also 
widely differ in their geology. Non-fossiliferous rocks, igneous or metamorphic, prevail 




228 SCOTLAND. 

nortli of tlie Tweed, mth scarcely any examples of secondary formations of late date, 
except in patches ; and on the southern border, highly fossiliferous sedimentary strata 
predominate. Not only is the proportion of unproductive land in the former division 
vastly greater, hut the soil and climate in the cultivable area are much less favourable 
to the progress of vegetation. The eastern coast of Scotland, however, bears a general 
resemblance to that of England, being more regular than the western, while the shores 
of both countries on the easterly side are remarkably free from islands, except a few 
of very small dimensions. Most of the important rivers likewise flow eastwardly to 
the basin of the North Sea. 

The greatest extent of the mainland is north. and south; and amounts to 287 mUes, 
following a slightly diagonal Hue drawn from Dunnet Head to the Mull of Galloway, the 
northern and southern extremities. The breadth is extremely various, owing to the far 
advancing inlets on the eastern and western sides, which produce contractions so remark- 
able as to suggest the idea of the country being about to fall into fragments. Where the 
maximum expansion occurs under the parallel of 57° 30', between Buohan Ness, the most 
easterly point, and the west coast of Eoss-shiie, the distance measures about 140 miles. 
But on the south, under the parallel of 56°, the opposite salt waters of the Forth and 
the Clyde are not more than 32 miles apart, and further north, between the head 
of Loch Broom and the mouth of the Oykel Eiver, the width is diminished to 
24 miles. On the east coast, aU the principal indentations are river-estuaries, termed 
' firths ' (from the Scandinavian ' fiord '), and include those of the Forth, Tay, Moray, 
Cromarty, and Dornoch, passing from south to north. The west coast has only the 
estuary of the Clyde, which, however, surpasses all the rest in commercial importance. 
But to the northward of it, there is a continued series of long winding inlets which the 
waves of the Atlantic have contributed to scoop out, somewhat unfortunately called lochs, 
as the same term is applied to the inland lakes, and is apt to create confusion. These 
sea-lochs, together with the firths, increase enormously the coast-line of Scotland, the 
entire length of which is not less than 2500 miles. They place also every part of the 
surface, even where it is most solid, within little more than forty miles of the salt water. 

The interior of the country is commonly stated to consist of two distinct regions — the 
Highlands, generally in the north and west ; and the Lowlands, in the south and east. The 
line of division between them is marked by a valley or plain, which extends across the 
entire island from north-east to south-west, or from the foot of the Grampians, where the 
range touches the shore of the North Sea, to the Clyde estuary, varying in width, and 
subject to hilly interruptions ui its more southerly prolongation. This dividing-line is 
kno-svn in a prmcipal part of its course as Strathmore, the ' great strath ' or vaUey. The 
distinction of the surface into highland and lowland regions is of old historical date, and 
true to nature ; but for descriptive purposes, it is more convenient to consider Scotland 
as distributed into three divisions, equally well marked by nature — southern, middle, and 
northern. 

Southern Scotland comprehends the country extending from the narrow isthmus 
between the Clyde and Forth to the Irish Sea and the English border. It contains 
various tracts of gently undulating surface, cultivated with the highest degree of skOl, 
but is also to some extent a hUly region, studded with isolated elevations, and traversed by 
continuous ranges, to which the name of the Southern Highlands is often applied. These 
ranges are distinguished generally by rounded or flat summits, gradual slopes, and a grassy 
clothing, features AvhoUy distinct from the naked, precipitous, and frequently savage 
aspect of the Highlands proper. Towards the centre of the district rise the Lowther 
HUls, from which branches run north into Peeblesshire and Selkirkshire, and south through 



SCENERY OP GKAMPIANS. 229 

Dumfriesshire and Kirkcudbrightshu'e, the Pentland, Moorfoot, and Lammermuir Hills, 
on the north and north-east, the Cheviots, forming in part the boundary between Scotland 
and England. The dales that lie between these ranges have their names from the streams 
flowing through tliem, as Tweeddale, Clydesdale, Nithsdale, and Aimandale. They are 
celebrated in pastoral life and border song. The highest points are around the bead waters 
of the Tweed and Clyde, where Queensberry HUl rises 2260 feet ; Tinto Hill, 2316 ; Hart 
Fell, 2636 ; and Broadlaw, the loftiest summit, 2761 feet above the sea. In fine weather, 
from the green ilat summit of Hart Fell, the view embraces Sldddaw in Cumberland on 
the south, and Ben Lomond on the north, at a direct distance of full seventy miles. The 
neighbourhood is remarkable for the Deil's Beef Tub, a wide hollow of great depth from 
which the infant stream of the Annan emerges. The mining village of LeadhiUs, where 
lead-mines have long been worked, and the native place of AUan Eamsay the poet, is said 
to be the highest inhabited spot in Great Britain, with exception of the huts of shepherds 
and gamekeepers in the Highlands, only occasionally occupied. Silurian rocks are 
extensively developed in the centre of this division, running too from coast to coast, with 
granite in the south-west, and the carboniferous formation on the north, in the basins of 
the Forth and Clyde, through which trap rocks have been variously erupted. 

Middle Scotland, the main mass of the country, extends from the preceding district to 
Glenmore, or the ' great glen,' which stretches diagonally across the island from Fort 
William to Inverness, and is occupied by several lakes connected together by the Cale- 
donian Canal, forming with it a bond of union between the Atlantic and the N"orth Sea. In 
this region, the Sidlaw and OchUl Hills, ranges of moderate elevation, form the southern 
boundary of Stratlimore ; wliile on its northern and western sides tower the majestic 
Grampians, apparently an impassable barrier, in the recesses of which the old Caledonians 
found a secure asylum from the Eoman legions. Formations of the old red sandstone 
and carboniferous series occupy the south and east, while the mountains in the opposite 
directions are composed chiefly of crystalline schists, \vitli granite in the higher parts. 
The Grampians have a stern and desolate aspect, a broken and serrated outline, and seem 
solitudes of nature into which man and his labours may not intrude. In fact, it is only 
by following some of the streams which break through the rampart, that admission to its 
wilds is gained. Naked rocks, or rocks scantily clothed with broAvn heath and lichens ; 
frowning precipices unsoftened by the hand of time, as if just rifted from equally angular 
masses ; narrow glens where the dark-brown streams foam over a craggy bed ; broad 
straths, where the torrent slumbers for a while in some deep black lake ; and bleak moors 
only diversified by moss-grown stones and solitary tarns, with the scarlet crest and bright 
eye of the moorcock, are the leading features of the scenery. The Central Grampians, the 
highest elevations in the United Kingdom, stretch east and west from shore to shore, a 
length of nearly a hundred miles, and have a breadth varying from twelve to twenty- 
five miles, ivith an average height of from 2000 to 3000 feet. But many summits 
attain a much greater altitude. At the western extremity, Ben Nevis, the culminating- 
point of the Britannic system, rises to 4406 feet above the sea. From the -western side 
of the central chain, the mountain masses are prolonged from north to south, reacliing to 
the estuary of the Clyde, and are conveniently called the Southern Grampians, of which 
Ben Lomond (3192 feet) is the most southerly important member, well known from being 
contiguous to the great centres of population. 

The monarch-mountain of the kingdom, Ben Nevis, has the advantage of being 
detached, and hence its entire outline is exhibited in a single view. On one side the 
base is almost washed by the tides of Loch EU, -while in other directions, river-valleys 
separate it from all the neighbouring highlands. It shoots up from the level of a moor, 



230 SCOTLAND. 

has a circuit of more tlian twenty-four miles, and consists of two liills, geologically 
distinct, placed one upon the other. The lower, nearly 3000 feet high, is an oblong mass 
of granite, forming a generally flat plateau, on which lies a mossy tarn, plentifully fed 
by the mists from the western ocean, and the source of a torrent. The upper hill, or true 
vertex, is a naked u-regular four-sided prism of black or dark-gray porphyry, with a zone 
of the subjacent granite completely surrounding its base. It forms a terrific precipice 
on the north-east, with a sheer descent of not less than 1500 feet from the summit. 
Though the line of perpetual congealation is not reached, it is very closely apijroached. 




Entrance to the Pass of Glenooc. 

Hence the higher portions of the Grampians long retain the ivinters snow, and it often 
remains throughout the summer in beds and patches in the sheltered ravines. A northern 
offset of the main range consists of a gi'oup of mountains remarkable for huge proportions 
and great general altitude— Ben Avon, 3826 feet; Caiingonn, 4090; Caimtoul, 4245; 
Braeriaoh, 4280; and Ben Macdhui, 4295 feet. These are 

' The grisly champions that guard 
The infant rills of Highland Dee,' 

lying around the sources of the river. Ben Macdhui was ascended by the Queen in 
October 1857. 

Northern Scotland includes the remainder of the country up to the Pentland Firth, 
and is a region of high moorlands, wild, barren, and desolate, covered with heath and bog, 
the platform of mountain-ranges, with some extent of productive soil on the eastern 



i 



BIVERS OP SCOTLAND. 231 

sliores. The great general elevation of tlie surface detracts from the apparent height of the 
summits, hut Beu Wjrvis, near Dingwall, attains 3422 feet, and Ben Attow 4000, on the 
liorders of Eoss and Inverness. In the two northern counties, the surface lowers from 
•vest to east, and the greater part of Caithness is a plain, largely clothed mth stunted 
ieath, projierly belonging to the Scottish lowlands. 

All the rivers of importance in Scotland carry their waters to the Korth Sea, with the 
exception of the Clyde. Arranged according to the magnitude of their hasins, they rank 
in the following order : 

Rivers. i"'" "' ?A""" ^Ai'-'r''"' Principal Places from Source to Utouth. 

Square Miles. Miles. 

Tay, .... 2750 . . 1.S0 > . Kenmore, Dimksld, Perth, Bim^ee. 

Tweed, . . . 1870 . . 96 . . Peebles, Melrose, Kelso, Coldstreajn, Bie^^yick. 



Area of Basin. 


LenRth 


Square Miles. 


Miles. 


. 2750 . 


. 1.S0 


1870 . 


96 


. 1580 . 


. 93 


1190 . 


110 


. 705 . 


. 90 


645 . 


60 


. 530 . 


. 62 



Clyde, . . . 1580 . . 93 . . Lanark, Glasgow, Dumbarton, Greeno.plf. 

Spey, . . . 1190 . . 110 . . Fochabers, Garmouth. 

Dee 705 . . 90 . . Eraemar, Balmoral, BaUater, Abercipefl. 

Forth, . . . 645 . . 60 . . Stirling, Alloa, Queensferry. 

Don, .... 530 . . 62 . , Alford, Inveniry, Old Aberdeen. 

The Tay, the most considerable river ia the length o| its course an^ its area of drainage, 
descends from the mountains on the western side of Perthshire, forms the beautiful, long, 
narrow expanse of Loch Tay, flows very cii'cuitously through the county, receiving many 
feeders, and passes through an extensive estuary to tl;e sea, ten niiles below Dundee. 
Sands obstruct the mouth, and increase the diffiovilties of navigation by their shifting 
nature. The upper part of its course lies through a wild and higlily-romantic CQuntry, 
and its basin is geologically interesting as supplying examples of everything connected 
with the action of running water, the erqsion of rocks, the transport of soil, and the 
changes to which lakes and valleys are subject. In point of value the Tay stands at the 
head of the salmon rivers. Shoals of porpoises, numbering hundreds of individuals, haunt 
the mouth during the fishing-season on the look-out for their prey, and droves of watchful 
seals never leave the estuary. The stream is remarkable for the quantity of water it 
brings down, not owing to the depth or width of the channel, but the rapidity of the 
current, and the numerous feeders connected with cloudy mountain regions and long 
snow-clad heights. It exceeds in this respect every other river in the kingdom. The 
mean discharge, according to careful estimates, amounts to 273,117 cubic feet of water 
per minute, whUe that of the Thames is stated to be only 80,220, or less than one-third 
that of the Tay. 

The historic Tweed and the commercial Clyde descend from the highland centre of 
Southern Scotland, and offer an example of streams having closely contiguous sources, 
and flowing off to opposite basins. The Tweed, pure and limpid, once famous for its 
strong square towers erected to keep the English borderers in check, on the top of which 
beacon-fires blazed as signals of alarm, travels eastward to the North Sea, which it enters 
at Berwick J while the Clyde, after some feeders have run at first towards the east, tm-ns 
to the north-west, and joins the Atlantic through one of the great indentations of the 
■western coast. This river remarkably changes its character, being an impetuous mountain- 
torrent in the upper part of its course, and having a calmly-flowing current covered with 
sliips in the lower, on the surface of which the fu-st steamer built in the United Kingdom 
was launched. It forms celebrated falls in the neighbourhood of Lanark, two above and 
two below the town. The uppermost, Bonnington Linn, is a perpendicular descent of 
thu'ty feet ; the second and grandest, Corra Linn, is a fall of eighty-four feet, in three 
leaps ; the third, Dundaff Linn, is small ; the fourth, Stonebyres, is a descent of seventy- 
six feet, broken into three distinct falls by two projecting rocks. To the Spey, the 



232 SCOTLAND. 

distinction iDslongs of Toeing the -wildest, most capricious, and rapid of all British rivers, 
■with, the pecuharity of the rapidity distinguishing the lower portions of its course. li 
issues from a smaU pool -within a iew miles of a -western sea-loch, and after slumhering ii 
dark mossy lakes, rushes on -^vith headlong speed to an opposite north-eastern shore. Tht 

stream passes through the strati 
of the same name. Strathspey, 
one of the best -wooded parts 
of the Higlilands, and affords 
-water-carriage for the timher, 
large quantities of -which are 
floated do-wn to the sea, entered 
helow Pochahers. A peculiar 
feature also belongs to the Dee, 
that of descending from the 
highest spring in the British 
Islands. The WeUs of Dee are 
near the top of Braeriach, one 
of the Cairngorm group of 
mountains, at the height of 
4060 feet above the sea. Dr 
Skene Keith, in the middle 
of July, the hottest month of 
the year, found the main source 
still running under an arch of 
sno-w. 

The Forth is formed by the 
junction of two streams, both 
of which descend from the 
north-eastern slope of Ben 
Lomond, and come to a con- 
fluence at Aberfoyle. The river 
flows from thence through low 
allu-vial plains to the magnifi- 
cent firth on which Leith and 
Edinburgh are situated. It is 
very remarkable for its wiadiags, which are specially definite and numerous between 
Stu'ling and Alloa, rendering the intermediate distance by water twelve miles, while by 
land it is only sis. These windings, called the ' Links of Forth,' form a series of small 
peninsulas of extreme fertihty, which gave rise to the rhyming proverb : 

' A lairdship in the bonnie Links o' Forth 
Is better than an earldom o' the Korth.' 

The Firth of Forth is about fifty miles long by four to five miles broad from Leith to 
Bm-ntisland, and has the small islands of Inchgarvie, Inchcolm, Inchkeith, and May in 
its basin. 

The great superficial irregularities of the country render most of the rivers tumavigable, 
and originate numerous waterfalls, some of which form very effective scenery, -with their 
accompaniments of wood and rock. Besides those of the Clyde, abeady noticed, the 
Grey Mare's Tail, in the county of Dumfries, denominates a lofty cascade of the Moffat 




"Upper Fall of Foyers. 



INLAND LOCHS. 233 

Water, soon after its emergence from tlie small, dark, and lonesome Looh Skene, whore 
the stream descends nearly 200 feet, and 

' White as the snowy charger's tail, 
Drives clovm the pass of Moffatdale.' 

The Falls of Foyers, adjoining the eastern margin of Loch Ness, form one of the grandest 
exliibitions of the kind in the kiagdom after heavy rains ; and steamers traversing the 
lake generally stop to afford passengers an opportunity of viewing them. They are 
situated in a ravine profusely clothed with birch, ash, and copsewood, nursed by the 
perpetual spray, which hangs like dew on every leaf in pearly drops, glittering in the 
sunbeams. The upper fall is a descent in three leaps of nearly seventy feet into a fearful 
gulf ; and when the river is fuU, the lower and principal fall is a single leap of more than 
200 feet. On the Beauly Eiver, a few miles from Inverness, there are fine falls, but not 
so much remarkable for height as for breadth and quantity of water, with the long reach 
of tlie stream boUing and tumbling in its rooky bed, the banks of which are crowned 
with birch and pine. The falls of the Glomak, in Eoss-shire, are said to be the highest in 
Scotland, faUing upwards of 300 feet, in a gully, desolate and frightful beyond description, 
and of very difficult access. A good view can only be obtained from the bottom, which 
may be reached by wading when the water is low, but not without danger. The falls of 
the Moness, in a glen near Aberfeldy, so narrow that the trees on the opposite sides almost 
blend their branches, answer to the description of Burns : 

' The hraes ascend like lofty wa's, 

The foaming stream deep-roaring, fa's, 

O'crhung wi' fragrant spreading sha^vs. 
The Birks of Aberfeldy.' 
The rivers which descend from the higher Grampians, or are fed by affluents from thom, 
as the Dee, Don, Deveron, F'indhom, and Spey, besides being unnavigable, are liable to 
sudden and destructive inundations from the descent of rains on the highlands. The 
overflow of these streams occasioned the local deluge (known as the ' Moray Floods ') 
which visited the counties of Aberdeen, Banff, Elgin, and Nairn in the summer of the 
year 1829, when roads, bridges, crops, stock, and buildings were swept away, whde the 
features of the natural landscape were very strikingly altered. New ravines wore cut out 
on the sides of the mountains, vast masses of rock were transferred to fresh sites by the 
transportiug power of the currents, deep pools were converted into shaUows by the amount 
of debris left in them on the subsidence of the waters, the sloping banks of streams and 
brooks were turned into vertical waUs by the rush of the floods, and some of them were 
permanently diverted into freshly-excavated channels. 

Inland lochs or lakes form a characteristic feature of the surface, and are estimated to 
cover an area of 500 square miles. They are almost all long and narrow, associated with 
the Highlands, and occupy glens closely pressed upon by the bordering heights. "While 
many present fine combinations of beautiful and grand scenery, the shores of others are 
scarcely to be surpassed for wild and severe features. Loch Lomond, belonging to the 
counties of Dumbarton and Stirling, but chiefly to the former, is the largest example. It 
is twenty-one miles long, by five broad at the south extremity, from which it gradually 
narrows to less than one mile at the northern end. Tlie lake is studded with islands, 
about thirty in number, ten of which are of some extent, and weU clothed with wood. It 
is regularly traversed by steamers in the summer season, and has crowds of visitors, being 
only twenty miles from Glasgow. The fine mass of Ben Lomond, on the eastern side, is 
often scaled, being of easy ascent, and overlooking a wide panorama of sea and shore, 
winding river and smiling valley, bounded northwards by rival or loftier heights. Loch 
Ness, in the line of the Caledonian Canal, is distinguished by its great depth, amounting 



234 SCOTLAND. 

in many places to 800 feet, and hence never freezes in the severest winters. Locii Avon, 
in the hosoni of the Cairngorm group, is remarkahle for its lonehness, difficult access, and 
the frightful steeps around it. The lake, a crystal sheet of water, nearly two miles long, 
and upwards of 1750 feet ahove the sea, is the most elevated expanse of any extent in the 
kingdom. Closely bordered by rugged and precipitous heights, the surface has no 
sunshine through several of the winter months ; the hanks have no tree or shrub ; and 
few living creatures are ever seen except the eagle and the ptarmigan, or some .straggling 
red deer from the forest of Mar. Loch Leven, in the county of Kinross, is the largest 
lake connected with the Lowlands, and contrasts with those in the Highlands, in not 
being elongated, but of rounded shape. 

Owing to the rugged and mountainous character of Scotland, only a comparatively 
inconsiderable portion of the surface is or can be devoted to arable husbandry, chiefly in 
Berwickshire and the Lothians, in Perthshire and Forfarshire, which contain the rich 
alluvial carse or plain of Gowrie, and the fertile valleys of Strathmore and Strathearn. In 
no part of the country north of the Firth of Forth is the climate favourable to the growth 
of wheat, being subject to long intervals of bleak weather. It wiU not ripen except at 
the level of the sea in the latitude of Aberdeen ; and the Dornoch Firth marks the 
northern limit of its growth under the most advantageous circumstances. Hence a coarse 
kind of barley, called here or big, and oats, the hardiest of the cereals, are the principal 
crops. Pastoral industry is extensively pursued in the upland districts, where some of 
the breeds of sheeji, as the Cheviots, remarkably dispilay the strange instinct of 
apprehending the comuig snow-storm, and marching off to a known and ai^proved shelter, 
even when the shepherd has not been able to recognise the shghtest indication of a 
tempest. Of the mineral products, coal and hon are the most important. The great 
coal-field stretches with little interruption from the east to the west coast, on both sides 
of the Forth, and yields abundance of iron-ore. Lead is obtained from the Lanarkshu'e 
hills. Granite, of a fleshy colour, making a near approach to the red granite of the 
Egyptian obehsks, is extensively quarried for export on the precipitous coast of 
Aberdeenshu'e ; noble serpentine for ornamental purposes is supplied by the adjoining 
county of Banff; and various precious stones are frequently found in the Highlands. 
Fisheries of salmon, herring, ling, cod, and haddock, give employment and subsistence to 
numbers of the maritime population. The great staple manufactures consist of cottons 
and silks at Glasgow and Paisley; linens at Dunfermline and Dundee; woollens at 
Galashiels, Hawick, Aberdeen, and Kilmarnock; hardwares at the CaiTon Ironworks 
near Falkirk, and other places ; ships, steamers, steam-engines, and machinery of every 
description, on the banks of the Clyde. 

ITatural forests of pine, oak, birch, elm, ash, mountain-ash, hazel, and poplar, in which 
the red and roe deer freely roam, are stdl extensive m the Highland districts, though they 
were much reduced for building piu'poses during the long wars which marked the close 
of the last century and the commencement of the present, owing to the difficulty of 
procuring timber from abroad. Whole woodlands were then obhterated, as Glenmore, 
famed for the age and size of its trees, which clothed one of those romantic glens or passes 
intervening between the Cairngorm group of mountains and the river Spey, and formed a 
continuation of the forest of Eothiemurohus. This tract of timber was sold by the Duke 
of Gordon, the proprietor, to a merchant of Hull, who felled the trees, floated the logs 
down the river, and built a number of vessels at its mouth. Among the rest was a 
magnificent pine, long the pride of the forester, called the Lady of the Glen, supposed to 
be the largest ever cut down in Scotland, of which there is a plank in the entrance-hall 
of Gordon Castle, measuring six feet two inches in length, and five feet five inches in 



THE ISLANDS, 235 

breadth. It bears the insciiption on a brass plate : ' In the year 1783, William Osbourne, 
Esq., purchased of the Duke of Gordon the forest of Glenmore, the whole of which he 
cut down in the space of twenty-two years, and built, during that time, at the mouth of 
the river Spey, where never vessel was bmlt before, forty-seven sail of ships of upwards 
of 19,000 tons burden. This undertaking was completed at the expense (for labour only) 
of above .£70,000. To his Grace the Duke of Gordon this plank is offered as a specimen 
of the growth of one of the trees.' During this jDrocess of reduction, landholders unwisely 
neglected planting timber, principally actuated by the consideration that a somewhat 
lengthened period must elapse before any income of moment can be derived from the 
growth. A more modern race, abandoning this narrow policy, and having in view 
at once the ornamentation of their estates, and the most profitable mode of occupying 
districts incapable of being grazed or cultivated, covered waste places with timber-trees, a 
rural improvement believed to have been stimulated by the advice of the dying laird to 
liis son, as recorded in one of Scott's novels : * Be aye sticking in a tree, Jock ; it will be 
growing while ye are sleeping.' Thousands of statute acres in Pei-thshire have thus 
been covered with larch, spruce-fir, sUver-fir, beech, and plane, the larches in particvilar 
attaining stately dimension. The frequent alternation of hill and dale in that 
coimty, with the opening of the glens and the exposure of the general surface to the 
south, supply that tree with a site similar to that of its native locality, the Tyrolese and 
Dalmatian Alps ; and it now overtops all the other woods of the same age, rising over the 
dark pines, in the summer luxuriance of its bright-green leaves, like an obeHsk of beryl. 

The area of the mainland amounts to upwards of 26,000 square miles ; and adding that 
of the adjoining islands, the total area of Scotland contains about 30,685 square nules. 
Of these islands, the Orkneys and Shetlands, on the north, have been thought of sufficient 
importance to fomi separate counties, and are hereafter noticed. This is the case also 
with Bute and Ari'an, on the south-west, in the 3?irth of Clyde. But the principal series, 
the Hebrides, or Western Isles, are distributed between three counties of the mainland, 
and hence a collective view of them may here be conveniently introduced. 

The Hebrides, on the west coast, form two extensive ranges of islands denominated 
Inner and Outer, descriptive of their position in relation to the main shore, separated 
from each other~by the channel of the Little Minch, which is about twelve mUes wide in 
the narrowest part. Upwards of a hundred of the number are of sufficient size to be 
marked on an ordinary map, and about eighty are inhabited, chiefly on the coasts, houses 
being rai'ely met mth more than a mile from the sea-mark. The Imier range immediately 
adjoins the mainland, and has scenes of incomparable magnificence. It includes the large 
island of Skye, forty-six mUes long by from four and a half to twenty-three broad, belonging 
to the county of Inverness ; Mull, Islay, Jura, Colonse^y, and Tiree, of important size, 
portions of Argyle; Eig, Eum, Canna, Sta%, and lona, of smaller dimensions, distinguished 
by natural curiosities and historical associations. These are the trap islands of the geolo- 
gist, being composed chiefly of basaltic or trap rooks, frequently assuming the columnar 
structiue, and rising to grand elevations. Ben More, in MuU, attains the height of 3185 
feet, and is the culminating-poLnt of insular Scotland. The Outer range forms a continued 
series, extending through upwards of 120 niiles, so close together as to be considered one, 
popularly called the Long Island. Its largest and ijipgt northerly component, Lewis, is 
really united by a narrow isthmus to HaiTis, but the former belongs to the county of Eoss, 
and the latter to that of Inverness, to which also the other principal members of the chain 
are attached, North and South TJist, Benbecula, and Barra. They are almost wholly 
formed of gneiss, and have a much less striking aspect than the sister-range, as gneissic 
districts have in general little variety of feature or strength of outline. But they are very 



23G SCOTLAND. 

remarkable for tortuous sea-loolis, one of -wliioli, Looli NamaJJy, on the eastern side of 
North Uist, -with an entire area of only nine square miles, has a coast-line of more than 
200 miles. One of the parishes of Lewis has a direct length of eighteen miles, hut it 
measures eighty miles following the suiuosities of the shore. Upwards of fifty miles west 
from Harris is St ICilda, the outermost of the Outer Hebrides, the westernmost of the 
Western Isles, and the most solitary inhabited spot in the United Kingdom, 

' "Whose lonely race 
Eesign the settmg sun to Indian wilds.' 
It has a chcuit of about six miles, and rises 1500 feet above the stormy ocean, with a 
margin of precipices so impracticable, that there are only two points at which a landing is 
possible. The few inhabitants are chiefly fowlers, occupying a cluster of beehive-looking 
cabins at the Village Bay, in possession of little plots of cultivable ground on which some 
garden vegetables are with difficulty raised. The Hebrides in remote times were subject 
to the kings of Iforway. They subsequently formed the patrimony of a race of powerful 
chieftains, with the title of Lord of the Isles, who were at times practically independent, 
and the last of whom died without heirs in 1536. The heads of clans next exercised 
nearly sovereign rights till the abolition of all hereditary jurisdictions in the middle of the 
last centur}'. 





Glasgow from the Broomielaw. 

Scotland is divided into tliirty-four counties, but practically the number is only tliirty- 
two, Giving to tbe Orkneys and Slietlands being associated in parliamentary representation, 
■while Eoss and Cromarty are so intermixed, that they are generally dealt with as a single 
district. There are no subdivisions corresponding to the English hundreds, but a distri- 
bution into parishes for civil and ecclesiastical purposes. In several instances, entire 
counties, -with portions of one or more, retain denominations of long standing in common 
iise, descriptive"' of physical features, or of their character as feudal holdings. Thus 
T^7eeddale is the equivalent for Peeblesshire j East, West, and Mid Lothian similarly 
represent the counties of Haddington, Linlithgow, and Edinburgh. An extensive district 
in Inverness-shire bears the name of Badenoch, derived from a word signifying ' bushy,' 
in allusion to the ancient natural forests. Of the counties, fourteen are southern, nine 
middle, and nine northern. 

I. SOUTHERN COUNTIES. 
Counties. Area in Square Miles. Principal Towns. 

EdinlDurgli, . . . 397 . . . Edinburgh, Leith, Musselburgh, Portobello, Dalkeith. 

Linlithgow, . . . 127 . . Linlithgow, Bathgate, Bo'ness, Queensferry. 

Haddington, . . . 280 . . . Haddington, .Dunbar, Tranent, Prestonpans, North Berwick. 

Berwick, , . . 450 . . Greenlaw, Dunse, Coldstream, Lauder. 

Eoxburgh, . . . 670 . . . Jedburgh, Hawick, Kelso, Melrose. 

Selkirk, ... 260 . . Selkirk, Galashiels. 

Peebles, .... 356 . . . Peebles, Innerleithen, Linton. 

Dumfries, . . . 1129 . . Dumfries, Annan, Moffat, Sanquhar. 

Earkcudbright, . . 954 . , . liirkcudbright, Castle-Douglas, Gatehouse, Creetown. 

"Wigton, ... 512 . . Wigton, Stranraer, Port Patrick. 

Ayr, .... 1016 . . . Ayr, Kilmarnock, Irvine, Girvan, Ardrossan. 

Lanark, . . . 889 . . Lanark, Glasgow, Airdrie, Hamilton. 

Renfrew, .... 247 . . . Renfrew, Paisley, Johnstone, Greenock, Port Glasgow. 

Bute, .... 257 . , Rothesay, Lamlash, LliUport. 



238 SOOTIiAND. 

Edinburghshire, or Mid-Lotliian, extends about twelve miles on tlie southern shores 
of the Firth of Forth, but gradually expands east and west on receding from them ; and 
the surface, the maritime portion of which is level or only gently diversified, acquires a 
somewhat bolder character from the Moorfoot and Pentland Hills in the interior. It is 
traversed by several small streams, the Water of Leith, the North and South Esk, the 
banks of which are of great interest and beauty, and the Almond, separates the county for 
a considerable distance from Linlithgow. The hiUy districts are pastoral ; fertUe lower 
grounds are distributed uito large tillage farms, and numerous market-gardens occupy a 
considerable area. Coal is wrought in the valley of the Esk, where the bed is fifteen 
miles by eight iu extent, and contains thirty-three seams varying from one foot to six feet 
in thickness. The sandslohe quarry at Craigleith supplies a building material distin- 
guished by durability atid purity of colour, of which almost all the modem parts of the 
metropolis are built. 

The city of Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, is situated in the north part of the 
county, within i^fro hiUcs of the coast, 325 miles m du'cct distance from London, and 399 
by I'ailWay. Its centre is in latitude 55° 57' 20" north, aiid longitude 3° 10' 30" west of 
Greenwich. The picturesque blends With the elegant in its appearance, while the site is 
extreniely fine, far surpassing that of other European capitals, With the exception, perhaps, 
of l^aples, Lisb&iij iffid Cohstantinople. From many liigh points fa th.e neiglibourhood, 

' Traced like a map tUe landscape lies 

in ctiltured beauty stretching wide ; 
there Pentland's green acclivities ; 
There ocean, with its azure tide ; 
There Arthur's Seat ; and gleaming through 
Thy southern wing, Diinedin hlue ! 
While in the orient, Lammer's daughters, 
A distant giant range, are seen, 
North Berwick Law, with cone of green, 
And Bass amid the waters.' 

Two ridges of hUl, running east and west, parallel to each other, are respectively 
occupied, the northern by the Ifew To^vn, and the southern by the Old. They are 
separated by a deep hollow, planted with gardens, across which communication is main- 
tained by bridges and an earthen mound. !N'o contrast can well be greater than between 
the modern portion, with its broad regular streets, handsome squares and crescents, on the 
spacious summit of the lower elevation, and the older j)art, the original Auld Eeekie, 
distinguished by immense piles of lofty, irregular, antique houses, on the slopes and crest 
of the higher, more abrupt, and narrower ridge. At the opposite extremities of the latter 
are two prime objects of interest — ^the Castle, on the western side, occupying a bold rook, 
with an enclosure of several acres, containing accommodation for a numerous garrison ; 
and Holyroodhouse, on the eastern extremity, anciently the residence of the Scottish 
sovereigns and the scene of tragical events connected with their history. Its site is a 
small plain or valley between the Calton HiU, a rounded summit rising 355 feet above 
the sea-level, and the majestic Arthur's Seat, rising to the height of 822 feet, one 
of the most delightful resorts in the vicinity. 

Edinburgh, the capital of the kingdom, is chiefly distinguished as the seat of the supreme courts of 
judicature, and of a university, founded iu 1580, long raised to distinction by the eminence of its 
professors. It is also the place where the general ecclesiastical assemblies are held, and where the 
representative peers for Scotland are elected. It contains noble hospitals and charitable institutions, 
three great public libraries, and is extensively connected with the Uterature of the whole kingdom 
by many printing and publishing establishments of the first class. The population amounted to 
168,000 at the last census. The city is supposed to derive its name from Edimns-hurg, a fort or 
stronghold, founded on the spot by Edwin, king of Northumbria, 616-633, who extended his territory 
to the Firth of Forth. The Gaelic denomination of Dun-Edin or Dunedin is merely a translation 



SOUTHERN COUNTIES. 239 

of tho Saxon name. The poetical title of Edina was fii'st employed by Buchanan. It is frequently styled 
the Modern Athens, owing to its literary fame, the taste displayed in its architecture, and the correspondence 
of tho site to that of the renowned Greek city. Leith, at a short distance on the coast, is almost a suburb, 
and is tho port of the capital. Fishing-places and sea-bathing resorts lie on the shore on either hand — 
Newhavcn and Granton westward, Portobello and Musselburgh eastward. Dalkeith, a small inland town 
and local grain mart, six miles on the south-east of Edinburgh, has one of the principal residences of tho 
Duke of Bucoleuch, Dalkeith Palace, adjoining, below which the Noi-th and South Esk effect their junction. 
The former river, higher up, flows through a romantic and sequestered dell, by the mouldering castle and 
exquisite chapel of Eoslin, and washes the base of the cliff on which stands Hawthornden, once the residence 
of the poet Drmnmond, the friend of Shakspeare and Ben Jonson. 

Linlithgowshire, or West Lotliian, lies on tlie narrower part of tlie Firth of Forth, 
and has the small ports of Bo'ness and Queensferry on its shores, the latter sharing a 
considerahle passenger-traffic to the opposite side of the estuary. The county — of very 
limited extent — has a surface pleasingly varied with knoUs, and possesses abundance of 
coal and iron, with limestone and sandstone quarries. 

Linlithffou; an old royal burgh, occupies an inland site, on tlie banks of a lin, or small sheet of water, and 
retains traces of antiquity in harmony with its historical notoriety. In the palace, overlooking the lake, 
the untortmiate Queen Mary was bom ; and in the long irregular main street the Bfigent Murray was 
shot down from one of the houses. The tomi, celebrated for its wells, possesses one elaborately constructed 
in this thoroughfare. Bathgate, five miles to the south, has some cotton and woollen manufactures, with 
coal, ironworks, and the famous Torbanehill mineral, in the vicinity. 

Haddingtonshire, or East Lothian, at the entrance of tho Firth of Forth into the 
North Sea, is remarkable for its advanced arable husbandry. There is also a maritime 
population largely engaged in fisheries, and pastoral industry is piu-sued on the Lammer- 
muu's, wliich rise towards the southern border. 

The town of Haddington, a few miles inland, on the little river Tyne, is a principal mart for agricultiu-al 
produce, and is commonly referred to, but uncertainly, as the birthplace of the celebrated John Knox. An 
ancient Gothic church, still iised, but partly in ruins, was fomrerly distinguished as the ' Lamp of Lothian. 
Dunbar, a seaport extensively engaged in the herring-fishery, is of some celebrity in military history, owing 
to the successful defence of its castle against the English by 'Black Agnes,' Countess of March, and to 
Cromwell's decisive defeat of the Scotch army in the neighbourhood. Prestonpam, a idUage on the shore, 
is famous for the triumph of the Highlanders under Prince Charles Stxiart over the royal forces, in 1745. 
The oysters dredged here are of great repute \mder the name of ' Pandores,' as being fomid near or by the 
door of the salt-pans. North Berwick, at the outlet of the Forth, frequented as a watering-place, is in an 
interesting neighboiu-hood. Eastward are the remains of TantaUon Castle, one of the prominent scenes in 
Marmion, opposite to wliich the Bass Kock rises precipitously from the waves to the height of 420 feet, 
with only one point where it is possible to land, on the side towards the main shore. The rock is a mass 
of granular greenstone, nearly round, about a mile in circumference, and two miles from the coast. It 
formerly possessed a fortress in which many of the leading Covenanters were imprisoned. The dungeons 
and cells are still to be seen. A spring on the upper surface supplied the garrison mth water ; and this 
stronghold was the last place on which the standard of the Stuarts waved after the Eevolution, It is 
now grazed in summer by a few sheep, while the cliffs are occupied by iimnense numbers of sea-fowl, 
chiefly solan-geese, of which bird the Bass is the only breeding-station on the whole eastern coast. To make 
a bridge to the Bass, and to take TantaUon Castle, was once a current saying with the peasantry to express 
things impossible. 

Berwickshire, to the southward, extends along the coast to the English border, and 
has a bold rocky shore, -with St Abb's Head for the distinguishing promontory, in a ivild 
and savage neighbourhood, which supplied the reaUty after which the imaginary 
' Wolf's Crag ' was sketched in the Bride of Lammermoor. The north part of the 
county contains the higher points of the Lammemiuir Hills, but the greater portion of 
the surface belongs to the comparatively level region, called the Merse, a fertile and liighly- 
cultivated district. The Tweed forms most of the south-eastern boundary, and receives 
several affluents from the interior, on which the small towns of Ch-eenlaw and Lauder are 



Coldstream, on the Tweed, gives its name to a celebrated regiment, the Coldstream Guards, raised 
at the spot by General Monk, previous to his march southerly to effect the restoration of Charles IL 
Dume, the largest town in the county, claims connection with John Duns Scotus, the famous schoolman; 



240 SCOTLAND. 

Dr M'Crie, the historian, and Sir Joseph Paxton, were natives of the parish. Ruins of old castles, towers, 
abbeys, and priories are very numerous in Berwickshire. Dryburgli Abbey, on a richly-wooded peninsula 
formed by the Tweed, contains the remains of Scott and Lookhart, buried in St Mary's Aisle. 

EoxBUEGHSHiRB, an inland border county, mainly separated from England hj the 
smooth, dry, and green ridge of the Cheviots, includes the middle portion of Tweeddale, ' 
the whole of Teviotdale, and the principal part of Liddesdale, pastoral districts of great 
interest. 

Jedburgh, the small county town, surrounded with orchards in the valley of the Jed, has large remains of 
a celebrated abbey, part of which is fitted up as a parish church, and contains the grave of Lord Chancellor 
CampbelL In the south aisle, formerly used as a grammar-school, Thomson, the bard of the Seasons, 
received his early education, and he is said to have described the storm collecting on the mountain-top in his 
' TVinter ' from the appearance presented by Euberslaw, a conspicuous height in the vicinity. The proverb 
of ' Jedburgh justice,' the leading principle of which was to hang first and try afterwards, arose from the 
summary execution of border marauders. Hawick, a much more important place, surrounded with extensive 
nursery-grounds, has manufactures of wooUen and worsted goods. Near it is Branksome Tower, the 
principal scene of the Lay of the Last Minstrel. Kelso, a centre of agricultural produce, near the junction of 
the Teviot mth the Tweed, is distinguished by large remains of a magnificent abbey, one of the wealthiest 
foundations of the kind, and by singularly beautiful environs. The north part of the county includes 
Abbotsford, the far-famed residence of Su- "Walter Scott, and Melrose Abbey, the finest ecclesiastical ruin 
in Scotland. In the extreme south is Yetholm, a village embosomed in the Cheviots, which has for nearly 
three centuries been a metropolis of the gipsies, and still contains a number of them, more regular in their 
habits than those of a bygone generation. 

Sblkiekshibe is further inland and almost wholly a pastoral county. It contains 
part of tipper Tweeddale, the whole of Ettrickdale, and the vale of the Yarrow, a 
district said to have given rise to more hallad and lyrical poetry than any other part 
of Scotland. Though now almost entirely bare of trees, the whole is supposed to have 
been once a woodland, and it is commonly referred to by old writers as the ' Forest,' 
or as 'Ettrick Forest,' from the name of the prmcipal stream, of which the Yarrow is 
a tributary. The well-known song, ' The Flowers of the Forest,' refers to the fact of 
a considerable number of persons from this district being slain in the disastrous 
fight of Flodden Field. Towards the source of the river is Ettrick Pen, the highest 
point of the county, 2258 feet above the sea. Between Tushielaw and Ettrick Church, 
was born the poet James Hogg, commonly called the Ettrick Shepherd. In the. valley 
he spent a great portion of his hfe, and he died on the banks of the neighbouring Yarrow. 
This stream emerges from a small lake, bordered with hills, and immediately passes 
by the ruined tower of Dryhope, once the home of Mary Scott, the ' Flower of Yarrow.' 
The lake bears the name of St Mary's Loch ; an ancient burying-ground is pointed out 
as having belonged to a bygone religious house, St Mary's Kirk ; and a place of 
entertainment, at the head of the lake, is popularly known as ' Tibbie Shiels's ' Cottage. 

Selkirk, on the Ettrick, below the confluence of the streams ; and Galashiels, on the banks of the Gala, 
near its entrance into the Tweed, are the only towns, both seats of wooUen manufactures. These are most 
extensively conducted at the latter place, and consist of goods of the finest texture and most brUliant 
colours, chiefly ' Tweeds,' so called after the river. 

Peeblesshire, the adjoining county to the westward, has a very irregular border-line, 
which embraces a surface more generally elevated and thinly peopled than any of the 
other southern counties. It contains the iipper portion of the Tweed, with the source 
of the river, and contributes several minor streams to the main channel. The lofty 
heights of Broad Law, Dollar Law, and Scrape, fall within its bounds. The hills 
are lotinded and grassy on their summits, and arable only on their lower slopes. 

Peehles, a small ancient town, is pleasantly situated on a peninsula formed at the junction of the 
Eddleston "Water with the Tweed. In the middle of the fourteenth century it was made a royal burgh, 
in acknowledgment of contributions towards the ransom of David II., taken prisoner by the English at 
the battle of Neville's Cross. The town, long secluded in a high pastoral region, is now approached by 
three railways, and has been much improved in recent years. In 1859, Mr "W. Chambers presented it with 



SOUTH-WESTERN COUNTIES. 241 

an Institution ivliioh combines a large libraiy, a reading-room, museum, gallery of art, and a hall for lectures 
and public meetings. Tlio village of Innerleithen, six miles distant, possesses a mineral spring, and is a 
place of resort in summer. It is popularly identified with Scott's St JRonan's Well. The cottage occupied by 
IXivid ivitohie, the undoubted original of his ' Black Bwarf,' is on Manor "Water, in the county. Among the 
more remarkable antiquities are mimerous British hill-forts, and medieval border castles in ruins. 

DujrPRiESSHiEE, partly on the English herder, hut more extensively on the upper 
portion of the Solway Firth, emhraoes some low, swampy moorlands, hut stretches 
northward to the Lowther Hills, and has some of the more elevated summits on its 
houndary-luie, or whoUy within its area. It is naturally divided into three districts, 
Eskdale, Annandale, and Nithsdale, so called from their respective rivers, all of which 
flow to the Solway. The industry of the county consists chiefly hi the rearing of live- 
stock, with lead-mining in connection with the Lowther HUls on the north-west, in 
which direction coal is also worked. 

Dumfries, an elegant and flourishing town, on the east bank of the Nith, nine miles above its mouth, is 
locally considered a kind of capital of the southern counties. The resting-place of the national poet. Burns, 
is in the burying-ground of the old church, with a monument to his memory, and the humble street in 
which he lived for some years before his death now bears his name. In front of the Savings Bank, a statue 
of Dr Duncan, the minister of a neighbouring parish, with whom those institutions originated, is appropriately 
placed. There are no manufactures of importance, but great trade is carried on at large weekly cattle- 
markets, and large quantities of stock and produce are despatched to England. At a iTllage in the vicinity, 
was born AVilUam Paterson, the projector of the Bank of England, who, instead of gaining a recompense 
for his laboxu-s, had to petition the crown to save him and his family from utter beggary. Annandale, the 
central natural division of the county, has the seaport of Annan on the south, at the outlet of its river ; and 
Moffat, in the mountain-region of Hai-t Fell, at the north extremity, distinguished by mmeral springs, 
sulphureous and saUne. In the centre of the dale are Lochmaben and Lockerby. The former, nearly 
siuTounded by several beautiful lakes, has remains hard by of a castle which belonged to Eobert Bruce. The 
latter place annually witnesses a great gathering to its lamb fair, held in August, the largest of the kind in 
Scotland, to which farmers flock for business, and the peasantry for sport. Gretna Green, close to the English 
border, long celebrated for its summary marriages of runaway couples, is now simply a station on the line of 
the Caledonian Eailway. 

The Stewartry of Ejrkcudbright, as it is styled, and Wigtonshibe, districts of a 
hilly and pastoral character, compose the extreme southern portion of Scotland, and have 
spacious hays, conspicuous headlands, and nmnerous caverns along the shore, formerly 
the haunts of smugglers. The whole region is comprehended imder the general name of 
Galloway, and once possessed a particular breed of small horses, hence called ' Galloways,' 
a name which has become common for steeds of similar statiu-e. It still retains a race of 
high-valued hornless cattle, of a prevaUmg black colom-, remarkable for gentleness and 
beauty, which are sent fattened in great numbers to the English markets. The Mull of 
Galloway, the most southerly point of the northern kiagdom, is the extremity of a long, 
narrow peninsula, projecting into the Irish Sea, and consists of alniost perpendicular 
rooks, from wliich the view stretches to the hills of the Isle of Man and the mountains 
of Ireland. Lakes are niunerous, mostly smaU, and beautifully fringed with wood. 

The principal river, the Dee, has the character of a Highland stream through the greater part of its course. 
The town of Kirlccudbriffht is situated on the shore of its estuary, into which the peninsula of St Mary's Isle 
projects, luxuriantly clothed with trees, forming one of the most charming sylvan scenes in the southern 
counties. Castle Douglas, inland near the river, chiefly of modern erection, has its name from a neigh- 
bouiing stronghold of the Douglases, the remains of which are extant. Conspicuous among them is a mam 
tower, with a block of granite projecting over the gateway, called the ' hanging stone,' of which these feudal 
lords of Galloway used to say, that ' the hanging stone never v/anted its tassel.' Gatehouse and Creetown 
are shipping ports, the latter possessing valuable quarries of granite, of which the new docks of Liverpool 
are constructed. Wigton occupies an eminence on the western shore of the bay to which its name is given, 
a very fertile tract, near the outlet of the Bladenoeh. Its old churchyard contains an interesting memorial 
of the two female martyrs who were di-omied in the river ia the year 16S5. Rcwton-Stewart, surrounded 
with swelling-hills, is a larger place on the banks of the Cree, a seat of manufactures, with lead-mines in the 
vicinity. But both are considerably exceeded by Stranraer, the most important town of "Wigtonshrre, a 
seaport at the head of Loch Eyan. Portpatrick is one of the points most contiguous to the Irish coast, 
twenty-one miles distant, with which submarine telegraphic communication is maintained. 



242 SCOTLAND. 

Ateshiee, tlie largest of tlie southern counties, and one of the finest, somewliat 
crescent-shaped, extends along the Pirth of Clyde, and the channel intervening between 
it and the Irish Sea. It contains a considerable proportion of hiUy surface, some high 
elevations towards the inland border-line, with spacious plains along the shores, and 
scenes of picturesque beauty on the rivers Ayr, Doon, Girvan, Irvine, and Garnock. 
Manufacturing and mining industry prevails in the north and middle portions of the 
district, where there are extensive beds of coal and ironstone. Agriculture is also 
pm-sued, but most extensively iu the north. 

Ayr, a rery handsome and flourishing seaport, is at the mouth of the river of the same name, here crossed 
by two bridges, the 'Twa Brigs' of Burns, who was born near Alloway on the Doon, a small stream' 
in the neighbourhood, celebrated by the poet. Tlie country around Ayr is called ' The Land of Burns.' 
Kilmarnock, the principal town in size, wealth, and population, with the carpet manufacture for its staple, 
occupies an inland site, and is, the centre of a number of populous places engaged in similar industries. 
Along the coast northward of Ayr are many fishing towns and ports, Troon, Irvine, Saltcoats, Ardrossan, 
and Largs, the first and the last two of which are frequented for sea-bathing. Troon and Ardrossan are the 
principal ports for shipping coal and iron to Ireland, England, and the Continent. Iri)ine once had large 
collieries on the banks of the Garnock, which here joins the Irvine Eiver, tiU they were destroyed by 
an extraordinary accident in June 1833, happily involving no loss of life. The bed of the stream gave way ; 
the water rushed through the opening into one of the pits ; all the excavations comiected with it extending 
for several miles were soon flooded ; and the pressui-e of the water in the pits became so great, that the 
confined air rent asunder the surface in various places, in the struggle to disengage itself, till the whole was 
set free. Off the southern coast of the county, opposite to Girvan, at the distance of nine or ten miles, 
Ailsa Craig rises, in complete isolation, abruptly from the sea to the height of 1097 feet. It is composed 
of compact felspar, and exhibits basaltic columns of extraordinary size. The mass has a circuit of two 
miles, is almost perpendicular on one side, everywhere steep, uninhabited by man, but tenanted by solan- 
geese and other wild-fowl, goats, and rabbits. The ruins of a tower crown the summit. The height 
and isolation of the rock render it a very striking object from the shore, and from the steamers proceeding 
to and from Glasgow. 

Lanaekshirb, traversed centrally by the Clyde from south-east to north-west, corresponds 
in its general limits to Clydesdale, and belongs almost enthely to the basin of the river. 
Three natural divisions are distinguished, upper, middle, and lower, varying in their 
features. The upper is a mountainous, pastoral, and lead-mining region, embracing 
Leadhills, where the principal veins have an average thickness of from four to ten feet. 
The middle portion, rich in coal and ironstone, is also a scene of pastoral and dauy 
husbandry, abounds with thriving plantations, and is celebrated for beautiful and fruitful 
orchards. The lower division has fertile alluvial tracts along the river, contains important 
stores of coal, iron, and other minerals, and is the great seat of manufactures and 
commerce in the country. 

Lanark, the county town, near the right bank of the Clyde, in the middle part of its course, acquires 
its principal interest from being in the unmediate vicinity of the celebrated Falls. Glasgow, on the lower 
portion of the river, the chief city of Scotland as respects extent and wealth, is distinguished as the third 
provincial city in the United Kingdom in point of population, ranking next to Liverpool and Manchester. It 
is the rival of the former in foreign commerce, and of the latter in manufactures. Though chiefly on the 
north bank of the Clyde, an important suburb lies on the southern side. The two sections are united by five 
bridges, to the lowermost of which, vessels of the largest class can come up, owing to improvements in the 
naturally encumbered bed of the stream. Besides the features common to a vast commercial emporium 
and manufacturing centre — as magnificent public edifices, a long line of quays, the ship-laden river, a host 
of spires, and clusters of tall chimneys in every direction — Glasgow has some points of special interest. 
These include the Cathedral, the only structure of that kind upon the mainland of Scotland spared 
entire by the zealots of the Keformation; the buildings of the University, foimded in 1451, with much 
of the architectural appearance which belongs to the colleges of Oxford ; the Trongate, forming with its 
continuations a line of streets three miles in length ; and the public park close to the river and the 
city, an appendage of long standing, answering to its old popular name of the ' Green,' being a very 
extensive space of grassy ground, fitted with convenient walks, and planted with rows of trees. Formerly, 
the inhabitants were dependent upon the Clyde for their water-supply, but now obtain it from the 
purer source of Loch Katrine, from which it is conveyed by costly works through the intervening forty 
miles, which involved an immense amount of blasting, cutting, and tunnelling, from the rugged character 
of the country. The ceremony of ' tapping the loch ' was performed by the Queen in person, in the autumn 



RENPEEW AND BUTE SHIRES. 243 

of 1859. Airdrie, a considerable town io the east of Glasgow, has rapidly grown up from a village owing 
to collicrios and ironworks. SamiUon is a small manufacturing town, near the junction of tho 
Avon with tho Clyde, two miles above Bothwell Bridge, where the Covenanters were defeated by the royal 
army nndcr the Duke of Monmouth in 1679, of which a spirited sketch is given in Old MortalUi/. Near 
by is the palace of tho Duke of Hamilton, with which a far-spreading domain of remarkable interest 
is connected, containing vcnorablo oaks, flowery dells, and ivy-mantled ruins. The country thence along 
the river up to Lanark is exceedingly beautiful, Lanark was famous for its orchards as early as the time 
of the venerable Bedo. They yielded early in the present century as much as £8000 yearly, but have latterly 
fallen off; and the ground is more profitably occupied in producing gooseberries, vegetables, &c. for the 
Glasgow market. 

EENPBEWSHmE, on the west, extends inlaiid from tlie Clyde estuary, and corresponds 
to tho lower portion of Clydesdale in natural features and industrial employments. 

Renfmi), the county town, near the southern bank, small and antiquated, gives the title of Baron Renfrew 
to the Prince of Wales, who travelled under this appellation in America. Paisley, further inland, the real 
capital, while equally ancient, has acquired great modern importance from the production of fancy goods 
of various descriptions and material, silk, cotton, linen, and velvet. The county contains other two populous 
manufacturing places, Johnstone and Pollockshaws ; and two villages with historic names, Elderslie, near 
Paisley, where the great patriot, Sir William Wallace, was born, and Langside, in the vicinity of Glasgow, 
where the cause of Queen Mary was finally overthrown. Gfremoclc, a principal seaport, near the great 
bend of the'Clyde into the firth, is entirely of recent growth. It is distinguished as the birthplace of 
James Watt, the improver, if not the inventor, of the steam-engine. It has large ship-building establishments 
and sugar-refineries, extensive commerce across the Atlantic, and is the chief jjort for the embarkation of 
emigrants from Scotland to JSTorth America. The pier-head commands a delightful view of the hills in the 
opposite counties of Dumbarton and Argyle. Port Glasgow, a few niUes eastward, founded by the merchants 
of the city for the convenience of commerce before the doepenmg of the river was thought of, enjoys 
considerable foreign trade, though its original design was superseded by the improvement of the navigation. 

BuTESHffiE, an insular county, in the broader part of the firth, includes the island of 
that name, with Airan, the Great and Little Cumbrays, and several others of insignificant 
extent. Bute, separated from the mainland by a very narrow strait, is fifteen miles in 
length by five miles in the greatest breadth. It presents no striking features, but 
contains many scenes of quiet beauty, commands views of the magnificent adjoining 
shores, and is studded with several small lakes. From the mUd and genial climate, 
it has been called the MontpeUier of Scotland, and is hence resorted to by invalids. 

Rothesay, the only town, cheerful and picturesque, is at the head of a deep bay on the north-eastern side, 
and is much visitedJboth in winter and summer. It contains fine ruins of a castle in its midst, which was 
once a favourite residence with the Scottish sovereigns, and gives the title of Duke of Kothesay to the 
Prince of Wales. Six miles across the sea-channel to the soutli-west lies the much larger island of Arran, 
about twenty miles long by twelve broad, of an entirely different aspect, and deeply interesting from its 
geological character. The surface, generally high, is mountainous in the northern part, and the scenery 
sublime. Granite here protrudes through the stratified formations of mica-slate and sandstone ; and forms 
a group of grandly picturesque serrated heights, distinguished by their spiiy forms, stupendous precipices, 
and general destitution of vegetation. ' Goatf eU, or, according to its Gaelic name, Gaodh Bhein, the ' Mountain 
of Winds,' is the loftiest, rising 2874 feet, ivith an obtuse pyramid of granite for its summit, consisting o£ 
large blocks completely bare, or scantily spotted with lichens. In other parts of the island the open valley 
appears, the wooded glen, and the cultivated plain. The hjiabitants speak the Gaehc tongue, and chiefly 
occupy the fishing villages of Lamlash, Invercloy, and Corrie on the east coast, which are much resorted 
to by summer tourists. The two Cumbrays, both of small dimensions, adjoin the north coast of Ayrshire. 
The lesser is said to have had a parish minister in the olden time, who, after praying for Great and Little 
Cumbray, was in the habit of adding, ' not forgetting the adjacent islands of Great Britain and Ireland.' 

II. MIDDLE COUNTIES. 
Counties. Area in Square Miles. Principal Towns. 

Dmnbarton, . . . 320 . . . Dumbarton, Kirkintilloch, Helensburgh. 

StirUng, . . . 452 . . . Stu-Ung, PaUcirk, Kilsyth, Bannockburn, Denny. 

Clackmannan, . . . 46 . . . Clackmannan, Alloa, Dollar-. 

Kim-oss, .... 78 . . , Kinross. 

Pife, 513 . . . Cupar, Dunfermline, Kirkcaldy, Dysart, St Andi-ews. 

Forfar, .... 889 . . . Porfar, Dundee, Arbroath, Montrose. 

Ki n cardine, . . . 894 . . . Stonehaven, Bervie, Fmnan. 

Perth, .... 2834 . . . Perth, Crielf, CaUander, Blairgowrie, Dunkeld. 
Argyle, .... 3255 . . . Inverary, Campbeltown, Dunoon, Oban. 



244 SCOTLAND. 

Dumbartonshire, on the north bank of the Clyde, extends from thence between the 
sea-lake of Loch Long, on the west, and the fresh-water expanse of Loch Lomond on the 
east. The northern part of the area consists of rugged mountains used for sheep-walks ; 
southward are lower grounds under cultivation ; and in the south-east, in the direction of 
Glasgow, cotton-printing and bleaching establishments appear, and industries corre- 
sponding to those of that city are followed. The principal river, the Leven, which issues 
from Loch Lomond, is the subject of an ode by Smollett, who was born upon its banks. 
TJntO. contaminated by the refuse from various works on its banks, it is remarkably pure 
and limpid, and after a short flow, discharges itself into the Clyde. 

On its left bank, just above the junction, is Dumbarton, of ancient date, mth a new town rising up from 
an old suburb on the opposite side of the stream. The interest of the place centres in the Castle Eock, at 
the point oi confluence. This is about a mile in circumference, 560 feet in height, terminating in two 
siunmits, one a little higher than the other. It was formerly a formidable stronghold, often used as a state 
prison, and is still kept up as a public fort, along with the Castles of Edinburgh, Stirling, and Blackness. The 
higher summit bears the name of Wallace's Seat, in memory of his feats of arms in connection with the 
fortress ; a part of the castle is called "Wallace's Tower ; and a huge two-handed sword in the armoury is 
shewn as his weapon. Dumbarton, raider the name of Alcluid, was the capital of the old British kingdom 
of Strathclyde, with which that of Cumbria, embracing three of the northern counties of England, was 
occasionally united. Kirkintilloch, on the eastern verge of the county, is a small manufacturing town. 
Selensburr/h, a favourite simmier resort, is situated at the entrance to the Gareloch, opposite to Greenock. 

STiBLiNGSHntE extends from Loch Lomond eastward to the estuary of the Forth, and 
comprises the lofty mass of Ben Lomond, rising with a green conical summit 3192 feet, 
on the western side ; the Campsie Hills, with other loigh grounds, rise towards the centre j 
and fertile, liighly-cultivated plains, or carses, eastward, where also the carboniferous 
formation is largely developed, and coal, iron, and limestone are extensively obtained. 

Stirling, associated with many stirring events of Scottish history, occupies a coimnanding eminence by the 
winding Forth, at the head of the river navigation, and is conspicuous from afar owing to its castle-palace, 
still kept in repair, which crowns a high rock precipitously rising lip from the adjoining plam. The view 
from the battleanents, or from ' the Lady's Look-out,' a small opening in the parapet-wall of the garden, is 
remarkably fine, extending over several counties, and embracing twelve battle-fields. Two miles to the 
south, is Bannockhurn, a village which takes its name from the small brook or burn on which it stands. 
Here in 1314 Bruce defeated, with immense slaughter, the English army commanded by Edward L[., and 
thus secui'ed the independence of his country. Falkirk, twelve miles to the south-east, also prominent 
in militaiy annals, is now surrounded by ironworks, among wliich, those on the Carron, a small stream, 
rank with the largest establishments of the kind. Great cattle-fairs are held on a neighbouring moor 
three times a year, in August, September, and October, to which a vast number of black-cattle and sheep 
are brought from the Highlands and the "Western Isles, and are disposed of chiefly to buyers for the English 
markets. The last is the most considerable, as the breeders must then part mth all the stock which they 
do not intend to keep through the winter. The total number sold at the three fairs has amounted to 
300,000 head of cattle and sheep. Iron ore for the Carron Ironworks is vei-y largely obtained at Kilsyth, 
near the southern border of the county. In the north-east, the village of the Bridge of Allan has recently 
been modernised, and become one of the most fashionable of inland watermg-places, owing to the adjoining 
saline springs of Airthrey. The neighbourhood is extremely beautiful, and remarkable for magnificent trees. 

Clackmannan, the smallest of the Scotch counties, lies on the north bank of the 
Forth, at the commencement of its estuary. It is only about ten miles in length by four 
in breadth ; and is intersected by the Devon, a stream which forms a series of highlj^- 
romantic cascades, the Cauldron Linn and Paimbling Bridge, being just beyond the northern 
border. Within the limit, in that direction, rises the loftiest of the Ochill Hills, 
attaining the height of 2300 feet, from which the surface descends gradually southward to 
the level of the Forth, where it forms a very fertUe plain. While a district of diminutive 
extent, it has not only varied natural features of great beauty, but is a scene of remarkable 
activity and enterprise. There are coal-mines and ironworks upon a great scale, with 
a number of large breweries and distilleries. 

Alloa, the principal place, is a busy town and port, the outlet of the produce of its own breweries, and the 
general produce of the county. Woollen goods are made at Tillicoultry, in the valley of ' the clear winding 



MIDDLE COUNTIES. 



245 



Devon,' as woll as at Dollar, a place widely Imown for its excellent seminary, founded by Captain M'lTal), a 
native of tlio place, who left it as a poor sliip-boy, and realised a very large fortune in London. He left 
£80,000 for the pui-pose. 

KiNROSS-SHiRE, the neigliboiu'ing county, wholly inland, is not mucli Larger than the 
preceding. Their joint extent bat slightly exceeds the area occupied by the British 
metropolis. 

Kinross, the only town, is of interest from its pleasant situation on the western shore of the historic Loch 
Levcn. The lake forms an irregular oval ten miles in circuit, and has four islands, of which the second ui 
size is the Castle Island. It contains remains of the fortress in which Queen Mary was imprisoned, where she 
signed her abdication, and from v/hioli she escaped in a romantic manner, in 1568. The keys of the castle, 
which were thrown into the lake at the time of her flight, or what passed for such, were fished up at a 
recent date by an inhabitant of the town, and presented to the lord of the manor. Loch Lovcn is highly 
celebrated for the excellence and abundance of a peculiar land of trout. 

PiFE, a peninsula on the North Sea, between the Erths of Forth and Tay, is finely 
diversified with hill, vaUey, and plain, possesses great mineral wealth, its coal having been 
worked for many centuries, and is one of the chief seats of the Scottish linen manufacture. 
The principal river, the Eden, flows from the western side eastward to the sea, which it 
enters at St Andrews Bay. Its valley is a remarkably fertile tract, called the ' Howe 
(hoUow) of Fife,' sometimes Strath Eden. 

Cupar, the county town, in the centre of the vale of the Eden, on the north bank of the river, was a 
stronghold of the Macduffs, and the birthplace of Lord Chancellor Campbell, whose father was the parish 
minister. It gives the denomination of ' Cupar justice ' to a system of law corresponding to that for which 
Jedbm-gh was proverbial. Wilkie, the great pamter, was tlie son of a clergyman in the neighbourhood. 
Dunfermline, the most considerable town, in the south-western part of the county, a few miles from 
the Forth, produces unrivalled table-linens of every description, and kindred fabrics. It has great historical 
distinction, and possesses interesting antiquities. A few remains survive, close to a wooded romantic dell, 
of a royal palace in which Charles I. was born, and which was briefly occupied by Charles II. The Abbey 
Church, a modern building, but comiected \vith portions of the ancient monastic edifice, contams the tomb 
of Eobert Bruce, accidentally discovered in the year 1818, while digging for the foundation of the new 
erection. Royal interments within its precmcts include eight kings, five queens, six prmces, and two 
prmcesses of Scotland. The earliest mention of coal in North Britain occurs in a charter obtained by the 
monks of Dunfermline in 1291, allowing them to dig for it in the neighboui-hood of their monastery. 
Kirkcaldy, a sotith-eastern port, has very extensive manufactures of coarse luiens, and considerable trade iu 
the export of coal and grain. St Andrews, a small city on the east coast, venerable, genteel, and qiiiet, is 
the seat of the oldest Scottish university, founded in 1411, and contains the ruins of a cathedi-al, with 
picturesque remauis of a castle on a rock overlookiag the sea, servmg as a landmark to mariners. 

Forfarshire, a maritime county north of the Firth of Tay, is centrally traversed by 
the great valley of Strathmore, extending from north-east to south-west, thirty-three miles 
in length, and from six to eight in breadth, with an undulating and highly cultivated 
aspect. On the inland side of this valley, the surface rises into higlilands connected with 
the main chain of the Grampians, some liigh points of which are in the county. In the 
maritime du'ection are the Sidlaw HiUs, only of moderate elevation, and often detached, 
with conical summits covered with heath. The chief rivers are the North and South Esk, 
both of which descend from the Grampians. 

Forfar, the county town, in the central valley, of ancient date, preserves in its town hall a curious relic of 
bj'gone times, called ' the 'Witches' Bridle,' a kind of gag which was placed over the heads of the unfortunate 
creatures doomed to suffer at the stake for the imaginary crmie. Dundee, on the north shore of the Firth of 
Tay, mth beautiful green hiUs in the background, is the third largest town in Scotland, and one of its most 
important seaports, mth spacious docks, quays, and other accommodation for shipping. Its staple trade is the 
production of coarse linen and hempen fabrics, intended extensively for foreign export, enormous quantities of 
which are sent to the greater ports for re-shipment to their final destination. The industry is common to 
the other to^vns and a great number of the villages. A convenient position in relation to the countries of 
the Baltic, from which the principal supply of flax and hemp is obtained, led to the estabUshment of 
the liaen manufacture in this and the adjoming county of Fife. A public park, presented to the toiyn 
by Sir David Baxter in 1863, bears his name. Arbroath, on the main coast, produces yarn, canvas, and sail- 
cloth, and is a considerable shipping port, with a Signal Tower for coramunicating with the Bell Rock 
Light-house, twelve miles distant on the south-east in the open sea. The name refers to a rock covered at 



246 SCOTLAND. 

Iiigh-water, and to a bell -whicli the abbots of Axbroath caused to be attached to it, which was rung by tho 
action of the waves, and warned mariners of their danger, A magnificent light-house now sumaounts tho 
rock, visited by Sir "Walter Scott in 1814, soon after its completion, which occasioned the lines from him : 

' PHAROS LOQUITUR. 

Far in the bosom of the deep 

O'er these wild shelves my watch I keep, 

A ruddy gem of changeful light 

Bound on the dusky brow of night. 

The seaman bids my lustre hail. 

And scorns to strike his timorous sail.* 

Montrose, at the mouth of the South Esk, is a remarkably neat town, largely engaged in flax spinning and 
weaving, also an important seaport with the advantage of a convenient harbour. It was the native place of 
the gallant and unfortunate cavalier, James Graham, iirst Marquis of Montrose. 

KiNOAEDiNESHiRB, Or the Mearns, an old territorial title, extends northward along the 
coast, and contains a considerahle amount of sterile surface, being occupied on the north- 
west by a portion of the Grampians. But arable husbandry is pursued in a central fertile 
tract, called the Howe of the Mearns, really a northerly prolongation of Strathmore, while 
the cod, ling, and haddock fisheries contribute to sustain the population on the shores. 

Stonehaven, a small port, resorted to for sea-bathing, is the county town. LaurenceMrTc is a boroiigh of 
barony, with some linen- weaving. In'a few neighboraing churchyards ' Old Mortality ' made some of liis latest 
appearances, engaged in his favourite occupation of renewing the inscriptions on the tombs of the 
Covenanters. Among the popidous fishing villages, Finnan is celebrated for its dried fish, called ' Finnan 
haddocks.' 

Peethshiee, a large inland county, is the third in point of size, and the finest as 
respects natural scenery, presenting rare combinations of beauty and grandeur, wUduess 
and luxuriance. It belongs chieily to the basin of the Tay ; and a portion extending on 
the north bank of its firtli is maritime. In tliis direction, a considerable section of the 
county lies within the area of the Lowlands, and includes part of Strathmore, with the rich 
plain or carse of Gowiie, and the separating Sidlaw Hills, one of wliich, Dimsinane, has been 
immortalised by the genius of Shakspeare. Northward and westward are the Grampians, 
with their towering heights, deep glens, bounding streams, wooded valleys, and calm 
lakes, some of which are gloomy from the shadows of the mountains, while others lie 
open on all sides to the sunbeams. The highest mass, Ben Lawers, ' echoing mountain,' 
rises to 3984 feet, on the northern shore of Loch Tay, with a remarkably verdant 
sm'face, rife with alpine plants. From its summit, in the distance southerly, the eye 
catches Ben More, 'gTeat mountain,' 3835 feet, and nearer on the northward is 
SchehaUion, 'female fairy,' 3547 feet, of a beautifully simple and conical form. This 
last was selected by Maskelyne, the astronomer-royal and other scientific men, in 1773, 
for their experiments to determine the density of the earth. The extreme south-west 
of the county belongs to the basin of the Forth, and contains the striking defile of the 
Trosachs, mth the lovely expanses of Lochs Katrine, Achray, and Vennachar. WlioUy 
different features appear in the extreme north-west, the district of the Moor of Eannoch, 
an elevated table-land extending about twenty miles in every direction, and one of the 
most desolate wastes in the kingdom. It feeds no wild animals, is visited by few birds, 
has neither tree nor shrub, except a few firs on the margta of Loch Eannoch, but is 
largely overspread with moss and rushes, interspersed with blocks of granite. A few 
roads cross the wilderness, with houses at intervals for the accommodation of drovers, 
strongly built to withstand the rough winter storms. 

Perth, beautifidly situated on the right bank of the Tay, a few miles from the conimoneement of the firth, 
excites the admiration of every visitor from whatever quarter it is approached, owing to the charms of the 
landscape, and is in itself one of the best built cities in Scotland. It was formerly regarded as the capital, 
and retained the distinction down to the assassination of James I., in 1437, which led to the permanent 



MIDDLE COUNTIES. 



247 



transference of the seat of government to Edinburgh. The kings lived at Scone Palace, ahout a mile up the 
river on tho opposite bank, not a trace of which remains, but a modern edifice of the same name occupies 
tlio site. Tliey were croivned in the adjoining abbey, some inconsiderable relics of which are left ; but the 





"' Perth from below St John's Bridge. 

famous ' stone of destiny ' on which they are said to have been seated is now in 'Westminster Abbey, to 
which it was removed by Edward I. Apart from the city, the population of Perthshire is either grouped in 
comparatively small towns or considerable villages. 

Aegyle, on the west coast, the Beoond largest county, is a region of peninsulas, 
one of whioh, that of Cantire, is tho most remarkable in the British Isles. This 
projection is forty miles long, with an average breadth of about seven miles, terminated 
by the Mull, a high rook, within thirteen miles of the coast of Ireland. To the main- 
land of the county numerous islands are attached, which form nearly a third of its area. 
The surface is with little exception mountainous and rugged, rising in Ben Cruaohan, the 
highest point, 3670 feet above the sea, a mass of vast dimensions, overlooking a singularly 
conipHcated intermixture of sea and land. Towering to the north of Loch Awe, this 
mountain is seen to great advantage on approaching the lake from the south, especially 
from a point which bears the name of 'Burke's view,' where once stood the author of 
the treatise on the Sublime and Beautiful, admiring the scene. Loch Awe is the 
second of the Scotch lakes in extent, with about twenty little islands within its circuit 
crowned with trees. The north part of the county contains ' dark Glencoe,' a valley 
or defile of savage grandeur, the scene of the barbarous massacre of the Macdonalds in 
1692. 



248 BCOTLAND. 

Invcrary, the county town, a very small place, but long a seat o£ the Dukes of Argylo, is chiefly sustained 
by the herring fishery of Loch Fyne, near the head of which it is situated. Campleltown, towards the south 
extremity of the peninsula of Cantire, the largest town, is noted for its distilleries and fisheries. 
Dunoon, on the shore of the Firth of Clyde, is one of the summer retreats of the citizens of Glasgow ; and 
Ohan, on the north-west coast, is a station for tourists bound for the islands, or for Inverness by the line of 
the Caledonian CanaL 

MuU is the largest island, of very irregular shape, with basaltic cliffs and natural arches on the shores, 
and a mountainous but monotonous interior, o-n-ing to the roimded form of the masses, their covering of 
brown heath, and the absence of deep valleys. Eastward is Lismore, liigUy fertile, answering to the 
meaning of its name, ' the Great Garden,' in ancient times a distinguished ecclesiastical site, the residence 
of the Bishops of Argjde. Westward is the small isle of Staffa, vrah. the basaltic Cave of Fuigal on 
the southern shore, opening towards the ocean, and traversed by its waves, with the Clamshell or Boat 
Cave and the Cormorant's Cave in the neighbomliood, hardly less striking than Fingal's. Off the south-west 
extremity of Mull, separated by a narrow channel, lies lona, three miles long by one and a half broad, once 
the residence of St Colmuha. It contains remains of a cathedral, nunneiy, chapel, and monumental 
tombstones of abbots and chiefs. Fm-ther west, in the open ocean, are CoU and Tii-ee, with the Skerryvore 
Light-house about twelve miles from the nearest point of the latter, the boldest work of its class. It stands 
on a ledge of rocks over wliich the Atlantic dashes mth tremendous fury, rises to the height of 138 feet, and 
contains a mass of masonry more than double that of the Bell Eock, and not much less than five times that 
of the Eddystone. A southerly group of islands embraces Colonsay, May, and Jura, the latter extremely 
wild and rugged, distinguished by its conical peaks, called the Paps of Jura, from 200O to 3000 feet 
in height, which are well-known landmarks to mariners. Three of the principal bear the names of Ben-a- 
Chaolois, ' the mountain of the sound ' (or strait), Ben Shcemita, ' the hallowed mountain,' and Ben-an-Air, 
'the mountain of gold.' Ai'gyleshu-e, both mainland and islands, has a very thin population, principally 
engaged in stock-rearing and fisheries, but annually decreasing in numbers as the poverty of the surface 
stimulates a departure to more favoured sites. 





Aberdeen from the Cross. 

HI. NORTHERN COUNTIES. 
Area in Sqnuro Bliles. Trincipal Towns. 

1970 . . . Aberdeen, Peterhead, Fraserburgh. 

686 .. . Banff, Keith, Portsoy. 

531 . . . Elgin, Pon-es, Fochabers. 

213 .. . Nairn. 

4265 . . . Inverness, Beanly, Portree. 

3151 . ■ . Dingwall, Cromarty, Tain, Invergordon, Stornaway. 

1886 . . . Dornoch. 

712 .. . 'Wick, Thurso. 

935 . . . Kirkwall, Stromness, Lerwick. 



Counties. 
Aberdeen, . 
Banff, 

Elgin, .... 
Kaim, , , . 
Inverness, . 
Eoss and Cromarty, 
Sutherland, . 
Caithness, 
Orkney and Shetland, 

Aberdeenshire, an extensive maritime county, includes that portion of the east coast 
wMcli forms the rounded projection marked by Kinuaird's Head, where the general 
direction changes from north to west. It contains the most easterly point of Scotland, or 
Buchan Ness immediately below Peterhead, soutli of which are the EuUars (boilers) of 
Buchan, named from the peculiar belloiviug noise of the waves in storms, as they rush 
through arched rocks and into caverns on the shore. While the interior is generally 
hUly, some of the grandest highlands of the kingdom rise on the south-west, noticed in 
the general description of the Grampians, but are partly on the borders of Inverness and 
Banff. In the same quarter are extensive woodlands belonging to the forest of Mar, 
containing magnificent specimens of the Scotch fir, and plentifully stocked with red and 
roe deer. The two chief rivers, the Dee and Don, run from west to east, enter the North 
Sea in close proximity, and though not navigable, are valuable for theii- salmon fisheries. 



250 SCOTLAND. 

The liigli grounds are for the most parts moorish and mossy wastes, hut on lower sites 
along the coast a considerable amount of ordinary agricultural produce is raised, except 
wheat, for which the climate is too cold. 

Aberdeen, a very handsome and flourishing town and port, the fourth in point of population, is situated at 
the mouth of the Dee, on the south bank, contiguous to Old Aberdeen, on the south side of the Don, which 
may be considered its suburb. It is largely built of fine gray granite quarried in the immediate vicinity. 
Tliis is the material not only of the public edifices and hotels, the pier and quays, but of the private houses, 
which form in the principal street a long and spacious avenue of granite, tlie effect of which is both pleasing 
and striking. The manufactures include cotton, wool, flax, and iron goods upon an extensive scale, with 
paper-mills and ship-building. Aberdeen is the seat of a university, originally consisting of King's College in 
the old town, founded by Bishop Elphinstone in IBOO, and iirst called St Mary's College, and Marischal 
College, in. the new, founded in 1593 by George Keith, fifth Earl Marischal of Scotland. Peterhead, north- 
ward on the coast, besides its herring fishery, has long taken a leading part in the northern whale fishery, 
possesses mineral springs which bring to it siunmor visitors, and sliips vast quantities of granite for building 
and paving purposes quarried in the vicinity. Fraserlurgh, a port adjoining Kinnaird's Head, is a principal 
seat of the herring flsherj'. "Witliin the district of the Aberdeenshire highlands, the village of Ballater is 
a com 111 on tourist's station, in a neighbourhood with which Lord Byron was associated in early life, and at the 
distance of about nine mUes from Balmoral, the summer residence of the Queen. 

Banpfshjbh, to the westward, extends from the coast in a south-westerly direction 
to the region of the higher Grampians, one of which, Cairngorm, 4090 feet above the sea, 
is wholly within its limits, while the border-line from Aberdeenshire crosses the shoulder 
of the loftier Ben Macdhui (4295 feet). The former mountain is celebrated for its speci- 
mens of roolc-crystal, hence popularly caUed Cairngorm stones, but which arc of frequent 
occuirenoe in the highlands of primary districts, and have now become somewhat rare in 
this locality owing to the number abstracted. They are of various shades of colour, a rich 
Hght-yeUow, white, pink, dark-brown, or almost black, and are often styled false topazes 
from their resemblance to the true example. From this elevated district, the stream of 
the Aven descends to join the Spey on the western side of the county, these two 
rivers flow with such singularly transparent water as to deceive the stranger respecting its 
depth, rendering it perilous for him to attempt to ford them. It receives a smaU affluent 
from Gienlivet, a woodless tract famed for the quality of its whisky. On the eastern 
side, partly along the border, flows the Deveron, with the Isla for a tributary. 

The old town of Banff is beautifully situated at the mouth of the Deveron, largely modernised, but retaining 
some curious antique houses. Three Jameses have been conspicuously connected with it— James Sharp, the 
notorious Archbishop of St Andrews, born in its castle in 1613 ; James Graham, Marquis of Montrose, from 
whom the place suffered so severely in 1647, that the inhabitants, styling themselves ' Town of Banff Bodies' 
addressed the parliament for relief ; and James Macphersou, a noted Higliland robber, executed in the last 
century, whose ' farewell ' is the subject of a poem by Burns. The modern village of Macduff, a mile distant, 
on the opposite bank of the river, forms a kind of suburb. Porlsoy, a small fishing town, is distinguished 
by mineralogical rarities in its vicinity. Serpentine is here quarried as marble, and contributed to the 
ornamentation of the palace of Versailles. A variety of granite also occui's composed of only two ingredients, 
felspar and quartz, which are so arranged, that upon the rook being polished, a slab appears as if inscribed 
with Hebrew characters on a white ground. It is hence termed graphite granite, and the slabs are 
commoiily known as the Tablets of Moses. 

Elginshire, further west, lies on the broader part of the opening of the. Moray Firth, 
extending from the mouth of the Spey to beyond that of the Findhorn ; and has an 
inland tract wholly separated from the larger maritime portion by a detached section of 
Inverness-shire. The district was formerly called Moray, and the name is still in use, 
signifying a ' marshy ' or ' benty sea-coast.' This is a true description of the shore, 
except centrally, about Burgh Head, which consists of sandstone cbfis crowned with the 
remains of Danish fortifications. In other directions, sand-hills line the strand for several 
miles, the loosening of which in the seventeenth century, by the peasantry inconsiderately 
puUing up the bent, juniper, and other plants which bound each mass together, originated 
a grave disaster. The fine particles immediately began to drift under the action of the 
wind, and were blown over a district of more than ten square miles, chiefly included in 



NOKTnERN COUNTIES. 



251 



tlic Ixarony of Culbine, before renowned for extreme fertility. In tlie course of twenty 
years, it was turned into a dreary wilderness, dei^opulated as well as rendered sterile, and 
its manor-house, offices, and oroliards, smothered hy the drift. The desolation of this 
tract has remained to the present day, with the exception of some places where human 
industry has removed the sand-flood from the rich old soil of the barony. At a short 
distance from the sea, fine wheat-lands occur, and the general surface is productive, except 
in the extreme south, where there are highlands either clothed with native forests, or 
covered with furze and broom. The climate of the maritime lowlands is remarkably mild 
and dry for so high a latitude. 

Besides the Spey and the Findliom, chiefly on tlie eastern and western confines of the county, the Lossie 
flows intennediately to the ssa, on the banks of which, a few miles from its mouth, the town of Elgin is 
situated. The name is said to he derived from Helgin, home by a conquering Norwegian chief, and is so 
spelt on the seal of the burgh. The town was thrice burned in little more thanthalf a century : by the 
notorious "WoK of Badenoch in 1390, by a son of the Lord of the Isles in 1402, and by the Earl of Huntly in 
1452 — tliis last calamity originating the proverb, ' Half done, as Elgin was burned.' Its principal feature is a 
dilapidated cathedral in the florid Gothic style, once the most magnificent in Scotland, proudly called ' The 
Lanthorn of the North,' and stiU majestic in ruins. The sm-rounding churchyard, crowded with tombs, is 
one of the most extensive of the old burTing-groirnds. Forres, on a sandy knoU near the Findhorii, towards 
its mouth, is remarkable for an antique monument, by the roadside eastward of the town, called the Forres 
Stone, a piUar upwards of twenty feet high, and believed to descend fourteen feet into the groimd. It is 
carved with the figiu-es of warriors and other objects ; and is supposed to commemorate a pacification 
concluded at the place between Malcolm II. and Sweno, a Danish invader. The neighbourhood figures 
prominently in the tragedy of lilacbeth. A spot marked by a clump of trees is traditionally regarded as the 
scene of his interview with the weird sisters. Foclmbers, a very neat village on the Spey, adjoins Castle 
Gordon, the old ' Bog of Eight,' formerly the residence of the Dukes of Gordon, now the property of the 
Duke of Eiclmiond. 

JSTaienshiee lies on the narrower part of the Moray Krth, and has a detached tract in 
the Black Isle, the popular name of the peninsula on the northern side of the estuary. 
The main portion of the county is intersected by the Findhorn, with beautifully 
picturesque banks ; and also by the K"airn, called in Gaelic Kis-Nerane, ' the water of 
alders.' 

The town of Nairn, at the mouth of the latter stream, resorted to as a watering-place, consists chiefly of a 
single spacious street, at one extremity of which the Gaelic language is spoken, and at the other the English 
or Lowland Scotch. Cawdor Castle, in the neighbourhood, a weU-preserved and striking baronial residence 
of the fifteenth century, stfll occupied, is of interest from the association of the site with Macbeth, who was 
Thane of Cawdor. Li a part of the roof the liiding-place of Lord Lovat is shewn, where he remained 
concealed for some time after the battle of Culloden. 

iNVEENESS-SHraB, the most extensive of the Scotch counties, and one of the most 
sparsely peopled, spans the country diagonally from sea to sea, from the Moray Firth to 
the waters of the Atlantic, and includes a considerable munber of islands on the western 
side. The mainland is eminently a region of moimtain and moor, of glen, lake, water-fall, 
and forest. It embraces several of the higher Grampians, with the loftiest of all, Ben 
Nevis, at the .south-west extremity, and the long outlying range of the Monaglilea, or 
gray mountains, which form the water-shed between the Spey and the Findhorn. In 
additiou to these rivers and the I^airn, which rise within the county, and flow beyond its 
borders, it contains the basin of the Spean, connected with the western ocean, and those 
of the jSTess and Beauly, belonging to the Moray estuary. Among the many deep and 
narrow valleys which indent the surface. Glen Urquhart and Glen Moriston, on the 
western side of Loch Ness, are remarkable for then- wild beauty. The former has been 
compared to the renowned Vale of Tempo. In the latter, scarcely its inferior in scenic 
attractions, Prince Charles Edward, after his defeat at Culloden, remained concealed for 
several weeks, entirely dependent upon the care of a few Highlanders to whom he was 
kno\vn, whose fidelity to him never wavered. Glen Eoy, in the basin of the Spean, 
is distinguished by its Parallel Eoads, once supposed to be of artificial construction, 



252 SCOTLAND. 

and superstitioiisly viewed r.s tlio pathways of giants, but simply nature-formed terraces 
marking the successive level of ancient waters. The terraces are three in number, from 
ten to sixty feet broad, extending eight mUes along both sides of the valley, and perfectly 
corresponding in their height above its bottom. 

But the grand example of depression, properly styled the Great Glen, is a long and 
■sublime valley stretching between the sea-loch Eil on the south-west to the Moray Firth 
on the north-east, and dividing the county into two nearly equal parts. In this valley. 
Lochs Lochy, Oich, jSTess, and Dochfour form a cliaia of navigable waters which are 
connected by the Caledonian Canal, and joined to narrow arms of the sea on opposite 
sides of the country. The whole distance is rather more than sixty mUes, of which 
thirty-seven and a half lie through the natural sheets of water, and twentj'-tliree are by 
the artificial cuttings. The latter being intended to afford a passage to frigates of thirty- 
two guns, or merchant vessels of similar size, are 50 feet wide at the bottom, 110 feet 
at the surface, and 20 feet deep. Differences of level are overcome by twenty-eight 
locks. This great undertaking, executed under the dhection of Mr Telford, was 
completed after the labour of eighteen years in 1823, at a total cost to the nation, 
including recent improvements, considerably exceeding £1,000,000 sterling. But 
it has not answered the expectations of the projectors, for instead of availing themselves 
of the route, seamen prefer the longer but more convenient course of rounding the 
northern extremity of the island. It is, however, extensively employed in summer for 
the transit of passengers and goods between the Clyde and Inverness. The summit-level 
of the canal, between Lochs Oich and Lochy, is ninety-four feet above the ordinary high- 
water mark on the east coast, and ninety feet above that on the west. 

The town of Inverness, commonly regarded as the capital of the Northern Highlands, much frequented liy 
tourists, is well built and flourishing, situated in a rich, cultivated, and woody district, on both banks of the 
river Ness, at the north-east extremity of the Caledonian Canal. Though of great antiquity, the date of its 
origin is unlmown, but a castle occupied an eminence to the south-east in the eleventh centuiy, in 
whicli, according to tradition, King Duncan was murdered by Macbeth. English or Lowland Scotch is the 
ordinary language of the inhabitants, but tlie GaeHc is known to many, and is alone spoken or understood in 
the secluded glens of the county. A few miles to the eastward is Culloden Moor, where the army of Prince 
Charles was totally defeated in 1746, in little more than half an hour, and became the victims of an 
unsparing slaughter. The field is a desolate tract of table-land, traversed by a carriage-road, by the side of 
which two or three green mounds mark the spoi; where numbers of the slain were interred. Fort "William 
and Fort George, at opposite extremities of the Great Glen, with Fort Augustus intermediate, were erected 
at different periods by the government to restrain the tiu'bulence of the Highlanders. They are now of no 
military import.v.iC3 except as barracks for a few companies of troops, but are convenient stations for tourists. 
Fort "William, on the shore of Loch Eil, and at the western base of Ben Nevis, was built in the reign of 
"William III., and named after him, while an adjacent village received the name of Maryburgh, in honour of 
Queen Maiy. The very considerable inequality of surface traversed by the Caledonian Canal is overcome 
by twenty-eight locks, to the largest of which the fanciful appellation of Neptune's Staircase has been 
given. Fort Augustus, at the south-west extremity of Loch Ness, close to the edge of the water, was built 
soon after the rebellion of 1715. Foi-t George, on a sandy projection into the Moray Fu'th, the largest 
fortress, with accommodation for 2000 men, was erected immediately after the suppression of the insmxeotion 
of 1745. 

Portions of both the Outer and the Inner Hebrides belong to Invemess-shire. The most important member 
and the nearest to the mainland is the magnificent island of Skye. Many parts of the coast, composed 
of columnar trap, exhibit basaltic pillars scarcely inferior to those of the Giant's Causeway. Two caves 
are pointed out as hiding-places of Prince Ciiarles. A third, the Spar Cave, has the appearance of 
being lined with marble from the beautiful stalactite formations. For wildness and sublunity few scenes 
rival Loch Coruisk, with its margin of broken rocks, tier above tier, rising up to the Cuchullin HiUs, 
remarkable for their dark colouring and serrated outline, which girdle the lake on one side with an 
insunnountable barrier. Referring to this locality Sir "Walter Scott remarked, ' Bon-odale or even 
Glencoe is a jest to it.' The highest point of the mountain-wall, Scuir-na-Gillean, 'the rock of the 
young men,' rises upwards of 3000 feet above the sea. Another peak, very little lower, has the strange 
name of Souir-na-Banachtich, ' the rock of the smallpox.' The eagle may often be seen wheeling 
aromid these heights, while the red deer descends from the mountain fastnesses to browse upon the 
scanty herbage on the margin of the lake. Portree, the only town of the island, is a small fishing 



NORTHERN COUNTTEfS. 253 

place on tlie east coast, with a spacious landlocked natural harbour, in regular communication by steamer 
with Glasgow during the summer months. Its name, signifying the 'King's Port,' was conferred in 
honour of a visit of James V. Southward from Skye lies the parish of the small isles, consisting of 
Caniia, highly fertile, with a sea-cliff called the Compass Hill from its supposed magnetic influence ■ Rum 
distinguished by sharp-peaked dark mountains, and a breed of horses said to have been originally introduced 
from a vessel belonging to the Spanish Armada ; and Eig Isle, conspicuous from its Scuir, a remarkably 
formed hill of dark porphyritic pitchstone shooting up in columnar precipices to a considerable height. This 
last isle was the scene of a tragedy in feudal times. 

* Oa Scuir-Eigg next a warning light. 
Summoned her wavrior3 to the fight ; 
A numerous race, ere stern I\Iacleod 
O'er their bleak shores in vengeance strode. 
When all in vain the ocean cave 
Its refuge to his victims gave, 
Tlie chief, relentless in his wrath, 
"With blazing heath blockades the path ; 
In dense and stifling volumes rolled. 
The vapour filled tho caverned hold ! 
The warrior-threat, the infant's plain, 
The motller's screams were heard in vain ; 
The vengeful chief maintains his fifes, 
Till in the vault a tribe expires.' 

The cave to whicli these Knes refer has nothing outwardly to distinguish it from an ordinary animal burrow, 
and can only be entered by creeping on hands and knees. It expands in the interior, and runs to a 
considerable distance into the bowels of the rock. Skulls, bones, and other hmnan remains, found scattered 
on the floor — the relics altogether of 200 individuals — have borne melancholy witness to the barbarous 
vengeance of the Macleods of Skye on the islanders of Eigg. 

Eoss and Cromarty occupy the mainland from coast to coast, north of the 
preceding district, and have dee|)ly-indented shores on both sides. They are taken 
together in all statistical documents, and viewed as a single political division, from 
the circumstance of the latter county consisting of not less than ten small detached 
portions, scattered chiefly through the northern half of the former. This arrangement is 
said to have originated with an Earl of Cromarty who wished to have all his lands 
wherever situated grouped together. The general surface is high, rugged, and barren, 
bestrewed with moimtains rising to from 3000 to 4000 feet above the sea, many of which 
have the prefix i. Scuir' attached to their names, signifying a precipitous eminence. The 
glens are equally numerous, and are mostly the beds of lakes. Loch Maree, the largest 
example, eighteen mUes long, by from one to three broad, towards the west coast, is 
unsurpassed for savage grandeur. On the eastern shores, along the Dornoch and Cromarty 
Firths, there are lowlands, or moderately-elevated districts, with a fertile soil, where 
agriculture is pursued in connection with the fisheries. The rearing of black-cattle and 
sheep prevails in the interior, and gives a very scanty subsistence to a scattered peasant 
population engaged in folding and shepherding. These employments being of a destdtory 
character, some of the cottars profitably occupy spare time in knitting socks and stockings 
while in the open air of the moors and mountains, an industry introduced into several 
Highland counties by a benevolent and enterprising employer at Inverness. The peasantry 
clean, comb, and otherwise prepare the wool with which they are supplied. They dye 
it themselves where colours are desired; bro'svn, from a lichen caUed crothal ; yellow, 
from the tops of young heather ; black, from the bark of the alder ; lemon, from furze 
flowers ; and olive, from the roots of the water-lily. These substances are all at hand, 
and are well known. Articles of various patterns and colours, knitted from home-dyed 
self-coloured wools, have been exported as far as Hong Kong and Shanghai, but they 
are chiefly used at or near the sites of production. 

Dingwall (' Law ' or ' Court Hill'), the county town of Eoss, at the head of Cromarty Firth, surroimded 
with rich and well-wooded lands, commands fine views of Ben "Wyvis, and is ivithin twelve miles of the 
summit. The ascent is commonly made from Strathpeffer, an intervening point frequented by a large 



254 



SCOTLAND. 



niunber of invalids, having strongly sulphureous mineral springs. Wliite or Alpine hares, ptarmigan and 
other moorfowl, abound on the mountain, and rare wild plants are met %vith belonging to the true Alpine 
flora. A cairn distinguishes the highest point of the long horseshoe-shaped ridge, ■which very closely 
approaches the line of perpetual congelation ; indeed, snow has never been known to be entirely absent 
from certain corrics or ravines -within living memory, eiccpt during the remarkably hot summer of 1826. 
Ben Wyvis was origmally held by the principal proprietor from the cro\Tn, by the singular tenure of bringing 
from tlie mountain three wain-loads of snow whenever the king should desire. Cromarty, at the moutli 
of the firth, on the southern side, possesses one of the finest of natiiral harbours, capacious enough for the 
largest fleet, of easy access, completely landlocked and sheltered from every wind. An obelisk commemorates 
a native of the place, Hugh Miller, the author of Tim Old Bed Sandstone, and other well-known works, 
who began his career as a stone mason in the neighbourhood. Invergordon, on the northern shore, 
furnished mth a convenient pier, is entirely modem, and has become tlie chief emporium of the trade of the 
county. Tain, on the southern shore of the Dornoch Firth, an ancient burgh, retains some relics of 
antiquity, but has largely lost the advantages connected with a maritime position by the formation of 
sandbanks, wMch threaten to fiU up the entire estuary. 

The large island of Lewis (Norwegian, Ljodhlms, ' Sounding House '), the most northerly of the Outer 
Hebrides, belongs to Eoss-shire ; it is sixty miles in extreme length, and thirty miles in extreme breadth. It 
is separated If rom the mainland by the broad channel of the Minch ; and has been for twenty years in the 
hands of a single proprietor. Sir James Matheson, whose modem castellated residence overlooks Stornoway, 
the only town, on the east coast. Though the surface is generally high, and has its pleasant slopes and 
valleys, boggy moorlands predominate, with a rounded and tame outline, whoUy destitute of trees, except 
in a few favoured spots. The fisheries of cod, ling, and herring are important, carried on by the natives, 
as well as by adventurers from a distance. Monumental cairns and conical tmnuli are numerous in the 
island ; but the most remarkable relics of long bygone time are the Standing Stones of CaUanish, on the 
western shore. They are forty-eight in number, from seven to thirteen feet in height, arranged in a 
cruciform manner, with a circle at the intersection all resting on a causewayed base, forming a kind of 
temple devoted to some early system of worship. 

SuTHEELAND, in. the shape of an irregular square, embraces part of the extreme 
north of the mainland, and has an extensive western and northern coast, crowded with 
dee23 inlets and hold precipices, while a flat sandy shore stretches on the eastern side 
between the Dornoch Firth and the Ord of Caithness. Cape "Wrath, at the north-west 
angle, far from human habitations, except those of the light-house keepers, presents grand 
fronts to the ocean, the currents of which are rendered tumultuous by desolate islets and 
sunken rocks in the vicinity. This headland, as well as the adjoining coast, is interesting 
to the geologist from its gneissic mass being permeated with injected granite, and crowned 
by Silurian deposits. In the interior of the coimty are pastoral vaUeys edged by chains 
of hiUs, most of which contain long narrow lakes, while majestic mountain forms occur 
detached, and acquire a severe and savage aspect towards the Atlantic coast-line. In this 
quarter, north and south of the fresh-water Loch Assynt, there is a remarkable series of 
lofty isolated masses, composed of Silui'ian rocks resting on a platform of gneiss, one of 
which, Suil-vean, or Sugar-Loaf, as seen from a distance to seaward, seems like a perfect 
sugar-loaf shaped cone, shooting up to the height of about 2400 feet. Macculloch, in Ms 
peculiar style, vsrites of these mountains, appearing ' as if they had tumbled down from 
the clouds, having nothing to do with the country or each other, either in shape, materials, 
position, or character, but looking very much as if they were wondering how they got 
there. Which of them all is most rocky and useless is probably known to the sheep ; 
human organs distinguish little but stone; black precipices when the storm and rain 
are drifting by, and when the sun shines, cold bright summits that seem to rival the 
snow.' On the shore of Loch Assynt are the ruins of the Castle of Ardvreck, where the 
unfortunate Marquis of Montrose was confined by Macleod, chieftain of the district, 
and betrayed to his enemies. The largest lake. Loch Shin, eighteen mUes long, by 
one in average breadth, hes towards the centre, has excellent fishing, and scenery of 
a soft character. With the exception of a narrow border of arable land on the east 
coast, the whole surface, five-sixths of which belong to the Sutherland family, is divided 
into immense sheep-farms, chiefly in the hands of large capitalists, from which the native 



NORTHERN COUNTIES. 255 

peasantry have been removed by various clearances, either to expatriate themselves, or 
reside along the coast in fishing villages and hamlets. 

In the entire coimty there is no newspaper or printing-press, and no toivn except Dornoch, at the northern 
entrance of its firth, which is scarcely worthy of the name, having a very inconsiderable population. In 
former times it had the ranlc of a city as tlie seat of an episcopate, and it retains an old square tower belongmg 
to the bishop's palace, with remains of the ancient cathedral repaired to serve as a parish church. Golspie, 
Erora, and Hehrisdale are villages on the coast to the northward. Near the first is the vast pile of 
Dunrobin Castle, the residence of the Dukes of Sutherland, of which high towers and fretted pinnacles, in 
the style of a foreign chMeau, are the conspicuous external features. Coal occurs in the oolite formation at 
Brora, but has no commercial value. 

Caithness, the north-easterly section of the mainland, is a generally level district, 
with a bleak and sterile aspect, owing to the absence of woodland scenery and the 
presence of peat-mosses ; but it has a considerable area profitably devoted to agriculture. 
Its coast-line alone offers temptations to the tourist, and is very magnificent, distinguished 
by grand cliffs with the picturesque Castles of Sinclair, Girnigo, AckergUl, and Keiss, on 
the seaward verge, while ' stacks,' or detached pillars of sandstone rock, variously worn by 
the ocean, are characteristic of the shores. Duncansby Head, a confused mass of old red- 
sandstone strata, perforated by the sea in different parts, marks the north-east angle, and 
has several stacks in front detached from it by the action of the waves. M"ear this head- 
land, a grassy knoH close to the beach is pointed out as the site of the famous John 
O'Groat's house, often quoted as the most northern inhabited point on the mainland of 
the kingdom. Accordmg to tradition, the name is a corruption, of John do Groot, a 
Dutchman, who settled at the spot about the reign of James IV., and arranged a dispute 
among his eight sons upon a point of precedence by opening eight doors in his dweUing, 
by which means they passed in and out without quarrel. Whatever may be the value of 
tills tradition, there can be no doubt as to the existence of a John Groot, for in 1496 
'John Grot, son of Hugh Grot,' had a grant of a penny land in Duncansby from William, 
Earl of Caithness. The family still exists. 

Wick, the capital of the north-east herring fishery, is at the head of a bay on the east coast, with 
Pulteney Town for its suburb, completely modem, its site having been a huge sandbank little more than half 
a century ago, and would probably soon be so again without unremitting attention on the part of the harbour 
authorities. The tendency to silt in this and other bays on this coast opens up some interesting questions in 
physical geography; in all, the north is the deep side, and the roughest gromid; and the ground, as Mr 
Cleghorn has shewn, in which the herring deposits its spawn, to which circumstance Wick owes its inmiense 
herring fishery. The fishing season commences towards the middle of July, and continues about eight weeks, 
during wliich the place exhibits animated scenes of excitement and energy. Numbers arrive from the 
western highlands to serve the masters of boats and nets as ' hired men,' dependuig upon their wages to pay 
the rent of the small holdings they occiipy. A Babel-like confusion of languages may be heard on a 
Saturday evening, when the labours of the week are over — broad Scotch, Gaelic, Irish, Orcadian, Shetland, 
pure Caithness, rough Banff, and rougher Aberdeen, with the Fife or further Scotch dialect. As many as 
1600 to 1800 boats are sometimes "simultaneously engaged, and it has been calculated that in this district, 
which comprehends the shores southward to the county of Aberdeen, the netting daily set and hauled up 
by the boats employed wo\ild extend m a straight line nearly 600 miles, or stretch from Caithness across 
the North Sea to the mouth of the Elbe. Much of the cured produce is sent to Germany, Italy, and the 
West Indies. Thurso, or Thor's Town, on a secure and spacious bay of the north coast, is the most northerly 
town on tlie mainland of Great Britain, with the high rocks of Dunnet Head a few miles'distant, the Land's 
End in that direction. 

The insular counties of Orkney and Shetland lie to the north-east of Caithness, 
between which and the former is the turbulent and eddying Pentland Firth, a channel from 
five to eight miles wide. The Orkneys, Orcades of the ancients, visited by the Eoman fleet 
in the time of Agricola, when the shores of Britain were first circumnavigated, consist of 
sixty-seven islands, thirteen of v^hich are of some extent, and twenty-eight are usually 
inhabited, while several of the others are used as pasture-grounds in summer. They rise 
to no great elevation at any point, form level tabular masses in general, and consist of 



256 SCOTLAND. 

rocks of the old red sandstone, with the exception of a small granitic tract. The Isle of 
Hoy contains the highest point, Wart HUl, 1556 feet above the sea, and is distinguished hy 
a lofty detached rock, called the ' Old Man of Hoy.' In the interior of this island, there is 
a remarkable mass of sandstone hollowed into a kind of apartment, said to have been the 
work of a dwarf, and therefore styled the Dwarfie Stone. Assailed with fearful violence by 
the winds and storms of the Atlantic, which carry the ocean spray far and 'wide, no trees 
or slirubs grow except in a few sheltered places, though large roots and trunks found 
in the peat-mosses, with hazel-nuts and the horns of deer, attest the existence of ancient 
forests. 

The largest island of the group, Pomona or Mainland, contains the toivn of Kirkwall on a bay of the 
eastern coast, in possession of an ancient cathedral remarkably well preserved, and stUl used as a place of 
worship, but wanting the original steeple which was destroyed by lightning. Close to the cathedral are the 
ruins of the Bishop's Palace and of the Earl's Palace, buildings described by Sir Walter Scott in his Pirate. 
Stromness, on the opposite side of the island, seated on a beautiful bay wMch forms a secure harbour, is the 
chief shipping port. Between the two towns, by the side of a sea-loch, are the 'Standing Stones of 
Stennis,' fifteen in mmiber, most of which are from eight to iifteen feet in height, arranged in a circle, a 
monument of pre-historic times. The Orcadians raise a very limited amoimt of agricultural produce, 
chiefly oats and garden vegetables ; rear cattle and sheep ; prosecute the cod, ling, herring, and lobster 
fisheries. Females of the humbler class engage in the making of straw-plait, the material of which is the 
native rye-straw, mth an imported portion of finer kind. 

The Shetlands, supposed by some to be the Ultima Thule of the ancients, are separated 
from the preceding by a sea-channel of fifty miles, which has Pair Isle near its centre, as 
a kind of half-way house, where the flag-ship of the commander of the Spanish Armada 
was wrecked. The group consists of more than a hundred members, with excessively 
torn and craggy shores, aptly designated 'the skeleton of a departed countrj'-,' the more 
destructible portions of which have been worn away by the Atlantic. During the storms 
of every winter the coasts are battered by the waves with the force of real artillery ; 
detached masses of rock are tossed to and fro like marbles on many a beach ; some are 
ground down to pebbles ; and fresh blocks supply their place by disruption from the 
cliffs. Twenty-seven of the series are inhabited, and several of the others are visited for 
pastiu'age. 

The largest, or Mainland, is so repeatedly penetrated by ' voes,' or deep bays, that no portion of the interior 
is more than three miles from the sea. It contains Lerwick, the only town, on the east coast, between which 
and an opposite island a fine natural harbour is formed, the common rendezvous of vessels bound for the 
northern whale fisheiy. The inhabitants maintain themselves partly by fishing, and partly by the manufac- 
txu-e of wooUen fabrics, of which the chief are the celebrated Shetland shawls. The islands are celebrated for 
a breed of half -wild ponies, known by the name of shcUics, which are largely exported. Both the Shetlands 
and Orkneys were early seized by the Northmen and colonised by them, as well as the shores of Caithness 
and Sutherland, the latter, their ' southernland.' They long remained subject to the kings of Demnark 
and K'orway, but were governed by practically independent earls or jarls. Upon the occasion of the 
marriage of Margaret of Denmark to James III. of Scotland, in 1468, both groups passed to the latter 
country. Their inhabitants being of Scandinavian origin formerly spoke the Norse language, but it has long 
been superseded by the Lowland Scotch. 

The early history of Scotland is barren in events known with certainty, and invested 
with interest. The Eomans entered the country under Agricola in 80 a.d., subdued the 
southern portion of it, and advanced to the foot of the Grampians. Traces of their 
presence are extant in camps, altars, weapons, coins, tablets, and mounds. To secure the 
conquest, a chain of forts was erected between the estuaries of the Clyde and Forth, which 
was afterwards converted into a continuous rampart, called the Wall of Antoninus, from 
the emperor under whom it was constructed. Some remains of the rampart are now 
loiown by the name of Grjeme's or Graham's Dyke. The Eomans designated the region 
to the northward Caledonia, a word supposed to be derived from the old British, with 
the signification of 'land of forests;' but the primitive native name was Albin, stUl in 



SUMMARY VIEW. 257 

use among the Highlanders, apparently the same as Albion. In a subsequent age two 
groups of people are historically distinguished, the Picts and Scots, who were troublesome 
neighbours to the English. The Picts represented the ancient Caledonians or Albins. 
The Scots were immigrants from the north of Ireland, the original Scotia, who transferred 
the name to their new home, extended it to the whole country as they acquired the 
mastery, and under Kenneth Macalpin, in 843, founded the Scottish kingdom. After 
a long term of independence, Scotland and England were united under the same 
crown in 1603, but remained distinct kingdoms to the year 1707, when a common 
legislature was formed, and both were merged in a single state under the name of Great 
Britain. 

At the last census Scotland contained a population of 3,062,964, consisting of a larger 
proportion of females to males than is to be found in any other part of the civilised world. 
This excess of the female population is satisfactorily explained by peculiarities of social 
life. The Scotch emigration to foreign countries is chiefly of males ; a much greater 
proportionate number at home enter the mercantile marine in. Scotland than in England ; 
and the deaths by drowning are very numerous, which faU. chiefly upon the males, 
whose piu'suits require them to risk themselves in the dangerous channels of the sea 
in small boats, which are the only means of communication between one island and 
another, or between the islands and the main shores. During the years 1855-6-7, 
no fewer than 1263 males were drowned by accidents in the Shetlands, while only 238 
females perished there from that cause in the same period. 

In few countries has material improvement been so vigorously pursued, and such a 
large measure of social prosperity heen gained, in the face of great physical disadvantages. 
Eapid rivers, rugged mountains, and savage glens are natural obstacles to intercom- 
munication. These long contributed in Scotland to restrict intercouise between districts 
at no great distance apart, and to shackle conmierce. The ihst attempt to grapple with 
these difficulties was made upon the suppression of the rebellion of 1745, when the troops 
stationed in the Highlands under General Wade were employed to open routes. 
But in a, region thinly inhabited by a poor peasantry, unable to make needful repairs, 
the military works speedily suffered from neglect, and became to a great extent 
unsendceable. At the same time, in the extreme north, no roads of any kind existed ; 
and to such a degree did the want of tolerable means of intercourse affect the administra- 
tion of justice, that the counties of Sutherland and Caithness were expressly exempted 
from returning jurors to the northern cicouit at Inverness. The remedy was applied by 
a government commission, which commenced its labours soon after the present century 
opened. Under its auspices, in the space of twenty-five years, about 1000 miles of new 
road were constructed, while 1200 bridges were thrown over large rivers and mountain 
streams. By these means, the mail-coach was enabled to proceed direct from London 
to Thurso, in the neighborhood of John o' Groats, a distance by the route of 783 miles, 
which was justly styled the ' true Union of the Kingdoms.' The whole space, with 
the exception of a small northern portion, is now traversed by railways, one of 
which, between Perth and Inverness, opened in the summer of 1863, cuts through the 
Grampians by the Pass of KUliecranlde, a defile so apparently impracticable in its 
natural state, that during the campaign against Dundee in. the reign of "WiUiam III., 
the EngUsh troops came to a halt in it, and refused for a time to advance, appalled by 
its dangers. 



25S 



POPULATION OP THE PEINCIPAL SCOTTISH CITIES AND TO'WTN^S. 

FR03I THE CEKS09 KETUBNS OF 1S61. 



Aberdeen, . , 




POP. 

73,805 

12,922 
4,242 
6,425 
3,473 

17,693 
2,896 
2,844 
1,215 

18,573 

e,7Si 

2,258 
4,827 
3,420 
952 
1,448 
3,344 
2,765 
3,814 
7,179 
2,798 
3,143 

6,033 
3,1!1 
2,261 
1,159 
10,501 
1,834 
969 
3,903 i 
1,491 1 
517 
5,029 

5,396 
4,232 1 
2,084 
1,540 
647 
1,426 
1,256 
8,253 
14,023 


Alexandria, . . 
Alloa, .... 








Arbroath, . . 
Ardrossan, . . 
Auchterarder, . 
Aucbtermuchty, 








Bannockburn, . 
Bathgate, . . 




Bervie, . . . 
Biggar, . . . 
Blaireowrie, . 
Bonhill, . . . 




Borrowstouuneps, 
Brechin, . . . 




Burntisland, 

Campbelton, 
Carluke, . . . 
Castle Douglas, 
Clackmannan, . 
Coatbridge, . . 
Coldstream, . . 
Creetown, . . 
CriefF, .... 
Cromarty, . . 








Dalkeith, . . 

Dairy 

Dingwall, . . 








Douglas, . . . 




Dnmbarton, 
Dumfries, . . 





Dunbar, . 
Dunblane, 
Dundee, . 
Dunfermline 
Dunkeld, 
Dunoon, . 
Dunse, . 
Duntocher, 
Dysart, . 

Edinbukgh, 
Elgin, . . 
Eyeorouth, 

Falkirk, . 

Fochabers, 

Forfar, 

Forres, 

Fortrose, . 

Fraserburgh 

Galashiels, . 

Galston, . 

Girvan, 

Glasgow, 

Gourock. 

Grangenioutl 



Haddington, 
Hamilton, . 
Hawick, . . 
Helensburgh, 
Huntly, . . 

Innerleithen, 

Inverary, 

Invergorden, 

Inverkeithing, 

Inverness, . 

Inverurv, 

Irvine, ' . . 



3,516 
1,709 
90,417 
13,506 
929 
2,968 
2,556 
2,360 



163,121 
7,643 
1,721 

9,030 
1,145 
D,258 
3,508 



6,433 

3,228 

6,921 

394,864 



10,688 
S,191 
4,613 
3,448 

1,130 
972 
1,122 
1,817 
12,509 
2,520 
7,060 

3,428 



Johnstone, . , 

Keith, . . , 
Kelso, . . . . 
Kilbarcban, . , 
Kilbirnie, 
Kilmarnock, 
Kilrenny, . , 
Kilsyth, . , 
Kilwinning, , 
Kincardine, . 
Kinghorn, . . 
Kinross, . . 
Kirkcaldy, . 
Kirkcadbriglit, 
Kirkintulloch, , 
Kirkwall, 

Lanark, . . . 

Largs, . . ■ , 

Laufler, . . . 

Leith, . . , 

Lerwick, . , . 
Leslie, . . . 

Leven, . . . 

Linlithgow, . . 
Lochmaben, 

Locbwinnoch, . 

Lockerby, . . 

Lossiemouth, . 



Maybole, . . 
Melrose, . . 
Moffat, . . 
Montrose, . 
Musselburgii, 

Nair] 



Neilston, . . . 
Newburgh, . . 
Newton Stewavr, 
North Berwick, 



2,166 
1,426 
2,083 
10,841 



5,047 
2,638 
1,137 
33,628 



1,194 
1,910 
1,709 
1,333 

4,115 
1,141 
1,4G2 
14,563 
7,423 

3,435 
1,982 
2,281 
2,535 
1,164 



Paisley, . . 
Peebles, . . 
Perth, . . . 
Peterhead, . 
Pollockshaws. 
Port Glasgow, 
Port Patrick, 
Portobello, . 
Portsoy, . . 
Prestonpans, 

Queensferry S., . 



Saltcoats, . 

Sanquhai-, . 

Selkirk, . . 

St Andrews, 

St Ninians, . 

Stevenston, . 

Stewarton, . 

Stirling, . . 

Stonehaven, 

Stonehouse, . 

Stornoway, , 

Stranraer, 
I Strathaven, . 
I Stromness, . 

Tain, . . . 

Tarbolton, . 

Thurso, . . 
Tillicoultry, 

Tranent, . . 

Troon, . . 

Turriflf, . . 

Whithorn, . 
Wick, . . . 
Wigton, . . 



47,406 
2,045 

25,250 
7,541 
7,648 
7,214 
1,206 
4,366 
1,903 
1,577 

1,230 



Renfrew 3,228 

Kothesay, .... 7,122 
Rutherglen, . . . 8,063 



4,773 
1,754 
3.695 
5,176 
2,298 
2,704 
3,145 
13,707 
3,009 



1,154 
3,426 
3,684 



1,623 

7,475 
2,027 




Pulteneji;owu Harbour, Wick Eav. 




Tumulus or Eatli of Hew Grange. 
CHAPTER IV. 



IRELAUD — THE UNITED KINGDOM. 



IRELAND, tlie second island of Europe iii population, 
corresponds to its larger neiglilDour, Great Britain, in 
having its eastern coast comparatively tame and unbroken, 
•wliile the northern, Tfestern, and southern is generally hold, 
often fringed with gigantic chflfs, and very deeply invaded 
by the ocean. The eastern hne of seaboard is also encumbered 
■with sandbanks, bars, and sunken rocks, rendering careful 
navigation necessary, or interfering with it altogether, 
whereas in the other directions, the deep water of the 
Atlantic comes close to the strand, and the numerous inlets 
rank with the finest harbours in the world for easy access, 
capaciousness, and shelter. The eastern side of Ireland, like 
that of Great Britain, has few subordiaate isles associated with it ; but an immense number 




2G0 IRELAND. 

stud the "western sliores, mostly small, yet tMckly peopled, and situated at an incon- 
siderable distance from the mainland. Valentia Island, on the southern side of 
the entrance to Dingle Bay, was for some time held by the Spaniards, who were, 
however, finally expelled by Cromwell. During the period of their occupation, 
commercial intercourse was active between places on the adjoining shores and Spain, traces 
of which remain to the present day, in the names of many localities, and in the peculiar 
styles of building. The town of Galway has its open space called the Spanish Parade, 
and both there and at Dingle, are several old houses with enclosed courtyards after the 
Spanish fashion. Legends respecting ' green islands ' rising out of the sea, ' enchanted 
islands ' floating on the ocean, and ' fairy castles ' appearing and vanishing to seaward, 
are common in the old Irish chronicles. They may be referred to optical illusions caused 
by the phenomenon of the mirage, similar to the Pata Morgana of Sicily, and now 
often observed in the strait between Eathlin Island and the coast of Antrim. In 
this neighbourhood the shores consist of magnificent ranges of basaltic columns, which 
form the cliffs and promontories of Fair Head, Bengore Head, and the Giant's 
Causeway. These polygonal pillars, made by nature herself, seem at a distance like grand 
monuments of human architecture, or occasionally like ruined edifices, surrounded by a 
wild waste of rooky fragments, which, in the course of centuries, have been dislodged 
by the gradual action of the elements, or wrenched away by the ocean in its storms. 

The position, limits, linear extent, and area of Ireland, have abeady been given (see 
p. 145) ; but it may be added for easy remembrance, that the island is nearly one-eighth 
larger than Scotland, nearly two-fifths of the size of Great Britain, and more regular in 
shape than the contiguous mass. The structure of the surface is extremely simj)le, 
consisting of an extensive central plain sku'ted by imposing mountains. Its general aspect 
is less rugged than the north and west parts of Great Britain, but not so tame as the east. 

The great central plain extends east and west from sea to sea, between the bays of 
Dublin and Galway ; and from the shores of Lough Neagh on the north, to the confines 
of Waterford on the south. Though varied by swells, the highest gi-ound within its 
limits, Moat-a-grenogue, in "Westmeath, is little more than 300 feet above high-water 
mark. The foimdation rock is carboniferous limestone, the same which has the name 
of the mountain limestone in England, from being developed there in ranges of consider- 
able height and magnitude. '; Upon this substratum rest accumulations of clays and 
gravel, forming a rich cultivable soU, but through a vast proportion of the area it is over- 
laid with peat-bogs, a characteristic formation of Ireland. The bogs are not con fin ed to 
the plain, biit occm' on the uplands, though to an inferior extent. They are estimated by 
Dr Kane to occupy one-seventh of the whole surface of the island. The largest is the 
famous Bog of Allen, which stretches in a vast plain across the centre of the island, or 
over a large portion of Kildare, Carlow, King's and Queen's Counties — having a superficial 
elevation of 280 feet. Extensive traces of deep wet bog also occur in Longford, 
Eoscommon, Mayo, Galway, and other counties, and give a peculiarly dreary and 
desolate aspect to the scenery. They are composed of decayed and compressed vegetable 
matter, or peat, with an overgrowth of unproductive living vegetation, holding 
more or less stagnant water. They seem to have arisen from interruptions oifered 
to the drainage by fallen timber, or the gravel ridges, whence shallow pools resulted, 
specially adapted for the growth of aquatic plants, as Sxjiiagmim paliisire, and 
other mosses, which luxuriated till a spongy mass of vegetation was formed, decaying, 
rotting, and compressing into peat below, while continuing to shoot out new plants 
above. The peat extends to the average depth of from twenty to twenty-five feet, though 
sometim.es to forty feet ; dried by the summer heat, it is in many districts the only available 



rnYSIOAIi FEATURES. 



261 



filcl. The bogs of Ireland liavo no analogy to the fens of England, as tliey lie in all cases 
so far above tlie sea-lovel as to be readily susceptible of drainage and reclamation. 
Notwithstanding their moisture they are not insalubrious, owing to the large quantity 
of tannin which they contain; and such are their antiseptic properties, that bodies 
of men and animals have been taken out of them with but few symptoms of decay 
after the ; lapse of generations. Trunks of oak, yew, pine, and birch are met with at 
great depths, and remains of the gigantic horned elk are very abimdant. Various 
ornamental articles are made of the bog-timber, that of the oak being generally as 
black and hard as ebony, wliile the colour of the yew is a rich brown approaching to 
chocolate. 

The highlands which border the central plain do not form a continuous belt around it, 
but occur in detached groups or ranges of limited extent, generally close to the shores, 
and often forming the coast-line. They consist of primary strata, with various igneous 
rocks, wliich have protruded through the gi'eat pavement of carboniferous limestone, 
rising to considerable elevations above it. The loftiest masses on the eastern side are 
the Mourne Mountains, in the county of Down, which approach the height of 2800 
feet, and those of Wicklow, which slightly exceed 3000. In the north-west and west, 
Donegal, Mayo, and the wild district of Connemara, have summits of nearly equal 




Gap of Duiiloc, Coimty Kerry. 

altitude, with stupendous sea-cUffs. But the most generally rugged district is the south- 
western, chiefly the county of Kerry, where several ranges run parallel to each other, 



262 IRELAND. 

■between wHch. the ocean far advances its waters, and is overlooked by the highest points 
of Ireland. Occupying a specially maritime site, in the peninsula north of Dingle Bay, 
Mount Brandon rises 3120 feet, hut is surpassed hy Cam Tual, 3404 feet, not far from 
its southern shore, one of MacgOlicuddy's Eeeks, a ridge running between the lakes of 
KUlarney and the coast. The Eeeks, or rocks, have smooth, sharp, conical summits ; and 
are traditionally said to derive their specific name from that of an old extinct family in 
the neighbourhood. Carn Tual rises with a uniform slope on every side; and a 
very striking panorama is in view from it of winding inlets, estuaries, and peninsulas, 




Mucki-oss House, Middle Lake, KillaiT.ey. 

whenever the volumes of mist and cloud which roll up from the Atlantic are withdrawn. 
Macaulay has eloquently described the district, now brought within reach of a vast 
number of excursionists. 'The mountains, the glens, the capes stretching far into the 
Atlantic, the crags on which the eagles build, the rivulets brawhng down rooky passes, 
the lakes overhung by groves in which the wild deer find covert, attract every summer 
crowds of wanderers sated with the business and the pleasures of great cities. The 
landscape has a freshness and a warmth of colouring seldom found in our latitude. The 
myrtle loves the soil. The arbutus thrives better than even on the sunny shores of 
Calabria. The turf is of livelier hue than elsewhere; the hUls glow with a brighter 
piu'ple ; the varnish of the holly and ivy is more glossy ; and berries of a brighter red 
peeiJ through fohage of a brighter green.' Besides these highlands, several groups are 
distributed over the southern counties, the Galty, Knockmeilido-\vn, Silver Mine, and 
Sheve-Bloom Mountains, some of which range to an imj)ortant altitude. 

Ten principal river-systems are disting-uished, which, though not of much value in a 
navigable point of view, except in the instance of the Shannon, suj)ply an amount 
of water-power fitted for industrial purposes wliich few countries of the same 
extent possess, and are often associated with higUy picturesque scenes, adding to the 



IIINEBAL WEALTH. 263 

beauty or impressiveness of tlio landscape hj their placid flow, wild dash, or roaring 
cascades. 

Eivers. Length in MilCB. Principal Places from Source to Mouth. 



Shannon, .... 254 

Barrow, 100 

Blackwater, .... 100 

Bann (Upper and Lower), . 65 

Boyne, 65 

Slaney, 60 

Lififey, 50 

B.indon, 40 

Lee, 35 



Carrick, Atlilone, Killaloe, Limerick. 
Portarlington, Athy, Carlow, New Boss. 
Mallow, Fermoy, Lismore, YoughaL 
Portadown, Coleraine. 
Trim, Navan, Drogheda. 
Tullow, Ennisoorthy, AVexford. 
Leixlip, Dublin. , 

Bandon, Kinsale. 
Cork, Passage, Queenstown. 



Poyle (properly so called), . 16 . . . . Strabane, LiEford, Londonderry. 

The Shannon is the third river of the United Kingdom in the extent of its hasin, 
being only surpassed by the Humber and the Severn, while it is the first in rank as to the 
length of its navigation. It issues from a bog among the mountains of Cavan, called in 
the locality the ' Shannon Pot,' flows generally from north to south, forms Loughs Allen, 
Ece, and Derg, washes the shores of ten counties, meets the tide below Limerick, and 
then travels westerly to the Atlantic through a long and noble estuary, from one to 
eleven miles broad, answering to Spenser's description, 'the spacious Shenan, spreading 
nice a sea.' Aided by a few lateral cuttings, the navigation is continuous through 
upwards of 200 miles, nearly the whole of its course. By one of these cuts the rapids 
of Doonas above Limerick, where the bed of the river becomes strongly inclined, are 
avoided, and the whole body of water, 300 yards wide and 40 feet deep, rushes 
over and through a succession of rocks for half a mile, forming a scene of great magni- 
ficence. The Barrow, next in importance, drains a south-eastern district, and includes 
in its system the jSTore and Suir, popularly called the Three Sisters, from rising in the 
same neighbourhood, and after a long divergent course pouring their luiited waters 
through TVaterford Harbour into the Atlantic. In the north, the Bann, divided into 
upper and lower by Lough Neagh, enters the sea below Coleraine ; and the Foyle passes 
Londonderry to the large marine inlet of Lough Foyle. . On the eastern side are the 
Boyne, celebrated for the battle fought on its banks between the forces of William III. and 
those of James II. ; the Liffey, on which Dublui is situated; and the Slaney, which forms at 
its mouth the haven of Wexford. In the more southerly portion of the island, the 
Blackwater, designated the ' Irish Ehine ' from its scenic attractions, discharges itself 
into Youghal Bay ; the Lee forms the fine harbour of Cork ; and the ' pleasant Bandon, 
crowned with many a wood,' terminates its course at Kuisale, but is now shorn of much 
of the timber it possessed when the author of the Faery Queene trod its banks. 

Lakes are numerously distributed, and occupy a very considerable space in proportion 
to the whole extent of the surface, amounting to nearly 1000 scpare miles. They 
differ generally in form and position from the Scottish lakes ; have their length and 
breadth more correspondent, occur in open districts, and, with one striking exception, 
have tame borders, level or marshy. Lough Neagh, the largest inland expanse in the 
kingdom, washes the shores of five counties in the province of Ulster, extends seventeen 
miles in length by ten in average breadth, covers an area of 150 square miles, is a 
navigable basin, and has waters celebrated for their incrusting quahty. In Ireland the 
word lough, like the similar term loch in Scotland, is applied indifferently to fresh-water 
expanses, inlets of the sea, and the estuaries of rivers. Lough Corrib, in Connaught, is 
the next ia magnitude, but much smaller. It maintains communication with Lough 
Mask, about three miles to the northward, by a subterranean channel through the 
intervening limestone isthmus. The connecting stream may be seen at various points in 



264 lEELAND. 

its caverned bed through openings in the superincumbent strata, one of which, called the 
Pigeon's Hole, sixty feet deep, admits of being descended. Lough Derg, in Donegal, 
surrounded by dreary moorland hdlls, and disturbed by violent gusts of wLad, has a 
number of small islands, one of which, called Saint's Isle, is the original seat of 
St Patrick's Purgatory. But the place of penance for some centuries has been on 
Station Isle, under an acre in extent, and with two chapels, which is now the most 
celebrated place of pUgrimage in Ireland, from 10,000 to 15,000 persons flooMng to it 
annually, from 1st June to 15th August, for prayer, fasting, and vigils. The Lakes of 
KiUarney, three in number, upper, middle, and lower, mutually connected, are esceptions 
to the ordinary scenery as . to natural attractions, being enclosed by the loftiest of the 
Irish mountains, with vividly green woods and fine monastic ruins on their shores. 

The mineral resources of Ireland are very considerable, but remain largely undeveloped. 
Coal occurs in ten counties, often in thin seams which detract from its value, or of 
inferior quality, consisting of anthracite or stone coal, which burns without flame. It 
was worked at an early period, for pits have been discovered which bear evidence, from 
the rude implements found in them, of having been sunk by a race anterior to historical 
records. The coal now used in the towns is chiefly imported from England and Scotland, 
while peat is exclusively used for fuel by the peasantry. Iron ore is abundant in the 
basin of the Shannon, and other places. It was extensively smelted in charcoal furnaces 
while the ancient forests lasted, but has been neglected since the supply of wood-fuel 
failed. Copper is obtained in the counties of Wicklow, "Waterford, Cork, and Kerry, and 
sent for smelting to the coal districts of England and "Wales. Lead is much more widely 
difEiised, and worked to a greater extent. SmaU proportions of manganese, antimony, 
alum, fuUer's-earth, and pottery clays are included in the other mineral produce, with 
roofing-slate and building-stone of the best description ; and there is an extraordinary 
variety of ornamental marbles — ^white, black, ash-gray, dove-coloured, and green, the 
latter almost as bright in its hue as malachite. The Museum of Irish Industry in Dublin 
contains a fine collection, carefully classified, of all the geological products of the country. 
Towards the close of the last century, gold was discovered in connection with the 
mountain-streams of Wicklow, which raised high expectations respecting the auriferous 
wealth of the district. A schoolmaster, in his soUtary walks, found the first ' nugget ' in 
the BaHin YaUey stream. He kept the secret to himself, and wandered in his leisure 
hours, early and late, in search of further treasure. Another party similarly fortunate 
was not so reserved ; and crowds of peasantry were speedily at the spot digging up and 
washing the soU. The first gleaners made such considerable profits that the government 
interfered, and regular mining-works were established, till the rebellion of the year 1798 
interrupted the enterprise. It was resumed in 1801, but soon abandoned as unremuner- 
ative. The stream-gold having been exhausted, and no auriferous veins being discovered 
in the adjoining rocks and mountains, it became evident that the whole supply had been 
gathered up. Altogether, the government collected about 944 ounces, valued at £3675, 
but the expenditure was more than three times this amount. Previously, the peasantry 
are supposed to have obtained upwards of £10,000 worth of gold, in pieces from the size 
of minute grains to lumps weighing twenty-two ounces. 

The great staple manufacture, that of Unen, is prosecuted in the north-eastern districts. 
It appears to have been long established in the country, for the principal garment worn 
by the ancient chieftains was a shirt made of many yards of linen cloth, and sumptuary 
laws were passed to limit the quantity which ostentation would have ' desired. Eor 
upwards of two centuries, or since the governor-generalship of Strafibrd, in the 
reign of Charles I. the industry has received marked support from the government, with 



ITS EAELY HISTORY. 265 

a view to its cxtonsinn. "Wlailc in England tlio custom of Irarying the dead in woollen 
slirouds was adojitod to aid tlio woollen manufactiu'e, in Ireland the iise of hnen hat-hands 
and scarfs at funerals was introduced for a sunilar purpose. Do-svn to a recent date, the 
fahric was produced in the cottages, where the peasant, in the intervals of agricultural 
lahour, wove by the handloom the yarn spun by the female and younger memhers of his 
family, sometiaies working on his own account, though more generally for masters. But 
this system has been largely abandoned for factory lahour, and at Belfast, Lru'gan, and 
Donaghadee there are some of the largest and best conducted mills in the empire. The 
bullc of the native Irish are, however, by temperament averse to the restraint and 
continuous appHcation which both the factory system and mining industry involve. The 
cotton manufacture is carried on to some extent in the same area. Coarse woollens and 
some fine broadcloths are produced at various places, with lace, embroidered muslin, and 
tabinets or pophns, a mixed fabric of sillc and wool, the manufacture of which is almost 
enthely confined to Dublia. But except linen, all the other products fill but a limited 
space ill the marts of the world, employ but a comparatively small amount of capital and 
labour, and in relation to manufactures Ireland occupies nearly the lowest place in the 
European scale. 

The industry of the country is essentially agricultural, and upon the cultivation of the 
son the mass of the people depend for their subsistence. Though improving, the general 
husbandly has long been in a backward state, owing to the minute divisions of the land, 
the system of subletting, and the undue dependence of tenants upon landowners or their 
representatives. To the effect of these circumstances in discouraging enterprise and 
paralysing effort, political agitation in time past contributed. Besides the cereal produce, 
of which oats form the largest crop, as suited to the moisture of the chmate, a considerable 
extent of surface is devoted to the growth of flax for the hnen trade, chiefly ia the 
northern- province of Ulster, with limited spaces in other quarters. The light calcareous 
soil, the softness of the chmate, and the fresh breezes which fan the island from the 
Atlantic tempering the heat of the summer sun, conduce to the health and perfection of 
that dehcate plant. It is usually sown in March or April, flowers about the beginning of 
July, and is considered ripe towards the close of August. Among the green crops, the 
potato holds the foremost place. The esculent was introduced by Sir Walter Ealeigh 
about the year 1601 or 1602, who planted it in his garden near Youghal, from whence it 
gradually spread over the entire country. The Irish peasantry unfortunately made 
it their mam dependence, attracted by the usually abundant yield, and the comparative 
facflity of the cultivation. Hence a failure of the crop threatened their very existence. 
One failure m 1739 sent a fifth of the inhabitants to the grave. Eamine, pestilence, 
and death resulted from the terrible failure of the year 1845, foRowed by an emigration 
of the survivors to such an extent as to deserve the name of the Irish Exodus. The 
calamity illustrated the folly of an entire nation depending upon a single precarious 
root, and has since stimulated the culture of the corn-bearing plants. Dau-y jjroduce 
and hve-stock, consisting of cattle and swine, are raised for export to an immense extent 
upon the large and small grazing-farms. As 'the gentleman that pays the rent,' the 
pig is an inmate in almost every peasant's cabin, remarkably docile, and as carefully 
provided for as any member of the family. The animals are sent in great numbers to 
Liverpool and Bristol ; and after supplying the local demands, the surplus stock, aUve or 
cured, is transferred to the metropohtan and other interior markets. 

The primitive inhabitants of Ireland are now believed to have been of the same race 
with the original poinilation of Britain. Although Ireland, styled lernis, (from the native 
Celtic name Erin) is mentioned in a Greek poem five centuries before Christ, and by the 



266 IRELAND. 

names of Ilihernia and Juverna in various foreign pagan writers, little is known with 
oertaiaty of lier inhabitants before the fourth century after Christ, when, under the 
appellation of Scoti, or inhabitants of Scotia, they became formidable by their descents 
upon the Eoman province of Britain. These expeditions were continued and extended to 
the coasts of Gaul till the time of Laogaire MacNeill, monarch of Ireland (430 a. d.), in 
whose reign St Patrick attempted the conversion of the natives. Although Christianity 
had been previously introduced in some parts of the island, Patrick encountered great 
obstacles, and the new faith was not fully estabhshed in Ireland till about a century after 
his decease. The Irish were ia the earliest times divided into a number of clans subject to 
respective chieftains, who were themselves the vassals of petty insular kiags ; when an 
expelled priuce, with a view to his own re-instatement, instigated the English conquest. 
This was effected by Henry II., who landed at Waterford in 1172, and caused himself to 
be recognised as the lord-paramount. But for several centuries the authority of England 
was limited to a district arormd Dublin, which received the name of the English Pale, 
while the remainder of the country was in the hands of rude, factious, and turbulent 
nobles. Henry VIII. assumed the title of King of Ireland in 1541; and the strong 
government of Elizabeth did much to render the nominal sovereignty real, while under 
her successor, James I., the due administration of justice, with general civilisation, was 
promoted. In the reign of the latter, the estates of the northern earls, Tyrone and 
Tyrconnel, forfeited by theh rebeUion, which embraced a considerable portion of 
Ulster, were granted to English and Scotch colonists, whose descendants are prominent 
in the present population of that district. But Cromwell may be said to have been 
the first who reduced the entho island to a single sway (1649), imwelcome to the mass 
of the peasantry, and resisted by two abortive insurrections, the pretexts for which 
have only been removed by legislation within the memory of living men. On January 1, 
1801, the legislative union of Great Britain with Ireland was consummated, and, from 
this period, the history of the country merges in that of Great Britain. 

Highly interesting remains of antiquity abound on the surface, as cromlechs, cairns, and 
piUar-stones, while the peat-bogs have yielded bronze swords, spear-heads of the same mixed 
metal, rings composed of it, or of gold, the weapons, money, and ornaments of the old' Celts. 
It is a remarkable fact, that a gTeater number and variety of antique golden articles of 
remote age have been found in Ireland than in any other part of l^orthorn Europe ; and 
the majority of the gold antiquities illustrative of British history, now preserved in the 
British Museum, are Irish. The cromlechs, though varying in form and size, consist generally 
of three upright stones, which support a horizontal slab, and form a kind of rude chamber 
devoted to a sepulchral purpose ; that of ISTew Grange, represented at the beginning of the 
chapter, is entered by a passage so low that the person entering must draw himself in by his 
hands, pushing with his feet ; inside, the tallest man may stand upright. The cairns are piles 
of stones, forming artificial 'high places,' on the flat tops of which lires were Hghted on the 
festival of the sun-god, and other special occasions, while aU domestic fires were put out, 
and only rekindled from the sacred flame. PiUar-stones, both standing singly and in 
company, or arranged in chcles, are beheved to have been associated with forms of pagan 
worship ; and hence the jihrase of 'going to the stone' was m common use in after-times 
for going to church or chapel. But by far the most remarkable monuments are the Pound 
Towers. These are tall and slender circular buildings, terminating, when perfect, in a 
conical roof, with four small windows near the top, generally looking to the cardinal 
points. There are 118 of these singular structures in different parts of the island, but of 
several only the foundations remain. Eighteen are entire, or nearly so, and retain the 
conical summit. They are invariably found near the remains of churches, varying in 



ANCnDNT DIVISIONS. 267 

liciglit from 30 to 120 feet. Their design, after having given rise to endless speculation, 
still remains an unsolved problem. Euins of churches of very early date are numerous, 
smaU, low, stone-roofed, and of great strength, with the peculiarity of the crypts heinn- 
placed above, instead of under them; and fine remains of abbeys and monasteries are 
extant. Small castles — some perfect, others in various stages of decay — are profusely distri- 
buted. They are usually high square buildings, mth towers at each corner, mostly raised to 
restrain the ' wild Irish' in the age of Elizabeth. Some palatial strongholds of earlier date 
are in good preservation, and stiU. inhabited. 

Ireland is nominally divided into four iirovinces, Leinster, Ulster, Connaught, 
and Munster, which are respectively eastern, northern, western, and southern ; and 
coincide with the limits of former kingdoms. Por the purpose of government, the 
present division is into thirty-two counties, of which Leinster contains twelve, Ulster 
nine, Connaught five, and Munster sis. 




Round Tower at Monasterboice. 



UV^'ht: 



Ji^ ,i 




Duljlin from Plicenix Park. 



I. LEINSTER. 



Conntiea. 
DulDlin, 

Wicklow, 
Wexford, 
Meath, . 
Louth, . 
Longford, 
Westmeath, . 
King's County, 
Queen's County, 
Kildare, . 
Carlow, 
Kilkenny, 



ill Square Miles. 
. 348 

781 . 
. 901 

906 . 
. 315 

421 . 
. 709 



772 
664 
654 
346 
795 



Principal Towns. 
Dublin, Kingstown, Howth, Balbriggan. 
"Wicklow, Arldoiv, Bray. 
"Werford, Emiiscorthy, New Koss. 
Trim, Navan, KeUs. 
Dundalk, Drogheda. 
Longford, Edgewortlistown. 
Mullingar, Athlone. 
TuUamore, Parsousto\™, PhUipstown. 
Maryborougli, Portarlington. 
Athy, Naas, Kildare, Maynootli. 
Carlow, Bagenalstown, Tullow. 
Kilkenny, Callan, Castlecomer. 



Seven of these counties— Dublin, Wexford, Meatli, Louth, Xildare, Carlow, and 
Killcenny — ^were constituted as early as the time of King John, but in some instances 
with different lunits. The remaining five were laid out under Hemy VIII. and 
his immediate successors. 

Dublin, the metropolitan county, is centrally situated on the east coast, north and 
south of the Liffey, which discharges itself in Dublin Bay, the principal featui'e of the 
shore. This spacious semicircrdar basin, about eight miles in diameter, is remarkable for 
its picturesque beauty, though forming a perilous roadstead, owing to its shallowness and 
exposure to the winds. But by means of sea-waUs along the course of the river, and frequent 



WICKTwOW SCENERY. 



269 



clredgiug, tlie channel is ascended hj vessels of moderate size to tlie quays of tlie 
capital. The Hill of Howth, a peninsular promontory, skirts the northern side of the 
bay, and is a nohle object from its surface, while the view from the summit is attractive 
in the extreme, embracing the entu'e expanse, a wide stretch of the outlying sea, the whole 
extent of the city, and the Wicklow Mountains on the southern horizon. A small, 
rooky, and very charming islet, with the characteristic name of Ireland's Eye, lies a little to 
the north, within a mile of the strand, and is often visited by pleasure-parties, while a 
lofty precipitous rock, called the Baily of Howth, rises boldly from the waves off the 
extremity of the headland, crowned by a light-house. The interior of the county is level 
or gently undulating, except southerly, or in the direction of the highlands of Wicklow, 
where the surface becomes elevated, and has prominent heights on the border-line. 

Dublin (Irish, DuVh-linn, 'blackpool,' the Ehlana of Ptolemy), the metropolis of Ireland, in latitude 
63" 20' north, and longitude 6° 17' west, occupies a plain on both banks of the Liffey, a little above its mouth, 
334 miles north-west of London by the Holyhead route, 102 miles from Belfast, and 156 from Cork, the 
northern and southern commercial capitals. It is divided into two almost equal parts by the river, which 
is enclosed on both sides by granite quays, and crossed by numerous bridges, mostly of modern date. 
Containing nearly '300,000 inhabitants, it takes high rank among the capital cities of Europe in point of 
population, being in advance of Borne, Turin, Milan, Brussels, Amsterdam, Stockholm, and Lisbon, while 
upon a par with Madrid, and not much behind Moscow. Nor are its pretensions smaU. to vie with them in 
appearance, from the number of its spacious streets and squares, and its splendid public edifices and private 
mansions ; though the abodes of squalor and misery in its narrow lanes are lamentably abundant. SackviUe 
Street, at right angles mth the river, on the northern bank, is scarcely surpassed anjrwhere as a noble avenue ; 
St Stephen's Green, well planted, on the southern side, is the largest square in the United Kingdom; and 
the Phoenix Park, close to the western suburbs, is without a rival in extent, containing ornamental drives 
and waters, with secluded glades, all but abandoned to the wilduess of nature. Immense herds of deer find 
shelter amid its brushwood and timber. The public bnildings, several of which are distinguished for 
their size and elegance, include the Castle, containmg state apartments and government oiEces ; the Bank 
of Ireland, formerly the Parliament House ; the Law Courts, the Custom House, Post Office, Exchange, and 
Surgeon's Hall, with Trinity College, and two cathedrals, St Patrick's and Christ-Cliurch. The College, a 
Protestant university, founded in the time of Queen Elizabeth, has a valuable librai-y, and is usually 
attended by about 2000 students. St Patrick's Cathedral, from its monumental associations, may be styled 
the "Westminster Abbey of Ireland. The city has few manufactures, but a great export trade. It is well 
supplied with scientific institutions, and with charitable establishments of every description, nowhere more 
needed, owing to the destitution of many of the lower classes. Dublin has risen during the English era, 
previous to which there were probably only a few huts of wood and basket-work on the site. Kingstoion, at 
the southern entrance of the bay, is the port of the capital, about six miles distant, connected with it by 
railway. Eormerly called Dunleary, and quite insignificant, it received its present name in commemoration 
of the landing of George IV. in 1821 ; and has been changed into a thriving town, since the construction 
of an artificial harbour rendered it the steam-packet station to Liverpool and Holyhead. Two noble piers, 
ruiming out respectively 3500 and 4950 feet, composed of fine granite, and inclining towards eacii other .it 
their extremities,' form the basin, and supply agreeable promenades. The railway is in immediate connection 
with them, to receive what England may have sent, and bring what Ireland may despatch. Movjth, a fishing 
\'i]lage and favourite resort of the Dublin citizens, occtipies the northern side of the famous hill, and has 
interesting remains of an abbey in its midst, in which was preserved the book of the Four Gospels, called the 
' Garland of Howth,' long held in great veneration. The Hill of Howth is about three miles long by tvv-o broad 
and rises to EG3 feet in height. It offers much to attract the botanist and geologist, while enjoying the 
prospect and the sea-breeze. Malahide and Ballrriygan are further north on the coast, the former distinguished 
by Malahide Castle, a vast and imposing pile, with an interior of gi'eat interest, belonging to the Talbots. 

■Wicklow, a maritime county dating from the time of James I., adjoins that of Dublin 
on the south, and is generally the first part of the country to which the stranger directs 
his steps after reaching the capital, owing to its finely diversified natural features. 
IsTearly the whole surface is occupied by a group of granite mountains, largely overlaid 
with clay-slate, separated from each other by valleys or rather glens, in some of which, 
of the more open kind, small lovely lakes occur, while almost aU. are the beds of streams, 
rapid in their current, and occasionally forming striking waterfalls. The summits of the 
mountains have generally an elegantly-pointed form, here pyramidal, there sugar-loaf, 
and are quite bare, while their lower slopes in the watered vales are thickly covered with 



270 IRELAND. 

noble oaks and beeolies, tlie trunks of wliiclL are clotlied with a luxuriant growth, of ivy 
vividly green. The loftiest eminences are the Douce Mountain, which attains the height 
of 2384 feet; Thonelagee, 2683 feet; and Lugnaquilla, 3039 feet. Among the rivers, the 
LifFey and the Slaney rise in the county, and pass into borderiug districts, while the 
Dargle, Vartry, and Ovoca have their whole course withia its limits. Many are the 
scenes striking in themselves, very lonesome also, which are rendered singularly impressive 
hy the occurrence of antiquities, as a round tower and ruined churches. 

WicUoii), a small shipping port for mineral and other produce, is on tho estuary of the Vartry. This 
river, in tho lower part of its course, rushes through the Devil's Glen, a Avild narrow pass, after having been 
precipitated into it by a magnificent cascade. In the upper part, it has recently been made by engineering 
skill to contribute to the water-supply of Dublin. ArMow, a somewhat larger town, is situated at the mouth 
of the Ovoca, a river flowing through the loveliest scenery, the subject of Moore's well-known lines : 
* There is not in the wide world a valley so sweet, 
As that vale in whose bosom the bright waters meet' 
Tlie Ovoca is formed by the jimotion of the Avonmore and Avonbcg, in a scone of great natural beauty, 

enclosed by high grounds covered with 
fine woods. Tins is the first ' Meetmg 
of tho Waters.' From the confluence, 
the stream flows between lofty banhs 
adoincd with an unbroken range of 
f 01 est till it receives the Aughrim, 
which forms the second ' Meeting.' 

le of tho tributaries of the Avon- 
more descends Glendalough, or the 
^ alley of the two lakes. At the foot 
of the lower and smaller lake lie the 
Seven Cliurches in lowly ruins, an 
ecclesiastical establishment referred to 
St Kevin in the sixth century, in the 
midat of which rises a round tower, 
110 feet high, in fine preservation. 
JSjnv, at the outlet of the Dargle, on 
both its banks, is a beautiful little 
town, in a most attractive neighbour- 
hood, with a bold headland to sea- 
wiid. The Dark Glen, the meaning 
of the word ' Dargle,' is a long, narrow, 
and densely-wooded ravine, through 
■nlnch the stream frets and brawls 
O'vei the obstacles which impede its 
couise, presenting at every turn some 
of the most picturesque combinations 
of lock, water, and foliage that the 

1 nagmation can conceive. It is daily 
dotted through tho summer with 
1 icnic parties from tho capital. The 
famous Irish weapon, the shillalah, has 
its name from one of the Wicklow 
woods near Arklow, celebrated for its 
giowth of the best oaks and black 
thoin. 

Wexfoed Codntt, south- 
ward on the coast, includes 
the south-eastern extremity of 
Ireland, or Camsore Point, 
ahout fifty-two miles from St 
David's Head, in Wales. The 
Dei il's Glen. adjoining district is a peninsula, 

forming the barony of Forth, in which Welsh colonists were planted, driven thither by 




CENTRAL COUNTIES. 271 

the early Anglo-Norman invaders, wliose descendants long retained tlie use of their own 
language, and are still distinct in many respects from the rest of the population. The 
interior of the county is generally level, fertUe, and well cultivated, largely devoted to 
arable husbandry, and has a pleasing appearance when the many trim furze hedges put 
forth their yellow blossoms. It is watered on the western border by the Barrow, but 
chiefly by the lower course of the Slaney. 

Wexford, on the shore of the spacious haven formed by this last river, near its outlet, is an old iovni of 
narrow streets. Taken by the first English adventurers to Ireland in 1169, it is now in possession of many vessels 
employed in the export of agricultural joroduce, and the import of timber. Its long bridge, built over a 
narrow part of the haven, was the scene of an atrocity during the Irish rebellion of 1798, the murder of 
English and Protestant prisoners who were thro%vn from it into the water. Enniscorthy, twelve miles up 
the river, has Vinegar Hill in its immediate vicinity, where the rebels were finally defeated by the royal 
troops, and where some executions followed in retaliation for the massacre of "We.^ford Bridge. iTew Ross, 
seated on the left bank of the Barrow, in one of the most beautiful parts of its course, with a suburb on the 
opposite or Kilkenny side of the river, has considerable trade in the export of provisions and wool. 

Meath, directly north of Dublin, possesses a very limited extent of coast-line, but 
accpiires considerable expansion inland. It belongs almost entirely to the great central 
plain, includes some of the richest grazing lands, and has nearly the whole course of the 
Boyne within its boimds. 

Trim, on the left bank of the river, the county toivn ; Navan, lower down, at its junction with the Black- 
water ; and Kells, near the tributary, are small marts of local trade. At Uangan, near Trim, the Duke 
of Wellington was born. The Hill of Tara, celebrated in early Irish history as the spot where the kings, 
clergy, and bards assembled at a haU or palace, to consult on important occasions, is a few miles distant. 
' The liai'p tliat once tbroiigli Tara's halls 

The soul of music shed. 
Now hangs as mute on Tara's walls 
As if that soul were fled.' 

Tlie Hill was also a common place of rendezvous in time of war, and has been the scene of gi-eat political 
gatherings in our own times. 

Louth, the smallest of the Irish counties, and the last of the maritime divisions of 
Leinster, extends along the coast from the outlet of the Boyne to Carlingford Lough. 
It lies within the manufacturing area of the north of Ireland, though the industry is 
chiefly agricultural. 

Dxmdallc, at the head of a bay to which its name is given, has some important fisheries and a coasting- 
trade. Dngheda, on the Boyne, three miles above its mouth, shares in the linen and cotton manufactures, 
and is one of the old historic towns, with an antiquated appearance strikingly contrasting with the grand 
railway bridge and viaduct which has been thrown across the river-valley. It was successfully defended 
during the Ii-ish rebellion in the reign of Charles I. ; captured by Cromwell a few years later when held by 
a royalist force ; and surrendered to "WiUiam III, in 1690, the day after he defeated the army of James II. 
in the neighbourhood. This decisive battle was fought about two miles above the town, close to the river. 
An obelisk stands on a singular isolated rock, and marks the spot where one main incident of the action 
occurred. For some distance above Drogheda, the valley of the river is very remarkable for its tumuli, with 
vaulted chambers in the interior, which are supposed to go back to heathen times. A short excursion leads 
to Monasterboice, a corruption of the ancient name, the Monastery of St Boethius. This is a ruined 
ecclesiastical foundation, with two elaborately sculptured stone crosses, the one sixteen, and the other 
eighteen feet high, considered to be among the most ancient Christian relics in the coimtry, and a roxmd 
tower shattered at the top, as if by lightning. 

Longford, an inland district, constituted under Queen Elizabeth, has the Shannon for 
its western border, along with the northern part of Lough Eee, the shores of which 
are very tame, as are those of several small lakes within the county. The general surface 
belongs to the great agricultural plain of the interior. 

Longford, a busy and flourishing little town, a;lso a military station, stands on an alHuent of the noble 
ri%'er, and couununicates with the capital by a branch of the Great Western Railway. Edgeioortliitmoi, 
within a few miles, is of greater interest, deriving its name froiu the Edgeworth family, two of whom, father 
and daughter, are so well known in the annals of literature. The family came over from England m the reign 
of Elizabeth, and became possessed of extensive domains, from one of which, the village of Fairymount, the 
Abbe Edgeworth, who attended Louis XVI. to the scaffold, acquired his Gallic name of M. de Firmount. 



272 niELAND. 

"WESTAfEATH, a corresponding tract, extends from tlie southern part of Lough Eee and 
the outflow of the Shannon, eastward to Meath, with which it was formerly connected, 
composing together the chief jiortion of an ancient kingdom. 

Mullingar, the county town, towards its centre, is one of the great cattle marts, on the banks of the 
E,oyal Canal, and the lino of the 'Western EaUway. Athlone, on the Shannon, with its castle on the opposite 
or Connaught side of the river, is the cliief government depot in the west of Ireland for troops and, military 
stores. 

King's and Queen's Counties, two adjoining districts, were organised in the reign of 
Queen Mary, and received their names in complunent to that sovereign, and her hushand, 
Philip II. of Spain. The former belongs chiefly to the basin of the Shannon, and to 
the limestone plain, comprehending a considerable extent of bog land. The latter is 
wholly included in the basin of the Barrow and ISTore, has a generally hilly surface, with 
the SHeve-Bloom Mountains partly within its limits, and on the border-line between the 
two divisions. 

PhUipstown and Mlaryhorougli, now places of inferior note, were so called after the sovereigns com- 
memorated by the comities. Portarlington, the residence ;of a nmnber of the upper classes, is in both 
districts seated on either bank of the Barrow. The name refers to the founder. Lord Arlington, in the 
reign of Charles II., and to the site having been used as a landing-place on the river. Tullamore, the 
county-town of King's Comity, is the centre of considerable commerce, being on the line of the Grand Canal, 
and connected by a branch with the South-"Western Railway, but is inferior in size to Parsonstoim, on a small 
affluent of the Shannon. This place, formerly called Birr, is distinguished by the adjoinmg seat of Lord 
Eosso, or Birr Castle, the site of his famous telescope. Ecclesiastical remains of great interest, called the 
Seven Churches of Clocmacnoise, occupy a romantic position by the course of the Shannon. They consist 
of the ruhis of an abbey, with monumental crosses, and a round tower, one of the largest in Ireland, with 
the unusual mmiber of eight apertures in the upper story. 

IviLDAEB, between the preceding counties and those of "Wicklow and Dublin, is 
generally a table-land, dotted with bogs, which are comprehended in the great bog of 
Allen. It has the Barrow on its western border, and includes a large pait of the basin of 
the Liffey. 

Athy, on the former river, at the head of its navigation, sliares the assizes with Waas, near the latter. 
Kildare, the ancient capital, now gone to decay, has a ruined cathedral, but the diocese is merged in that of 
Dublin. It has also a round tower, 130 feet high, which crowns the elevation on which the town is b'uUt, 
and is seen from a great distance. An extensive tract of several thousand acres in the neighbom-hood, called 
the 'Curragh of Kildare,' is used in common as pasture-ground, and for public sports, and is also the 
station of a military camp. Maynooth, fifbeen mUes west of Dublm, is a small neat town, ivith striking 
remains of an old castle, belonging to the once powerful family of the Geraldines, but is best knoT\'n as 
the site of St Patrick's CoDege, the principal establishment for the training of candidates for the Eoman 
Catholic priesthood. It was fomided by act of the Irish parliament in 1795, and is subsidised by the British 
government. The academical year embraces ten out of the twelve months. The students usually number 
about 500, and remain eight years. LeixUp, nearer the Dublin border, is on the Liffey, in a very beautiful 
part of its course, where the river flows between steep and richly-wooded banks, pours over a series of rocky 
ledges, and forms the Salmon Leap, a striking cascade. 

Carlow, one of the smaller comities, on the south, lies between the Barrow and Slaney 
rivers, but small portions pass beyond both the streams. It is generally a highly fertile 
plain, so well cultivated as to have been termed the ' garden of Erin.' Cereal produce of 
fine quahty is extensively raised. Corn-mills abound, moved by water-power, some of 
which are comparable to cotton factories in their mag-nitude. The landed proprietors are 
usually resident, representing many of the. early Enghsli settlers, and a few of the ancient 
Irish families. It has been remarked that a large proportion of the former class have 
names beginning mth the letter B; and hence the sayings were once current in the 
district, ' Beware of the Bs,' and ' The Bs of Carlow carry a sting,' in allusion apparently 
to high-handed proceedings. 

Carloio, on the left bank of the Barrow, in a beautiful country, is modern in its general aspect, though 
with a castle of note in former times, erected hi the twelfth centmy, in the Anglo-Norman style, now an 
extensive ruin. It also possesses a Eoman Catholic Cathedral, and a theological college. Bac/enaUtown, 
lower down the river, is the site of some principal flour-works. The largest are, however, at Milford 



KILKENNY — ^ABMAGH. 273 

intonncdiate, where the buildings are flat roofed, have a castellated aspect, and appear with striking efi'ect 
in a distant view. The chief water-wheel, of iron, said to be the largest in the kingdom, takes the water on 
a breadth of twenty-one feet, and is equal to the power of 120 horses. 

Kilkenny, westward of the Barrow, is traversed centrally hj the ISTore, and lias tlie 
lower course of the Suir for its southern frontier. It is one of the principal mineral 
districts, possesses iron and manganese, with coal of the anthracite kind, which is wrought 
in various places, and a black marble crowded with madrepores and shells, which takes a 
high polish, and is extensively qiiarried. 

Kil/ccnni/ (Gael. Church of St Kenny), on both banks of the Nore, is the largest town in Ii'eland wholly 
inland, and the only one of any importance in the county. But the population has been for some years 
decreasing, chiefly owing to the decline of the woollen manufactui'es. It is of ancient date, contains many 
castellated and monastic remains, and has interesting associations, as the scene of viceregal courts and 
parliaments in former tiuies, and the place where Swift, Congreve, and Berkeley received the early part 
of their education. The environs are very pleasing, and the view from the bridge striking, commanding 
a iine serpentine sweep of the river, overlmng by the noble mansion of the Ormond faniUy. 

II. ULSTER. 
Counties. Area in Square Miles. Principal Towns. 

Annagh, .... 513 .... Armagh, Lurgan, Portado\vn. 

Downpatrick, Ne"wry, Donaghadce. 
. Belfast, Carrickfergus, Lisburn. 

Londonderry, Coleraine, Port Stewart. 
. Lifford, Ballyshannon, Letterkenny. 
Enniskillen, Newton Butler. 
Omagh, Strabane, Dungannon. 
Monaghan, Clones, Carrickmacross. 
Cavan, Belturbet. 



Down, .... 957 

Antrim 1190 

Londonderry, . . , 810 

Donegal, .... 1865 

Fermanagh, . . . 714 

Tyrone, .... 1260 

Monaghan, . . . 500 

Cavan, 746 



The final settlement of these counties took place in the early part of the reign of James I. 
At that period, a large proportion of Ulster, consisting of estates forfeited by the 
rebellion of the northern earls, was granted to the great companies of London, subject to 
certain conditions, as the introduction of colonists, with the view of forming a Protestant 
population. A considerable body of EngHsh, but a much larger number of the Scotch, 
owing to their proximity, took part in this 'plantation' of the province. Hence the 
prevalence of the,Lowland Scotch language in the country districts at the present day, and 
of Presbyterianism in the north of Ireland, with the substitution, in the name of a town 
and county, of Londonderry for Derry, in honour of the metropohtan bodies corporate. 
At the same time, as many of the native Irish of the lower classes remained, the Celtic 
element sm'vived in the district, and to some extent a race of mixed blood arose. Only 
a few of the companies retain now possession of their estates, managing them by resident 
agents. 

Armagh, the most populous of the Irish counties in proportion to its area, after that of 
Dublin, is an inland district, extending from the Leinster border to the southern shore of 
Lough Neagh. Most of its drainage is carried to the great lake by the upper Bann, the 
Blaokwater, and its affluent the Callan. While prominently liilly in some places, the 
general surface only gently undulates, and has often a very EngKsh aspect, owing to 
patches of wood and enclosures of quickset hedges. 

The cathedral city of Armagh (Ard-3Iagha, 'the lofty field'), the county town, on the right bank of the 
Callan, is the ecclesiastical metropolis of Ireland, as the seat of the primate. It possesses every requisite 
of an agreeable place of residence, a beautiful neighbourhood, a good public library, a classical school or 
college, an astronomical observatory of distinction, and ornamental grounds for recreation. The cathedral, 
a plain building, has yet a commanding appearance, occupying elevated ground with its tower and sph'e. 
Close to the town is the archiepiscopal palace, of recent date, with a noble obelisk in the park, erected by 
Archbishop Robinson in the last century, ostensibly as a memorial of friendship, but really to give employ- 
ment to labourers in a season of distress. To this prelate, Armagh is indebted for its observatory, and 
most of the advantages it enjoys. Lurgan, near Lough Neagh, and Portadown, on the Bann, have extensive 
maniifaotures of linen and other goods. _ 



274 lEELAND. 

Down, a maritime county on the east coast, embraces the most easterly point of Ireland, 
and has a very ex^tensive shore, stretching from CarHngford Lough on the south to Belfast 
Lough on the north, and including the deep inlet of Lough Strangford, with the broad 
one of Dundrum Bay. Grand scenery distinguishes the surface in its southerly extension, 
•where the Mouine Mountains rise to a considerable altitude, and press closely to the 
sea-board, with fine woods filling the ravines and climbing towards the summits. The 
principal heights are SHeve Beg, 2384 feet ; Sheve More, 2443 feet ; and Slieve Donard, 
2796 feet. These mountains enclose Carhngford Lough on one side, while kindred hills 
rise on the other. They render the inlet — which is about a mile and a half wide at the 
sea-gate, running up some 10 mUes inland, ■vnth the accompaniments of neat villages 
and oak-clad slopes — one of the most charming of aU marine nooks. It has been said 
that were it on the Mediterranean or the Baltic, English families would flock ia crowds 
to occupy the site. 

Downpatrick (' Mount of Patrick '), with a cathedral, near the shore of Lough Strangford, is traditionally 
regarded as the oldest city in Ireland, and was famous long before the arrival of St Patrick, who founded 
religious establishments here. The four holy wells of Struel or St Patrick, 1^ mile east of the town, where 
stood the saint's monastery, are resorted to by Roman Catholic pUgrims from all Ireland. Newry, much 
more considerable, is a busy river port with a striking aspect on the Armagh border. DoncighaHee, a seaport, 
is important from its position, opposite to Portpatrick in Scotland, with which submarine telegraphic 
communication is maintained. Small thriving towns and vUlages are numerous, especially in the direction 
of Belfast, with bleaching-grounds, and otherwise sharing its industry ; and many hamlets on the shores are 
visited for sea-bathing. 

Antrim, on the north, embraces the north-east extremity of the island, overlooks from 
its bold and lofty promontories the coast of Scotland, extends inland to the shores of 
Lough !N"eagh, and is geologically one of the most remarkable districts in the empire. 
I^early the whole surface is occupied by basaltic rocks and other members of the trap 
family, originally ejected from beneath in a fluid state, and spread over the pre-existing 
strata, which consist of chalk, greensand, and new red sandstone, now lying beneath 
them. The igneous rocks assume the columnar shape on the northern and eastern shores, 
appear as continuous bands or colonnades, to be measured by miles in the cliffs, or form 
isolated masses projecting into the sea, as at the Giant's Causeway. This far-famed spot 
is only one of a series of similar formations, locally indicated by the names of the 
Giant's Bed, the Giant's Chair, the Giant's Organ, the Giant's Loom, and the Giant's 
Gateway. Though a wonderful object to contemplate on account of its construction, 
invested with an overpowering charm and interest for the stranger, owing to the 
mysterious workings of those great forces of nature of which it is the monument, the site 
has little of scenic beauty or grandeur, in comparison with the magnificent ranges of 
columnar basalt, which extend for miles along the shore, imbedded in the cHffs and 
headlands. Deep narrow glens open to seaward from the interior of the county. Its 
general surface is mountainous, though without lofty elevations, and it contaias a 
considerable amount of unproductive land; but, owing to the numerous sites of 
manufacturing industry, it has a high average of population. 

Belfast, at the head of an inlet of the east coast which bears its name, and at the outfall of the Lagan, 
ranks as the second city of Ireland in extent, and the first in trade and manufactures. It possesses an 
excellent harbour, constantly occupied by shipping and steamers, with a crowd of linen, cotton, glass, and 
ironworks. The foreign trade is extensive, while vast quantities of live-stock and agricultural produce 
are sent to the ports of England and Scotland. The inhabitants have long been distinguished by a taste for 
letters and science, illustrated and promoted by a valuable public library, a botanic garden (occupying 17 
acres), a museum rich in national antiquities, a natural history society, a royal academic institution, and 
one of the Queen's Colleges, in a spacious and elegant building, opened in 1849. The interests of the staple 
manufacture of the country are considted by an association for the improvement and extension of home- 
grown flax. lAsburn, a few miles up the river; Garrickfergus, on the shore of the bay; Antrim, at the 
north-east extremity of lough Neagh; and Bcdlymena, near one of its affluents, the Main, are seats of 



LONDONDBRBT — DONEGAIi. 275 

various branches of the linen trade. Lame, Glcnarin, and Cusliendall, small neat towns on the east coast, 
are connected by a carriage road lauded by aU travellers, constructed by the government Board of "Works. It 
rims twenty miles close upon the beach, at tlie base of some of the grandest cliffs in the world, and opens up 
a constant succession of new views of sea and sliore, by retreating with the bays, and advancing with the 
headlands. Portrush and Ballycastle, on the north coast, are similarly connected by a sea-cUff road, and have 
the Giant's Causeway between them. Thousands of basaltic colunms here form three piers, the longest of 
which nms out 720 feet into the sea. The columns are generally hexagonal, but vary from three to nine 
sides. It is said, however, that there are only tlu-ee with nine sides, and only one with three. So close 
are they together that a knife-blade can scarcely be inserted between them. About four miles from 
the mainland, tlie crescent-shaped Eathlin Island is of basaltic formation, and shews the colmnnar 
arrangement. This spot was the retreat of Robert Bruce from Scotland. The islanders are a ijrimitivo 
and hannless race, strongly attached to their insular home, and said to be as indisposed to pay the county 
rate, for a jail they never see and roads they never travel. 

LoNDONDEERY, a Westerly continiiation for some distance of tlie great trap-field of 
Antrim, embraces the larger part of the sea-opening of Lough Foyle, the lo"wer courses of 
the Foyle and Bann Rivers, and various high grounds which are most elevated on the 
southern border towards the comity of Tyrone. 

Londonderry, the capital, a large and handsome city, occupies the base and slope of a hill rising up from 
the left bank of the Foyle River, about four miles above its entrance into the lough, and is connected by a 
bridge with a suburb on the opposite bank. Vessels of considerable size come up to the quays. The 
cathedral, neat, plain, and modern, crowns the summit of the hill, overlooks the broad stream, and the arm 
of the sea to which it flows. Old Derry having been destroyed during the reign of James I. by native chiefs, 
who left Uttle except the walls standing, its site, with about 6000 acres adjoining, was granted to the 
London Companies. Under their auspices the present city arose (whence its double name). As a fastness 
of Protestantism, it was long assailed by the army of James 11. in 1689, and had nearly succumbed 
to famine, when relieving-sliips broke through the boom placed by the besiegers across the mouth 
of the river, and brought provisions to the starving inhabitants. An aged clergyman, named "Walker, 
whose memory is stiU. honoured, contributed to their desperate resistance. ' Five generations,' says 
Macaulay, ' have since passed away, and still the wall of Londonderry is to the Protestants of "Ulster wliat 
the trophy of Marathon was to the Athenians. A lofty pillar, rising from a bastion, which bore many weeks 
the heaviest fire of the enemy, is seen far up and down the Foyle. On the summit is the statue of "Walker, 
such as when, in the last and most terrible emergency, his eloquence roused the fainting courage of his 
brethren. In one hand he grasps a Bible. The other, pointing down the river, seems to direct the eyes of 
his famished audience to the English topmasts in the distant bay. Such a monument was well deserved ; yet 
it was scarcely needed ; for in truth the whole city is to this day a monument of the great deliverance. The 
wall is carefuUy preserved. The summit of the ramparts forms a pleasant walk. The bastions have been 
turned into little gardens. Here and there, among the shrubs and flowers, may be seen the old culverins 
which scattered bricks, cased with lead, among the Irish ranks. One antique gun, the gift of the 
Fislimongers of London, was distinguished during the 105 memorable days, by the loudness of its report, 
and still bears the name of Eoaring Meg. The cathedral is flUed with relics and trophies.' The monu- 
ment, erected in 1828 by public subscription, consists of a fine column, 82 feet in height, ascended within 
by a spiral staircase. Cokraine, on the Bann, four miles from the sea, has given its name to fine linens 
manufactured in the town, and is surrounded with large bleaching-grounds. Port Steioart, a watering- 
place on the coast, looks out upon the Bann estuary, and claims connection with Dr Adam Clark as a 
native of the neighbourhood. Newtoion-Limavaddy, on the pleasant river Eoe, is iti the heart of the flax 
district, and carries on an active trade in the article. 

Donegal, the largest of the Ulster counties, embraces the extreme north point of the 
island, or Malin Head, and also the north-west extremity, or the Bloody Foreland. 
Exposed to the full dash of the Atlantic, the shores are tortuous with inlets, and at the 
same time iron-bound in the intervening spaces, being lined with stupendous cliffs of 
primitive rock, which have resisted the shock of centuries of storms. The interior, 
though not without the picturesque, the beautifid, and cultivated, consists largely of 
dreary moors, black bogs, and barren mountains, comprising also scenes which for wild 
and savage sublimity rival any example of the kind presented by the Scottish Highlands. 
The loftiest summits are SHeve Snaght, 2019 feet; Muckish, 2190 feet ; Bluestack, 2213 
feet ; and the cone of Erigal, 2462 feet. The towns are few and diminutive, but the 
scattered peasantry form a considerable body. Finely-coloured marbles, "with the white 
marble of statuary, occur in the mountain districts, and the sea-fisheries are valuable. 



276 lEELAND. 

Lifford, on the left bank of the Foyle, is the smallest of the Irish county toivns, a mere village. 
Letterkenny, at the head of Lough Swilly, is pleasantly situated in a cultivated country, sprinkled with 
plantations and genteel residences. The lough is the longest of the sea inlets, running upwards of twenty- 
five miles from the nortli coast, with deep water tlirougliout. Doncffal, in the south-west, is at tlie head of 
a spacious bay to which its name is given, into which the Erne discharges. Ballyshannon, the largest town, 
just above the outlet of the river, is the seat of a salmon fishery. Railway communication newly extended 
to this point, and to Bundoran, a thriving little watering-place, will contribute to attract English visitors 
to the grand sea-clififs of the north-west of Ireland, as it has done to the mountains and lakes of Kerry in 
the opposite direction. Many islets fringe the shores, two of which, Aran and Tory islands, are inhabited. 
It is within memory, that a boat's crew from the latter, seven miles distant, being driven by stress of weather 
into Ardes Bay, stepped for the first time on the mainland, and gazed with wonder upon its trees. Some 
took away twigs and branches to shew on returning to their treeless home. 

Fermanagh, an inland county, "belongs chiefly to the basin of the Erne, which 
expands into two lakes, occupying a large portion of the centre, justly ranted among 
the finest in Ireland. The upper lake is more than, eight miles in extreme length, by 
three ia breadth, and is much inferior in size to the lower. Both are profusely studded 
with islands, the upper contaiuing 90, and the lower 109. Both have shores rich with 
woods, green slopes, or cidtivated fields, are bounded also in places by considerable MUs, 
and want only the adjunct of towering mountains to render them equal to the grandest 
expanses in the kingdom. They are from four to five miles apart, and are united by the 
splendid river. 

EnnisldlUn, the only town, is beautifully situated on a hilly island in the stream, and also on both the 
adjoining banks, which are coimected by bridges. The name refers to the site, ennis, the correspondent 
of innis and inch, signifying an * island ' or * waterland.* Being well built as well as placed, 
and in a deliglitful locality, the town has a striking appearance from any of the approaches to it. The 
inhabitants took an active part in the struggle between William III. and James 11. ; defeated some troops 
of the latter after the relief of Londonderry at Newton Butler, now a poor village ; distingmshed themselves 
also at the battle of the Boyne ; and their name is at present borne by a celebrated regiment, the 
Inniskillens. Devenish Island, in the lower lake Erne, a rich pasture-ground, has ruins of a chiu-ch and 
monastery which have remained as specimens of ornamental architecture, as well as a beautifully constructed 
round tower, apparently as strong as on the day it was built. 

Tyeone, the most central portion of Ulster, divided between the basins of the Foyle 
and Lough Neagh, has a tame surface except towards the border-line on the side of 
Londonderry and Donegal. The same feature marks the two southern counties of 
MoNAGHAN and Cavan. Both have a considerable amount of bog-land, with numerous 
small loughs, belong chiefly to the basin of the Erne, and fall largely within the limits 
of the great plain. 

Omafjli, the county tovm of Tyrone, near its centre, has a handsome coui-t-house ; but Strahane, on a head 
stream of the Foyle, is larger and more important. Neiotown Stewart, a small place, nearly midway between 
them, is distinguished by the hills called ' Bessy Bell ' and * Mary Gray,' in the immediate vicinity. 
Dunffannon, in the low country towards Lough Neagh, a cultivated plain, has a coal-field of value in its 
neighbourhood, and is said to liave been the chief residence of the O'Neils, the old kings of Ulster. 
Monaghan, on the canal which unites the two great loughs, Neagh and Erne, shares in the linen trade, 
but is principally an agricultural and live-stock mart. Cavan, entirely local in its traffic, is the seat of a 
Roman Catholic school, with a considerable endowment. The north-west corner of the county contains the 
small lake called the ' Sliarmon Pot ' — the source of the Shannon. 

UI. CONNAUGHT. 

Counties. Area in Square Miles. Principal Towns, 

Leitrun, , . . .613 . . , Carrick-on-Shannon, Manor Hamilton. 

Roscommon, , . . 950 . , . Roscommon, Boyle, Elphin. 

Sligo, ..... 721 .. . Sligo, Ballymote. 

Mayo, .... 2131 . . . Castlebar, "Westport, Ballina, Kaiala, 

.... 2447 . . . Galway, Tuam, Loughrea, Ballinasloe. 



Connaught is the smallest and least populous of the principal divisions of Ireland. 
Leiteim has a strip of coast-line on Donegal Bay, but is chiefly inland, extending from 
thence in a long narrow tract, in a direction from north-west to south-east. It is divided 



SLIGO — MAYO. 277 

into two nearly equal parts by Lougli Allen, one of tlie expanses of the Stannon, and by 
tbe outflow of tlie river. The lake is of considerable extent, bounded on almost aU sides 
by lofty hills. After a short course, the river forms the border-line between Leitkim and 
Roscommon, a whoUy inland district, continued along the right bank of the stream, and 
the western shore of Lough Eee. Both counties have rich grazing-grounds, with the 
common features of the Irish landscape, bog and marsh alternating with luxuriant pastures 
and cultivated soU. 

Camck-on-SIiannon, a ' rocky place,' or ' rock fort,' on the left bank, the county town of Leitrim, is little 
more than a village in size. Roscommon slightly exceeds it, but is inferior to Boyle, a manufacturing and 
trading to^vn, of early celebrity, retaining the remains of an ancient abbey. EJpJiin, once a Protestant 
bishopric ; the diocese is now annexed to the sees of Kilmore and Ardagh. 

Sligo, a maritime county, extends along the southern shore of Donegal Bay, and thence 
westward to the Bay of KUlala, both of which are openings exposed to the full swell of 
the broad Atlantic, but in different directions. The interior consists of extensive tracts of 
higliland and of level surface, and a large proportion of bog and moor appears witliin its 
hmits, together with graziag-grounds and cultivated areas. Small loughs are copiously 
distributed, with some of considerable size, which have very picturesque shores, and are 
studded with wooded islands. Streams also abound, but with short courses and generally 
with rapid currents. 

SUgo, the second town in Connaught in importance, and the only one in the county entitled to notice, is 
siiaated in a deep valley, on both banks of the Garogue, immediately above its entrance into the sea. Ships 
of moderate bxirden come up, and there is an active coasting trade, -with some foreign commerce. Two 
bridges across the river connect the two portions of the place, which possesses two churches, a neat infirmary, 
and fine remains of an old abbey. In the adjoining bay, three vessels belonging to the Sjjanish Armada were 
cast ashore in 1588. The neighbourhood is mountainous, and has some very striking features. The traveller 
will not fail to remark the beautifuUy-shaped hill of Knocarea on the west, with the singular isolated rock 
at the smnmit, nor the equally graceful and higher Benbulben on the north. At a short distance from the 
to\vn, its river issues from Lough Gill, about four miles in length by two in breadth, one of the loveliest 
watery expanses in Ireland. The shores are steep and richly wooded ; the islands, twenty in number, 
are mostly croivned with trees ; and on one of them — Church Island — the foliage waves over some ancient 
ruins. 

Mato, the tliird of the Irish counties in size, embraces the north-western section of 
Connaught, andThas a long range of shore which breasts the Atlantic in two directions, 
furrowed with inlets and fringed with islands. AchUl Island, the largest, measuring 
fourteen miles from east to west, is mountainous, wUd, barren, and boggy ; and has its 
name, which signifies 'eagle,' from the number of those birds by which it was frequented. 
Clare Island rises up boldly from the waves in the centre of the entrance to Clew Bay, 
a locality remarkable for the prodigious number of isles and rooks with which the upper 
extremity is crowded, where they form a labyrinth altogether without example in any 
other part of the kingdom. The mainland at the head of this bay is the termination 
westward of the great plain of Ireland, to which a large portion of the county belongs, 
but those parts of it which lie immediately north and south of the splendid inlet are lofty 
mountain regions. Northward rise the Nepliin heights, one of which, Slieve Car, attains 
2368 feet; and the Great Nephin, another finely-shaped mass, quite isolated by its eleva- 
tion, and visible at a great distance in all directions, rises 2646 feet. Southward are 
Ben Gorm, 2224 feet ; Ben Bury, 2610 feet ; and the grand MuUrea, 2685 feet, the highest 
point of the district. The north-western corner of the county is a singular peninsular tract 
caUed the Mullet, abounding with wild and noble scenery, attached to the main shore by an 
isthmus not half a mile across at the narrowest part. Until recent years, this district was 
very secluded, there being no road through the isthmus. Many of the inhabitants were 
strangers to various objects of very common occurrence elsewhere, such as a bridge, a 
tree, a flight of stairs, or a wheeled carriage of any kind. The first vehicle ever seen in the 



278 IRELAND. 

Mullet, was taken in by the engineer -wlule constructing tlie present road, where it was 
viewed by the young people with great curiosity and delight. But planks had to be laid 
down before it, step by step, to accomplish the passage of the bogs. Loughs Mask and 
Corrib, two extensive inland expanses, lie on the border of the county towards and partly 
■withia Galway — ^the former 27 miles long and from 1 to 6 broad ; the latter 10 miles 
long by 4 broad; Lough Conn, about eight miles long, is wholly within, its limits, 
connected by a narrow strait with Lough Cullin. The small lakes are very numerous. 

Gastlebar, centrally situated, is a considerable seat of the linen trade, partly shared by Westport, near the 
head of Clew Bay, the principal seapoi-t. Ballina, the largest place, is seated on the left bank of the Moy, a 
few miles above its entrance into Killala Bay. The river dashes over bold rapids in the midst of the town, 
and has a valuable sabnon-fisheiy, the produce of which is chiefly sent to Liverpool. Killala, ancient and 
decayed, but full of recollections, on the west shore of its bay, was held for thirty days by a French 
army, under General Humbert, sent in 179S to aid the rebellion of that period. 

Galway, the second of the counties in Ireland in its dimensions, comprehends the 
whole south of Connaught, from the Shannon, and its affluent, the Suck, on the east, to 
the Atlantic on the west. It has a coast-line estimated at about 400 miles in length, 
embracing the numerous inlets, some of which are narrow and mountain-girded, 
comparable to the Norwegian fiords, while almost aU form excellent harbours. Many 
islands lie along the shores. The most important are the three south isles of Airan, 
which lie across the entrance to Galway Bay, and guard it as a natural breakwater from 
the fury of the ocean. Inishmore, the largest, is very remarkable for containing ruins of 
stone buildings, perfectly Cyclopean in their structure, chiefly military, which belong to 
the pre-historic age, and are reckoned among the most striking erections of the far past 
remaining in Europe. The largest is called Dmi-.(35ngus, on a cHff of Inishmore, 220 
feet high. Anciently, too, these islands formed an important ecclesiastical seat, containing 
at one time 20 churches and monasteries — the ruins of which are much visited by 
pilgrims. St Kenanaoh Church, built in the 7th century, still exists, aU but its stone 
roof, as weU as the stone oratories and little bee-hive stone-huts of the monks of the 
6th and 7th centuries. Loughs Mask and Corrib, with their outlet, divide the county 
into two unequal portions. The eastern and more extensive portion is comparatively 
level, part of the interior is a plain, and has a rich soU. The western division has the 
reverse features of mountains and moors, bogs and morasses, with some singTilarly wild 
and romantic scenery. It includes the tract called lar or Western Connaught, a granite 
plain on the north shore of Galway Bay ; the district of Connemara, ' bays of the sea,' 
bordering the numerous inlets on the western coast ; and Joyce's Country, further north, 
stretching from the shore to the great lakes Mask and Corrib. Connemara is distinguished 
by the beautiful mountain group of the Twelve Pins of Bunabola, the highest of which 
rises 2396 feet. Many more than a dozen peaks appear, but it is easy to reckon the 
twelve of superior dignity which give the name. They are said to occupy a space of 
twenty-four square miles, and rivet the attention of the traveller by theh' beautiful forms 
and change of relative position to one another as he proceeds. 

Galioay, at the outlet of the Comb Eiver, is an important town and port, occupying both its banks and two 
islands in the channel, fitted with docks and quays for extensive commerce. It is 130 miles west of Dablin, 
the terminus of the Midland Great Western Eailway, which has a splendid hotel adjoining. The old town, 
eastward of the river, is poorly bmlt, but has some Spanish-like houses, a memorial of the mercantile inter- 
coui-se which once subsisted between Galway and Spain. One of these houses is marked with a skull and 
cross-bones, in memory of a circumstance -without parallel in British history. It was the residence of the 
mayor, James Lynch Fitzstephen, in 1493, who, like another Brutus, condemned his own son to death for 
murder, and caused him to be executed from liis own window in order to prevent a rescue. The new 
town, on the opposite bank, has spacious streets, and is the seat of one of the Queen's Colleges, a veiy 
handsome structure of beautiful gray limestone, opened in 1S49. A large maritime suburb, called the 
Claddagh, consisting of low wretched cabins, is inhabited cliiefly by fishermen who form a separate 
community. Tliey speak the Irish language, have a nominal government of their own, elect annually a 



MUNSTEB. 279 

so-called mayor, always intermarry among themselves, and are tenacious in maintaining exclusive right 
to their fishing-grounds. As the most westerly port of importance in the United Kingdom, while on 
the shore of a magnificent bay, with water deep enough for the largest vessels close to the quays, Galway 
is eminently fitted to be a principal station for the transatlantic passage. It is 1656 miles from St 
John's in Neivfoundland, 2163 from Halifax, 2385 from Boston, and 2700 miles from New York. Tuam, a 
small ancient city on an affluent of Lough Conib, is the seat of a Protestant bishopric, and a Eoman Catholic 
archiepiscopate. Ballinasloe, on the border-river Suck, with a suburb in the county of Roscommon, is noted 
for its annual cattle and sheep fair, the largest in Ireland. In the neighbourhood of the town, the village of 
Aughrim was the scene of General Ginkel's victory over the army of James II. in 1691. 




Counties. 


Area in Square Miles. 


Clare, 


. . 1294 . 


limerick, 


. 1064 . . 


Tipperary, 


. 1659 


Waterford, . 


721 . 


Cork, 


. . 2885 . 


Kerry, . 


. 1SS3 . . 



Eoss Castle, Lower Lake, BjUamey. 

IV. MUNSTEB. 

Principal Towns. 
Ennis, Kilrush, Kilkee, Killaloe. 
Limerick, Eathkeale, Newcastle, Askeaton. 
Clonmel, Nenagh, Tipperary, Carrick, Thurles, Casheh 
"Waterford, Dungarvon, Portlaw, Lismore. 
Cork, Queenstown, Youghal, Fermoy, Bandon, Kinsale. 
Tralee, KiUamey. 

Clabe, a peninsular tract bordering on Galway, is enclosed by the Atlantic on tbe 
west, the noble estuary of the Shannon on the south, and the course of the river on the 
east. High steep cliffs form the greater part of the coast-liae on the side of the ocean, 
agaittst which tremendous seas roU up during continued winds from the west and south- 
west, while the few bays offer only imperfect shelter to shipping. The shores of the 
estuary are very fine. Sloping weU-cultivated banks appear on either hand, adorned with 
wooded demesnes, in the midst of which some old ruin occasionally meets the eye ; 
and the view of the grand mass of water is singularly beautiful, constantly altering 
its relation to the littoral landscape, widening and contracting, but everywhere preserving 
the aspect of tranquil power. The interior of the county contributes the Fergus and 
other affluents to the border stream, all of which are connected with small lakes. Its 
general surface is HUy, but not bold, and includes a large proportion of bog, with 
important mineral wealth — ^iron, lead, copper, manganese, marbles, and slates. 



280 IRELAND. 

Ennis, a neat-looking trading to^vn on the banks of the Fergus, is distinguished by fine remains of a 
monastery of the thirteenth century, founded by O'Brien, Prince of Thomond, an endowed classical school in 
the neighbourhood, called Ennis College, founded by Erasmus Smith, and some valuable quarries of black 
marble. It is the birthplace of Mulready, the painter. KilTush,!A the head of a bay of the Shannon, a 
fishing place, with some coasting trade, has the advantage of a secure harbour and convenient pier, protected 
by a sea-wall of immense strength. It is much resorted to for sea-bathing. Directly opposite, about a mile 
distant, is Scattery Island, once a place of pilgrimage, and stUl revered by Roman Catholics. It is said to 
have been the residence of St Senanus, who jealously guarded his retreat against female intrusion, as 
commemorated by Moore : 

* ! haste and leave this sacred isle, 

Unholy bark, ere morning: smile; 

For on thy deck, though dark it be, 
A female form I see ; 

And I have sworn this sainted sod 

Shall ne'er by woman's feet be trod,' 

Ecclesiastical remains abound on the island. Kilkec, a charming watering-place, in a beautiful Kttle creek 
of the Atlantic, forms a semicircle of good villas and lodging-houses, with a stretch of fine smooth white sand 
for an esplanade. Killaloe, the seat of a bishopric, now a decayed place, is splendidly situated in the midst 
of bold hills, on the right bank of the Shannon, close to its outlet from Lough Derg. The river here forms 
a series of rapids, and an old bridge of a great number of arches is a picturesque object in the landscape. 

LaiERiCK, an inland county, extends along the soutliern sliore of the Shannon, in the 
upper part of its estuary, and for a short distance along the left bank of the river. It 
belongs almost enthely to its basin, and contributes the Deel and the Maigue to its 
channel, the last of which has for two of its affluents the Cammogue and the Star rivers. 
In the tract between these streams lies the romantic and secluded Lough Gur, with one 
principal island and several smaller, rising up from its bosom. On the large island, and on 
the shores of the lake, are gigantic relics of the remote past — stone circles, pillar-stones, 
cromlechs, and other works of Cyclopean masonry — with strong square towers of the days 
of the Desmonds, a family once all-powerful in the district. The whole county is 
remarkable for monuments of barbaric art, as well as for the number of its castellated and 
religious remains. Most of the latter are referrible to the wealth and influence of the 
chieftains named. The aspect of the surface is generally flat; the soil is proverbially rich; 
and an easterly portion of it is so fertile as to have obtained the designation of the 
' Golden Valley.' High grounds overlook the plain, especially towards Tipperary, where 
the loftiest point of the Galty Mountains marks the border-line, and has an elevation of 
3000 feet. 

LimericTc, an ancient episcopal and historic city, the fourth in Ireland in order of population, is seated on 
the Shannon, at the head of the estuary, about sixty miles above its mouth. The older portion, divided into 
Irish Town and English Town, chiefly occupies Bang's Island in the river, and has very uniuvitmg features. 
But the more modern part, called !N"ew To\ra or Ne^vton Pery, on the left bank, is remarkably handsome, 
and there is an extensive suburb on the opposite side of the stream, in the county of Clare. Among the 
finest public buildings in Limerick are the new Eoma:n Catholic Cathedral, and the church of the Eedemp- 
torist Order. The city -was once famous for Its gloves, of such delicate material and fine workmanship, 
that a pair has been passed through a wedding-ring, but the manufacture has greatly declined. That 
of lace, introduced from Kottingham, is extensively carried on ; aird fish-hooks of the purest steel are 
largely nrade for the angler's use. The 'Limerick lasses' maintairr their old reputation for beauty, a 
characteristic which belongs to the women of all ranks throughout the county. A considerable foreign and 
coasting trade is facilitated by deep water at the quays, and an unobstructed navigation to the Atlantic. 
No place in the island has been more prominent in Irish history. It was held by the Danes in the ninth 
and tenth centuries, reconquered by Brian Boroihme, fortified by King John (1210), and par-tly burned by 
Edward Bruce (1314). It surrendered to Ireton, the son-in-law of Cromwell (1651), after a long and brave 
resistance. It withstood the arms of 'William III. (1690), who was compelled to raise the siege, but it 
capitulated upon honourable terms to his general, Ginkel, in the following year. The city long retained a 
military aspect. In the middle of the last century, seventeen gates were in existence, which were regularly 
guarded and locked every night. AU the other toivns of the county are of unimportant size. Kilmallock, 
once a parliamentary borough, now a mass of ruins and hovels, has been called the ' Baalbec of Ireland,' is 
memorable as having been the chief seat of the Desmonds. According to a wild legend, the last powerful 
head of the family, who perished in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, stiU keeps his state imder the waters 
of Lough Gur, before referred to, reappears fully armed on the morning of every seventh year, rides round 



TIPPERART ■WATEKFORD. 281 

tho lake, and will ultimately claim his own again. Castk Connell, a village beautifully placed on the 
river above Limerick, overlooking the rapids of Doonas, is visited by the citizens on account of its strongly 
chalybeate springs. 

TippERABY, an extensive inland district eastward, is traversed by the Suir, and contains 
a large proportion of level or undulating country, with detached heights interspersed, and 
elevated ranges towards the borders. On the south and south-west rise the KnockmeUe- 
down and Galty Mountains, with the Silver Mine range in the north, abounding with 
lead-ore from which a considerable quantity of silver is obtained. The county yields 
excellent slates, coal of the anthracite kind, has woollen and flax manufactures upon a 
small scale, but is principally a scene of grazing husbandry. 

Clonmcl {'Vale of Honey'), an agreeable and busy town, occupies the north bank of the Suir, over 
which a long bridge extends to a suburb on the opposite side, within the limits of Waterford. It has a 
large export trade in agricultural produce, and numerous flour-mills, owing to the convenient water-power 
derived from the river. The town was the birthplace of Sterne and Lady Blessington. Carrick-on-Sidr 
has the remains of a castle built in 1309. Cahir and Thmies are higher up the same river, the latter a 
station on the Great South-Western Railway, possessing a lloman Catholic college and two episcopal 
palaces. Tippr.rary, well built, lies on an affluent, and on the line of the railway between Limerick and 
■Waterford. Nenagh, more important, is connected with the Shannon by a river falling into Lough Derg. 
Cashcl, an episcopal city, anciently the residence of the kings of Munster, is of little present note, and in an 
itnattractive neighbourhood, a treeless and impicturesque, but rich and well-cultivated plain, about midAvay 
between Clonmel and Thurles. Yet it has one prime object of interest, the Rock of Cashel, crowned 
with the largest and most celebrated assemblage of ruins in Ireland. The rock itself is remarkable for the 
abruptness with which it rises from the extensive plain in which it is situated. Around the southern and 
eastern slopes is the tov/n, with a handsome Protestant cathedral of modern date, and noble gardens 
attached to the episcopal palace. On the summit are magnificent remains of varied structures, roofless, 
windowless, and greatly shattered, yet still standing in their original height. They include a cathedral, St 
Mary's Abbey, Cormac's Chapel, a castle, and a round tower (ninety feet high and fifty-six in circumference), 
forming a very efiective whole. Tipperary has mthin its limits, but close to the borders of Cork, a great 
natural curiosity in a series of subterranean chambers or caves, the existence of which was not known 
half a century ago, and was discovered quite accidentally. The entrance is in an ordinary field, and is kept 
under lock and key. A narrow passage from the mouth, ivith a steep descent, leads to a number of great 
chinks in tho limestone rock, at different depths, opening out into halls of various forms and dimensions, 
connected together by galleries. These are incrusted with stalactitic and stalagmitic formations, and have as 
usual received fanciful names — Adam's Organ, Queen Elizabeth's Ruff, the Tower of Bahel, the £50 Pillar, 
from that sum having been refused for the mass, the House of Commons, the House of Lords, and Lord 
Kingston's Hall, after the o\vner of the ground. Twenty-four large chambers are enumerated, besides many 
smaller ones, and upwards of three mUes of gallery have been traced. 

Waterford, a maritime county on the south, is the smallest of the divisions of 
Munster, and one of the least interestmg parts of the country, though comprising a few 
highly picturesque sjDots. The surface is generally bare of trees ; the soil is naturally 
poor ; the coast-line is inhospitable ; and with one splendid exception, the bays and 
harbours are neither safe nor commodious. The Suir forms a border stream on the 
north, and a westerly section is traversed by the lower course of the Blackwater. In 
the centre of the county rise the Commeragh Mountains, well-known landmarks to 
mariners, hailed by them as the ' high lands of Dungarvon,' the highest of wliieh, 24G9 
feet, forms a table-land at the summit, remarkable for three lakes weU stocked with 
trout. "Westward are the Knockmeiledowns, stretching into Tipperary, which attain 
a slightly higher elevation. Copper-mines are profitably worked at Knockmahon, close 
to the coast, the ores of which are sent to Swansea ; and lead is also obtained. 

Waterford, a large and flourishing city, stands on the south bank of the Suir, twelve miles above the 
sea, but has water deep enough for vessels of heavy burden to come up to the quay, which has few rivals 
in the kingdom, stretching a mile in length in a continuous line along the river. In allusion to its natural 
advantages, it is said to have been anciently called Oiian-na-Crrioth, ' the Harbour of the Sun,' and to have 
received its present name from the Danes, supposed by some to be a corruption of Vader Fiord, * the Fiord 
of the Father,' or ' the Great Haven.' The commerce with England is immense in the transit of passengers, 
the export of live-stock and dairy produce, chiefly sent to Bristol as the nearest considerable port. Waterford 
is celebrated in history as the landing-place of Henry II. in 1171, to receive the submission of the Irish 
chieftains, and for its resistance to Perkin Warbeck, the pretender to royalty in the reign of Henry VII. 



282 lEELAND. 

Dungarvon, a seaport, depends upon its fisheries of hake and herring, with suntmer -risitors to it as a bathing 
place. Portlaw, a small inland town, has risen from an insignificant village in the present century owing 
to the introduction of the cotton manufacture. Lismore, on the Blackwater, the gem of the county as to 
scenery, is distinguished by a noble castle, seated on a steep rook by the side of the river surrounded by a, 
finely -wooded domain. The estate was included in the grant made to Sir Walter Ealeigh, and is now a 
scat of the Dukes of Devonshire. 

CoEK, the largest county in Ireland, and larger than any in England except Yorkshire, 
extends 110 miles from east to west; greatest breadth, 70 ; average, 34. The coast-line is 
of great extent, owing to the numerous hays and splendid sea-rivers formed by a series 
of long narrow peninsulas. It embraces the southernmost part of the mainland, or Mizen 
Head; and the extreme south point of Ireland or Clear Island, of which Cape Clear 
is the furthest projection to seaward, is close along shore. Among the extensive inlets, 
that of Bantry Bay is nowhere surpassed for natural advantages as a harbour combined 
with natural beauty. It extends twenty-seven miles inland, includes many minor bays, 
and furnishes from its bed vast quantities of coral sand, which forms an excellent manure. 
The highest point of the county. Hungry Hill, 2249 feet, in the extreme west, overlooks 
the noble expanse. From west to east the surface generally declines; and hence in 
this direction flow the principal rivers, the Blackwater, the Lee, and the Bandon, aU. 
of which have several affluents. It comprehends a considerable proportion of infertile 
ground, either barren mountain or bog, but productive tracts lie -along the lower courses 
of the streams. 

Cork, the third city in Ireland in population, is finely situated on both banks of the Lee, where it begins 
to open out into the large and splendid inlet of the sea which forms the harbour. The river is waUed in by 
handsome granite quays, and crossed by numerous bridges, below which shipping and steamers crowd the 
surface of the stream. Ship-building and varied manufactures are carried on ; the export of provisions and 
agricultural produce to England is very extensive ; and the foreign commerce is second only to that of 
Belfast. The city is deficient in good public buildings. The most unportant are the Court House, an 
elegant Grecian structure, and the new Queen's College, a striking quadrangular edifice in the Tudor Gothic 
style. The streets are generally confined, and the number of poor dwellings is very large, as the merchants 
and principal traders have residences in the beautiful vicinity. But Cork has a cheerfiU prosperous aspect, 
and may vie with any place of the same size in the variety of its institutions, whether religious, charitable, 
educational, literary, or scientific. The harbour is a spacious expanse studded with islands, and perfectly 
landlocked, in which the largest vessels may ride in safety. Spike Island, a convict station with artiUery 
barracks, at the inner entrance, acts as a natural breakwater to it. Queenstown, the principal port of Cork, 
stands on the southern shore of Great Island, and enjoys a mild climate during aU seasons. Occupying a 
steep acclivity, the houses rise in ten-ace above terrace from the water's edge, and have an imposing 
appearance from its surface, wlule the heights overlook a superb -view of the anchorage -with its merchantmen, 
steamers, yachts, and splendid encircling shores. The place was formerly called Cove, and received its 
present name in honour of the Queen's -visit in 1849. Youghal, on the -west shore of the Blackwater outlet, 
is one of the Irish watering-places, trades in the salmon produce of the river, and is enduringly associated 
-with the memory of Sir "Walter Ealeigh. It was his residence for a brief period, and his house is stiU 
indicated. An old collegiate church, part of which is used for service, but largely a ruin, is one of the 
finest structures of its kind, containing many sepulchral monuments of great interest. The to-wn derives its 
name from Eo-chaille, 'the Yew Wood,' which once existed in the neighbourhood. Fermoy, a militai-y station, 
and Mallow, -with a hot mineral spring, are on the upper course of the Blackwater, a district celebrated by the 
muse of Spenser, in -which the Fairy Queen was produced, during liis residence at EUcoleman Castle, now 
a desolate ruin. Bandon, a place of modem date, on the river of that name, is the central point of a fertile 
part of the county. Kinsalc, near the mouth of the river, is ancient and quaint looking, -with some Spanish- 
like features, ha-ving been several times in the occupation of the Spaniards. It was long the most frequented 
of the southern harbours, a distinction which passed to Cork ; and is still a prosperous town sustained by 
extensive fisheries. The Old Head' of Kinsale, the point nearest the sea, marked by a light-house, has for 
centuries been a noted landmark to mariners. Bantry, near the head of its famous bay, attracts summer 
-visitors by the enchanting scenery of the -vicinity, chiefiy Glengariff, ' the rough glen,' on the opposite shore, 
a deep and narrow alpine valley, about three miles long, -which presents at every step a remarkable 
combination of the lovely and the grand, the mighty rock and the secluded bower, the pleasant cove and 
the majestic mountain. 

Kerry, southward of the mouth of the Shannon, is the fifth of the Irish counties in 
extent, and the most magnificent in its natural features, but has the lowest average of 



KERRY. 283 

IJopiilation. It embraces tlio south-western section of tlie country, and contains the most 
westerly jjoint of the maialand in Dunmore Head. The shores are distinguished by 
their peniiisular arrangement and vnld sublimity. In the interior, towards the Shannon 
and the Limerick border, the surface is comparatively open, and in several parts low, 
but the central and southern portions consist of huge mountain masses, separated by 
deep romantic glens in i, which lovely lakes are embosomed. These highlands embrace 
Carran-tual, 'the inverted sickle,' 3404 feet, loftiest of MacgiUicuddy's Eeeks, near 
KiUarney, the culminating-poiat of Ireland; and Mount Brandon, 3126 feet, the next 
in elevation, on the northern side of Dingle Bay. This rugged district sheltered the 
wolf to a late period. In the early part of the last century, money was levied on 
presentments of the grand jury for the destruction of the animal in the county. Exposure 
to the south-west winds renders the climate singularly mild and moist. The last element 
often interferes with the pleasure of excursionists, either by soaking showers, or vaUing 
the mountains from view in mist, and suddenly prohibiting all chance of a prospect from 
their summits. Owing to the mUd and humid atmosphere, the vegetation includes plants 
IsecuHar to the district, while evergreen shrubs attain the size of trees, and the indigenous 
woods are clothed with the richest foliage. Many islands fringe the coast, the Blasquet 
group, Valentia, the pinnacled Skelligs, with Soarifif and Dinish. The two latter are 
opposite Derrynane, the birthplace and seat of O'Connell, and were both his property. 

Tralee, a considerable to-\Tn, is the principal outlet of the produce of the coimty, consisting entirely of 
provisions. It is seated near the head of a bay with which connection is maintained by a canal navigable 
by vessels of considerable si^e, and has a chalybeate spring of some repute in the neighbourhood. KiUarney, 
a mile distant from the lowermost of its far-famed lakes, contains an imposing Eoman Cathojio cathedral 
and a nunnery. It has little trade, and is sustained by the summer influx of pilgrims to their scenery, 
in which mountain, glen, water, island, foliage, and mouldering ruin, blend their varioiis attractions. 
Toys and other articles of arbutus-wood are made in the town, and disposed of to visitors as souvenirs 
of their excursion. Though the arbutus flourishes in most parts of Ireland, it is nowhere seen in such 
profusion, or of so large a size, as in this neighbourhood. Stems, with a girth of several feet, and a 
height corresponding to that of the ash, are not uncommon. But visitors are liable to be imposed upon, 
here as elsewhere, by articles made of the cheaper bog-timber being substituted for those really of arbutus. 
Dingle, Cahirciveen, and Kenmare are small coast towns, the latter planted by Sir WilUam Petty in 1670, 
the founder of the Lansdowne family. Among the insular parts of the county, the Blasquet Isles, thirteen 
in number, are 'the most westerly portions of the kingdom, separated from Dunmore Head by a sound of 
great depth. Valentia Island, on the southern side of the entrance to Dingle Bay, is close in shore, and has 
a noble harbour in the intervening channel. It possesses valuable slate quarries, a fertile soil, and has 
become of interest as the appointed site for transatlantic telegrapliic communication, if that should become 
practicable. The Skelligs are two rocks to the southward, about eight miles out to sea. The Great Skellig 
rises to the height of 1000 feet above the ocean, as shai^p as an alpine aiguille, and as elegant in form. 
Landing is impossible except in cahn weather, The only occupants are the keepers of two light-house?, 
who are often in winter out off for weeks from all communication with the main shore. The Lesser Skellig 
is lower, yet more difficult of access. It has never been inhabited by man, but is one of the six breeding 
stations of the gaauiet within the limits of the United Kingdom. 

POPULATION OF THE PRINCIPAL IRISH CITIES AND TOWNS. 

FROM THE CENSUS KETDEN3 OF 1861. 



rop. 

Antvim 2,131 

Ardee 2,672 

Arklow 4,670 

Arma!;h, 8,655 

Atbloue 5,601 

Athy, 4,113 

Balbviggan, .... 2,308 

nallina 6,452 

Ballinasloe 3,200 



Ballinrobe, 
Ballymena, . 
Ballyshannon, 
Banbridge, 
Bandon, . . 



2,507 
6,739 
3,183 
4,032 
6,:"' 
2,525 



Bantry, 2,444 

Belfast, .... 119,718 

Belturbet 1,772 

Birr, or Parsonstown, . 5,220 

Blackrock 2,916 

Boyle 3,002 

Bray, 4,273 

Cahir 3,068 

Callan 2,322 

Carlow, 8.204 

Carrickfergus, . . 
Carrickmacross, 
Carrick-on-Shannon, 

Can-ick-on-Suir, . . 4,SS6 

Cashel 4,317 



9,417 
2,045 
1,503 



Castlebar, 2,960 

Cavan, 3,107 

Charlevilli;, .... 2,458 
Clonakilty, .... 3,074 

Clones 2,388 

Clonmel 11,104 

Coleraine, - 6,628 

Cookstown, .... 3,613 

Cootehill, 1,992 

Cork 78,892 

Dingle, 2,251 

Donaghadee 2,664 

Donegal 1,516 

Downpatrick, . . . 3,685 

Drogheda, .... 14,730 



pop. 
Dromore 2,526 

DdbLIN (with suburba), 29.1,964 

Dundalk, 10,075 

Dungannon, .... 3,886 

DuDgarvan 5,881 

Dunmanway, .... 2,071 

Ennis, 6,993 

Enniscortby, .... 6,369 
Enniskillen, .... 5,655 



Galway 16,786 

Gilford 2,884 

Gorey 2,673 



284 



Gort 2,077 

Granarcl, 1,665 

Holywood, .... 2,422 

Kantnrk, 2,226 

Kells 3,225 

Kilkenny, 17,441 

Killarney, 6,187 

Kilriish, 4,566 

Kingstown, .... 11,584 

Kinsale, 4,000 

Larne, 2,768 

Lettevkenny 2,160 

Limerick 44,626 

Iiisburn, 7,484 

Lismore 2,089 

Listowel, 2,273 



TOP. 

Londonderry, , . . 20,153 

Longford 4,535 

Loughrea, 3,063 

Lurgan, 7,766 

Macroom 3,283 

Mallow, 3,612 

Maryborough, . . . 2,857 

Maynooth 2,091 

Middleton 3,378 

Mitchelstown, . . . 2,920 

Moate, 1,958 

Monaghan 3,797 

Mountmellick, . . . 3,056 

Mountrath 2,085 

Mullingar, 5,359 

Naas, 2,959 

Navan, 3,855 



Nenagh 6,283 

Newcastle, .... 2,445 

Newry 11,426 

Newtown Ards, . . . 9,521 
3,448 

2,287 

Portadown, .... 6,524 

Portarlington, . . . 2,389 

Portlaw, 3,915 

QueenstowE, .... 8,653 

Rathkeale, .... 2,761 

Roscommon, .... 2,690 

Roscrea, 3,543 

Ross (New), .... 6,488 

Skerries 2,256 



POP. 

Skibbereen 3,694 

Sligo, 10,420 

Strabane, 4,146 

Tallow 1,627 

Templemore, . . . 2,973 

Thurles 4,788 

Tipperary 5,907 

Tralee, 10,191 

Trim, 2,057 

Tuam 4,542 

TuUamore, .... 4,791 

Tullow, 2,384 

Waterford, .... 23,220 

Westport, 3,911 

Wexford, 12,015 

Wicklow 3,895 

Youghal, 6,328 




Muckiob'! Abbey 




Bowley Bay, Jersey, 

CHAPTEE V. 

BRITISH EUBOPEAN POSSESSIONS : 
THE CHANNEL ISLANDS — MALTESE ISLANDS — GIBEALTAR^HELIGOLAND. 

'HE accession of William the Conqueror to tlie throne of England 
associated the kingdom poUtioally with his own duchy of 
Normandy, which was practically an independent state, hxit feud- 
ally subject, with the adjoining province of Maine, which he had 
subdued, to the crown of France. To this continental territory, 
the fourth of his successors, Henry II., first of the Plantagenet 
sovereigns, added his own paternal inheritance of Anjou and 
Touraine, with the splendid patrimony of his queen, consisting of 
the earldom of Poitou and the great duchy of Aquitaiue, the 
latter extending from the Loire to the Pyrenees. At this period 
therefore — ^the middle of the twelfth century — the sway of the English monarch 
embraced considerably more than a third of Erance. The whole was lost during 
the reign of his inglorious son John, with the exception of the principal portion of 
Aquitaine, or the important provinces of Gascony and Guienne. It was partly recovered 
by the brilliant victories of Edward III., and fully restored, with large accessions, by the 
successful wars of Henry V. But during the long minority of Henry VI. the course of 
events was adverse to the maintenance of a foreign dominion ; and after the middle of the 
fifteenth century, or 1453, when Bordeaux surrendered, not a foot of ground remained 
to the English on the mainland of the continent, except the town and subiu-bs of 
Calais. This place was retained a century later, or tiU the reign of Queen Mary, 1558, 




286 



BRITISH EUROPEAN POSSESSIONS. 



■when it capitulated to tlie Duke of Guise. But tlie Cliannel or Norman Isles liavo 
continued to the present day uninterruptedly subject to the crown of England since the 
time of the Norman Conqueror. A form stiU observed by the House of Lords absurdly 
keeps up the memory of the long-severed political connection with the mainland across 
the sea. At the beginning of every parliament Eeceivers and Triers of Petitions from 
Gaseony are appointed, and have their names in. French entered in the journals. 

The Channel Islands are situated in the Bay of Avranches, off the ,north-west coast of 
France, part of the old province of Normandy. They consist of three important members, 
Jersey, Guernsey, and Alderney, with three of much smaller extent, Sark, Herm, and 
Jethou. The mainland of the continent is distinctly visible from various points, with the 
churches and high buildings. Alderney makes the nearest approach to it, being within 
seven miles of Cape La 1 Hague, and is at the same time the nearest of the group to 
England, distant about fifty-five miles almost due south of Portland BUI. Eocks in great 
numbers fringe the shores, some of which are always exposed to view, others only at the 
recession of the tide, while many ^are permanently submerged. They originate strong 
currents and eddies ; render the approach to the islands dangerous to those who are not 
intimately acquainted with the navigation ; and have contributed to preserve this isolated 
nook of the empire from attack in time of war. The islands are almost entirely of 
granitic formation, though schistose and slaty rocks occur. They have a very mild climate, 
for the heat of summer is tempered by the sea-breeze, while frost and snow in the opposite 
season are rare and transient. ' The prevailing winds are from the north and north-west ; 
rain is frequent ; and the dews are heavy. The flowers and fruits, wild and cultivated, are 
of the finest description ; the chaumontelle pear attains a size and flavour rarely to be met 
with elsewhere ; figs, melons, and grapes ripen to perfection without artificial heat ; and 
tender exotics hve through the winter in the open air. A breed of cattle, gentle and 
graceful, commonly referred to Alderney, but more properly belonging to Jersey, is so 
highly valued, that laws have been passed prohibiting the importation of any other kine, 
in order to preserve the pm-ity of the race. No venomous reptUes exist, but toads are 
numerous, and the beautiful green lizard of the south of Europe has here its northern 
limit. 

Jersey, the largest island and the most southerly, extends in the form of a quadrangle 
ten miles in length by six in breadth, and is within sixteen miles of the French coast, 
where the cathedral of Coutanoe may be seen in clear weather from the heights on the 
eastern side. It is the most commercially important and attractive member of the group, 
with well-wooded and watered glens in the interior, broad circling bays and small coves 
along the shores, of which tranquil beaiity is the general characteristic, though bold and 
striking features are not wanting, especially on the northern side. The whole is highly 
cultivated, divided into small farms, with tiny fields, orchards, and gardens, except 
westward, the direction of the violent storms, where there is a tract, once fertile but now 
perfectly barren, having been covered with sand raised from the shore by a tremendous 
tempest some three centuries ago, which the winds fm'ther distributed. The people, in 
common with the other islanders, having no lime or challc, use the sea-weed for manure, 
as well as for fuel. It is plentifully produced on the rocks off shore from which the tide 
recedes, and is locally called vraic, a word derived from the Norman varecli, corresponding 
to the English wrack. An old proverb refers to its use and importance, Point de vraie 
2point de hautgard — ' No sea-weed, no corn-yard.' This marine vegetation is not common 
property, but stringent regulations are in force, apportioning it to the neighbouring 
proprietors and occupiers of land, according to the extent of their holdings. Even the 
drift-weed which the waves throw upon the beach is guarded by a similar law. Nor can 



THE CHANNEL ISLANDS. 287 

it to gatlierod at any time, limited periods being appointed in summer and winter for the 
purpose. Its annual value to Guernsey alone is estimated at £30,000. A great quantity 
is burned for tlie manufacture of kelp and iodine. The seasons of the vraic harvest are 
high festive occasions, as well as times of unusual industrial activity. 

St Sellers, the capital, on the southern side of the island, is a place of considerable commercial enterprise, 
as well as the retreat of many families from England with moderate means, and of transient visitors. The 
older part of the town occupies a valley opening into the Bay of St Auhin at its eastern extremity, while the 
surrounding hills are gay with modem terraces, villas, and gardens. Its appearance is remarkably pleasing 
from the seaward approach. Fort Regent, of recent date and great strength, defends the harbour, with the 
old fortress of Elizabeth Castle, at a short distance from the shore, but accessible at low water. In 1791 the 
town was for a few hours in the hands of the French. The party under the Baron de Eullecourt landed by 
night on the east coast, having been guided thither by a treacherous pilot. By dawn they were in the 
market-place, and induced the surprised governor to sign a capitulation. But this was repudiated by his 
subordinates, who rallied the military, assailed the enemy, and compelled them to surrender. Eullecourb 
fell in the action, as did the commanding English officer. Major Pierson. The latter has a monument in the 
old church ; and his death is the subject of one of Coplejr's best paintings. Victoria College, a good public 
school for boys, was founded in commemoration of a royal visit in 1846, and two noble piers enclosing the 
harbour are respectively called the Victoria and Albert. From St HeHers, the shore of the bay on which it 
stands extends in a curve of six miles of broad firm sand to the little town of St Aubin, picturesquely seated 
at the westward extremity. From its bordering heights may be seen to the southward the remarkable 
Chaussey archipelago, belonging to France. Fifteen islands, and about as many detached rocks, may be 
counted at high water, which seem to be almost on a level with the waves. As the tide ebbs the rocks become 
islets, wlnle the islands grow sensibly larger, higher, and more important, till they merge in a single consider- 
able mass, with those parts weU clothed with marine vegetation which have been under water. At the same 
time, many rocks, before quite invisible, appear above the surface, some of which enlarge into islets. ' Blocks 
of every variety of form and size are grouped together in a thousand different ways, some rising into 
pyramids, others graduated and cut into irregular tiers of steps, others again heaped into confused masses, 
like the ruins of some giant structure ; at one place appearing like colossal Druidical stones ; at another, 
entangled together like the rude materials of some Cyclopean edifice, or else suspended, and so slightly poised 
that a breath of air seems sufficient to overthrow them.' The tide returns, and the archipelago gradually 
resumes its high-water aspect. 

Guernsey, about twenty miles to the northward, is niue miles in length by six in 
breadth. It is undulating and fertUe, but has not the strikuag beauties of its neighbour, 
though charming scenes abound. N"or is it so richly wooded, but excels in fruits and 
floral loveliness. Its famous lilies are not however indigenous, but of Japanese origin, 
derived from the wreck of a Dutch vessel freighted with the roots, which were cast ashore. 
Monuments of old Druidical times are numerous, the most remarkable of which, misnamed 
the Druid's Temple, is a cromlech. It consists of live vast capstones standing within an 
indistinct circle of smaller stones, and overlooks the sea at L'Ancresse Bay. The small 
isles of Sark, Herm, and Jethou diversify the view from the eastern shores. Alderney, 
fifteen miles further north, with a circumference of eight miles, is separated from the 
French coast by a channel dangerous in stormy weather owing to strong eddying currents, 
hence called the Eaoe of Alderney. A harbour of refuge in process for ships of war, 
with strong fortifications for its defence, is apparently intended to be a counterpoise to 
Cherbourg, on the adjoining continental peninsula. 

St Peter's Port, on the east coast of Guernsey, the only town, is well placed on a hill, with the old streets 
and houses on the lower slope, and new erections above, in connection with delightful environs. It has a 
valuable educational institution in Elizabeth College, a foundation of the queen of that name. The 
chaumontelle pears of the island are often of very extraordinary size. The largest on record was grown at 
Laporte in the year 1849. It measured 6^ inches in length, 14^ inches in girth, and weighed close upon 2^ 
pounds avoirdupois. Four were gathered from a single tree in 1861 which weighed together 7^ pounds. The 
minor isles have considerable natural interest. Sark, on the eastern side of Guernsey, is about three mUes 
long by one and a half broad, but is remarkably contracted at one point, where the two divisions of Great 
and Little Sark are formed. These portions are not perfectly detached, but -united by an extraordinary 
natural causeway, or ridge of rock, called the Couple. This is a terrible passage of 150 yards, being not 
more than from four to eight feet in breadth, while as high above the sea as is St Paul's Cathedral above the 
pavement. On one side the descent is sloping, but on the other a stone dropped over the edge falls into the 
water. The island is an impregnable natural fortress, so girded by precipitous cliffs on every hand, that the 



28S BBITISH EUROPEAN POSSESSIONS. 

only access to tlie interior is through a tunnel cut in the rook. The 3?rench obtained entrance in the reign 
of Edward IV., and held possession till the time of Queen Mary, when it was recovered by stratagem. A 
vessel appeared, the captain of which stated that he had a dead man on board, who had expressed the wish 
to be buried ashore. ' Would the commander let them land and bury him? " If you bring no arms with 
you — not so much as a penknife — yes." So a coffin was landed, taken into the church, and opened. Instead 
of a dead body, it was filled with arms. Tile mourners and attendants provided themselves accordingly, 
sallied out, fought, and won. Meanwhile, a boatful of Frenchmen had been carried aboard the ship to 
receive some presents as a burial fee. They remained there as prisoners.' Sark has one parish church, a 
TVesleyan chapel, a comfortable inn for visitors, but no viUago. Its manorial rights are at present held by 
the resident clergyman. Serin, an adjoining islet, attracts conchologists by a sliell-beach extending from 
half to three-quarters of a mile. It is composed of smaU perfect shells, and fragments of larger ones, without 
the least intermixture of sand or pebbles. Jethou, scarcely two mUes round, is govermnent property, and 
consists chiefly of gneiss, which has-been largely used in constructing the harbour of refuge at Alderney. In 
1861, the population of the islands stood as follows : Jersey, 55,613 ; Guernsey (with Herm and Jethou), 
29,850; Alderney, 4932 ; Sark, 583: total, 90,978. 

The Chaimel Islands constitute two lieutenant-governorships, one including Jersey, the 
other Guernsey and its dependencies. They ecclesiastically belong to the see of 
"Winchester. The governors are appointed by the crown for five years, and are supreme 
in aU military affairs. But peouHar civil laws and institutions are in force, derived from 
the old customary law of ITormandy ; and, unless specially mentioned, the islands are not 
included in acts of the Imjjerial Parliament. Norman French is the language of the lower 
classes; pure French is used in judicial and other public proceedings; but some knowledge 
of EngHsh is very general with the natives. 

II. MALTESE ISLANDS. 

These closely-adjoining islands, a small but important colony of Great Britain, are 
situated in the Mediterranean, about fifty miles to the south of Sicily, and more than 
tliree times that distance from the nearest point of Africa. Malta, the southernmost and 
the largest, was known to the ancients under the name of MeUta, and is commonly 
identified with the island so called, which was the scene of the shipwreck of St Paul on 
his memorable voyage to Eome — an event commemorated by various local traditions. It 
forms an irregular oval, is seventeen mUes long by nine broad, has an area of ninety-five 
square miles, and is about one-third less than the Isle of "Wight, but more densely 
inhabited than any part of the United Kingdom, with exception of the metropohtan 
districts and Lancashhe. The coast on the side towards Sicily is indented with bays 
and inlets, but sweeps in an almost unbroken curve in the opposite direction. Though 
nowhere high, the surface is diversified with hiUs and furrowed with valleys, while 
the industry of the people has given both picturesqueness and fertility to the naturally 
barren calcareous mass. Gozo, separated from Malta by a channel from four to five 
miles wide, is much smaller, but rises higher, and has bold cliEfy shores, abounding with 
caves. Gomino, between the two, is smaller stUl ; and Cominotto, adjoining, with a few 
rocks, completes the group. The cUmate of the islands is almost tropical. During the 
summer, the great heat is often distressingly aggTavated by hot gusts from the coast of 
Africa, usually of short duration. In the autumn, called the ' little summer,' the air is 
agreeably cooled with showers, and becomes invigorating. Hail falls frequently in winter, 
but snow is never seen except as an article of luxury imported from the heights of Etna. 
Ophthalmia, a prevalent complaint, often ending in blindness as the consequence of 
neglect, is supposed to be occasioned by the sun-glare reflected by the calcareous rocks, 
and the clouds of dust raised by the winds. Cotton and corn are principal objects of 
culture ; grapes, figs, oranges, and lemons are raised, and bee-hives are numerously kept, 
supplying honey of the finest flavour. The total population amounts to upwards of 
140,000, consistiug of a very mixed race, almost aU. Eoman Catholics in rehgion. A 



MALTESE ISLANDS — GIBRALTAR. 289 

patois compounded of Arabic, Italian, and other dialects, is the popular language, in which 
the former element so far preponderates, that it is said to he intelligihle to natives of 
the opposite shores of Africa. Pure Italian is spoken by the upper and mercantile classes, 
but a knowledge of English is becoming prevalent, promoted by schools under EngUsh 
direction. The siesta, or mid-day sleep, is universally observed in the summer season. 

Taletta, the capital of the group, on the northern coast o£ Malta, derives its name from the founder. 
La Valette, one of the grand-masters of the Knights of St John, by whom it was begun and completed, 
1556-71, with the aid of the principal powers of Europe, as it was designed to be the bulwark of 
Christendom against the Turks. The town occupies a neck of land rumiing out into a bay, and dividing it 
into two harbours, one of which is used for quarantine piirposes, while the other, and the larger, is the great 
port. The citadel of St Elmo, witli a light-house, stands at the extremity of the projection. Fortifications 
cro^vn the adjoining slopes, and are supposed to render the place impregnable. It serves as the head- 
quarters of the Mediterranean fleet, a calling station for steamers on the line of the overland route to India, 
and a d6p6t for articles of British commerce intended for the countries of Eastern Europe and the Levant. 
The houses are of stone, and flat-roofed, the terraces of which are used to enjoy the cool breath of morning and 
eventide ; and the streets are well paved and lighted. Most of the public buildings date from the time of 
the knights, but those devoted to government purposes have undergone great alterations. The residence of 
tlie governor was the palace of the grand-masters. The Royal Naval Hospital was originally a house built 
for a private member of the Order, but has been re-modelled and enlarged for its present object. It has 
an imposing appearance, seated on high ground on the left of the great harbour, on entering. A 
few miles to the westward of Taletta, a small inlet on the coast has the name of Porto de San Paolo, or 
the Port of St Paul, as the supposed point where the vessel which carried him was driven ashore. Citta 
Vecchia, on a hill towards the centre of the island, once its capital (when it was called Medina), and still the 
seat of the bishopric, has a cathedral which tradition places on the site of the house of Publius, the Eoman 
governor, at the time of the apostle's arrival. A cave in the vicinity, called St Paul's Grotto, seems to have 
been used as a church. 

The history of the Maltese Islands is singularly checkered with change of masters. 
In ancient times they were successively possessed by the Phoenicians, the Greeks, the 
Carthaginians, and the Eomans. They passed under the rule of the Vandals and Goths, 
were next subject to the Arabs, then to the Norman lords of SicUy, and were eventually 
given up to the emperors of Germany. In 1530, Charles V. presented them to the 
Knights of St John upon their expulsion from Ehodes, who successfully defended their 
stronghold against the Turks in 1565, during a long and terrible siege, under their grand- 
master, La Valette. The Order retained their tenure u.pwards of two centuries and a 
half, or tUl the year 1798, when they were compelled to submit to the French. But, 
two years afterwaids, these new-comers surrendered the islands to the British as the result 
of a close blockade. 

III. GIBRALTAR. 

The rock of Gibraltar — simply styled the ' Eock ' in Mediterranean waters from its 
remarkable prominence, and familiarly called ' Old Gib ' by seamen — is a projection 
from the southern part of the mainland of Spain, wanting only a further extension of 
about five miles in order to rival its neighbour, Cape Tarifa, in being the most southerly 
point of the European continent. The bold promontory is a mass of gray primary lime- 
stone, attached by a low isthmus of sand to the general coast-Une of Andalusia. It is 
three nules in length from north to south, nowhere exceeds three quarters of a mile in 
breadth, and has a circuit of about seven mUes. The north front of the grand headland 
rises up almost perpendicidarly from the isthmus ; the east side is fuU of craggy pre- 
cipices, and nearly inaccessible ; the south extremity consists of rapid slopes, terminating 
in Europa Point ; the west side, though interspersed with steep rugged declivities, has 
flats or terraces on which the town is buUt, and affords the only landing-places. The 
summit is a sharp wavy ridge, rising 1350 feet at the Eock Gun on the north, 1276 feet 
at the Signal House in the centre, and 1439 feet at the Sugar Loaf on the south, the 
highest elevation. "Westward lies the circular sweep of Gibraltar Bay, an important 



290 



BRITISH EUROPEAN POSSESSIONS. 



naval station, Init a defective roadstead, formed between the promontory and the 
Spanisli main, wliich tlie former completely commands. Eastward rolls the Mediter- 
ranean. Southward is the famous channel which connects the landlocked sea with the 
Atlantic, and beyond it the mountainous coast of Africa is distiuctly visible. The 
strait, at the western entrance, the narrowest part, is about fifteen miles across. 




Algesiras and Bay of Gibraltar from the old Moorish Castle. 

The rock of Gibraltar is the Mount Calpe of the Greeks, corrupted by them from the 
name Alube, given it by the Phrenician navigators. Directly opposite, on the African 
shore, is the classical Mount Abyla, now called Jebel Muza by the Moors. These are 
the two Pillars of Hercules, which, according to mythological fable, the hero-god piled 
to commemorate a victory. ' Of the two hills or pUlars,' says a graphic describer, ' the 
most remarkable, when viewed from afar, is the African one. It is the tallest and 
bulkiest, and is visible at a greater distance ; but scan them both from near, and you 
feel that all your wonder is engrossed by the European column. Jebel Muza is an 
immense shapeless mass, a wUderness of rocks, with here and there a few trees and 
shrubs nodding from the clefts of its precipices; it is uniahabited, save by wolves, 
wild swiae, and chattering monkeys, whilst, on the contrary, Gibraltar, not to speak 
of the strange city which covers a part of it, a city inhabited by men of all nations and 
tongues, its batteries and excavations, aU of them miracles of art, is the most singular- 
looking mountain in the world — a mountain which can neither be described by pen nor 
pencil, am at which the eye is never satisfied with gazing.' But like its opposite 



aiBEALTAE. 291 

neighbour, it has a colony of fawn-coloured monkeys, the only example of the animal 
wild ill Europe, identical with the Barhary ape, and doulitless originally an importation 
from that country. They usually hve among the inaccessible precipices on the eastern 
side of the rock, where there is a scanty store of monkey-grass for their subsistence, but 
take refuge from a strong east wind on the western side, where they may be seen from 
below, leaping from bush to bush, boxing each other's ears, and indulging in all kinds 
of antics. When disturbed, they scamper off with the utmost rapidity, the young ones 
jumping upon the backs, and putting their arms roimd the necks of the old, but are so 
extremely wary, that it is scarcely ever possible to get near them. Being quite inoffen- 
sive, they are protected by the garrison. Though apparently void of vegetation when 
seen from the sea, the variety of wild and cultivated plants is considerable for so rugged 
a spot, of such limited extent. Grasses, shrubs, and brambles are found in nooks of the 
mountaui ; some noble trees appear in gardens ; geraniums and other flowers flourish in 
profusion ; and culinary vegetables, with various fruits, are raised. Caverns and fissures 
are numerous, several of which have yielded interesting fossil remains. The largest 
example, the Cave of St Michael, is entered by a yawning cleft at the height of 1000 
feet, and thence descends by a succession of chambers and passages to an immense depth, 
the limi t of which has not been reached owing to the difiiculties and perils attendant 
upon the exploration. 

The town of Gibraltar lies at the base of the north-western face of the rook. It consists of a principal 
street ahoiit a mile in length, with two others much shorter parallel to it. Barracks, and the suburban 
residences of the chief officers and merchants, stretch away southward from the town, along the shore of the 
bay to the seaward extremity of the rock. The population, exclusive of the military, amounts to about 
15,000, and is of a very miscellaneous description, with varied costiunes, whicli seamen and visitors from 
vessels in the bay are constantly rendering more motley. Almost any day there may be seen, in close 
proximity, the turbaned Moor, the black-capped Barbary Jew, the dark-whiskered Spaniard, the sharp 
Greek, the lively Genoese, with Scotch and EugKsh, some of whom are ' rock-lizards,' a soubriquet for persons 
born of British parents beneath its shadow. The Roman Catholics, the most numerous body, have a bishop 
and a cathedral; the Jews possess four synagogues; the Episcopalian Protestants have a chuz'ch, and likemse 
a bishop, whose diocese embraces all British posts in the Mediterranean ; and the Wesleyans have a chapel. 
The public functionaries include a governor appointed by the crown, a magistrate, and a competent ]police 
force ; but in all important civil causes appeals lie to the privy-council. Prom July to November the heat is 
great, and very fatal epidemics have raged in the sultry season. To guard against this danger, cleanliness is 
enforced by strict police regulations, and attention is paid to efficient drainage. The greatest natural 
disadvantage is the wAnt of springs of fresh water, which renders the inhabitants entirely dependent upon 
the rain-fall. Every drop is carefuUy collected from the roofs for private use, as well as from the general 
surface, to he stored in huge reservoirs for public purposes. 

The name, Gibraltar, is a corruption of Gebel-Tarif, the ' Hill of Tarrf,' derived from Tarif. ebn Zarca, the 
general who, in 711, led the Saracens into Spain from the coast of Africa, and who is also nominally 
commemorated by the neighbouring cape and town of Tarifa. The invaders fortified the spot as a base of 
operations, and a convenient point for receiving reinforcements, or effecting a retreat. A tower belonging 
to the old castle remams. In 1309 it was captured by the army of Ferdinand of Castile, regained by the 
Moors in 1333, and finally recovered by the Christian power in 1462. The Spaniards reconstructed the 
fortifications by the most eminent engineers, and the place was deemed impregnable. Oliver Cromwell 
contemplated its reduction in order to obtain a hold of the Mediterranean, but the admirals, Blake and 
Montagu, conunissioned to survey its defences, deemed them too strong for the force at their disposal. But 
it succiunbed to an English squadron under Su- George Kooke in 1704, and has since that period remained 
iminterruptedly a British possession, though not without several desperate efforts for its recovery, with the 
peaceful offer on the part of Spain of two millions sterling for its restitution. In June 1779 commenced 
one of the famous sieges of history, in which the combined forces of France and Spain were engaged, by land 
and sea, while Great Britain was occupied with her revolted Worth American colonies. For three years, 
seven months, and twelve days, the garrison xmder General Elliot, afterwards Lord Heathfield, repulsed every 
attack of the beleaguering host, when the siege was raised upon the conclusion of a general peace. The 
besieged beat the enemy with 90 gims. There maybe now perhaps a thousand guns mounted of very different 
caUbre, with batteries hewn in the solid stone, while the rock is honeycombed with immense excavations for 
stores and munitions of war, and there is always a strong garrison keeping watch and ward with jealous 
care. An eminence across the bay, near the small town of St Eoque, bears the name of the Queaipf Spain s 
Seat, from a local legend, that when Gibraltar fell into the hands of the English, the queen orSpain sat 



292 BRITISH EUROPEAN POSSESSIONS. 

there disconsolate for three days. Though not of the slightest value in itself, and a costly possession to 
Great Britain, ivhile its loss is a source of constant irritation to the Spanish people, it has been properly 
called a post of power, of superiority, of connection, and of commerce ; and will doubtless be retained with 
all the might which the proprietary nation can command. With the firing of the evening-giui, Gibraltar is 
closed for the night, and no entrance is allowed without special permission. 

IV. HELIGOLAND. 

This islet-speck in the North Sea, which may be rounded by the pedestrian in little 
more than haK an hour, is situated about thirty-five miles from the mouth of the Elbe, 
and is somewhat nearer to that of the Eider. It very slightly exceeds two mUes and a 
half in cu-cuit, has been largely diminished in extent by the action of the sea, which old 
maps render apparent ; and is stUl in process of reduction from the same cause. The 
principal mass is the ' Oberland,' elevated about 200 feet above the sea, on which most of 
the inhabitants are settled. The lower portion, called ' Sandy Island,' occupied by a few 
dwellings, communicates with the 'Oberland' by a flight of 173 steps. The natives are 
a race of tall and hardy Frisians, very primitive in their manners and simple in their 
habits, who dehglit in seafaring, are admirable sailors, and maintain themselves chiefly 
by fishing and pUotage. They pride themselves on being 'Englishmen.' "With them 
are associated a few merchants, mostly Hambuighers or Danes. Lobsters and haddocks 
are the principial produce of the fisheries. In the summer season, a number of continentals 
arrive to enjoy the fresh breezes and excellent sea-bathiag. A British superintendent 
is at the head of affairs, but all iaternal concerns are managed by a council of the 
islanders. The total population of the ' Oberland ' amounts to 2800, occupying 350 
houses, most of which are grouped, forming a little town, with a light-house serviceable to 
passing shipping, and a jail which is rarely used. 

Heligoland, the 'Holy Land' of the rough North Sea, was in ancient times a stronghold 
of Saxon paganism, deemed sacred to the goddess Hertha, the Earth, who had a temple 
at the spot. In proof of its having been once much larger than at present, we may 
mention that on a map discovered by Sir WiUiam GeU, the situation of many temples, 
vUlages, and large tracts of country are delineated, aU of which were swallowed up by 
the sea between a.d. 700 and 1200, according to D'AnviUe. Christianity was first 
preached here by St WiHibrod in the seventh century. It was long held by Denmark, 
but was seized by Great Britain in 1807, and finally ceded to the latter power in 1814. 
In the time of the first Napoleon, when British goods were excluded from the continent, 
it served the purpose of a dep6t, from which they were smuggled into the foreign 
markets. 




Heligoland. 



iSSB 








in 


30 .W 


«) 


' 


i 









?^'^* *-!t,^V' 



^^'"^r 
' .,.> s*^ 





Bird's-eye View of Paris from over the Cite. 




eastern 



SECTION IL-CENTRAL EUROPE. 
CHAPTER I, 



E ANCE, the most westerly portion of Central Europe, occupies 
a geographical position highly favourable to political and 
co m mercial interests, possessing a large and nearly co-extensive 
amount of maritime and land frontier, hoth of which are 
eminently adapted — the iii'st for communication, and the last 
for defence. It is directly connected with three sea-basins, 
the Atlantic on the west, the English Channel on the 
north-west, and the Mediterranean on the south-east, by means 
of which intercourse is conveniently commanded with the 
coimtries of "Western and Southern Europe, the shores of 
Africa, transatlantic regions, and all the coast lands of the 
The Pyrenees form the boundary from Spain on the south-west; 



294 FEANOE. 

tlie Alps and Jui-a mountains rise on the frontier towards Italy and Switzerland; 
the Ehine forms the north-eastern border from Basle to Carlsruhe. Only on the north- 
east, towards Belgium and the Ehenish province of Prussia, is there no natiu-al feature 
to constitute a well-marked division; there an artificial line, running north-west from 
Carlsruhe to Dunkirk, is adopted, which is under the protection of a chain of fortresses 
and a European guarantee to Belgium. The coast on the north is generally irregular, has 
the Channel Islands of Great Britain near its most prominent peninsula, and acquires 
a bold rocky character towards its western extremity, the peninsula of Bretagve. Prom 
this point, southward to the Pyrenees, it curves inland, forms one side of the Bay 
of Biscay, becomes low and dreary, extensively fringed with salt-marshes and sandy 
downs. Here in succession, from north to south, occur the small islands of Ushant, 
BeUeisle, ISToirmoutier, D'Yeu, M, and OMron. The Mediteri'anean shores form the GuH 
of Lyon, Golfe du Lion, so called from its violent storms; and, except towards the 
Italian border, are monotonous flats, characterised by lagoons. The only islands are the 
Hyeres group, six in number, immediately eastward of Toulon. The larger island of 
Corsica, geographically related to Italy, belongs to Prance, and forms one of the 
departments. 

The general outline of the country resembles an irregular hexagon, three sides of 
which are land and three water. Its greatest extent, due north and south, amounts to 
about 620 miles, between Dunkirk and the Col de Palgu6res, in the Pyrenees ; and due 
east and west, the distance between the Ehine and the extremity of Bretagne is 570 
miles. The whole area, including the newly-acquired Savoy provinces, and the Corsican 
island, is computed at 204,928 square miles. The mainland lies between latitude 42° 20' 
and 51° 5' north, and between 4° 50' west and 8° 15' east longitude. 

'La helh France!' — a current native expression in relation to it — is not justified 
through a vast range of the surface, if understood with reference to soenical appearances, 
though it may be appropriate if considered to intimate the favourable character of the 
soU and climate. Englishmen have specially taken exception to the phrase — Captain 
Basil Han, ]Mr Laing, and Mr Inghs among others — whose knowledge was not confined 
to the path so beaten by their countrymen, the uninteresting route from Calais or 
Boulogne to the capital. Beautiful, in many parts, are the river-valleys of the Seine, 
the Lone, the Garonne, the Ehone, and the MoseUe ; scenery of the grandest description 
appears on approaching the Alps and Pyrenees; and wild and striking are portions 
of the interior and coast region of Bretagne. But these districts are coEectively of small 
extent in comparison with the general face of the country, a very large proportion of 
which has no pleasant diversity, no picturesque or even cheerful features. Por league 
after league the landscape is tame, and frequently becomes tiresome from spreading out 
as an unenclosed expanse, wanting not only the green net-work of hedges, but the old 
trees, single or in groups, and the thriving plantations, which relieve the natural 
monotony of the level tracts of England. Over an extensive space, stretching nearly 
200 mUes from the mouth of the Garonne to that of the Adour, and running 70 miles 
inland from the coast, the country is a wilderness of white sand, black pine-woods, and 
vast plains of furze and heather, interspersed -with shallow sombre pools and marshes 
bearing giant rushes and water-weeds, with here and there the rude huts of a scanty 
peasantry. This is the region of the Landes, which surprises by its strangeness, and 
awakens an interest in the mind of the traveller, wliieh the unhedged levels submitted 
to cultivation fail to excite. 

The highest mountains of France are near or on the borders. Before the recent 
cessions of territory, the most elevated was the Grand Pelvoux, 13,440 feet, to the 



PHYSICAL APPEAEANCE3. 295 

south-west of Brianjon, ia tlio department of tlie High. Alps. Its loftiest peak was for 
the first time scaled by Mr E. Whymper in 1862. But Mont Blanc, the culminatino'- 
point of Em-ope, now forms the frontier, along with two of the principal passes of 
the Alps, the Little St Bernard and Mont Cenis. The Jura range, upon the Swiss 
border, an outlier of the Alpine system, has only a comparatively moderate elevation, and 
belongs chiefly to Switzerland. Of the Pyrenean heights, within French limits, the 
loftiest, Mont Perdu, attains to 10,994 feet. Among the mountains proper to Erance, 
from havmg an interior position, the most important are the Cevenno-Vosgian, a long 
chain stretching from the north-east far to the southward, with which westerly ranges 
are connected. The Vosges run parallel to the Ehine, separate its valley from that 
of the Moselle, and have vine-clad slopes, round-shaped forms, to which the prefix, ballon, 
attached to the names of several refers. They rise the highest in the Ballon do Sultz, 
4690 feet, and are connected by a plateau tract with the Cevennes, which extend 
generally from north to south, divide the basin of the Loire from that of the Ehone, 
and reach the height of 5794 feet in Mont Mezen, near the source of the former river. 
Dm'ing the invasion of Gaul by Jidius Csesar he crossed this narrow ridge in winter, 
mth the snow lying in places six feet deep on the ground. It abounds with natural 
strongholds — defiles, gorges, caves, and woods — ^whioh were bravely held by the persecuted 
Protestants against the armies of Louis XIV., upon the revocation of the Edict of Wantes. 
Connected with the southern portion of the Cevennes, the mountains of Auvergne foUow 
a divergent course to the north-west, separate the river system of the Loire from that 
of the Garonne, and ramify over the central departments in a series of detached groups. 
These are the loftiest highlands of France apart from the borders, rising to the height 
of 6180 feet in the Puy de Sancy, one of the group of Mont Dor. They constitute 
also its most remarkable natural curiosity, as having the true volcanic character, scathed 
craters, lava streams, and tracts of ashes, referring to a period of igneous eruption long 
prior to the age of history. This region of extinct fiery action occupies a considerable 
area, and has been rei^eatedly subject to careful geological examination. Primary rocks 
form the skeleton of the frontier mountains, and appear in the outlying districts of 
Bretagne, Normandy, and the Ardennes. The space intervening between them and the 
central volcanic n^ucleus is occupied with secondary and tertiary formations, among which 
an extensive area around the capital, known as the tertiary Paris basin, is remarkable 
for its remains of extinct quadrupeds, and celebrated as the field in which Cuvier made 
his palfeontological discoveries. 

Twenty-one ! considerable rivers are enumerated. But among these the Ehine is simply 
a dividing-hne from Germany, entered by a few small affluents on the French side, while 
the Meuse, Scheldt, and Moselle flow beyond the Hmits of the country into adjoining 
districts. On the other hand, the Ehone is received from Switzerland, bringing with it 
the efflux of the Lake of Geneva. Upon crossing the frontier, rocks contract the channel, 
tiU the stream altogether disappears beneath them, and flows for a short distance through 
a caverned bed, which it has probably worn through the limestone mass. This happens 
when the water is low. Under different circumstances, it occupies the natural timnel, 
and passes over the roof as well, open to the daylight. After a westerly course to Lyon, 
where it is joined by the Saone, the river proceeds impetuously southward to the 
Mediterranean, into which it discharges by several mouths, through a wilderness of 
salt swamps, dead flats, and huge bubushes. The Ehone frequently overflows its banks, 
and spreads out in destructive inundations. In the south-west, the Garonne is hl^ewise 
cradled beyond the frontier, or on the Spanish side of the Pyrenees, and has similarly a 
subterranean pathway. Its principal source is fed by the snows of Mount Maladetta, at 



296 PEANCE. 

the base of which it issues copiously from a series of cavities, called Ojos de Garonna, 
'the Garonne's Eye.' The river descends from thence north-east to Toulouse, bends 
north-west to Bordeaux, below which it receives the Dordogne, and forms the broad 
estuary of the Gu'onde, tlrrough which it enters the Atlantic. At its mouth, on the little 
rocky islet of Cordouan, stands a celebrated hght-house, begun by Henry IV. in 1584 on 
the site of one of English erection, completed in 1611, and enlarged in 1727, the first 
structiu'e of the kind in which a revolving light was exhibited. 

Among the rivers which specially belong to France, having their rise, course, and 
termination within its bounds, the Lohe, "Vilaine, Charente, and Adour flow direct to the 
Atlantic ; while the Seine, Somme, and Orne are connected with it through the 
English Channel. The Eohe is distinguished by beautiful scenery on its banks, and 
affords an extensive line of navigation. It rises in a wild and dreary part of the 
Cevennes, at the height of 4550 feet above the sea, winds from thence tlirough the 
central districts, at first northerly, then it turns to the west, and passes Orleans, Blois, 
Tours, Saumur, and ISTantes, on its course to the sea. It is navigable upwards of 
400 miles above the mouth, but its utility is often impaired by the opposite extremes of 
fioods and shallows, changes which led one of the democrats of the last century to remark 
upon the revolutionary tendencies of the river : ' Quel torrent revolutionnaire que cette 
Loire!' During the drought of summer, the stream does not cover in many places half 
the width of the channel, and the bridges are seen bestriding unsightly tracts of clay or 
gravel. In the harvesting of 1863, farmers on the Middle Loire, holding lands on both 
the banks, were able to cart their produce across the bed as safely as on dry land. 
But in winter and spring the shoals are deeply covered, the whole channel is full, and 
the river occasionally becomes a terrible enemy to life and property, as in 1846 and 1856, 
when the country, through hundreds of square miles, Tvas covered by its inundations. 
The Seine descends from the high lands connected with the Vosges, passes by Paris and 
Eouen to Havre, and is remarkable for its tranquil flow, serpentine windings, and 
numerous islands, clothed with groves of poplar and widow, beautiful landscapes lying 
generally on both the banks. By means of its rivers, France has a total inland 
navigation of 5500 miles, which the canals connecting them, or forming independent lines 
of water-communication, extend to a length of 8400 mdes. The Canal du Midi links the 
Garonne with the Mediterranean ; the Canal du Centre unites the Loire and the Ehone ; 
the Canal du Rhone au Rhin effects the junction of the two streams ; and the Canal de 
Burgogne connects the Ehone with the Seine. The country is singularly destitute of 
lakes, not containing a single important example, but lagoons or salt-marshes, called 
etangs, are numerous and extensive in the southern departments. 

The chmate is one of the finest in Europe, though not without its disadvantages in 
particular locaHties. It varies in different parts of the country, in a somewhat marked 
manner, owing to great range of latitude, and difference of position in relation to the 
sea. A northern, central, and southern zone may be distinguished. In the north, along 
the coasts of the Channel, and through the basin of the Seine, the temperature and the 
rain-faE correspond generally to experience in the south of England, but with warmer 
summers and colder winters in the more continental districts on the north-east. Passing 
to the central zone, embracing the valley of the Loire, there is a sensible increment in the 
temperature. The sky is less clouded, the atmosphere more clear, and the weather more 
stable. The winter is mild and brief, the summer dry and hot, while violent haU-storms 
are of common occurrence in the sultry season, and often very destructive to the crops. 
These characteristics become more decided in the southern region, which embraces the 
basins of the Garonne and Ehone, where sub-tropical vegetation appears. The climate 



RIVER SYSTEMS. 297 

not only varies from north to sonth, but from west to east, as the result of proceeding 
inland from the sea. Owing to cooler summers on the western coast, the culture of 
the vine has there its northern limit about the mouth of the Loire, in latitude 47°, hut it 
is extended three degrees further north on the opposite eastern or continental side ; and 
for the same reason, maize is not grown to the north of the mouth of the Garonne on the 
west, in latitude 46°, wliile raised near Strasburg on the east, in latitude 48^°. Towards 
the Mediterranean, mosquitoes are apt to be a pest in the autumnal months, while a north- 
westerly wind occasionally blows do-\vn the valley of the ' Ehone, known as the mistral, 
dry, gusty, and piercingly cold, a great drawback upon personal comfort, while a cause of 
injury to the fields and gardens. Madame de Sevign6 has described this aerial visitant as 
le tourhillon, Vouragan, tons les diaUes decliaines qui veulent Men emporter votre chateau. 
Nor does the description seem to be overdrawn, though at variance with popular notions of 
the balmy, sunny south of France. ' The wind seemed poisonous,' observes one of our own 
tourists, Mr Reach, who goes on to afiirm ' that the coldest, harshest, and most rheumatic 
easterly gale which ever whistled the fogs from Essex marshes over the dripping and 
shivering streets of London, is a genial, balmy, and ambrosial zephyr, compared with the 
' mistral.' One benefit is conferred by the visitor, for with its first breath the mosquitoes 
vanish. The same region is exposed at times to another plague, that of a burning breeze 
from the south, heated on its passage over the deserts of Africa. 

Vast forests clothed the face of the country when Csesar marched the Eoman legions 
into Gaul. They are still very extensive, especially in the central, eastern, and south- 
western districts, where they may be traversed for miles, notwithstanding improvident 
management do^vn to a recent date, and the immense consumption of wood for fuel. 
About one-seventh of the entire area is covered with timber. The common trees are the 
oak, elm, beech, ash, chestnut, and varieties of the pine. The wild animals include the 
brown and black bear in the upper part of the Pyrenees, but fast diminishing ; the lynx, 
also in the high mountain-ranges, though comparatively rare, with the chamois and wild 
goat ; the wolf, numerous in the central forests and other wooded districts, with the wild 
boar, wild cat, and roebuck ; the fox, weasel, and pole-cat generally diffused. The wolf 
is the dread of the peasantry in many parts of the land, preying upon their flocks, and 
menacing even household life in severe winters, when hunger inspires them with courage 
and quickens ferocity. Eecourse is had to periodical battues, to diminish the number of 
such dangerous neighbours ; and during the year 1863, the experiment was tried in 
Poitou of wolf-hunting with English fox-hounds, but not with much success. Small 
singing-birds are remarkably scarce, owing to wanton destruction, now in process of being 
restrained by municipal interference, in order to prevent the alarming increase of noxious 
insects.' Birds rare or not known at all in England are commonly met with, as the 
fig-eater, the ortolan, quail, bustard, flamingo, and hoopoe. Vipers are extremely 
numerous in various districts. The sea-fish are the same with those which visit our own 
coasts, with the addition of the timny and anchovy, taken off the Mediterranean shore. 
Neither in point of numbers or quahty are the domestic animals in proportion to the 
extent and resources of the country, or upon a par with the English breeds, though 
great improvement has been made in the native stock since the close of the long 
continental war, by the introduction of the best foreign races. 

Without possessing districts so exuberantly fertile as the rich meadows of Belgium, the 
polders of Holland, and the fen-lands of England, the general soil of France is sufficiently 
good and varied to be adapted to almost every kind of culture, while the climate is 
friendly to great diversity of produce. An immense proportion of the surface is under 
cultivation, and the arts of husbandry have recently made rapid progress, though stUl 



298 FEANCB. 

in a backward condition as compared with the advanced agriculture of some neighbour- 
ing states. Scientific priaciples are utterly unknown to the great majority of cultivators, 
who cleave to primitive methods, retain in use the rude implements of their forefathers, 
and are in general small proprietors of land, without capital for enterprise, even supposing 
improvement to be contemplated. Besides the ordinary cereals, the objects of culture 
embrace beet-root for sugar, tobacco, madder, chicory, saffron, and maize ; rice, on the 
shores of the Mediterranean; the vine, mulberry, and olive, extensively; and more 
partially, the orange, lemon, and pistachio-nut. The vine has, from a very early period, 
constituted one of the priacipal sources of agricultural wealth in France. It is grown in 
five great regions, the vaUeys of the Moselle and Meuse, of the Seine and Mame, of the 
Loire and its affluents, of the Saone and Ehone, with those of the Garonne, Charente, 
and Adoiu-. The vintage usually falls in September or October, according to the latitude ; 
and is a season of merriment and song, just as described by the wine-loving baid of 
Greece : 

' Lo ! tie vintage now is done ! 
And purpled -witli the autumnal sun, 
The grapes gay youths and virgins bear, 
The sweetest product of the year ! — 
Meantime the mirthful song they raise, 
lo ! Bacchus, to thy jiraise ! ' 

As in the most primitive ages also, the practice prevails of treading out the grapes with 
the human foot. This is the 'wine dance,' in which strong active young men are 
employed. Champagne and Ehone wines are generally made by machiue pressing. The 
mulberry for the support of the sUkworm is chiefly cultivated in the departments of Gard, 
Drome, Ardeche, and Vaucleuse, where there are probably not less than 15,000,000 
trees, nearly half of which are in the first-named district. Of late years, the silkworms 
have been subject to a fatal disease, referred by practical men to a blight which has 
attacked the mulberry-tree ; and experiments are in process both to raise them on other 
leaves, and mtroduce species from Japan accustomed to a different vegetation. The olive 
is principally grown in the tract between Grenoble and Narbonne. Though one of the 
romantic trees, rife with interesting associations, it does not improve the landscapes of 
Dauphine, nor the mulberry either those of Languedoc, according to the impressions of 
Mr Eeaoh. ' I was miserably disappointed,' says he, ' with the oHve. What claim has 
it to beauty ? The tree has no picturesqueness — no variety. It is not high enough to be 
grand, and not irregular enough to be graceful. Put it beside the birch, the beech, the 
ehn, or the oak, and you will see the poetry of the forest and its poorest and most meagre 
prose. So also, to a great extent, of the mulberry. I had a vague sort of respect for the 
latter tree, because one of the champions of Christendom — St James of Spain, I think — 
delivered out of the trunk of a mulberry an enchanted princess ; but the enforced 
lodgings of the captive form just as shabby and priggish-looking a tree as the oHve. The 
general shape — that of a mop — is the same, and a natural want of variety and picturesque- 
ness afflict, with the curse of hopeless ugliness, both silk and oil trees.' The mulberry 
was first planted in France near Tours in the iifteenth century. 

In extent, variety, and value of manufactures, France takes high rank, and is in some 
departments unrivalled, but suffers in competition with England as to amount of 
production, owing to the comparative scarcity of coal which cripples the employment of 
steam-power. The fabrics which involve artistic design, minuteness of detail, elegance of 
finish, and the application of chemical knowledge, are superior to those of any other 
nation. Scientific instruments, tapestry, clocks, watches, articles of vertu, and other 
costly products, are made in great perfection at Paris, with porcelain and glass at Sfevres 



■WINE-PEODUOING DISTKICT3. 



299 



in tlio vicinity, Eicli sillcs liave tlieii' great centre at Lyon ; ribbons at St Etienne ; fine 
woollGns at Kheims and Amiens ; cottons at Eouen ; linens at St Quentin ; laoes at LUle, 
Arras, Caon, and Bayeux; carpets at Abbeville; and paper at Annonay. But Eranoe 
S23eoially deserves bonourable mention in relation to manufacturing industry, for having 
long provided means to adjust those disputes between masters and -workmen, wliioh. in 
England have so often led to * strikes ' and ' look-outs,' disastrous to both parties. With 
this object in view, a Gonseil de Prud'hommes, ' Council of Experienced Men,' was 
established at Lyon by decree of ISTapoleon L, in the year 1806. It provided for the 
erection of similar tribunals wherever they might be required; and in 1807, Eouen and 
Msnies obtained them. Paris long remained without one, chiefly on account of the 
practical difficulties which it was expected would arise from the great variety of its 
industries. But there are now several in the capital, and from seventy to eighty in the 
whole of the provinces. ISTapoleon extended the same institutions to Ghent, Bruges, 
Ais-la-ChapeUe, Cologne, and other towns in different parts of what was then the Erench 
emphe, where they stiU exist. These councils are composed of equal proportions of 
masters and artisans, popularly elected, with a president and vice-president appointed by 
the government, who need not belong to either class. They proceed, in the first instance, 
simply as courts of conciliation, suggesting arrangements, but have power to adjudicate, 
and enforce decisions. 

France is vastly inferior to England in mineral produce, but has tUl recently been 
considerably in advance in organisation to develop its resources. Paris has its Hcole des 
Mhies, founded in 1783, a school in which instruction is given in practical mining, 
metallurgy, and other branches of aUied knowledge; a second was estabhshed in 1816 at 
St Etienne, in the department of the Loire; and a third in 1845 at Alais, in the department 
of Gard, each of which has its mineralogical collection. From the proficients in the 
schools, the ofiicers of the Corps des Mines are selected, a body of engineers appointed 
for various purposes, but chiefly to examine the country in relation to its geological 
structure and mineral wealth ; to guide the labours of those engaged in mines ; and to 
watch over the solidity of the works and the safety of the workmen. They Hkewise 
travel occasionally to obtain information respecting the discoveries made by, and the facts 
observed in, other countries ; and publish records under the title of Anncdes des Mines, 
devoted to the illustration of their department. Iron of excellent quality is abundant, 
but the distance of the mines from the fuel necessary for the working of the mineral 
detracts from theh value. Coal occurs extensively, but many of the beds are smaU, 
besides being inconveniently situated, and both coal and iron are imported. Argentiferous 
galena, copper, lead, manganese, and antimony occur, yet only to a very limited extent. 
The neighbourhood of the capital supplies the gypsum better known as 'plaster of 
Paris;' admirable buUding-stone has long been quarried at Caen in Kormandy, of 
which some of the old churches of England are constructed ; extensive slate quarries are 
situated near Cherbourg and St L6 ; basalt and lava for pavements are supplied by the 
mountains of Auvergne. EossO. or rock salt is obtained from the Jura and Vosges 
Mountains ; and Hkewise by means of evaporation from the lagoons and swamps which 
line the shores about EocheUe on the west coast, and those of the Gulf of Lyon. Mineral 
springs of various kinds are extremely numerous, of which nearly 1000 are said to be in 
use, a very large proportion of them being in the Pjrrenees, while numbers have not 
yet been employed for purposes of health. France possesses seven mints, each of which 
is designated by a particular mark upon its coinage. Thus the coins of the Paris mint 
bear the letter A; Eouen, B; Lyon, D; Bordeaux, K; Strasbourg, BB; Marseille, 
MM ; LiUe, W. But Paris is the only mint which keeps up an uninterrupted supply of 



300 " FRANCE. 

gold and silver money, the provincial establisliments being chiefly concerned with the 
copper coinage. 

Before the revolution, towards the close of the last century, the country was divided 
into thirty-three provinces, mostly coincident in extent with territorial possessions held hy 
the great feudal lords in the middle ages. At that epoch of change, the present division 
into departments was adopted, which are very conveniently named after some river, 
mountain, , or natural feature connected with them. The departments, eighty-nine in 
number, are much more uniform in size than the English counties ; and are further 
divided into arrondissements, cantons, and communes or parishes. Though no longer 
recognised in legal documents, the old provinces retain their place in history, and are 
therefore given in connection with their present representatives. 




Shepherds of the Landes. 




NOETHEEN FEANCE. 



Il/E DE Feanob (Original Koyal Domain), 



Chahpagne (Philip le Bel, 1284), 



Lorraine (Louis XV., 1766), 



Alsace (Louis XIV., 1648), , 



Flanders (Louis XIV., 1667—1669), 

Artois (Louis Xin., 1640), 
PiCAKDY (Louis XIV., 1667), 
Normakdt (PhUip Augustus, 1204), 



Sfodern 


Area 


Departments. 


Miles. 


Seine, 


185 


Seine et Oise, 


?^4^ 


Seine et Marne, 


21.54 


Oise, . 


2«1S 


Aisne, . 


2S22 


Ardeimes, . 


wm 


Marne, . 


3116 


Mame (Haute), 


2385 


Aube, 


mm 


Meuse, 


2368 


Moselle, . 


20;h 


Meurthe, . 


2322 


Vosges, . 


2230 


Ehin (Haut), 


1548 


Ehin (Bas), . 


17V/ 


Nord, . 


2170 


Pays-de-Calais, 


2505 


Somme, . 


2343 


Seine Laferieure, 


2298 


Eure, . 


2248 


Calvados, . 


2145 


La Manclie, . 


2263 


Orne, . 


2329 



Paris, St Denis, Vincennes. 

Versailles, St Germain, Sevres. 

Melun, Fontainebleau, Meaux. 

Beauvais, Compiegne. 

Laon, St Quentin, Soissons. 

Mezieres, CharleviUe, Sedan. 

Chalons-sur-Mame, Eheims, Epemay. 

Cliaumont, Langres. 

Troyes. 

Bar-le-Duc, Verdun. 

Metz, ThionviUe. 

Nancy, Luneville. 

Epinal, Plombieres. 

Colmar, MuUiouse. 

Strasbourg, Hagiienau. 

( LUle, Valenciennes, Cambrai, Douai, 

( Dunkirk. 

Arras, Boulogne, Calais, St Omer. 
Amiens, Abbeville, Peronne, Ham. 
Rouen, Havre, Dieppe, Fecamp. 
Evreux, Louviers. 
Caen, Honfleur, Falaise, Bayeux. 
St La, Cherbourg, Granville. 
Alenijon. 



302 FBANOE, 

Tlie Ilb db Fbance, an inland district, obtained an insular denomination from being 
intersected by numerous rivers, tbe Seine, and its affluents, tlie Mame, Yonne, and Oise, 
in the same manner as inland parts of England, as tbe Isle of Ely, acquired, and stUl retain 
a similar style. It was the original appanage of tlie French sovereigns, at iirst held by a 
race of nobles, with the title of Dulies of Erance, one of whom, Hugh Capet, founded the 
Capetian d5rnasty. Long afterwards, when the royal domains included the Orleannais and 
Picardy, the powerful barons who held part of the intermediate territory could interfere 
with commtmication as they chose, and the kings had to travel with a sufficient armed 
force in. order to pass securely from one part to the other of then own dominions. 

Paris, the capital of the empire, is the second city of Europe in point of extent and -wealth, ranking next 
to London ; but is the first in the world as respects material splendour combined with literary treasures and 
pleasurable facilities. It contains a population of about 1,700,000 ; occupies both banks of the Seine and two 
islands in the channel ; and is situated in 48° 50' north latitude, 2° 20' east longitude, about 210 miles in a 
direct line south-south-east of the British metropolis, and 250 miles by the Dover and Calais route. One of 
the islands, on which stands the cathedral of Notre Dame, with the prison of the Conciergerie and the Palais 
de Justice, has the style of La Cite, is nearly central in the capital, and may be regarded as the original nucleus 
around which it has been grouped. Tliis spot, in the time of C^sar, was covered with huts belonging to the tribe 
of the Parisii, whose name was subsequently transferred to the entice site. The adjoining islet, which includes 
the Hotel Lambert and the Chmxh of St Louis, was formerly called He de Vaches, or Island of the Cows, in 
allusion to the animals once pastured upon it. As a further memorial of strildng change, the name of the 
Louvre is commonly referred to the wolves, louvres (Lat. Lupus), which swarmed in the neighbouring woods, 
when a hunting-lodge occupied its place. The Seine flows through the heart of Paris, and divides it into two 
nearly equal parts, northern and southern. Twenty-seven bridges cross the river, the banks of which are 
lined with spacious quays, forming very agreeable promenades, being planted almost throughout with trees. 
On either hand .ire sumptuous palaces and public edifices — squares, gardens, foimtains, columns, and 
triumphal arches — with noble houses and imposing streets. These form the more obvious attractions, wliich 
must be seen in order to be appreciated. But greater lustre is derived from the extent and richness of the 
artistic, literary, and scientific collections. The Imperial Library (BihliotMque Imperiale), the largest in the 
world, has seventeen mUes of shelves occupied by books, which number 1,800,000 printed volumes, and 200,000 
manuscripts. Fifteen museums of painting, scvilpture, and antiquities are congregated in the Louvre. Mineral 
and zoological collections, besides botanical rarities, are comprehended in the Jardin des Plantes. But while 
possessing strong claims to be considered the head-quarters of intellectual culture, with manifold adaptations 
to please the votaries of luxury and pleasure, the city is not without large blocks of buildings with tall 
chimneys in certain parts, indicating the existence of extensive manufacturing establishments. In addition 
to these, the domestic system of manufacture, conducted by workmen in their own dwellings, with the 
aid of their families or apprentices, is very prevalent. The famous carpet and tapestry factory, called the 
Gobelins, after the name of the founder, as well as the porcelain establishment at Sevres in the neighbourhood, 
on the road to Versailles, is carried on by the government. 

The metropolitan cathedral of Notre Dame, the grandest of the churches, recently restored, was com- 
menced by Loiiis VII. in 1163, and carried on by his son and successor Philip Augustus. But the magnifi- 
cence of Paris dates from a long subsequent era, or from the time of Francis I., who introduced the fine 
arts, and began tlie Louvre in 1541. In the next reign, Catherine de Medicis founded the Tuileries, which 
obtained that name from some tile-kilns at the spot. Henry IV. laid out several squares, provided quays on 
the river, and completed the Pont-Neuf. Under his successor, Louis XIH., or rather Marie de Medicis and 
Cardinal Richelieu, the Luxembourg arose, with the Palais-Royal, and the Jardin des Plantes. Louis XIV. 
added new buildings and churches, originated the Observatory, the Institute, the InvaUdes, and the 
Gobelins, planted the Champs-Elysees, razed the old walls, and substituted in their place the promenades, 
which have retained the name of boulevards, or bulwarks,, from theic site. But Napoleon I. did more 
than all his predecessors in the way of adornment, at the same time combining in a high degree, works of a 
useful kind with splendid monuments. Under Louis-Philippe the present fortifications were begun, which 
extend roxmd the city in a circle of thirty miles, consisting of a rampart, ditch, and strong detached forts. 
The present emperor, Napoleon III., has carried out improvements on a grand scale, superseding tortuous 
alleys with broad streets of palatial architecture, the most celebrated of which is perhaps the Rue de Rivoli, 
while not neglecting equally costly but more imobtrusive improvements, better paving, drainage, and 
water-supply, in which Paris stUl lags far behind London. But in multiplying wide and regiilar thorough- 
fares the strategic object has also been kept in view of rendering military operations more available, 
shoiUd they be required by insurrectionary movements. The French capital, with its circuit of sisteen 
forts, thirty interior barracks, and large permanent garrison, has thus become a superb cage in which the 
citizens are cooped, with little chance of succeeding in any revolt against its keepers. 

A considerable portion of the city on the south bank of the Seine overlies vast catacombs, not originally 
designed to accommodate the dead, but appropriated to that purpose from convenience. They extend under 



ILB DB PRANOH. 303 

Gomo of tho moro important public buUdiiigs, as the Luxombourg, Pantlioon, and Observatory. These 
excavations woro qxiarriog, out of wliioli tho stono used in the superficial erections was obtained. When tho 
old grave-yards became overcrowded, they were all cleared out, and tho bones, after being cleaned and 
carefully arranged, woro deposited in tho subterranean passages, and hollows formed by tho quarrymen. It 
is supposed, as a moderate estimate, that they contain tho remains of 3,000,000 hiunan beings. Inscriptions 
indicate tho quarters whenco they wero removed. Accidents having occurred by persons losing their way 
in the dark retreats, tho catacombs aro now closed to tho public, but are regularly inspected by appointed 
officers. Three great cemeteries aro in use at present, with several of minor extent. The most important, 
that of P6re-la-Chaise, on tho eastern side of the capital, contains tho graves of many illustrious men, and 
has monuments of a very magnificent character. It derives its name from an ecclesiastic who formerly 
owned the ground. 

Several principal linos of railway radiate from Paris as a centre, and pass to the frontiers of the country. 
That of tho north, the great thoroughfare to England, connects itself with the Belgio lines, and thence com- 
mimicates with the greater part of tho continent. Its station, entirely new, is a highly imposing structure, 
ornamented mth statuary executed by sculptors of distinction. The centre of the principal fa?ade is 
sirrmounted by a statue representing the capital, and on either hand aro eight otlrer statues personifying tho 
principal cities to which the railway serves as a means of interoommimication— London, Vienna, Berlin, 
Cologne, Brussels, St Petersburg, Amsterdam, and Frankfort. 

jUnong the places of interest in the environs, St Denis, a small town on the north, claims attention by its 
splendid abbey-church, in which the French sovereigns were interred down to the time of the revolution, 
when the tombs were rified. Vinceniies, immediately east of the city, is an ancient fortress with an adjoin- 
ing woodland, once a royal residence, now used as a great military arsenal and state prison. St Cloud, an 
imperial chateau, is on the west, a favourite resort of Maria Antoinette and ISTapoleon I., frequently occupied by 
the present emperor. Versailles, on the south-west, a considerable town, is best known by the vast palace 
of somewhat melancholy grandeur, with its ornamental grounds and remarkable water-works, on which Louis 
XrV. lavished the resources of his kingdom. St Germain, west by north, a decayed place with a gloomy 
castle, which sheltered the detlironed James II. of England tUl his death, has a fine feature in a terrace 
upwards of a mUe and a half long, running along the brow of a hiU, commanding a noble prospect of the 
winding Seine. 

At a greater distance from the capital than the preceding, Fontainehleau, on the south-east, is celebrated 
for its extensive forest, once an attractive hunting-ground ; and for its royal chateau, where two 
memorable documents were signed, the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, and the abdication of the first 
Napoleon. The name is a contraction of Fontaine helle Eaii, referring to a spring which cannot now be 
identified. Ponds in the grounds swarm with carp, some of which are among the oldest and largest members 
of the family in Europe. Meaux, east by north, the corn-mart of Paris, boasts of the tomb of Bossuet — ^its most 
eminent bishop, called, from the style of his eloquence, 'the Eagle of Meaux'— in its noble cathedral. 
Compiegne, on the north-east, names a town, forest, and palace, the latter splendidly fitted up by 
Napoleon III. as his hunting-seat. Joan of Aro, the Maid of Orleans, was here taken prisoner, during a 
sortie from the town, at a spot still pointed out. Soissons, old and historic, the first capital of Clovis, yet 
modern-looking owing to renovations, is in the same general direction ; with Laon, finely seated on a hUl 
rising up from a plain which a grand cathedral surmounts ; and St Quentin, a large and flourishing centre 
of the cotton manufacture. Beauvais, north by west, is also an important industrial site, with cloth and 
cotton mills, a government tapestry establishment, and a cathedral distinguished above aU others by the 
loftiness of its choir. 

Tlie ancient and extensive province of Champagne, formerly governed by Coimta, 
adjoias tlie Isle of France on tlie east, and is watered chiefly by the Seine and its two 
principal affluents, the Marne and Aube. ISTumerous plains are the principal natural 
features, and originated the name of the district. The landscapes are therefore unpic- 
turesque, sometimes positively dreary, except on the north, towards Belgium, where part 
of the billy and wooded region is embraced, Imown from early times as the Forest of 
Ardennes. Champagne has acquired a world-wide celebrity from the excellence of its 
sparkling wines, the produce of small and extremely sweet grapes. But much wine is sold 
as champagne which is not the genuine production of the district. Some of the largest 
dealers have cellars excavated in the chalk-rock, with compartments and passages 
having a total extent of several mUes. They are furnished with tramways, ventilated 
and lighted by shafts, and usually contain thousands of pipes and millions of bottles in 
stock. One merchant, for example, M. Jaqueson has ordinarily about 5,000,000 bottles 
in stock, and his corks alone cost £6000 per annum. 

Troyes, on the Seine, the old capital of the Counts, is a considerable town, though not so populous as in 



304 



FEANCE. 



the middle ages. It contains a first-class cathedral, in which, before the high-altar, Henry T. o£ England, 
the victor of Agincourt, was affianced to the Princess Catherine of France. The marriage took place in the 
now dilapidated Cliiu'ch of St Jean. By the treaty of Troyes, signed May 21, 1420, the crowns of the two 
countries were destined to be united on the head of the husband, an arrangement happily frustrated by his 
death. An English standard measure (that used by goldsmiths and jewellers), derived from the town, bears 
its name — our Troy-weight. Rheims^ or Reims, more important, with 51,000 inhabitants, is an ancient and 
noble archiepiscopal city, for a long period the ecclesiastical metropolis of France, where the sovereigns 
were crowned from Philip Augustus in 1180 to Charles X. in 1825, with the exceptions of Henry IV., 
Napoleon I., and Louis XVIII. It possesses some fine fragments of Eoman date, a colossal cathedral 
accounted one of the most sumptuous specimens of Gothic architecture, and an archbishop's palace, in which 
the kings lodged at their coronations. Here Clovis was baptized, 496, after his victory at Tolbiac, and 
France received her first 'Christian* monarch. But the city has now acquired quite a modem aii", is a 
principal seat of the woollen manufacture, and has a vast wine establishment sustained by the vineyards of 
the vicinity. Chalons and Epernay, both southward on the banks of the Mame, are also head-quarters of 
champagne wines. On the plains near the former town, the great battle was fought by the combined 
Eoman and Gothic armies with the innumerable host of Attila, in the fifth century, in which the latter 
was defeated, and compelled to withdraw across the Khine. Mezieres and Sedan, towards the Belgic border, 
have strong frontier fortresses ; and the latter is a principal place for the production of fine black cloths. 

Lorraine, a duchy down to tlie middle of tlie last century, extends eastward to tlie 
Vosges Mountains, wHoli separate it from tlie valley of the Ehine. It includes the upper 
courses of the Meuse and the Moselle, both of which flow through beautiful scenery. 
This district gave Joan of Arc to France. This damsel was born at Domr^my, now an 
insignificant village, where her peasant home is preserved, subject to reparations. In 
consequence of her services, the villagers were exempted from every kind of tax to the 
state, an arrangement in force till very recent times. Stanislas Leczinski, the last Duks 
of Lorraine, was a Pole, who had been raised to the throne of his native country. Upon 
abdicating, he was put in possession of the dukedom, by Louis XV., and held it till his 
death in 1766, when the territory lapsed to the French crown. 

Nancy, the ducal capital, seated on the Meurthe, is one of the best built cities of France, and has a 
considerable number of artisans engaged in manufactures of cotton, woollen, and embroidery. It contains 
many memorials of tlie Polish ruler, who contributed much to its architectural improvement, as the Porte 
Sanislas, the Hue Stanislas, and the Place Stanislas, in which his statue stands. It was taken by Charles 
the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, in 1475, who lost his life while besieging it in 1477. Metz, a much larger city, 
with a population of 44,000, including many Jews, is on the Moselle, very strongly fortified, and possessing a 
great arsenal, is an important military post towards Gei-many. It has extensive manufactures of lace, 
army-clothing, flannels, pins, brushes, canes, &c., many noble buUdings, a magnificent cathedral, with a 
spire 373 feet in height, six barracks, an hospital said to be the most beautiful in France, and capable of 
containing ISOO patients, seventeen handsome bridges and quays, with delightful public gardens along the 
river. Verdun, on the Meuse, with one of Vauban's fortresses, guards the line of the stream, and has an old 
historic name, as the scene of the treaty, in 843, which made a triple division of the vast empire of 
Charlemagne. Epinal, a small neat town, is beautifully seated on the head waters of the Moselle, 
surrounded with the declivities of the Vosges. Plombieres, famous for medicinal springs, hot and cold, is 
similarly situated, and has become a place of fashionable resort under the patronage of the present imperial 
court. 

Alsace, a long narrow tract, generally level, except on the west, extends along the west 
bank of the Eliine, was long a part of the German Empire, but lUtimately came into the 
possession of the French in the time of Louis XIV. It is richly cultivated, abounds with 
proofs of enterprise, and is largely occupied by people of the Germanic family, who speak 
the German language, and differ in habits and costume from the French. 

Strashourff, the old capital, with a population of 56,000, stands near the majestic river, but on its little 
affluent, the 111. Above a maze of narrow streets, lined with high many-windowed houses, towers the 
cathedi-al, originally founded in 504, famous for its spire, the loftiest in Europe, which rises 466 feet from 
the pavement ; and also for its colossal clock, which shews puppet-images at mid-day, and indicates various 
epochs besides the passing time. It was made by Isaac Habrech in 1574, but reconstructed and improved 
by M. Schwilge, from 1838 to 1842, after a stoppage of more than lialf a century. The city contains an 
immense arsenal, and forms one of the strongest fortresses in Europe. By moans of sluices, the surrounding 
country can be laid under water. It has long been a principal thoroughfare between France and 
Gci-many, by means of a bridge of boats across the Ehine ; but there is now an iron railway bridge, 
completed in 1861, the two centre arches of which are removable in the event of war. Strasbourg produces 



FRENCH PLANDBKS. 305 

a turpontiue which bears its name, made from the resin of the silver firs of the Hochwald, one of the forests 
of the Vosges, where the tree attains huge dimensions. The section of a trunk is shewn in the natural 
history musemn mth a diameter of eight feet. Near the Hochwald is the Ban de la Eoche, scene of the 
unobtrusive and useful laboiu-s of Pastor Oberlin. Colmar and Mulhouse, in the southern part of Alsace, 
are both seats of extensive manufactures, especially the latter, which has become a land of miniature 
Manchester from the nimiber of its large factories and tall oliimneys. Printed cottons, silks, and muslins are 
produced, celebrated for the excellence of their designs and ooloui's. 

The districts formerly styled Flaudees, Aetois, and Picardy, embrace the extreme 
north of France, and that portion of the coast which makes the nearest approach to the 
shores of England, from which Csesar and "William the Conqueror made their famous 
passages across the Channel. The ground has long been familiar to our traveUing 
countrymen, comprising some of the most frequented ports on continental visits, and is 
well known also nominally to mere readers, from the numerous sites it contains mentioned 
in EugHsh history — towns, battle-fields, and scenes of tournaments. 

Lille (L'IsU ; originally Iskt, the island, so called from the marshes that fonnerly surrounded it), on the river 
Deule, once the capital of French Flanders, contiguous to the Belgian border, is now a first-class fortress, a 
well-biiilt city, and great industrial centre, with a population of 123,438, but has few features of special 
interest. The Hotel de ViUe has, however, a famous collection of drawings by Raphael and other masters. 
Flax and cotton spinning are extensively carried on, with the manufacture of sugar from beet-root, and the 
extraction of oils from rape and linseed. Valenciennes, a fortified town, much smaller and inferior, is near 
the same frontier, on the Scheldt, celebrated for its lace. It was the birthplace of Froissart, and contains 
r. statue of the chronicler. Camhrai, higher up the stream, the episcopal see of Fenelon, produces the 
fine muslin to which its name is applied in the slightly altered form of Gambfic. In the basin of the river, 
but on its affluent the Scarpe, Douai is situated, of bygone scholastic celebrity; and Arras, the former 
capital of Artois, a very handsome and thriving town, gave name to the tapestries of the middle ages. It 
is the birthplace of E,obespierre. St Omer, in the midst of marshes, is the seat of a seminary chiefly for the 
education of English and Irish Catholics. Amiens, on the banks of the Somme, with 50,000 inhabitants, has 
extensive woollen and cotton manufactures, vrith a cathedral admired as a master-piece of Gothic architecture. 
In the H6tel de ViUe the treaty of peace between Great Britain and France was signed in 1802. Abbeville, 
vnih similar industries, but a very inferior town, is lower down the river. Not far distant are several 
historic sites, as St VaXery, at the mouth of the Somme, the little port from which the Norman Conqueror 
sailed ; the ford of Blanchetagne intermediate, where the army of Edward HI. crossed the stream ; and the 
villages, woods, and battle-fields of Cressy and Agincourt on the north, which are not more than twenty 
nules apart from each other. The town of Peronne, connected with the fortunes of Louis XI. and Charles 
the Bold, as described in Qiientin Duncard, is on the river above Amiens, as is also that of Sam, the fortress 
of which was the state-prison of Prince Louis Napoleon from 1840 to 1846, after his attempt on Boulogne. 

The chief maritime places have all large colonies of British. DunJcirh, the most northerly town of Franco, 
is a fortified and considerable commercial port, with very agreeable features as a residence. It was taken by 
the English in the time of Oli-^er Cromwell, when held by the Spaniards, and sold by Charles H. to the 
French King Louis XIV. The name refers to the dunes, or sand-hills, which line the shore in the 
neighbourhood. Calais, is a trading and fishing port, with a lace manufacture of modern introduction. 
It exports annuaDy nearly 60,000,000 of eggs to England. From its pier and promenades the wliite cUifs of 
Dover are distinctly visible, to and from which government mail-steamers and other vessels are daily 
passing. The two towns are also connected by a submarine telegraph. The town, taken by Edward HI. in 
1347, after a long siege, was retained 211 years, or tfll the reign of Queen Mary in 1558, when it was 
captured by the Duke of Guise. During tliis long period it became completely English, was a great wool 
mart, acquired considerable opulence, and returned tAVo members to parliament, one chosen by the governor 
and council, the other by the mayor and commonalty. The small town of Guisnes and several villages were 
included within the English pale. Upon being recovered by the French, the district was styled Le Pays 
Beconquis. The principal church of Calais dates from the time of the English occupation. Boulogne, after 
Havre, the largest town on the French side of the Channel, a very flourishing port and bathing-place, is 
seated at the mouth of the little river Liane, in daily communication with Folkstone on the opposite coast. 
It consists of two parts : the old or high town, on the summit of a hiU, with gates and ramparts ; the new 
or low town, on the slopes and the border of the harbour, the seat of trade, commerce, and amusement. The 
conspicuous architectural feature is the column on the heights, surmounted by a statue of Napoleon I., 
begun by the army in 1804, when encamped at the spot, with the view of commemorating the contemplated 
invasion of England. The column rises 164 feet ; the statue is 16 feet. Boulogne possesses a valuable 
museum and public library, splendid batliing estabUsliments, and has very pleasant environs. It is much 
resorted to by English people, who form a large section of the population. On the coast towards Calais is 
Ambleteuse, a poor village, the landing-place of James H. on his flight from England, and the hamlet 
Owessant, or "Witsand, supposed by many to represent the Portus Itius, the point of Cesar's embarkation. 



306 FEANOE. 

]S"oRMANDY, an extensive district on a central part of the north coast, stretches inland 
to within forty miles of Paris, and enihraces the lower course of the Seiae, with the 
peninsula of Cotentin adjacent to the English Channel Islands. It forms one of the 
most important and attractive portions of France, and is of special interest to Englishmen, 
owing to its former connection with their own country, memorials of which survive in the 
names of places and families, which the Iforman conquest of England transferred to its 
shores. In the town of St Sauveur, inhabited by proviacial gentry, Mr Gaily Knight met 
with an Abbe de Perct, a descendant of the ISTorman branch of that family which 
acquired such distinction in England. ' It was striking,' he observes, ' to find this remnant 
of a noble line, after the lapse of so many centuries, still in existence on the native soil. 
At two leagues' distance from St Sauveur, is the hamlet of Pierrej>ont, the cradle of another 
ennobled English family. Eemembrances of tliis kind abound in JSTormandy, and give its 
old castles and abbeys a peculiar interest in the eyes of an EngUshman. Everything in 
that country is connected with the history of his own, and even with famdlies of whom he 
has heard all his life. 

Rouen, a first-class city, with 9i,000 inliaMtants, occupies a picturesque situation on the Seine, seventy 
miles from the sea, and is finely overlooked from the brow of Mont St Catherine. It contains a nohle 
and venerable cathedral, numerous churches, of which the abbey-church of St Quen, with its glorious 
ivindows and majestic towers, is the finest, Gothic foimtains, specimens of domestic medieval architecture, 
now fast disappearing, a rich museum of antiquities, a Linen HaU, a Palais de Justice, and the JS6tel 
Dieu, one of the largest in France, and has become distinguished as the principal seat of the French 
cotton manufacture. It is the birthplace of Fontenelle and of ComeiUe. Many memorable events have 
transpired here. William the Conqueror died in a convent without the walls. Joan of Ai-c, the 
prisoner of the English, perished at the stake in the open space which bears her name — Place de 
la Pucelle, May 30, 1431. The blame of the deed belongs equally to the two countries. She was not 
arraigned as a political enemy, but for sorcery and heresy ; the Bishop of Beauvais was one of her most 
active persecutors ; the doctors of the university of Paris demanded her trial ; the entu'e inquisition was 
conducted by Frenchmen ; and the court of Eome approved of the proceedings. Caen, on the Orue, now a 
considerable lace-manufacturing town, has great antiquarian mterest. It formerly contributed a buUding- 
stone from its quarries to England, much used in the southern counties for public edifices, before native 
resources were developed. The central tower of Canterbury Cathedral, St George's Gliapel (Windsor), and 
Henry VIL's Chapel (Westnunster), are of this material. The Conqueror was interred at Caen, his favourite 
residence, in the Church of St Stephen. In 15i2, the tomb was opened by the Bishop of Bayeux, when 
appearances justified the reports of chroniclers respectuag his tall stature. Falaise, his bu-thplace, one of 
the smaU towns, has an equestrian statue of him, inaugurated by M. Guizot in the year 1851. Bayeux, is 
celebrated for the tapestry, preserved in a room of the public library, which represents by needle- work various 
incidents connected with the invasion of England. Evreux and Alengon are places of merely local note. 
From the name of the former, that of a noble English famUy, the Bevereux, Yiscounts Hereford, is derived. 
The latter produces the linen cloths called Toiles d'Alengon ; and the quartz crystals are found in the 
vicinity laio%vn as Diamants d'Alen^on. 

Among the maritime towns, the most important is Le Havre, an abbreviation of the original name Le 
Havre de notre Dame de Grace {' The Port of our Lady of Grace '), situated at the mouth of the Seine, 
the seaport of Eouen and Paris, the Liverpool of France, as the principal site of commmiication with 
transatlantic countries, containing a population of 74,000. It receives three-fourths of all the cotton 
imported into France, and also ships most of the French exports to America. The simi-total of its 
imports and exports is about £52,000,000. Eouen has magnificent docks, wet and dry, and extensive 
manufactures of tobacco, oil, ropes, machinery, &c., amounting in all to an annual value of £2,500,000. 
Its pubUc buildings and institutions are excellent, especially its Eoyal School of Navigation and School 
of Applied Geometry. Close by, Henry V. landed on Iiis invasion of the country, and captured 
Barfleur, now an unimportant town, on the river a httle above the modem entrepot. Dieppe, a 
fishing-port, watering-place, and packet-station to Brighton, and Fecamp, are on the easterly part of the 
coast. Cherbourg, westwardly, a great naval stronghold, is seated at the extremity of the Cotentin 
peninsula, opposite the Isle of Wight and Portsmouth ; and is furnished with extensive docks, a harbour 
formed by an iumiense artificial breakwater, and fortifications for mounting 3000 guns. The completion 
of these works, wliich extended, with mterruptions, over considerably more than half a century, was 
celebrated by the present emperor in 1858, and was attended by Queen Victoria, with a powerful fleet. 
Ch-anmlle, on the western side of the peninsula, has the island of Jersey in sight. Southward is Avranches, 
beautifully placed on a hiU overlooking the sea, with a Huet Square, named in memory of its learned and 
excellent bishop of that name, at the close of the seventeenth centuiy. The insulated castled Mont St Michael 



FBENCH FLANDERS. 



307 



is a conspicuous object in the view, three miles distant, but nearer to other points of the shore, which, after 
being a royal residence, and held by ecclesiastics, is now the site of a village and an extensive prison. The rock 
may be approached on foot across the sands at low-water, but great caution is requisite in making the transit, 
from the extreme rapidity mtli which the tide returns and the sudden fogs. Our Henry II. kept his court 
liere in the winter of 1166, and in Avranches received the papal absolution on account of tire murder of Tliomas- 
a-Becliet, after swearing on his knees before the legate that he had not instigated or desired his deatli. Barfleur, 
towards tlie north-east corner of the peninsula, wholly decayed, was a common point of passage in early 
times between Normandy and England. Prince "WiUiam, only son of Henry I., with a retinue of young 
nobles, sailed from it in the White Ship, which was stranded on a rook soon after leaving the harbour, and 
only a butcher of Rouen regained the sliore. JJa, Sogue, a small adjoining seaport, is celebrated as the scene 
of the naval action in which the French fleet was almost entirely destroyed by the Englisli, under Admirals 
Bussell and Eooke, in 1692. Cape la Hague, often confounded with this site, is quite distinct, forming the 
north-western extremity of the Cotentin. 




Cherbourg. 




Lyon. 
II. MIDDLil FEANGS. 



Modern 
Departments. 



Afea 
in Sq. 
Miles. 



Principal Towns. 



EfllfTANY (Francis I., 1532), 



PoiTOU (Charles VI., 1416), 



AuNis, SAiSTONai;, 
(Charles V., 1370), 



Finlsterre, i 
Morbihan, 
Cotee-du-N"ord, 
lUe et Vilaine, 
Loire Inferienre, 
Vendee, 
Sevres (Deux), . 
Vienne, 



2667 
1967 
2564 
2595 
2595 
3315 
2574 



Maine (Louis XI., 1481), . 

AxjoD"(Louis SI., 1481), ' . 
TouEAlNE (Henry IIL, 1584), . 
Obleannais (Louis XII., 1498), 



JSTIVEENAIS (Charles VII., 1457), 
BoHEBosNAis (Louis XII., 1505), 
Bekrt (Philip 1, 1100), . 



Charente, 


3300 


Charehte Iil{6i'leUre, 


2500 


Mayenne, 


1968 


Sarthe, . 


2371 


Maine et Loii-e, . 


27,55 


Indre et Loire, 


2332 


Loir et Cher, 


2389 


Eure et Loire, . 


2117 


Loiret, . 


25.51 


Nievre, . 


2.595 


AUier, . 


2762 


Cher, 


2747 


Indre, . 


2624 



Quimper, Brest, Morlais. 

Vannes, L' Orient. 

St Brieuo. 

Eennes, St Malo, St Serv.in. 

Nantes. 

Napoleon- Vendee. 

Nipvt. 

Poitiers, Chatellerault. 

AllgOUliime, Cognac. 

La Eochelle, Eocliefort. 

Laval, Mayenne. 

le Mans. 

Angers, Saumur. 

Tours, Amboise, Chinon. 

Blois, Vendonie. 

Chartres. 

Orleans. 

Nevers. 

Moulins, Montlugon. 

Bourges. 

Chateaujoux. 



309 



Old Proyinocs : 
Dato of Union with France. 


Modern 
Departments. 


Area 
in Sq. 
Miles. 


Principal Towns. 


Marohe (Francis L, 1531), 
Ltmousin (Charles V., 1370), 

AnvBKQNE (Philip-Augustus, 1210), . 

LrONNAis (Philip le Bel, 1285),' . " . 

BUBGUNDY (Louis XI., 1477), 

Fbanohe Comib (Loius xiv.,"l678), . 


Creuse, 

Vienna (Haut), . 

Correze, . 

Cantal, 

Puy-de-Dome, . 

Loire, . 

Rhone, 

Ain, 

Saone et Loire, 

Cote d'Or, . 

Yonne, . 

Saone (Haute), 

Jura, 

Doubs, . 


2133 
2118 
2218 
2245 
3039 
1805 
1066 
2258 
3270 
3354 
2781 
2028 
1894 
2028 


Gueret. 

Limoges. 

Tulle. 

Aurillac. 

Clermont-Ferrand, Thiers. 

Moutbrison, St Etienne. 

Lyon. 

Bourg. 

Macon, Chalons-sur-Sa6ne, Autuu. 

Dijon. 

Auxerre, Sens. 

Vesoul. 

Lons-le-Saulnler. 

Besangon. 



Brittany, or Bretagne, anciently a ducal territory, embraces the north-west corner of 
France, and is watered by the lUe and Vilaine, the Anlne, and the lower course of the 
Loire. It forms a peninsular region directly opposite to Cornwall, the south-western 
pcnuisnla of England. Both districts have many features in common ; bold and rugged 
coast-lines; extensive moors of heath, fiirze, and broom, with the naked granite 
projecting above the general surface in gigantic tors j and rude, unhewn, monumental 
masses — •cairns, cromlechs, and rooking-stones — ^whose objects, age, and uses have never 
been satisfactorily explained. There are locahties also in both with corresponding 
names. Brittany has a tract called Gornouaille, or Cornwall, noted for wrestlers and 
wreckers ; a Land's End — Finisterre ; and Mont St Michael, off the north-east angle, is 
the counterpart, on a larger scale, of St Michael's Mount, near Penzance. Traditions of 
King Arthur, with his Icnights, and of the enchanter MerUn, belong equally to the 
opposite sides of the Channel. The Bretons, too, are a Celtic race, and speak a dialect akin 
to the extinct Cornish and the existing "Welsh. Their peasantry are the least civilised 
portion of the French popidation, remarkable for quaintness of attire bordering on the 
grotesque, primitive manners, intense veneration for the Eoman Catholic religion, but are 
addicted to superstitions derived from old heathen times. They possess an unusual 
number of large jChurches, among which, one near Treguier is probably unique in 
Christendom, a chapel dedicated to ' Our Lady of Hatred,' as an avenging power. 

Eemi^s, once the capital of the province, is seated at tlie confluence of the Hie and Vilaine, and contains 
a population of 34,000. It is abuost entirely modern, owing to a conflagration in the last century, which 
raged a whole week, and destroyed most of the public buildings, but spared the ancient gate, through which 
the dukes made their public entry upon their accession. Eeiines has a cathedral, an arsenal, schools of law, 
and medicine, a tribunal of commerce, and trade in butter, honey, and wax. Ifantes, one of the largest and 
most pleasing cities of France, with 108,000 inhabitants, is also a flourishing port, situated on the nox-th bank of 
the Loire, 40 miles above its mouth, and 269 mUes west of Paris by the railway, Quays bordered with handsome 
houses line the river, on the margin of which stands the inassive castle, in which many sovereigns have for a 
tune resided. Witliiu its walls, Henry IV., in 1593, signed the decree in favour of the Protestants, hence called 
the Edict of Nantes. From this port the Young Pretender sailed in disguise in 1745, on his expedition to Scot- 
land. In one of the houses near the castle, the Duchess of Berri remained concealed for five months in 1832, 
after stimulating insurrectionary movements in the neighbouring country. During the first revolution, the city 
was the scene of scarcely credible atrocities, perpetrated by the infamous Carrere, in which great numbers of 
women and children perished. Ship-building and sugar-refining, the manufacture of glass, cotton-goods, and 
machinery are extensively carried on, and the export trade in brandy, wines, and fruit is immense. Brest, a 
town of 51,000 inhabitants, a first-class fortress, dock-yard, naval arsenal, and bagne (affording accommodation 
to about 4000 galley-slaves), stands near the head of a closely landlocked inlet, the northern side of which is 
formed by the great promontory of Finisterre. Vessels can only enter from the roadstead by passing close to 
the guns of formidable batteries. This port was the landing-place of Mary Queen of Scots, in 1548, when 
a mere chUd ; she was soon afterwards affianced to the French Dauphin ; off the isle of Ushant, at the 
extremity of the promontory, the French fleet, under Admiral Villaret Joyeuse, was defeated by the English 
imder Lord Howe in 1794, during the war of the Efivolution. 



310 



FRANCE. 



The other maritime places include L' Orient (a principal station of the French navy), which owes its origin 
to the French East India Company, who built an establishment here in 1666 for tlie purpose of trading to the 
East, whence its name, Vannes, and Quimper, on the south coast; and Morlaix, St Brieuc, and S« Malo, 
on the northern. They have no particular interest except the latter. St Malo, a small fortified town, 
occupies a rocky islet attached by a long causeway to the mainland. It has long been celebrated for its 
skilful and daring seamen, one of whom, Jacques Cartier, was the first to ascend the St Lawrence, and fix 
upon the site of Quebec. During the long wars of the last century it was called Le Vilh de Corsaires, 
from the number and activity of its privateers. The illustrious Chateaubriand was a native, bom in a house 
overlooking the sea, now occupied as an inn ; he is also interred in a little adjoining islet. Cape Finisterre, 
the extreme west point of Brittany, the Land's End of France, about fifteen miles from Brest, consists of 
bleak and savage granitic cliffs, almost constantly wrapped in mists, and assailed by raving winds. The 
Abbey of St Mathieu, a ruin, crowns the headland, off which are several islands, and a multitude of rocks. 
The largest, most to seaward, is Ouessant, better known to English readers as Ushant, inhabited by a few 
fishermen, whose ancestors were idolaters little more than two centimes ago. Belle Isle, nearly opposite the 
mouth of the Loire, has a fortress used as a convict prison. It was taken in 1761, and held for about two 
years by a British force. 

PoiTOU, a maritime tract extending from the coast to a oonsideralDle distance inland, 
southward of the Loire, comprises a large part of the courses of the Sevre and Vienna, 
two of its principal affluents. It has an uninviting general aspect, consisting of sands, 
salt-marshes, and ponds along the shore ; of thickets and woods without the dignity of 
forests in the interior ; and of rugged heaths. There are few towns of important size, 
hut the sites memorahly associated with decisive battles and exterminating wars are 
numerous. In the western department of La Vendue, the brave peasantry adhered to the 
cause of royalty at the Eevolution, and were cut off after a desperate resistance by the 
republican armies, who horribly desolated the country, and ' left behind nothing but ashes 
and piles of dead.' Madame Larochejacquelin, an eye-witness, compares the final flight 
of the unhappy inhabitants from their homes, old men, women, and children, to the 
awful spectacle that the world must behold at the Day of Judgment. Poitou formed an 
earldom, which was held by Henry II. of England, and lost to the English crown during 
the reign of his son John. It was recovered by Edward, the Black Prince, and retained 
to the time of Henry VI. 

Poitiers, from which the province received its name, occupies a hill by the side of the winding Clain, a 
tributary of the Vienne, in a picturesque neighbourhood of woody ravines, and contains a population of 
25,000. It is a city of steep, narrow, dull streets, without manufactures or commerce of any oonseciuenco, 
but of considerable antiquarian interest and historic fame. The site was occupied by the Eomans, and has 
remains of an amphitheatre, the sides of which are partly converted into houses, while the oval centre is the 
garden of an iim. Tlie cathedral was founded by Henry II. ; and several of the churches are of very early 
date. About five mUes westward the battle was fought, September 10, 1356, won by the army of the Black 
Prince against fearful odds, in which the French King John was taken prisoner. Between Poitiers and 
Tours the great struggle took place in 732 between the Christian army imder Charles iilartel and the 
Saracens from Spain, in which the latter were defeated with terrible slaughter-. ChatellerauU, a cutlery 
town on the Viemie, gives the title of Duke in the French peerage to the noble Scotch family of Hamilton, 
originally conferred upon the Eegent Hamilton for his services in promoting the marriage of Mary, Queen 
of Scots, to the Dauphin of France. The present Duke of Hamilton is the fifteenth Duke of Chatellerault. 
Zusignan, a vUlage and railway-station on the south-west of Poitiers, was the feudal stronghold of the noble 
house bearing its name, which became royal for a time by the elevation of its crusading chiefs to the tliroue 
of Jerusalem. Napoleon Vendee, fotmded after the desolation of that district by the republicans, and 
intended by Napoleon I. to become important, has never prospered. JViort, on the Sevre, in a pleasant 
wine-growing country, pretty closely marks the north limit of vine cultivation on the west coast of France. 

The smaE territory of Aunis, southward on the coast, with the bordering inland 
districts of Saintonge and Angoumois, comprehend the basin of the Charente, the name 
of which is given to the two departments constituted out of them. In the valley of the 
river the cultivation of the vine is general ; and the greater part of the produce is made 
into brandy for exportation. Off the mouth of the stream are the two islands of Oleron 
and E6, both of which have a place in English history. The former is connected with 
naval ordinances issued by Eichard L previous to his crusading expedition to the Holy 



LA nOOHELLE — TOURS. 311 

Land. Tliey aro known to all jurists as tlio Laws of Oldron, lie at the foundation of tlie 
maritime jurisprudence of modern Europe, and are cited as an authority at the present 
day on both sides of the Atlantic. A little to the north, the island of Ee was the scene 
in the reign of Charles I., of the disgraceful failure of the Duke of Buckingham. He was 
sent at the head of an expedition to aid the cause of the French Protestants, and was 
baffled in an attempt to take the insular town of St Martin. 

La Bochdlc, a commercial port, at the head of a deep bay, once the bulwark of Protestantism, sustained a 
long and terrible siege on that account from the armies of Louis XIII. in 1628. It succumbed to the pres- 
sure of famine after a close blockade of fourteen months. Little more than one-fifth of the inhabitants then 
survived, and the to\vn has now only 14,000 inhabitants. It has a cathedral and several important public 
institutions ; the streets are bordered in many cases by arcades. For some late years its buildings have been 
infested mth white ants, an inadvertent importation from India. Sochefort, somewhat larger, with 21,000 
inhabitants, is a modern town on the south, one of the chief naval stations, with a dockyard, arsenal, and 
convict prison. It lies on the Charente, a few miles above its mouth, and may be reached by the largest 
vessels. Here Napoleon I., after Waterloo, gave himself up to Captain Maitland of the BdhroiAon. 
Saintcs, higher up the river, represents the Koman Santonum, and has a well-preserved Arch of Triumph, 
with remains of an amphitheatre. Cognac, on the ascending course of the stream, is a small place mth 
a well-known name, given to the brandy manufactured fi'om the produce of its vineyards. AngouUme, 
on the still upward banks of the river, is iinely situated on a hill, in a district of paper-mills, and has many 
pleasant features, ■with a prominent place iir history. It was the residence of the Black Prince after the 
battle of Poitiers, and retained to the present century a Chandos gate, built by Lord Chandos, a leader in 
the battle. The town was the refuge of Calvin, and the birthplace of the accomplished Margaret of Valois. 
Two assassins, likewise, figure in the list of natives— Poltrot, who shot the Duke of Guise before the walls of 
Orleans, and RavaiUac, who stabbed Henry IV. in the streets of Paris. 

The inland provinces of Maine, Anjou, Toueainb, and Oelbannais, include a highly- 
favoured portion of the country, centrally traversed by the Loire from east to west, which 
receives within its limits the Cher, Lidre, and Vienne, on the left bank, with the con- 
fluent Mayenne and Sarthe on the right. It is studded with important towns and cities, 
rich in cornfields, acacia-hedges, and beautiful landscapes along the course of the leading 
river, and rife with memories of the past, often connected vfith picturesque old castles 
more or less dilapidated. Some of the tributaries of the Loire flow tluough tracts clothed 
with heath and broom, the very plant, genista (Ft. genet), which originated the name of 
Plantagenet, from a sprig having been worn by Geoffrey, Earl of Anjoii, father of our 
Henry IL, the founder of the dynasty in England. 

Le Mans, once the capital of Maine, is seated on the Sarthe, and has a population of 31,000, engaged 
in manufactures, buf-more largely in exporting agricultural produce and poultry to the metropolis. Its 
cathedral, of mixed Gothic and Eomanesque architecture, contains the tomb of Berengaria of Sicily, wife 
of Eichard Cceiu- de Lion, and a few other antiquities. Laval and Mayenne, both on the river Mayenne, are 
smaller, but more manufacturing, producing Hnen and cotton goods. Angers, the former capital of An.i'ou, 
with 41,000 inhabitants, occupies a very favourable position, being situated on the united streams of the 
Mayenne and Sarthe, just below their junction, and near their confluence with the Loire. It has been 
extensively modernised, but retains many buildings of the middle ages, churches and timber-framed houses, 
with an old castle of vast dimensions, now used as a prison, a barrack, and store for ammunition. A 
respectable public library, museum of painting and sculpture, and a cabinet of natural history, with a botanic 
garden and pleasant walks, are modern appointments. Margaret of Anjou, the indomitable queen of Henry 
VI. of England, was interred in the cathedral, but the tomb has been destroyed. Lord Chatham and the 
Duke of "Wellington, in the early part of their career, were connected as students with a military academy 
in the city. Extensive nursery-grounds distinguish the vicinity, and vast slate-quarries, the produce of 
which is sent to almost all parts of France. The local use of the material originated the epithet of ' black 
Angers,' in allusion to its sombre hue, but in recent tunes a different building-stone has relieved its aspect. 
Sarnnur, on the south-east, stands directly on the Loire, and is one of its most cheerful-looking to^vns, being 
built of a very pure white stone, and situated in a district of vines, orchards, walnut-trees, and luxuriant corn- 
fields. It lost its industrious Protestant artisans by the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, and has now little 
more than half the population it possessed two centuries ago. Monuments of huge unheivn blocks, supposed 
to be Druidical, and among the most remarkable of the kind in Europe, are found in the neighbourhood. 

Tours, from which the province of Touraine derived its name, a duchy bestowed as an appanage on Mary 
Queen of Scots and her French husband, occupies the south bank of the Loire at the influx of the Cher, and 
has long been a favourite place of abode with the English, having a considerable number of good houses. 
The population, 35,000, is vastly inferior to what it was liefore the intolerance of Louis XIV. drove the 



312 FHANOB. 

Huguenots away, many of whom were silk-weavers, wlio emigrated to England, and settled in Spitaliields. 
The town is of ancient date. It had St Martin of Tours for the first metropolitan in the fourth century, who 
founded a vast cathedral, in which Gregory of Tours, another prelate, was buried. Only two of its towers 
remain ; the others were destroyed at the Eevolution. In the middle ages, the concourse of pilgrims to the 
place was so great, that the town was increased to ten times its ordinaiy inhabitants. The newer cathedral 
of St Gatien is richly decorated. The stronghold of Plessis-les-Tours, described in Queniin Durward, where 
lived and died the poUtic and astute Louis XI., is a few miles distant, but reduced to a fragment. At Mettray, 
also a contiguous site, a voluntary establishment for the reform of juvenile offenders has deservedly acquired 
great repute. Amioise, a small old to%vn, higher up the river, retains its historic castle, long a royal residence, 
inherited by Louis-Philippe, and made the prison of the renowned Abd-el-Kader. Ghinon, on the Vieime, has 
a castle of equal interest, which has been styled the French "Windsor of the early Plantagenets, now a huge ruin, 
with but few remains of their date except some substructions. It occupies a commanding height, and overlooks 
a fine view of the river sweeping round its base, and onward towards its junction with the Loire, with a wide 
extent of diversified coimtry. This was the favourite continental residence of Henry H. ; here he ended his 
days, and was interred in the great Abbey of Fontevranlt, situated in a pictm-esque dell in the direction of 
Saumur. A recumbent efBgy was placed on the tomb ; similar monuments were subsequently raised for his 
queen, for Bichard Coeur de Lion, and for the queen of John, who were buried at the same place. The exterior 
of the abbey remains entire, but the interior is wholly changed, having been converted into a prison. The 
royal tombs are no longer in their original position, and the monumental effigies, though stUl preserved and 
of great interest, have been more or less defaced by wanton violence. 

Orleans, of Eoman origin and high celebrity, ranking for a time as the capital of the French monarchy, is 
seated on the north bank of the Loire, seventy-six miles south by west of Paris. The city contains a popula- 
tion of 43,000, and is a centre of extensive trade, but has few objects of attraction or interest in keeping with 
its historic distinction. The great event in its annals is the appearance of Joan of Arc for its rehef, April 29, 
1429, when beleaguered by the English ; she compelled them to raise the siege, and acquired thereby the 
style of the Maid of Orleans. The tide of foreign conquest which had been advancing into the heart of the 
land under the Bedfords and Talbots, was then and there checked, and constrained gradually to recede from 
the whole country. Memorials of the heroine in this the scene of her first triumph are unimportant. Blois, 
venerable and decayed, is lower down the river, and has a partially restored castle presented by the 
municipality to the Prmce Imperial, and accepted for him by Napoleon III. Popes, Idngs, princes, and 
cardinals have resided in it ; assassinations have been authorised and executed within its walls ; and it has 
been used in the present century as a barrack. Chartres, on the banks of the Eure, is in the heart of the 
corn-growing plain of La Beauce, and has one of the largest corn-markets in France. The cathedi-al is equally 
distinguished by its vast size and elegance. At Bretigny, an adjoining village, the treaty was concluded in 
1360, by which Edward III. renounced all title to the French crown, but retained his conquests. 

The limits of the ancient Kivbbnais, Bourbonnais, Beery, Maeche, Limousin, and 
AuvBEGNE, include a considerable part of Central France, traversed by the upper Loire 
and its affluent the AUier, with the tributary waters of the Cher, Indre, Creuse, and 
Vienne, and also by streams descending southerly to the basin of the Garonne. This 
region is intersected by elevated and rugged mountains, studded with extiuct volcanic 
cones, and comprises varied scenery, bold, romantic, quiet, and pastoral. The towns are 
mostly of very moderate size, invested with but Mttle historical notoriety, and generally of 
mere local influence, 

Wevers, on the Loire, produces pottery and ironwares ; and has a cannon foundry for the navy. MouUns, 
on 'the AUier, was the residence of Lord Clarendon in exile, where he ivrote part of his History of tlie 
Rebellion ; the birthplace of Marshal ViUars, the opponent of Marlborough; and is the scene in which Sterne 
has laid his story of Maria. Vichy, a much-frequented watering-place, with eight principal mineral-springs 
alkaline and acidulous, occupies a beautiful valley higher up the same stream. Bourges, an ancient, dull, and 
genteel city, on rising ground between the Evre and Auron, which here imite, contams 20,000 inhabitants, 
and has a remarkably fine cathedral and Hotel de Ville, the latter formerly the private residence of a citizen. 
Chaieauroux, on the Indre, an industrial site, has extensive manufactures of cloth sustained chiefly by the 
fleeces of the neighbourhood. Limoges, the largest town of the whole district, with a population of 41,000, is 
seated on the upper course of the Vienne. The production of porcelain, made of the kaoUn or pure white 
porcelain clay obtained in the vicinity, gives employment here to great numbers ; and horses are reared on 
the pastures for the use of the French army. Tergniaud, the leader of the Giroude, who became one of 
Eobespierre's victims, was a native of the town, so were Marshals Jourdan and Bugeaud, and the celebrated 
surgeon Depuytren. The town was taken by storm in the wars of the Black Prince, who sullied his name by 
giving no quarter to the inhabitants. At Chains, an adjoining place, while besieging it, Eichard Cceur de Lion 
met with his mortal wound. Clermont, with 29,000 inhabitants, is chiefly of interest from its situation, in the 
heart of the volcanic region of Auvergne, at the foot of the Puy de Dome. It is built of the dark-coloured 
lava quaxried in the vicinity, the sombreness of which is to some extent concealed by whitewash. One of 



THE LYONNAIS — ^BUEGUNDT. 313 

tho squares has a raonnmont in honour of General Desaix, a native. Pascal and Delille are also commemo- 
rated, born in the neiglibourhood. The town is celebrated for the great council held in it in 1095, convened 
by Pope Urban II., who presided, which led to tho Crusades. 

Tlio Lyonnais comprises a small section of the coiuitry on the west l5ank of the Ehone, 
extending from thence beyond the Loire, intersected from south to north by the narrow 
chain of the Cevennes Mountains. Within its limits the first-named river receives its 
most important affluent, the Saone ; and makes the great bend in its course from west to 
south, flowing to the sea through a rich and sunny valley, comparable to that of the Ehine 
for beauty and variety of scenery. Great names were associated with the district in the 
remote past ; among them the Emperors Augustus and Severus by residence, of Germanious 
and Claudius by birth. In the second century of Christianity, it was the scene of the life, 
labours, and martyrdom of Irenffius and Pothinus, both Asiatic Greeks, and disciples of 
the apostles, whose sufferings are related in a document of the period — ^tlie Epistle of the 
Chm-ches of Lyon and Vienne to the Brethren in Asia and Phrygia, of unquestionable 
authenticity. In the middle ages, it was the frequent home of Charlemagne, the camping- 
groimd of his Paladins and the army. The Lyonnais was the head province of Celtic 
Gaul during the Eoman period, and is now the principal provincial seat of Erench industry 
and art. 

Lyon, the second city of France in extent and commercial enterprise, and the first in manufactures, supplied 
the territory witli a name. It is splendidly situated at the confluence of the Ehone and Saone, 316 miles 
south-east of Paris by railway, and 218 miles north by west of Marseille. It occupies both banks of either 
river, but the largest portion lies in the space intervening between them ; and contains a population of 
more than 300,000, including the suburbs. Seven bridges cross tlie Rhone, and twelve lead over the Safine. 
Its quays, 2S in number, are among the most remarkable in Europe. Directly on the right bank of the 
Saune rise the heiglits of Fourrieres, at the base of which the stream describes a grand segment of a circle. 
The abrupt eminence, crowned by the Church of Notre Dame, is generally the first spot to which every new- 
comer du'ects his steps, on account of the magnificent view to be obtained therefrom. The vast city is spread 
out at the feet of the spectator, whose eye can foUow the rivers to their junction. Immediately beyond are 
suburban residences, backed by the jjlains of Daupliine and the hiUs of Savoy, while on the far eastern 
horizon, in clear weather, the hoary head of Mont Blanc may be discerned, at the distance of nearly a 
hundi'ed miles. Lyon, though of ancient date, with the name of Lugdunum in Roman times, is essentially 
the creation of a recent era, as most of the buildings were reduced to ruins, and the inhabitants literally 
exterminated in 1793, for opposing the Terrorists of the Revolution. It has also suffered much from the 
inundations of 1840 and 1856, and from the riots of the operatives in 1831 and 1834. It possesses the best 
provincial library in France (130,000 vols.), a well-arranged museum, numerous charitable institutions, three 
great piiblio squares, several new spacious streets after the Paris fashion, with many narrow, irregular, and 
dirty thoroughfares in the manufacturing quarter, like the capital, it is encircled with detached forts, 
eighteen in number, raised in consequence of the revolts of the workmen in 1831 and 1834. The cii'cle of 
the fortifications is thirteen miles. Its staple industry, the silk manufacture, embraces the production of 
the richest and the most current fabrics ; and employs 100,000 hands ; but cotton, woollen, and other goods 
are also made, with jewellery, silver and gold lace, and chemical preparations. The silk-weavers work in 
their own houses, and live chiefly in a suburb by themselves, but there are important factories in the 
environs, The men have the soubriquet of canuts, tlie origin of which is uncertain, but referred by some to 
the word cannette, signifying a bobbin. A workwoman is a canuse. Jacquard, the inventor of the silk- 
loom called after him, was a native of the city. The manufacture was formally naturalised in France by 
letters-jpatent of Louis XI., dated from Orleans, December 22, 1466 ; and took up its abode at Lyon in the 
early part of the following century, owing to the settlement there of some Italian refugees. St Etienne, on 
the south-west, in a region of coal-mines, is a prosperous town of 71,000 inhabitants, but oiJy distinguished 
by the extent of its industries and their dissimilar nature. It is the great seat of the production of ribbons 
and fii-earms. Tho ribbon-manufactories contain 30,000 looms, and the annual value of their produce is 
£2,375,000. Its firearms manufactory supplies most of the muskets of the French army. It has also 
extensive manufactures of bayonets, scythes, nails, saw-blades, foUs, anvils, &c. 

The territory of Bubgundt, formerly a duchy, now distributed into four departments, is 
on the north of the preceding district, and belongs largely to the river-basin of the Sa6ne, 
also to a small extent to that of the Loire, embracing also the upper waters of the Seine, and 
nearly the whole course of its affluent, the Yonne. It has little variety of surface, but 
includes the northern extremity of the Cevennes, with the range of the Cote d'Or, a link 



314 FRANCE. 

connecting them ■with, the Vosges. Tliis range has only a very moderate elevation, and 
is wholly devoid of pictnresqueness, terminating upward in a tahle-land. But it is very 
celebrated for its vineyards, to the rich produce of which the name may refer, or to the 
golden colour of the soil, the prevailing hue being a yellowish red. Burgundy has long 
been famous for its fine wines, both red and white growths, besides producing a large 
quantity of ordinary quality. The red wines are distinguished by their brilliant colour, 
delicate flavour, strength, and rich bouquet. Cherrj"-, almond, and walnut trees are 
sprinkled in many of the vineyards, and crops of clover and maize are raised. 

Dijon, the old capital of the duchy, occupies a plain at the confluence of two small affluents of the 
Sa6ne, and numbers 32,000 inhabitants. Its principal features are numerous churches, several of which 
have lost their proper office, and are exclusively devoted to secular purposes ; the ducal palace, now the 
Hotel de Ville, contains a veiy rich museum ; a public park, designed by Le Notre for the great Conde ; 
and extensive promenades which environ the whole place with a belt of trees. Some of the best Burgundian 
wines are produced in the neighbourhood, especially at Vougeot. The vineyard here originally belonged 
to the adjoining Abbey of Citeaux, and was cultivated by the monks for their own use. The site of this 
famed ecclesiastical establishment, the head-quarters of the Cistercian order, where St Bernard assumed the 
cowl, is about twelve miles south of Dijon. In the days of its prosperity it possessed more than 3000 
dependent convents, and gave four popes to Eome. The buildings remain, but are appropriated to the 
reform of juvenile offenders. Chalons-siu'-Sadne, a small neat town, is at the head of the steam-navigation 
of the river, here connected with the Loire by the Canal dii Centre. Macon, lower down the stream, the 
bu-thplace of Lamartine, is the centre of an extensive ivine trade. Bourg, on an affluent, claims the 
astronomer Lalande for a native. Autun, pleasantly situated on a stream which joins the Loire, was for a 
time the diocese of the celebrated Talleyrand. The town is of Eoman origin, and contains many ancient 
remains. Auxerre, on the left bank of the Yonne, and Sens, lower on the river, have both cathedrals which 
are much admired. The Yonne is largely used in the transport of the wines of Burgundy to Paris. Some of 
its sources lie in the high grounds of Le Morven, an extensive tract of forest, the home of many 
wild animals ; the timber of which is floated doivn the river to the Seine, and supplies the capital with 
lueL This woodland tract includes upwards of 200,000 acres, and contains shallow and extensive meres, or 
pools of water. During the great heats of summer, animal life is still in the woods by day, but no sooner 
have the shades of evening gathered, than their wild inhabitants— especially wolves, wolverines, and wUd- 
boars^slake their thirst and look out for food. Vezelay, on the northern skirts of the forest, now a poor 
decayed place, gave birth to Theodore Beza, the theologian and reformer ; and Tauban, the great military 
engineer, was born in a village of the woodland region. At the town named, St Bernard preached the second 
cmsade, in an open field, in which Louis VII. and his nobles engaged, in 1146. Philip Augustus and Eichard 
C(Bur de Lion repaired to the same spot in 1190 formally to devote themselves to a similar enterprise. 

The adjoining district of Feanche Comte lies on the eastern frontier of Prance, and 
formerly belonged to the Germanic empire. It embraces the valley of the Upper Saone, 
the course of the Doubs, its principal tributary, and the western side of the Jura 
Mountains, wliich form the dividing-line from Switzerland. These natural features give 
names to the three departments. The highest peaks of the Jura rise to 6000 feet, and are 
clothed with magnificent pine-woods. The range is composed of a peculiar limestone, 
which abounds with caves, containing stalactital formations and the remains of extinct 
animals. Its slope, the gentlest on the French side, gives rise to scenes of great natural 
beauty, and yields abundance of grass. Hence, grazing husbandry is the main pursuit of 
the inhabitants, who associate in small companies to convert their milk and cream into 
cheese at a common central establishment, and proportionably divide the product. In 
other parts of the territory the wine and mineral produce is considerable. 

Besani;on, the only town of importance, a fortress of the first class, contains 31,000 inhabitants, largely 
engaged in watch-making, an industry imported from Switzerland. It stands on the Doubs, which, at this 
point, and in other parts of its course, is a doubling or winding river answering to the descriptive name. 
The stream nearly encloses the old portion of the place, and was accurately represented by Csesar as curving 
like a horseshoe round the ancient Vesontio. Besangou is the see of an archbishop, has a cathedral, a large 
public library (80,000 volumes), an arsenal, military and medical schools, and an hospital Lons-le-Saulnier 
and Salines, as the names indicate, are distinguished by brine-springs and salt-works. Pontarlier, near the 
Swiss frontier, occupies an elevated site on the Jura, beyond which is the defile leading through the chain, 
commanded by a strong fort. Within its walls the unfortunate Toussaint L'Overture, carried off from St 
Domingo by order of Napoleon I., was immured in a miserable cell tiU his death. 




AmpMtlieatre at Nimes. 



in. SOUTHERN FRANCE. 



Old Provinces ; 
Date of Union with Franco. 


Modern 
Departments. 


Area 
inSq. 
Miles. 


Principal Towns. 


GuXENNE (Charles Vn., 1451), 

Gascony (Charles Vll.^ Uoi), " . ' . ' 

Beabn andNAVABBE (Louis XIU., 1610-43), 

Foix (Louis XIIL), 

RousiLLON (Louis XIV., 1659), . 
Lansdedoc (John, 1361), 

Pbovence (Louis XI., 1481), . 

Avignon and Okange (Louis Xrv., 1713), 
Dadphinb (Philip de Valois, 1343), 

Savoy (Napoleon ILL, 1861), '.'.'. 

Nice (Napoleon in.,'l861), '.'.'. 
COESIOA (Revolution, 1794), . 


Aveyron, 

Lot, 

Dordogne, . 

Tarn et Garonne, . 

Lot et Garonne, . 

Gii'onde, 

Les Landes, 

Gers, ... 

Pyrenees (Hautes), 

Pyrenees (Basses), . 

Ariege, 

Pyrenees (Orientales), 

Ardeche, 

Loire (Haute), 

Lozere, 

Gard, . . . 

Herault, 

Tarn, 

Garonne (Haute), 

Aude, . 

Rhone (Bouches-du), 

Alpes (Basses), . 

Var, 

Vaucluse, . 

Isere, . 

Drome, 

Alps (Hautes), 

Savoie, 

Savoie (Haute), 

Alpes Maratimes, 

Corse, . 


3340 
2004 
3492 
1405 
2027 
3714 
3490 
2390 
1730 
2862 
1738 
1571 
2110 
1900 
1965 
2256 
2382 
2185 
2529 
2340 
1956 
2600 
2773 
1328 
3163 
2508 
2114 
2479 
1743 
1621 
3331 


Rhodez, Villefranohe. 

Cahors. 

Perigueux, Bergerac. 

Montauban, Moissao. 

Agen. 

Bordeaux, Libourne. 

Mont-de-Marsan. 

Auch. 

Tarbes, Bagneres-en-Bigorre. 

Pau, Bayonne, Biarritz. 

Foix, Pamiers. 

Perpignan. 

Privas, Annonay. 

Le Puy. 

Mende. 

Ntmes, Beaucaire. 

Montpelier, Beziers, Cette. 

Alby, Castres. 

Toulouse. 

Carcassonne, Narbonne. 

Marseille, Ailes, Aix. 

Digne. 

Draguignan, Toulon, Hyeres. 

Avignon, Carpentras, Orange. 

Grenoble, Vienne. 

Valence, Romans. 

Gap, Briangon. 

Chamberry, Moutiers. 

Annecy, Chamouni. 

Nice, Mentone, Grasse, Cannes. 

Ajaccio, Bastia. 



GuiENNB, an extensive maritime region on the south-'west, favoured mth a warm 
atmosphere and sunny sky, originally formed a principal part of the ' fair duchy ' of 



316 FEANOE. 

Aquitaine, of wliich name Guienne is a corruption, and was long connected witli tlio 
English, cro'wn, to ■wHcli it became attached by the marriage of Eleanor of Aquitaine to 
Henry II. Plantagenet, in 1152. It is generally a highly-cnltivated and ■well- watered plain, 
traversed from south-east to north-west by the great stream of the Garonne, and intersected 
by its most important tributaries, the Dordogne, Lot, and Tarn, which respectively give 
names to the modern departments. Vines clothe the banks of the rivers, and old castles 
in ruins, associated with many a siege and foray in the middle ages, are numerous along 
their course. Besides a large quantity of ordinary wines, the best clarets are here produced, 
in the apparently unpromising district of Medoo, a long narrow strip of coimtry in the 
peninsula formed between, the estuary of the Garonne and the Atlantic, slightly raised 
above the level of the river, and abounding with shallow pools which render it unhealthy. 
The soU, consisting only of sand and pebbles, seems incapable of sustaining vegetation 
of any kind, yet it favours the vine and is said to retain the solar heat about the roots, 
after sunset, thereby promoting fructification by night as well as by day. But so uncertain 
is the adaptation of the ground, or capricious the plant, that it flourishes and degenerates 
in the locality ivithin a very circumscribed space. In average seasons the total produce 
of Medoo amounts to 150,000 hogsheads and upwards. 

Bordeaux, the capital of the ancient duchy, is the eeoond port of France, and its fourth city in point of 
population, it contains 149,000 inhabitants, is seated on the left hank of the Garonne, about 70 miles from the 
Atlantic, and 360 south-west of Paris. The noble river, upwards of a quarter of a mile broad, and deep enough 
to receive first-class vessels, describes a curve at the spot, which gives a crescent-shaped outline to the city, 
with three miles of magnificent quays lined with houses, cliiefiy in the Italian style, indicative of great 
opulence. It is crossed by a stone bridge of seventeen arches, the finest in France, completed by a pubUo 
company in 1821, and by another for the railway opened in 1861. It is the see of an archbishop, the seat of a 
national court, has a pubUo library of about 130,000 volumes, and several important educational institutions. 
Though essentially a great trading mart, the place has quite as much of a courtly as a commercial air. It 
consists of two parts. The modern and northern town follows the line of the river, and is built in a very 
splendid manner. The other, ancient and southern, is separated from it by streets generally running east and 
west. Passing from the former to the latter, the squares and terraces of the current epoch are left for the 
narrow streets of the fourteenth century, containing houses with peaked gables, projecting eaves and balconies, 
covered with quaint carvings — 'the true middle-age tenements, dreadfully rickety, but gloriously picturesque 
— charming to look at, but woefid to live in.' "Wines, brandy, and dried fruits are the principal exports, 
sent in i mm ense quantities to the northern European and transatlantic countries. England is the gi'eat 
market for the highest priced wines. Those of inferior quality go to HoUand, or are retained for home 
consumption. The cellars of the chief merchants are of enormous extent, and always have several thousands 
of casks in stock. Bordeaux, while in the hands of the English, had a splendid viceregal court under Edward, 
the Black Prince. Here he entertained the fugitive Don Pedro from Spain, whose two daughters married the 
prince's brothers, John of Gaunt and the Earl of Cambridgo. His own son, afterwards Richard II. of England, 
styled Eichard of Bordeaux, was born here and baptized in the cathedi'aL The city, in 1553, had Montaigne ; 
the essayist, for its mayor, and possesses in the public library a copy of the essays with annotations from his 
own hand. It sent some of the most eloquent and virtuous members to the national assemblies during 
the Eevolution, who obtained the name of Girondists from that of the department. 

Libourne, in the neighbourhood, on the Dordogne, neatly built, was one of the Bastides or free towns, 
often called English towns, from having been founded chiefly by Edward I. A little lower down the valley 
of this river the battle was fought in 1453, in which the aged Lord Talbot, ' tlie Frenchman's only dread, 
their kingdom's terror,' while contending with a vastly superior force, was defeated and slain. The event 
led to the surrender of Bordeaux, and the expulsion of the English from Guienne. Perigumx, seated on 
the Me, produces the p^tes prized by gourmands, made of partridges and truffles. Agen, agreeably situated 
on the Garonne, surrounded with plum orchards, supplies Europe with their dried produce so well known 
under the name of prunes. Scaliger, the younger, renowned for his learning, was born here, with Palissy, 
an inventor in pottery, and Lacepede the naturalist. Gahors, on the river Lot, is conspicuous in the career 
of Henry of Navarre, for its surprise and capture by him after a very desperate resistance. It was once 
governed by prince-bishops, and possesses a beautiful cathedral. Montauhan, the largest town of the 
district after Bordeaux, contains 17,000 inhabitants, engaged in woollen and other manufactm-es. It has 
long been distinguished as one of the principal strongholds of Protestantism in France, and contains a 
Protestant college. From the banks of the Tarn on wliich it is situated, a wide rich plain extends to the 
foot of the Pyrenees, the snowy tops of which are seen on the southern horizon. 

The district once known as Gascony occupies the south-west corner of Erance (except 



GASCONT — BEAEN AND NAVABEB. 317 

tlio Book of the Basses Pyrenees), reacliing as far inland on its southern base as the 
Central Pyrenees. It embraces several tributaries of the Adour and the Garonne, has rich 
l^lains towards the mountains, but its princiiDal feature is the flat, strange, -wild, and 
melancholy-looking Landes — a region of furze, heather, -white sand, pine and fir trees, 
ooouijymg the sea-shore, with an interior breadth varying from narrow limits to an 
extension of from forty to fifty miles. This singular country is dotted with pools and 
streaked with ditches of stagnant water ; interspersed also at intervals with patches of 
barley and maize ; and towards the boundary-lines, its aspect is varied and improved by a 
sprinkling of alder-trees and acacias. Its animal tenants are flocks of ill-conditioned 
sheep, some black goats, and a few cows, shewing little more than skin and bone. Human 
habitations in this wilderness are few and far between, all of very primitive construction, 
mere skeletons, indeed little superior to the huts and wigwams of savage tribes. 

Mont-de-Sfarsan, head of the department of the Landes, enjoys some commerce, but is wholly unimportant. 
Ill the district the peasantry are shepherds, clad in sheepskins, or wearing woollen garbs of the coarsest kind. 
They exliibit an odd phase of life to the stranger, that of being moitnted on stilts when abroad, by which 
moans they stalk over the prickly bushes and drifting sands without inconvenience, and gain a sufficient 
elevation which enable them to overlook then- sheep at a distance. These stilt-walkers can, with little exertion, 
describe distances in the same time as a horse kept at a quick trot ; and by the aid of a long pole stuck in the 
ground as a support for the back, they can rest, knitting stockings the wliUe, for hours together. They are of 
diminutive stature, inferior intellect, endure severe privations, but are contented with their lot. ' France,' it 
has been said, ' may vibrate with revolution — the shepherds of the Landes feel no shock, take no heed, but 
pursue the daily life of their ancestors, perfectly happy in their ignorance, driving their sheep or notching 
their trees in the wilderness.' The timber and rosin of the pine-woods are valuable ; and large vacant spaces 
in the sandy waste have been planted by the government. Audi, on the Gers, flowing into the Garonne, is 
seated on the slopes of an eminence wliich commands a fine view of the Pyrenees. Tarbes, on the Adour, has 
13,000 inliabitants, and crowds of summer visitors passing on to the moimtains, which are in full view from 
the town. Bagneres-en-Bigorre, higher up on the river, at the base of noble peaks, is one of the principal 
Pyrenean w.itering-places, and nearly doubles its population in the visiting season, from the close of June to 
the end of September. The to^vn, very pleasmg in itself, is surrounded with luxuriant verdure and splendid 
scenery, and has hot saline waters, with a chalybeate spring in the vicinity, a rare occurrence in the district. 
Beautiful marbles, gi-een, flesh-coloured, and blood-red, are worked up into tables, chimney-pieces, vases, and 
other ornamental objects. Most of the females are employed in knitting useful and fancy articles for sale. 
BarSgcs, in a mountain valley, 4180 feet above the sea, is the loftiest of the Pyrenean bathing-places, the 
most celebrated for the curative virtue of its mineral springs, but is a very cheerless spot owing to the 
elevation. Upon the apjiroach of winter the greater portion of the inhabitants withdraw, and return in 
spruig to find their hor(ses deeply imbedded in snow from the avalanches. Southward, Mont Perdu rises to 
the height of 11,168 feet, and on the south-west, Vignemalle attains a nearly equal altitude. The material 
for ladies' dresses which bears the name of the place, tareges, is not made there, but in other towns of the 
department. 

Gascony, the ancient Vasconia, acquired the name from its inliabitants, the Vasques or Basques, a portion 
of whom, being driven out of Spain, were here subdued by the Franks. The habit of vain boasting, 
characteristic of the people, led to the term Gascon being employed in French to denote a braggart, whence 
gasconade, significant of extravagant speech, which has become a naturalised expression in our own language. 
Many anecdotes are current of this propensity. 'Ah,' said one, on being shewn the colonnade of the Louvre, 
' it 's not bad ; it resembles pretty closely the back part of the stables at my father's castle ! ' 

Beaen and JSTavaeee comprise the south-western angle of France between the river 
Adour, the Pyrenees, and the sea. It once constituted a small kingdom, the sovereign of 
which fought Ms way to the French throne, and became the ' Bon Eoi,' Henry IV. 

' A single field hath tamed the chance of war. 
Hurrah ! hurrah ! for Ivry, and Henry of Navarre.' 

The MveUe flows within its limits to the ocean ; the Gave-de-Pau passes by Orthez to 
join the Adour ; the Bidassoa forms part of the frontier from Spain ; aU streams which 
were the scenes of severe fighting and masterly strategy in the campaigns of "WeUing-ton. 

Pau, formerly a seat of royalty, is now a small town, very splendidly situated on the wooded banks of the 
Gave, with some of the grandest masses and highest peaks of the mountain-chain contiguous to it. The dry 
mild climate renders it a favourite winter residence with invalids. It is distinguished as the birthplace of 
Henry IV., and of Bemadotte, king of Sweden. The foi-mer, a prmce of the younger line of the Bourbons, 



318 FRANCE. 

was bom in the castle, which remains at present the principal biiildrng. The latter, the son of a poor 
tradesman, began life in a moan house of an obscure street. Of these two natives, by a curious 
coincidence, Henry recanted Protestantism and became a Catholic in order to gain a crown, while Bemadotte 
renounced Catholicism, and became a Protestant, with the same object in view. The two bathing 
establisliments of Eaus-Bonnes and Eaux-Chaudes, small but fashionable, nestle near each other in the lap of 
the moimtains, about twenty-five miles to the south of Pau. They have hot sulphureous waters, and aro 
frequented by many visitors from Spain. The thermal springs of the Pyrenees issue generally near the 
junction of primitive rooks with secondary formations. They were knoivn to the Romans and used by them. 
Bayonne, a seaport on tlie left bank of the Adour, near its mouth, contains a population of 19,000, including 
a suburb on the opposite side of the river, in the department of the Landes, where there is a large number of 
Jews. It is very strongly fortified, commanding the western passes across the mountains into Spain, and has 
considerable commerce with that country in the import of wool. A military weapon, the bayonet, obtained 
its name from Bayonne, where.it was first made by the armourers. But the idea originated with some 
Basque soldiers, wlio, in an action with the Spaniards, when their ammunition was spent, used their long 
knives thrust into the barrels of their muskets. Biarritz, five miles distant, directly on the coast, not long 
ago an insignificant hamlet, wliich no wheeled vehicle had ever reached owing to the sand-hills, has now its 
beaten highway, first-class hotels, and Villa Eugenie, as the marine retreat of the imperial court. French, 
Spanish, EngUsh, German, and Russian families are in residence during the season. The place has naturally 
neither trees nor gi'ass ; but it lias the charm of seclusion, a smooth sandy beach, and a delightful climate, as 
the sea-breeze constantly modifies the summer heat. Chalk-clifis overlook a vast range of the ocean, and 
rocks project far out to sea from the shore, against which the waves dash with magnificent effect. 

Foix and Eousillon are two small provinces ■whicli divided tlie country between them 
at tlie base of the eastern division of the Pyrenees. The former was feudally held by a 
chivabic line of nobles from the middle of the eleventh to the beginning of the sixteenth 
century. The latter was long a possession of the kings of Arragon. Prom the slope of 
the mountains the Arifege flows northerly to join the Garonne, and the Tet eastwardly to 
enter the Mediterranean. 

Foix^ on the first-named river, a very small place, with ironworks in the vicinity, retains the castellated 
stronghold of its counts, picturesquely seated on an isolated rock, three towers of which are well preserved. 
Gaston de Foix, the third of the race, called, on account of the beauty of his person, Pluebus, distinguished 
himself in the war of the Jacgii&rie, an insurrection of the peasants. He was inordinately attached to the 
chase, and is said to have kept 1600 dogs. He also wrote a work on the subject, entitled Miroir de PMbus 
des dediiitz de la Chasse des Bestes Sauraigcs et des Oyseaulx de Proye, which was very popular in the 
sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. He likewise entertained Froissart, and supplied him with materials 
for his chronicles. The last and most brilliant of tlie line, of the same name, triumphed against the Swiss, 
the Venetians, the Pope, and the Spaniards, acquired the title of the ' Thunderbolt of Italy,' and fell in the 
hour of victoiy at the great battle of Ravenna in 1512, when only twenty-three years of age. Perpignan, on 
the Tet, a few miles from the Mediterranean, of Spanish origin and structure, with 18,000 inhabitants, is 
only distinguished by a fortress of great strength, guarding the eastern passes of the Pyrenees. Arago, the 
celebrated astronomer, born in the neighbourhood, watched the great solar eclipse of 1842 from the citadel, 
witli a band of savans from Paris, 

The valley of the Ariege ascends the heights nearly to tlie crest of the main chain, which is crossed by a 
pass leading into the territory of Andorrc, in Spain, belonging to the basin of the Ebro, but a semi-independent 
district. It consists of three mountain valleys, the inhabitants of which have a republican form of 
government, and have enjoyed it since the days of Charlemagne. They are ecclesiastically subject to the 
Spanish Bishop of Urgel, but are under the protection of the sovereigns of France, to whom a small annual 
tribute is paid. Tlie little capital, Andorre, is a mere village ; the total population of the valleys is about 
8000 ; the area of the state amounts to 190 square miles ; the produce consists of wood and iron, wliicli the 
mountaineers exchange for corn and other necessaries of Ufe. 

The great plain of Languedoc, subject in the middle ages to the powerful Counts of 
Toulouse, extends from the borders of the Pyrenees to the volcanic region of Central 
Prance. It belongs chiefly to the basins of the Garonne and Ehone, but embraces the upper 
waters of the Lohe, and has a coast-line on the Mediterranean. Ifearly the whole 
district is higlily fertile, carefully cultivated and thickly peopled, abounding with corn- 
fields, orchards, vineyards, olive and midberry plantations. But the landscape is in many 
parts excessively monotonous, and in the heat of summer its aspect becomes perfectly arid. 
Every patch of green disappears, except where there is copious irrigation, while the 
shghtest breeze loads the atmosphere with dust, which besides distressing the wayfarer, 
covers every object with its duU uniform Hvery. 



i 



TOULOUSE. 319 

Toulouse (ancient Tulosa), a largo but not a handsome or interestins city, lies in a very flat country, 
occupying both banks of the Garonne, close to the junction of the Canal du Midi witli the river, and contains 
a population of 91,000. It is the centre of extensive provincial trade, has large steel-works, a cairnon 
foundry, manufactures of ivoollen and other fabrics, with markets abundantly suppUed with rich fruits, 
bearing witness to the fertility of the neighbourhood. Toulouse has a national court, a tribunal of 
commerce, a school of artillery, a famous academy of 'floral games,' and a great variety of educational 
institutions. In the immediate environs, within view of the inhabitants, the severely-contested battle 
between ; "Wellington and Soult was fought, April 10, 1814. An obelisk of brick on the field 
commemorates those who fell on the French side. Colonel Forbes has also a monument on the site, and 
several tablets bearing English names are in the Protestant church of the city. OettCj an enterprising to\^TX 
and poii: of the Mediterranean, is the shipping place for the produce of Languedoc, coimected with the Canal 
du Midi, which was constructed for the purpose of bringing it down to the sea. This great work, 150 miles 
in length, was commenced in 1666, nearly a century before any similar design was entertained in England, 
and executed in less than twenty years. A railway now mns nearly parallel with it, passing Carcassonne, 



TvSfy 



^1#* 








La Puy. 

a busy clothing town, with a tall church-tower on the meridian of the Paris Obsei'vatory, about midway. 
Balers and Narhonne are also on the railway, but in the maritime district. The latter, one of the earliest 
Roman colonies planted in Gaul, of great renown in history, has no ancient remains of consequence or 
appearance answering to its former importance. It is now celebrated for its honey. Slontpelier, five miles 
from the sea, but artificially connected with it, contains 39,600 inhabitants, and long attracted invalids to a 
residence by the fame of its position and climate, advantages which were exaggerated. It has fine featui-es 
in the suburbs and walks, various literary and scientific establishments containing objects of interest, but is 
essentially a manufacturing town, specially excelling in the preparation of chemicals. Large ornamental 
houses and wide streets have risen up towards the railway-station. 



320 FRANCE. 

Nimes, further inland on the nortli-east, contains a population of 50,000, and is actively commercial, 
producing silk and cotton goods, possessing also print and dye works, and trading in the oil and wine produce 
of Languedoc. It has a cathedral, and fifteen chm'ches, and a fine library. But the prime feature of 
the city is the number and extent of its remains of antiquity, as the Nemausus of the Eomans. They 
include a large amphitheatre in which bull-fights have recently been held, a Grecian temple in very 
pure style, ruins of a Nymphsemu connected with adjoining baths, two of the original Eoman gates, 
and the Pont du Gard, a magnificent aqueduct of three tiers of arches spanning a rocky valley in 
the neighbourhood, which conveyed the water of two springs to the ancient citizens. M. Guizot the 
statesman was bom at Nimes, where his father was guillotined during the Kevolution. M. Linant, 
the astronomer, another native, gave the old name of his birthplace, Nemausus, to the fifty-second 
minor planet, which he discovered, January 22, 1858. About fourteen miles to the eastward, the charming 
picturesque town of Beaucaire occupies the right bank- of the Elione, here crossed by two new beautiful 
bridges, one for the railway, the other for general trafiic. The river-side is the site of an annual fair, stUl one 
of the-largest in Europe, though declining. It is held between the 1st and the 28th of July, when it 
terminates at midniglit ; and assembles an average number of 80,000 persons, who mostly occupy a iovm of 
wood and canvas put up for the occasion. Ai'menians arrive from the Levant, and Moors from Africa. 
Among the still more inland places, Annonay is in repute all over France for its paper ; and Le Puy is 
remarkable for its position. It occupies the base and slope of a volcanic rock, the summit of which has a 
tabular mass of the same material, cro^vned by the ruins of an old castle, and surmounted since 1860 by a 
colossal bronze statue of the Virgin, 50 feet high. This was presented by the Emperor, made out of 213 
cannon taken at Sebastopol. ' Our Lady of Puy ' has been famous for ages, represented by a reputed 
wonder-working image in the cathedral, of small statm-e and negro complexion, destroyed at the Eevolution, 
but since replaced. liings and popes were once devotees at the shrme, and the peasantry still make 
pdgrunages. Another isolated volcanic rock rises up to a great height above the houses, and gives the name 
of L'AiguUle to the suburb from its needle shape. 

PEOVEisrcE, of whicli the old TroulDadours sung as a kind of terrestrial paradise, desig- 
nated the extreme soutli-eastern section of the country. It may he defined as ranging 
along the coast of the Mediterranean from the Elione to the old Italian frontier, 
extending inland high up the course of the Durance, a turbulent and fickle feeder of the 
great river, dependent upon the snows of the Cottian Alps. After the fall of the Eoman 
empire, this district Avas subject, first to the Kings of Aries, then to the Counts of 
Provence, ■who patronised literature, and gave occasion to the term Provengal being 
applied to the entire dialect of Southern Prance. A large part of the area is exposed to 
the climatic disadvantage of scorching heat alternating in summer with the bitterly cold, 
dry, stormy breath of the mistral, or north-west wind, never more violently experienced 
at Marseille and in the Ehone valley than in 1863. But protected by a chain of hiUs 
from the unkindly visitor, while open to the sea-breeze, the climate of the coast region 
eastward of Toulon is peculiarly delightful throughout the year, and its vegetable produc- 
tions are richly luxuriant, while tropical iir their character. This portion of the surface, 
which includes nearly the whole department of Var, is a natural garden, to which the 
eulogies of the Troubadours wiU apply. As a strilcing contrast, on the opposite side of 
the province, the railway from Aries to Marseille crosses for about fifteen miles the 
singular stony desert of Le Crau, a plain covered with rounded pebbles, some of which 
are as large as a man's head, but of all sizes less, while the sliingle of the searbeaeh is 
scarcely more destitute of vegetation. 

Marseille, the principal seaport of France, and its third city in poinilation (219,000), is situated at the 
comer of a bay of the Mediterranean, -with some little islets in front, 410 miles in a du-ect line, and 530 
miles by railway south-south-east of Paris. Its history dates from the sLxth century before the Christian era, 
when it was founded by a colony of Phocffians, with the name of Massalia (Lat. Massilia), wliich became one 
of the most opulent and literary cities of the Eoman empire. No ancient buildings remain, nor any 
vestiges of them. Eecent erections and transformations, stUl in progress, have also effaced much of its 
aspect in comparatively late times, and ally the place with the present age. It has a natural and an 
artificial harbour, the former, an inlet of the sea running eastward into the heart of the city, the latter, 
named La Joliette, formed by a detached breakwater 1224 yards long, running seaward parallel to 
the shore at the distance of 1312 feet from it; a tim-d, named after the present emperor, is in pro- 
cess of construction. The old town has narrow streets and liigh piled houses, and quays lined with 
blocks of handsome houses, on which passengers appear in very varied costumes; cafes which rival 
those of the capital in splendouj; ; a new exchange, with arrangements similar to those of the 



MARSEILLE. 



321 



Paris Bourse ; a new catliedi'al in tlio Italian style ; a Prado which is three miles long by the shore ; 
and is enclosed by liills, sprinkled with country-houses, called Bastides, of which there are about 
9000 in the vicinity, overlooking the city, the port, the curving coast, and the deeply blue waters 
of tlio MeditoiTancan. Marseille has sclioo!;: of hydrography, medicine, drawing, and music; five 




t. 01 u ^^-^ 

Port of Marseille. 

hospitals, an observatory, various learned societies, and institutions. An ample supply of fresh-water for 
domestic use, as well as for the irrigation of the vicinity, is brought from the Durance by a canal sixty 
miles long ; a stupendous work, commenced in 1830. Lines of steamers are established with the ports of 
Spain, Algeria, and Italy, and \vith Alexandria, Smyrna, and Constantinople. The manufactures are very 
various, and include perhaps most extensively the diverse articles of soap and steam-engines. In 1720, 
the plague raged at Marseille, and cut off half the population. The citizens welcomed the Ee volution with 
enthusiasm, of which the hymn of Eouget de Lisle, commonly known as the Marseillaise, is a lasting 
expression. A castle on one of the little isles off the port was the ijrison of Mirabeau, of the Didie of 
Orleans (EgaUte), and his yormger son. 

Toulon, thirty miles to the south-east, is seated on a spacious inlet protected by a ridge of bare heights, 
and is a first-class naval arsenal, being to France in relation to the Mediterranean what Brest is to the 
Atlantic, and Cherbourg to the English Channel. It possesses the best of the French dockyards, in which 
the labourers, who are convicts, generally number fiiE 6000. The town contains 47,000 inhabitants, exclusive 
of the garrison. It is surroimded by ramparts, ditches, and bastions, has a strong citadel, with forts and 
redoubts scattered over the heights. Napoleon I. first displayed his military genius at its siege by the 
republicans in' 1793, while a subordinate officer of artillery. Hyercs, in view of the sea, but three miles from 
it, marks the commencement of the garden of Provence, on proceeding eastward from Toulon. Tlie orange, 
fig, aloe, cactus, pistachio, pomegranate, cypress, and date-palm flourish in the open air ; and the mild winter 
climate attracts many from their northern homes to a residence through the season. 

Aix, eighteen nules north of Marseille, formerly the capital of Provence, is stiU a thriving town of 19,000 



322 



FEANCE. 



inhabitants, witli a trade in olive-oil, fruits, the produce of suri'ounding plantations, and warm mineral 
springs. It originated with the Eomans, and received the name of Aqucc Sextice, in allusion to the founder 
and its waters, of which the present name is a contraction. Here Marius, 102 B.C., annihilated in tattle 
two whole barbaric nations — the Teutones and Ambrones, and saved Italy from devastation and Rome from 
piUage. There are various antiquities of the period in the museum, and monuments remain of the middle 
ages, in wliich period Aix, under tlie Counts of Toidouse, was the literary capital of Southern France. The public 
library contains 100,000 volumes. Among many eminent natives, Toumefort and Adanson, the botanists, are 




Toulon. 

numbered, with Mignet, the historian. Aries, also inland, near the head of the delta of the Ehone, is like- 
wise of Eoman origin, and was once a very celebrated city. It retains many memorials of former greatness ; 
an amphitheatre larger than the one at Nimes, though not so well preserved ; it must have been capable 
of holding from 20,000 to 30,000 spectators ; a vast cemetery dating from pagan and used in early Chris- 
tian tunes; with numerous friezes, statues, altars, and sarcophagi in the museum. An archbishop of 
Aries consecrated St Augustine, who became the apostle of Christianity to the Anglo-Saxons. Its chief 
present distinction is the beauty of the women, well set oil by a picturesque costume. 

Tlie small territory of Avignon, once tlie property of the popes, and that of Oeangb, 
an independent principality, are hoth on the left bank of the Ehone, immediately above 
its junction with the Durance. Both are included in the single department of Vaucluse, 
but do not fill tip its area. The noble summit of Mont Ventoux, 6427 feet, an outpost 
of the Alps of Dauphine, covered with snow for half the year, is everywhere the con- 
spicuous object within its limits, from which, on a clear day, the distant Mediterranean 
is visible. The district is the principal seat of madder cultivation. 

Avignon, the capital of the papacy in the fourteenth century under seven pontiffs, is seated directly on the 
Ehone, with its cathedral on the top of a bluff rock (Eocher des Dons) rising up from the river. Tliough a 
shiTink city in comparison with its former state, it contains a population of 25,000, and is still distinguished by 
the numerous spires and bell-towers which led Eabelais to call it ' La Ville sonnante.' The palace of the 
popes, a vast and massive pile, half castle and halt convent, is pre-eminent over all other buildings, and 
whether seen from afar or near at hand, never fails to make a deep and lasting impression. It was com- 
menced under Benedict XII., and is now partly a prison and partly a barrack, sufficiently ample to 
accommodate a regiment. Avignon has manufactures of silk, tanning, &c., and a great trade in garden 
produce. The corn, wine, honey, olives, oranges, and lemons of the district are celebrated. Seventeen 
miles eastward is Vaucluse, a village, valley, and fountain, the scene of unnumbered pilgrunages in 
honour of Petrarch, who resided at the spot. A few miles up the river, the village of Eoquemaiu-e is 



DAUPHINE — GRENOBLE. 



323 



supposed to mark the point where Hannibal crossed, with his troops and elephants, on his way to Italy. 
Orange, a small and poor town, at a short distance from the stream, is remarkable for its monuments of 
Roman .architecture. A triumphal arch, covered with bas-reliefs, and built of a deeply yellow stone, is the 
best preserved, and may be seen from the railway. The petty principality, of which the town was for many 
centuries tlie head, eventually became the possession of the Nassau family, and originated the title of Prince 
of Orange, retained by the eldest son of the kings of Holland. 

Dauphine, formerly subject to the Counts of Vienne, extends from the Ehone to the 
Alps, and is a region of plains on the side of the river, but extensively Alpine in the 
opposite direction. It embraces the main part of the course of the Isfere, and the upper 
waters of the Durance. Exquisitely lovely valleys occur among the lower declivities of 
the mountains, with scenes of scarcely surpassed grandeur in the uplands ; but the more 
elevated have a sterile savage magnificence, and are clothed with glaciers. In the liigh 
valleys, where the bits of pasture are scarcely accessible to sheep, and in some seasons 
even rye wiU not ripen, are many Protestants, shepherds living in poor detached huts, 
or little clusters, snowed up in the winter, among whom Pastor Neff pursued liis pious 
labours. 




Grenoble. 

&renobU, the largest town, contains 26,000 inhabitants, engaged principally in the manufacture of leather 
gloves, in which women, .and also machinery, are employed. It is seated on both banks of the Isere, a fuU 
and rapid stream, in a superb neighbourhood. The palace of tlio old Dauphins is an object of interest ; and 
has in front a colossal statue of Bayard, the pride of chivalry, ' sans peur et sans reproohe,' who was born in 
a chateau higher up the river-valley, now in ruins. Grenoble was the first place of importance to which 



324 FEANCE. 

Napoleon repaired on his return from Elba, when the citizens and soldiers immediately declared for him. 
In the vicinity lies the Tillage of Chartreuse, from which the Carthusian monks derive their name, and where 
they originated. Vienne, on the Rhone, the capital of Dauphine, dating from the Koman times, is still a con- 
siderahle industrial town, with paper, cloth, and ii-onworks. But it is distinguished by many ancient remains, 
and of interest as an early scene of western Christianity, whose professors here were associated with those at 
Lyon in the great persecution of the second century. The ecclesiastical council which condemned the Order 
of the Templars in 1307 was held at Vienne. Valence, lower down the river, trades in the sparlding St Peray 
wine produced on the opposite bank of the stream. Gap, the bu-thplace of Farel, the reformer, and 
Embrmin, formerly visited by royal and plebeian pilgrims to an image of the Virgin, are small towns in the 
valley of the Durance. Brian(on, a first-class fortress, and the loftiest town in France, is on its head waters, 
at the height of 428S feet above the sea. Forts crown the adjoining rocks to a much greater altitude, and 
guard the pass into Italy by the Mont Genevre, forming a kind of inland Gibraltar. The winter here is long 
and rigorous. On the south-west- rise the peaks of Mont Pelvoux, the highest of which reaches to 13,468 feet, 
and is the loftiest summit in the great range between Mont Blanc and the Mediterranean. The department 
is hence appropriately named Hautes Alpes. 

The name, Dauphin, was a title of the Counts of Vienne which passed to their territory. It is derived 
from delphinus, dolphin, which they carried as their coat of arms. The origin of the insignia is quite 
unkno-\vn. Upon Count Humbert II. making a voluntary surrender of his domain to Philippe de Valois, he 
stipulated that it should be the appanage of the heir-apparent, the title of Dauphin going along with it. 
This was observed down to the Eevolution. The cession was made in consequence of the death of his only 
son while a chUd, who sprung from his nurse's arms, fell into the Isere, and was drowned. 

The newly-acquired district of Savoy, long incorporated with the Italian kingdom of 
Sardinia, is properly a portion of France hy geographical and ethnological relations. The 
position, surface, climate, people, and language have a much gTeater affinity to Gaul than 
to Italy. It Ues wholly on the northern side of the main Alpine chain, and extends 
from it to the Lake of Geneva, the Ehone, and Dauphin6. Within these limits the 
natives are generally of French extraction, speak the language ; and the entire drainage 
is conducted into France. The Isfere follows a devious course through the province 
from east to west, starting from the foot of the Little St Bernard. The Arve, child of 
the glaciers, born on the Col de Balme, intersects it in the same general direction, but 
makes a more direct cut to the Ehone, entering just below its emergence from the 
Genevan Lake, in the Swiss canton. On the eastern border rises Mont Blanc, the 
monarch-mountain of Europe, with several principal summits of the Graian and Cottian 
Alps to the southward, Mont Iseran, 13,274 feet, and Mont Conis, 11,460 feet. A pass 
adjoining the latter, long one of the most frequented routes between Savoy and Italy, 
culminates at the height of 6780 feet ; and at a neighbouriag site, the great railway- 
tunnel through the chain is in process of execution. The Savoyards are a hardy, frugal, 
and industrious race. Many wander far away to pick up earnings by music and shows in 
the streets of foreign cities, and then return to their native mountains. 

Chamberry, the principal town, the seat of an archbishop, is on the western side, nearly equidistant from 
Lyon and Geneva. It contains about 13,000 inhabitants, produces silk gauze, and is on the railway leading 
to the Mont Cenis tumiel. Annec}/, midway towards Geneva, on the shore of a considerable lake, though 
much smaller, is more industrial, with glass, cotton, and bleaching works ; and is said to be one of the oldest 
manufacturing sites in Europe. Ghamouni, a village, in a valley of the same name, is at the northern foot 
of Mont Blanc, 3150 feet above the sea. Few places so small are so widely known, as the pomt from which 
travellers of all countries start for the ascent of the momitain. Modane, a hamlet, about eighteen miles 
from Mont Cenis, marks the northern opening of the great tunnel, seen on the side of the mountain upwards 
of 300 feet above the ordinary road. Tliis vast work was authorised by the Sardinian legislature in 1857 at 
its sole expense, but since the cession of Savoy to France, a large portion of it wiU have to be borne by the 
French govermnent. The total length will be rather more than 7i miles, cut through extremely hard rock. 
It is expected to be completed ia the spring of 1875. At the beginning of 1863 there remained 6| miles of 
tunnelling to be accomplished ; but much time was necessarily spent in overcoming preliminary difficulties. 
Savoy was ceded to France by Sardinia in 1S61, in compensation for military services in the war with Austria 
in 1859. 

The principality of Nice, acquired at the same time from the Sardinian crown, lies on 
the Mediterranean, and occupies the sj^ace between its waters and the Maritime Alps. 
This cession advanced the French frontier from the river Var to the stream of the Eoya, 



CORSIOA — FOREIGN POSSESSIONS. 325 

wliicli descends from the moimtaiiis to tlio soa ; and the included tract was incorporated 
with tho old adjoining arrondissement of Grasse to form a new department. 

Nice (Ital. Nizza), a seaport, pleasantly situated'at the foot of an amphitheatre of hiUs, contains a population 
estimated at 38,000, engaged in tho manufacture of silk, oil, perfiunery, and other products, occupied also 
with visitors, of wliom tho great proportion aro English, attracted to it as a winter residence. It has a 
palace, a cathedral, convents, and hospitals, and various bath establishments. Its reputation for salubrity 
has, however, declined, as piercing blasts occasionally descend from tho snow-crowned Alps. Cassini, the 
astronomer, was a native, and so is Garibaldi — the hero, par excellence, of modem Italy. Mentone, east- 
ward on the coast, a small town, is rising into notice as preferable for invalids, being weE sheltered from 
cold winds, and open to the sea, with delightful scenery. Cannes, westward, is similarly distinguished. Its 
single street is tho centre of an English colony, some members of which, as Lord Brougham, have villas of 
their o^vn in tho vicinity. Close to tliis small port Napoleon landed on his return from Elba. In a littlo 
woody island off shore, the Man in the Iron Mask underwent part of his long imprisonment, in the reign of 
Louis XIV. Gfasse, nine miles inland from Cannes, receives from its nursery-grounds, and others, a vast 
quantity of aromatic herbs and odoriferous flowers for the supply of its perfume distilleries. More essences, 
scents, and pomades are said to be made here than in any other Eui'opean town except Paris. 

CoESiCA (Fr. Corse), an island in the western basin of the Mediterranean, is incor- 
porated with France as one of its departments, hut belongs to Italy by proximity and 
the descent of the people. It extends rather more than 100 miles from north to south, 
by about half the distance where the breadth is the greatest, and is traversed ia the line 
of its length by mountain-ranges, which attaia the height of 9068 feet in the porphyritic 
mass of the Monte Eotondo. Forests of oak, piue, beech, and chestnut largely clothe the 
smface, with brushwood of arbutus, cistus, oleander, and myrtle, while the orange, citron, 
vine, olive, and mulberry flourish in the cultivated districts. The woods have for ages 
been the liidiug-place of outlaws, or crrminals escaped from justice, adopting the life of 
brigands, a class not yet extiuct, and are ia certain parts numerously inhabited by the 
wild boar. On the higher poiuts the moufflon stiU exists, as well as ia the neighbouring 
island of Sardinia, but is not known elsewhere in Europe. The animal, a species of 
wild sheep, is supposed by some to be the original stock whence sprung the domesticated 
race. Nearly half the surface lies waste, and the low grounds are imhealthy from the 
prevalence of malaria. The island is rich in minerals, but they are not wrought. 

Ajaccio, the capital, with 12,000 inhabitants, founded by the Genoese, is pleasantly situated on a pro- 
montory of the west coast. Its great and only distinction is that of being the birthplace of the first 
Napoleon. He was born in a modest-looking house, not now inhabited, but indicated by an inscription, and 
m the care of a custodian. Bastia, the largest town, with 17,000 inhabitants, is on the north-east coast, at 
the commencement of the finger-like projection which forms the north extremity. It has a small but 
convenient harbour ; exports olive-oil, fruits, wine, fish, and the mineral produce of the island ; imports 
corn and general merchandise. 

In ancient times the Phrenicians and Eomans successively held the island. The Moors, German emperors, 
the Pisan and Genoese republics had possession of it in the middle ages. The latter retained it to the 
middle of the last century, when they were succeeded by the French, but for a short time afterwards it was 
in the hands of Great Britain. The islanders are an Italian race, and speak a dialect allied to the Sicilian. 

The foreign territories of France are distributed in every quarter of the globe, but with 
one or two exceptions, they are not singly of important extent or value. The African 
possessions consist of Algeria, settlements on the Senegal and dependencies, the island of 
Bourbon or E^union, in the Indian Ocean, the isles of St Mary, ISTosse-Be, and Mayotte, 
on the north-west of Madagascar ; the Asiatic, are Pondiclierry and various small districts 
on the coast of India, with a newly-acquired maritime part of Cochin Chiaaj the 
American, comprise French Guiana, the islands of Guadaloupe, Martinique, with depend- 
encies, in the West Indies, and the isles of St Pierre and MiquUon, near N'ewfoimdland ; 
and ia Oceania, the Marquesas, Society, Gambier, and WaUis groups, with 'Sew Caledonia. 

France, anciently called GaUia or Gaul by its Eoman conquerors, acquhed the pre- 
sent name from the Franks (perhaps ' freemen '), a confederation of Gei-manic tribes, who 
invaded the country in the 5th century after Christ. Their leader was called Merwig or 



326 FKANCE. 

Merova3ns, but the real foiinder of tlie Merovingian dynasty -was Clovis or CModwig (the 
modem German Ludwig and French Louis). The Merovingian dynasty ceased to rule 
ia 752, and was succeeded hy the Carlovingian, the most famous sovereigns, of which 
line were its founder Pepia le Bref, and his son Charlemagne; Charles Martel and 
Pepin. d'HeristaU, the predecessors of these two, belonged to the same family, and 
were virtually, but not formally, the rulers of the Prankish states ia GauL The Carlo- 
vingian gave way in 987 to the allied Capetian dynasty, founded by Hugo Capet, the 
most powerful nobleman of his day in Prance. This, in its turn, became extinct on the 
death of Charles IV., le Bel, in 1328, when the crown of Prance passed to his cousin 
Philip of Valois. The Valpis dynasty next became extinct in 1589 by the assassination 
of Henry III., who was succeeded by his brother-in-law Henry IV., the first of the 
Bourbons, who ruled uninterruptedly, with absolute power, down to the Eevolution, a 
period of exactly 200 years. That far-famed and terrible event, the Prench Eevolution, 
was largely caused by the profligate selfishness of the court, the clergy, and nobility. 
The present imperial constitution, dating from the year 1852, ratified by the popular vote, 
practically invests the emperor with supreme power in the direction of affairs, and has 
hitherto been associated with an unwonted measure of public prosperity. 

The population of Prance somewhat exceeds 37,000,000. It advances at a very slow 
rate, and has recently in some single years positively retrograded, the deaths having 
exceeded the births. The greatest number of large towns is in the northern half of the 
country, which is generally more populous than the southern. The Prench proper are a 
mixed race, partly Teutonic, but chiefly Celtic. They form the vast majority of the 
people, speak the Prench language, which is founded upon a Gallo-Eomanic idiom of the 
Latin tongue, and greatly modified by subsequent additions. It early branched into two 
characteristic dialects — the Prench spoken on the north of the Loire, or the Langue <X Oil, 
and the Eomance, or Langue cCOc, also called the Provencal. The latter dialect, though 
the vehicle of the joyous songs of the troubadours, was gradually supplanted by the 
former, as the northern power extended itseK into the provinces of Provence and 
Languedoc. Its decline was accelerated by the ban of the church, which proscribed the 
popular poetry for espousing the cause of liberty in the religious wars, especially in the 
crusade against the persecuted Albigenses. In the districts towards the Ehine and 
Belgium, there are a considerable number of Germans and Flemings using their respective 
native tongues, while the Bretons in Brittany, and the Basques adjoining the Pyrenees, 
offer other varieties of race and speech. The Jews form an aggregate of 156,000, and the 
resident PngHsh average 60,000. The great bulk of the people belong to the Eoman 
Cathohc Church, or 35,700,000, who are under the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of sixteen 
archbishops and sixty-five bishops, six of ivhom are cardinals appointed by the pope on 
the presentation of the emperor. There are about 1,500,000 Protestants of the Lutheran 
and Eeformed communions, the former chiefly in the north-eastern departments, and 
the latter in the southern. Their ministers are subject to some crippling restrictions, 
but are paid by the state and exempt from military service, like the Cathoho clergy and 
the Jewish rabbis. General instruction is promoted by coUegiate institutions, superior 
normal schools, and primary communal schools, the expenses of which are partly defrayed 
by public funds, and the remainder by the departments. They are rmder the direction 
of a special branch of the government, and regularly inspected ; but nevertheless great 
ignorance prevails, especially among the peasantry. The annals of Prench literature and 
science are adorned with numerous names brilliant in every branch. The people are 
temperate yet impulsive, patterns of courtesy in urban life, fond of pleasure, show, and 
spectacle, and passionately enamoured of military distinction. 




CHAPTEE II. 



ELGIUM is one of the youngest kingdoms and smallest countries 
of Europe, but second to none in point of industrial enterprise and 
social prosperity. It is also at the head of all ia the average of 
population to the area, so thickly studded with cities, towns, and 
villages, that a former master, Philip II. of Spain, remarked on 
passing through it, 'This is only one great town.' It occupies 
likewise a very conspicuous place in the military annals of the 
continent. The names of Antwerp, Ostend, and ISTamiu?, revive 
the memory of .famous sieges, while those of ,Oudenarde, 
EamUlies, Eontenoy, Eleurus, Jemappes, Ligny, Quatres Bras, 
and Waterloo, are indissolubly associated ia history with great battles. Owing to careful 
cultivation, and the oft blood-stained soil, Belgium has been aptly described as at 
once the ' garden ' and the ' cockpit ' of Europe. It lies on the North Sea, which forms 
the western boundary, and is enclosed by France on the south, Ehenish Prussia on the 




328 BELGIUM. 

east, and Holland on the north. The coast-line measures little more than forty miles ; 
the greatest extent of the surface, east and west, is only about 160 miles, by two-thirds of 
the distance north and south; and the area of 11,366 square miles falls short of being 
equal in area to twice the size of Yorkshire. The latitudinal limits are the parallels of 
49° 40' and 51° 30' north; the longitudinal are the meridians of 2° 33' and 6° 5' east. 
Yet though of such scant dimensions, the natural resources are very considerable, 
owing to intersecting navigable rivers, and varied mineral wealth, the value of which is 
extensively developed by the industry of the people. 

The greater part of the surface, especially the western and northern districts, is almost 
a dead level, very slightly raised above high-water mark, and in various places depressed 
below it. Artificial means are therefore adopted to guard against inundation from the 
rivers by banks and dykes along their channels, while sand-hiUs on the coast, piled by 
the winds, form a natural barrier against the encroachments of the sea. These bills or 
downs vary in breadth from one to three miles, rise to the height of fifty or sixty feet, 
and are largely clothed with pine-woods. Shallows, owing to sand-banks, extend to some 
distance from the shores, and render the navigation intricate and perilous. In the eastern 
and southern districts the surface is generally rugged, very wildly broken at intervals, but 
has no elevation above the height of 2000 feet. Barren moors occur in this direction, 
with extensive tracts of natural forest ; remnants of the old Forest of Ardennes stretching 
into France; and highly-beautiful scenery distinguishes the rirer-vaUeys, in which are 
limestone escarpments, caverns and other natural curiosities, side by side with evidences 
of high cultivation, and of mining and manufacturing activity. The two most important 
rivers, the Scheldt in the west, and the Meuse in the east, enter the country from the 
French territory, and flow through it northward into Holland. Within its limits, the 
former receives the Lys, Dender, and Eupel; the latter, the Sambre and the Ourthe. 
Antwerp, on the Scheldt, the principal port of Belgium, has no natural communication 
with the sea but by its channel, both banks of which are from thence to its mouth in 
the Dutch province of Zeeland, but the free navigation is guaranteed by treaty. The 
navigable rivers, lines of canals, and macadamised common roads, with a system of 
railways planned and executed by the government, supply means of internal commimi- 
cation perhaps cheaper and more convenient than are enjoyed in any other part of the 
world. 

The rugged portion of Belgium, the south and south-east, is the site of its mineral 
treasures, consisting of coal, iron, zinc, and lead, marble, building-stone, and slate, with 
alum and minor produce. More coal is annually raised than in any other part of the 
continent, and one-half of all the zinc used in Europe is furnished by Belgian mines. 
The coal-fields, two in number, are in the provinces of Hainault, Ifamur, and Liege, and 
have a united area of about 500 square miles. In 1857, the number of coal-pits was 
205, and the amount of coal 'put out' was 8,383,902 tons, valued at ', upwards of 
£4,000,000. Iron ore occurs in close proximity to the coal, but is not interstratified 
with it : the amount annually obtained is between one and two milli on tons. The coal- 
seams are very numerous, but generally thin, and have been subject to such violent 
derangement from disturbing causes — contorted in every possible manner — as to occasion 
peculiar difficulty in working them. AU mining and metaUuigical works are under a 
system of regular government inspection ; and their produce has now risen to an annual 
value of more than £10,000,000 sterling. While the working of metals is thus carried 
on in the south and east, woollen, lace, and linen manufactures are extensively conducted 
in the north and west, with those of cotton and silk in a more limited degree, agricultural 
occupations being more or less common in both districts. The soil is not naturally 



SOUTH BRABANT. 329 

fertile, as it consists largely of either sand or clay, and would have been a heath if left 
untouched by the hand of man. But by careful husbandry it has become singularly 
productive, and through a wide area of the surface, the summer landscape is that of a 
rich and beautiful garden. Little science, but much persevering industry, exhibited in 
the application of ordinary manures, and the employment of hand-labour, has contributed 
to this result. Max, celebrated for its superior quality, is a principal object of culti- 
vation ; the common cereals are raised in far larger quantity than is required for home 
consumption ; hops, chicory, and beet-root for sugar are grown, with woad and madder for 
dyes, and fields of clover are almost everywhere to be seen, the seed of which is exported 
to England. The system of small farming prevails, for the vast majority of the holdings 
consist of only a few acres, held by a class of peasant-farmers, who by application and 
frugality respectably maintain themselves and families, and invest their premises with 
an air of comfort. 

The country is distributed into nine provinces, which are subdivided into arrondisse- 
ments, communes, and cantons, after the French model. It was long held by the Spanish 
and Austrian monarchy, under the government of viceroys; then incorporated with France 
by the first ]S"apoleon ; next annexed to Holland as the south division of the kingdom of 
the Netherlands; and finally rendered by a revolution in 1831 a separate monarchy with 
liberal institutions. 

Provinces. Principal Towns. 



South Brabant, 
Antwerp, , 
East Flanders, 
West Hauders, . 
Hainault, . , 
Namur, . . 
Liege, 

Limbm-g (part of), 
Luxembourg (part of), 



Brussels, Louvain, Tirlemont, Vilvorde, Nivelles, 'Waterloo. 

Antwerp, Mechlin, Turnhout, Geel. 

Ghent, Lokeren, St Nicholas, Beveren, Alost, Termonde. 

Bruges, Ostend, Courtray, Ypres. 

Mons, Charleroi, Tournay, Fontenoy, Jemappes. 

Namur, Dinant. 

Liege, Heristal, Huy, Verviers, Spa. 

Hasselt, Tongres, St Trond. 

Arlon, Bouillon, St Hubert. 



South Brabant, a central division of the kingdom containing the metropolis, belongs 
to the basin of the Scheldt, but is not touched by the river itself, maintaining com- 
munication with It^ by several small tributaries and a canal. It is for the most part a 
highly-cultivated plain, but includes the old Forest of Soignies, about eight miles long by 
seven broad, a somewhat gloomy tract, on the skirts of which — 

' Where the woods receding from the road. 
Have left an open space on either hand 
For fields and gardens, and for man's abode, 
Stands Waterloo.' 

Bnissck, the capital, once styled the ' Queen of the Netherlands,' is a very beautiful stone-built city, 
with claims to be considered a kind of Paris in miniature, from which it is 150 mOes distant, and 8S 
from Ostend. It occupies both banks of the Senne, a small river which ultimately finds its way to the 
Scheldt ; and consists of a lower and an upper town, in the former of which Flemish and Walloon are 
spoken, in the latter, French. The lower town is on the plain through which the river flows, and is 
the ancient portion, the seat of the mercantile community, with some narrow thoroughfares, and 
many fine old buUdings, public and private, formerly belonging to the Brabant nobility. The upper is an 
extension of it on the slope and summit of a gentle eminence, almost entirely modern, the site of fashion, 
of the offices of goverimient, and the court end of the metropolis, containing the palaces. The park, 
on a small scale, immediately adjoins, with some noble trees, flowering shrubs, thickets, lawns, and 
ponds ; here the most severe fighting between the Dutch and the Belgians took place at the revolution. 
Li the lower town, the Cathedral of St Gudule, and the many-windowed Hotel de Ville, are the principal 
objects of attraction. The latter is one of i the grandest of the municipal palaces erected in the middle ages, 
in the Lombardo-Gothic style, surmounted by a tower and spire rising to the height of 364 feet, of very light 
and elegant workmanship. Li its great hall, in 1S55, Charles V. of Germany, surrounded by a splendid 
court, surrendered a portion of his dominions to his son. Brussels has almost lost the old and celebrated staple 



330 BELGIUM. 

industry, its carpet mamrfacture ; tut lace of the costliest description Is produced, printing and publishing are 
carried on upon a great scale, and the general trade is very extensive. Brussels has a university, founded 
in 1834, besides numerous educational, charitable, and benevolent institutions. It contains a population of 
177,000, which has long included a considerable number of resident English, attracted to the place by its 
agreeable aspect, the tone of society, and considerations of economy. The usual residence of the sovereign is 
at Lacken in the vicinity, a chateau celebrated as the place in which Napoleon signed his fatal declara- 
tion of war against Russia. The field of Waterloo, the scene of his final overthrow, is about nine miles 
distant from the city. Zouvain, sixteen miles east-north-east of Emssels, though still a considerable town, 
is only the shadow of what it was in the foiirteenth century, when it is said to have contained 200,000 
inhabitants and 4000 cloth manufactories, but retains, among other memorials of opulence and splendour, a 
Gothic town-hall remarkable for its ricUy-embellished masonry. The imiversity, once famed for its learning 
throughout Europe, which attracted thousands of students, is now a mere theological seminary for the 
education of candidates for the Eoman Catholic priesthood. Vilvordc, a small ancient town on the route 
from Brussels to MaUnes, -witnessed the martyrdom of Tindal, in 1536, the first English translator of the 
Bible, here strangled and burned as a heretic. A great penitentiary, visited by persons interested in cilniinal 
reform, occupies the site of his prison. 

The province of Antweep, directly on tlie north, embraces two extremely dissimilar 
districts. Westward, the surface has great luxuriance, and though perfectly flat, excites 
interest, from every little patch of ground being cultivated with the utmost care, while 
the homesteads are neat, and church-steeples appear rising up from the midst of clumps of 
trees. But eastward, stretching beyond the limits of the province, there is a region of 
striking sterility, called the Campine, consisting chiefly of barren sand, marsh, and peat- 
bog. In this natural waste some colonies are planted, consisting of free labourers paid by 
the government, and of convicts, employed in the work of reclamation, who have 
converted part of it into an oasis around their settlements. In this district a large 
number of insane persons are distribiited under the superintendence of heads of families. 

Antioirp, in French Anvers, formerly one of the wealthiest and most important mercantile marts of Europe, is 
still a large city, containing 114,000 inhabitants, defended by a strong citadel, and the chief emporium of Belgian 
commerce. It stands on the right bank of the Scheldt, sixty miles from the sea, and twenty-seven north of 
Brussels. The river, as broad as the Thames at Blackwall, has suflScient depth to allow of large vessels 
coming up to the quays, mth a tidal rise of twelve feet, and brackish water. Extensive docks, constructed 
by the direction of Napoleon, who wished to make Antwerp the rival of London, are convenient for the 
shipping in -svinter when large masses of ice descend the stream. The town is a somewhat bewildering maze 
of tortuous streets, abounding with quaint high houses of the olden time, adorned mth curious tracery, with 
which the picturesque dress of the peasant-women who come in on market-days well accords. Its Bourse 
with a central court and piazzas, frequented by merchants for centuries, is of interest from having been 
chosen by Sir Thomas Gresham as the model for the first Royal Exchange of London, in the reign of Queen 
Elizabeth. The cathedral, with a spire running up to the height of 446 feet, is a wonderful example of 
exquisite lightness and perfect symmetry. Napoleon compared it to a piece of Mechlin lace, and the emperor 
Charles V. of Germany remarked that it ought to be kept in a case. In the interior hangs the ' Descent 
from the Cross ' by Rubens, and other works of the great master, with which the whole civilised world is 
familiar by means of innumerable prints. Rubens lived and died at Antwerp. Teniers, Vandyke, Jordaens, and 
Quentin Matsys, were either natives or bom in the neighbourhood. Among other public institutions are 
the Academy of Sciences, the Academy of Painting and Sculpture, a medical and surgical school, a naval 
arsenal, museum, and zoological gardens. The prosperity of the city culminated in the sixteenth century. 
Its population was then perhaps double the present number, while thousands of vessels annually visited 
the port, and the merchants were princes. The persecutions of the Spaniards drove many aw.'y; its 
capture by the Duke of Parma in 1585, after a siege of fom'teen months, was a terrible blow ; and the closing 
of the Scheldt in favour of the Dutch by the Peace of "Westphalia, in 1648, completed its commercial ruin. 
The French cleared away the obstructions, and reopened the river ; and since the guarantee of free naviga- 
tion in 1831, with the establishment of the railway system, the fortunes of Antwerp have been in the 
ascending scale. Rlechlin, or MaUnes, a picturesque old Flemish city, with 33,000 inhabitants, is situated on 
both banks of the Dyle, an afduent of the Scheldt, and has long been well knmvn from the manufacture of the 
fine lace which bears its name. It is equidistant about fourteen miles from Antwerp, Brassels, and Louvain ; 
and is the central station of the Belgian railways. An obelisk marks the point where the several lines 
diverge. The city is the see of an archbishop, who is the primate of aU Belgium ; and has a cathedral, 
St Bomuald, remarkable for its size, covering nearly two acres, and for the height of its massive tower, loftier 
than the cross of St Paul's. The interior contains numerous fine pictures by Rubens and other artists. 

East Flandees, a north-west section of the country extending to the Dutch province 
of Zeeland, has the distinction of being the most densely-peopled section of the most 



WEST FLANDEES. 331 

populous European state in proportion to the area. It contains an average of 690 persons 
to tlio square mile ; and is distinguished both for its agricultural and manufacturing 
products. On passing through this district, cultivation meets the eye in every direction, 
and vUlages enclosed with trees appear in quick succession. 

Glicnt (Fr. Gand, 3?lem. Gend), in the centre of the province, is situated on a rich plain, at the jimction of 
two rivers, the Lys and Licve, witli the Scheldt. These streams so wind and interlace in passing through 
it as to form nearly thirty islands, "which are connected by not less than 270 bridges. It is the second 
city in the kingdom in population, 120,000, and, as tlie principal seat of the cotton manufacture, may be 
called ' tlio Manchester of Belgium.' It has iipwards of sixty cotton mills. Not a little strange does it 
appear to the English visitor to meet with factories moved by steam-power, and tall brick chimneys sending 
xip tlieir black smoke, in close association with Gothic civic buildings and churches of the middle ages. 
The manufacture, introduced ia. the early part of the present century by the importation of "workmen and 
machinery from England, has succeeded in a remarkablo manner. Floriculture is carried on to a great 
extent. In the environs of the to^^'n there are no fewer than 400 hot-houses. By the great canal which 
flows into the Scheldt, it is united with the sea, and it can receive into its docks vessels bearing eighteen feet 
of water. In the fourteenth century the artisans were chiefly clothiers, distinguished by their independent 
spirit, and also occasionally by their turbulence, sufficiently numerous to furnish an army of 50,000 men. Our 
Edward III. courted an alliance with them, and was a "visitor, with his queen, when his third son, who is 
commonly called after the town, John of Gaunt, was born. The emperor Charles V. was like"wise born at 
Ghent ; the compact of the provinces of the Netherlands against the tyranny of Spain, in 1578, was drawn 
up "\vithin its walls ; and here the treaty of peace was signed between Great Britain and the United States, 
after the brief war of 1814. One of its most curious featiures is the Beguinage, a little to-wn of itself, consisting 
of a square surrounded with houses, a church in the centre, with several streets, the whole of which are enclosed, 
and entered by a single gateway. The houses are inhabited by the Beguins, who officiate as sisters of charity, 
some of "whom are in possession of considerable wealth, but all wear the same livery. They are not strictly 
nuns, and not being bound by any vow, they may leave when they lil^e, contract marriage, and even return 
again in widowhood. Lokenn, St Nicholas, and Beveren, on the railway between Ghent and Antwerp, are 
manufacturing sites of considerable size, situated in the Pays de "Waes, a district scarcely to be surpassed for 
its garden-like aspect and productiveness. Tlie name refers to a -village. Alost, ' to the east,' is near the 
eastern frontier of the pro"rince, a cloth and hop mart, "with a collegiate church containing one of the best 
efforts of Rubens. The town is on the river Dender, which merges "with the Scheldt at Termonde, or 
Dendermonde, a name referring to the affluent, which Smollett made familiar by ' my uncle Toby's ' allusions 
to its siege. . Oudenarde, south by west of Ghent, figures in history as the scene of one of Marlborough's 
victories in 170S, gained chiefly by his o"wn prowess. 

West Flandeks, the only maritime province, is less fertile than its inland eastern 
neighbour, owing to the sand blown up in tempests from the sand-hills of the shore, and 
besprinlded upon its fields. But it shares the same careful husbandry by means of hand- 
tools, attention to the rotation of crops, and manuring the soil. Both districts produce 
large quantities of fl.as for the home linen and lace manufactures, and the foreign market. 
The best kind used in fabricating the finest Brussels lace is of very local gro"vrth, and is 
said "without exaggeration to be worth its weight in gold. Flanders has long been 
celebrated for a breed of strong horses for purposes of draught, which are reared for 
export. 

Bruges, eight miles from the coast, owes its name to the numerous bridges over the canals by which it is 
intersected, formed by the large commercial population it contained in long bygone times. Fonnerly travellers 
from Ostend reached the place by canal, as Southey teUs us : 

* Four horses, aided by the favouring breeze, 

Drew our gay vessel, slow, and sleek, and large. 

Crack goes the whip ; the steersman at his ease 

Directs the way, and steady went the barge. 

Ere evening closed, to Bruges thus we came.' 

The railway now cuts through a suburb. It is connected with the sea by the canals of Ghent, L'Ecluse, and 
Ostend. Bruges is surrounded by walls pierced by seven gates. In the fifteenth century, Bruges was one of 
the most famous cities of the Hanseatic League, visited by the merchants of Genoa and Venice, by Idngs and 
queens in their need. Though decayed, it still contains nearly a popiUation of 50,000, puts on a gay and animated 
appearance on fete-days, when the peasantry flock in from the neighbourhood, and has considerable lace manu- 
factures. Antique buildings are numerous; among which may be mentioned the to"wn-haU, with its lofty tower 
and celebrated set of forty-eight bells ; the churches are rich in works of art ; and historic memories invest the 
city "with interest. Here died John Van Eyck, the painter, "with whom oil painting as an art originated. The 



332 BELGIUM. 

invention of decimal arithmetic is ascribed to another inhabitant. Hero was buried CJharles the Bold, the 
last Duke of Burgundy, and his daughter, whose monuments remain in the Church of Notre Dame. Here 
resided for a time during his exile Charles II. of England, in a house of the Grande Place. Ostend, westward 
on the coast, is a strongly-fortified port, next in rank to Antwerp, and a summer watering-place, in possession 
of one of the finest marine parades in Europe. It is the western terminus of the canals and railways of the 
kingdom, the principal seat of its herring-fishery, and the mail-packet station for England. Its long defence 
against the Spaniards under Spinola, who besieged it for more than three years, from 1601 to 1604, is 
celebrated in liistory. Courtray, on the Lys, twenty-seven miles south-west of Ghent, has very extensive 
linen manufactures, and is known throughout Europe by its jiroducts. Lai'ge bleaching-grounds surroimd 
the town, and flax-growing is a principal object hi the neighbourhood. Ypres, a few miles distant, has the 
same industry; but it was carried on some centuries ago to a much greater extent than at present. The kind 
of linen made here received a distinctive name from that of the town, diaper, which is merely a corrupted 
form of d^Ypres. Jansen, who originated in the Romish Church the sect called after him Jansenists, was its 
bishop in the early part of the seventeenth century. His tomb is in the cathedral. 

Hainault, a province on tlie French border, derives its name from the river Hane, 
which flows through its western portion to joia the Scheldt, while the Sambre traverses 
the eastern side on its way to the Mense. A large part of the surface, on the north and 
west, is a fruitful level like the preceding districts. But hUls rise on the south and 
soirth-east, while a smoky atmosphere and roads black with coal-dust indicate the great 
mineral region of Belgium. Towards the frontier of France are the battle-iields of 
Fontenoy, Fleurus, and Jemappes ; and in that direction the towns are strongly fortified 
to guard against invasion. 

Mons, strongly fortified, with 26,000 inhabitants, is within ten miles of^ French ten-itory, surrounded with 
coal and iron mines and with many populous mining villages. Charleroi, much smaller, lying eastward on the 
Sambre, has the same features. Tourrmy, on the western side of the province, occupies both banks of the 
Scheldt, and has modern fortifications raised at great cost. It is a large town, an important seat of 
manufactures, where the so-called Brussels carpets are chiefly made, producing also fine porcelain. The 
cathedral, founded by one of the Merovingian sovereigns, is reputed to be the oldest in the country. Toumay 
is frequently mentioned in English history. It was taken by Henry VIII. ; and Perkin "Warbeck, the 
pretender of the previous reign, is said to have referred to it as his birthplace ; its name occurs also in the 
Marlborough wars. 

The j)rovince of Namue, further eastward, is a diversified district watered by the 
Meuse, which is here joined by the Sambre. The river-vaUey has many striking 
combinations of bold rock, wooded height, ruined stronghold, narrow gorge, with the 
flowing stream, which are specially deHghtfiil after the eye has been confined to views 
of the neighbouring levels. The vine is cultivated in the district, but produces only an 
indifferent wine. Its true wealth is not naturally open to observation, but lies deep 
below the surface, in the carboniferous strata and its accompaniments. 

Namur, beautifully situated at the junction of the two rivers, both of which are navigable, is defended 
by a citadel built on the su mm it of a commanding rock, and contains a population of 26,000. It is the 
Sheffield of the counti-y, producing cutlery goods and firearms, -with other hardwares ; possessing also 
glass-works and tanning establishments. Coal, iron, and lead mines, with marble quarries, are in the 
vicinity. The town is often mentioned in military history. Don John of Austria, the conqueror of the 
Turks in the naval battle of Lepanto, was buried here, having died in camp in the environs. It was taken 
by the French under Louis XIV. in person, in 1692, who strengthened the fortifications, and caused to be 
inscribed over one of the gates the sentence in Latin : ' It may be surrendered — ^it cannot be captured.' 
In less than three years it was retaken by the English tmder William HI., in the presence of the whole 
French army. Dinant, a little town higher up the river in a romantic situation, often visited owing to 
the attractions of the scenery, has its citadel, being within hail of France. 

The province of Liege, once a prince-bishopric, belongs to a lower part of the basin 
of the Meuse, which receives the Ouithe within its bounds. It is an equally picturesque 
district, embraces many wooded heights, parts of the old Forest of Aidennes, and includes 
some moorlands on which the heathcock is said to linger, its only asylum in continental 
Europe. 

The town of Liege is very finely seated at the junction of the Meuse with the Ourthe, surrounded with 
luUs and foKage. It occupies the third place after the capital in amount of population, 97,500, but has large 
villages in the immediate vicinity connected with the coal, iron, lead, and alum mines, the slate and marble 



LIEGE. 333 

quarries of the district. Busy streets, tall engine chimneys, volumes of smoke, dusky artisans and houses 
give it a peculiarly English appearance ; and from the extensive production of fireanns, it has heen styled 
the Birmingham of Belgium. It possesses one of the largest cannon foundries in Europe, belonging to the 
government ; but steam-engines, machinery, and almost all kinds of ironwork, are produced. The fireanns 
are extensively executed for Prussia and Germany ; and vast quantities of nails are sent into France and 
Holland. At Scraing, a few miles up the river, the palace of the old prince-bishops, greatly altered and 
enlarged, has become a machine-factory of the first class as to magnitude and workmanship, founded by an 
Englislmian. In the days of their greatness, the prelates ruled over 52 baronies, 18 walled cities or 
towns, 400 villages, and were able to maintain an army of SOOO men. But the Liegois were bold burghers ; 
and troubles were incessant till the conquest of the countiy by the French in the last century put an end 
to the incongruous ecclesiastical nde. In Sir "Walter Scott's Qucntm Diirioard graphic descriptions are 
given of revolts and contests in the fifteenth century, but without strict attention to historical accuracy. 




A Street in Liege. 

Tlie old episcopal palace still stands in the more ancient part of the town, and is now used as the prov-inci.il 
coiu't of justice. Immediately in front was tlie cathedral which the French republican forces utterly 
destroyed. A university of modern date occupies a handsome edifice, and possesses a museum rich in fossQs 
from the neighbourhood. Sir John Mandeville, the romancing EngUsli traveller of the middle ages, was 
buried in a convent without the walls. The village of Chaudefontaine, ' warm fomitain,' five mUes distant, 
is much visited in sunmier, having the attraction of mineral waters, and a beautiful situation. Hcristal, 
almost a suburb, inhabited by miners and artisans, contains a few remains of the castle in which Pepin was 
bom, tlie grandfather of Charlemagne. Hui/, a thriving to\^Ti strikingly placed on both banks of the Mouse, 
between Liege and Namur, commands the river by a strong citadel, wliioh crowns the top of a bold rock 
rising up from the water. It once possessed a convent founded by the famous preacher of the first cmsade, 
Peter the Hermit, in which he was interred. At a short distance resided William de la Marke, the "Wild 
Boar of the Ai'dennes, conspicuous in the romance of Qzientin Durward. Verviers, large and flourishing, on 
the Great Eastern Kailway leading to the Prussian territory, indicates its character as the Leeds of Belgium, 
by factories, dye-works, and acres of cloth hung up to dry. Spa, connected with the main line by a short 
branch, is distinguished for its chalybeate springs, in the town and the vicinity, the strongest in Europe, 



334 BELGIUM. 

being impregnated with carbonic acid. Besides attracting invalid visitors, the waters are extensively bottled 
for export. This was formerly one of the most fashionable watering-places on the continent, and enjoyed a 
kind of practical neutrality even in time of war, but easy access to the brunnens of Germany has caused its 
summer gatherings to decline, both in numbers and rank. 

LiMBUBG, part of an ancient ducliy, forms tlie nortli-east extremity of the kingdom, 
and is bordered in tliat direction by tbe remaining portion of it wliich. is attached to 
Holland. The district lies chiefly along the left bank of the Meuse, and has infertile 
features belongiag to the tract of the Campiae, before referred to, wliich it shares in 
common with the adjoining province of Antwerp. In other parts, the rearing of cattle 
and the cnlture of bees are prevailing industries. The old capital of the duchy, of the 
same name, now reduced to insignificance, towards the Prussian frontier, is included in 
the province of Liege. The towns are of very minor rank. 

Sasselt, on an affluent of the Scheldt, has distilleries and manufactures of linen, lace, and tobacco. 
Tonr/res, on a tributary of the Meuse, is of very ancient date, the name being derived from the Tungri, the 
first Germanic tribe who crossed the Ehine, and settled in the vicinity. A mineral spring described by 
Pliny as ferrughious stdl retains its properties. The church is reputed to have been the first north of the 
Alps which was dedicated to the Virgin. St Trond, the largest place, bears the name of the founder of 
a convent around which the town was gathered. Near it the men of Liege were signally defeated by Charles 
the Bold of Burgundy in 1467. 

LusEMBUKG, similarly a duchy, part of which is annexed to Holland — ^the king being 
Grand Duke — forms a south-eastern section of the country. The Belgian portion, by 
far the most extensive, yet thinly peopled, consists chiefly of the high grounds of the 
Ajdennes, wooded and jDastoral, on which a considerable number of horses are reared for 
the supply of the army and for export. Many sylvan scenes of great beauty are found 
in the woodland region, especially the tract around St Hubert, with which Shakspeare's 
' Forest of Arden ' is commonly identified, the scene of the fine comedy. As You Like It. 
The trees are chiefly of oak, many of which are of enormous size — 
' TVliose boughs are mossed with age. 

And high top bald with dry antiquity — 
"Wliose antique roots peep out 
Upon the brook that brawls along the wood.' 

Young plantations are raised by the government in the natural forest for. public 
purposes. Besides the valuable timber obtained, the oak-bark is sufiicient to supply the 
home tanneries, and leave a surplus for export to England. While deer are general, 
the wild boar and wolf lurk in the denser and more solitary glades. 

Avion, the head of the province, a small neat trading town, is only of local note as a grain mart. Bouillonj 
once the capital of a duchy, has historic distinction from its connection with the chivalrous crusader, 
Godfrey de Bouillon. After succeeding to the government of his patrimony in 1076, he moi-tgaged it to 
defray the expenses of his expedition, and was proclaimed Idng of Jerusalem upon its captiu'e. Euins of 
the ducal castle occupy a commanding height above the town. St Hubert, in a forest district, completely 
poverty-stricken, retains a Gothic abbey-church remarkable for its elaborate adornment. The name refers 
to the patron of hunting and sportsmen, who would not refrain from his pastime on Sundays or even Good- 
Friday, but reformed his maimers, founded the abbey, and became famous for sanctity. 

Belgium is supposed to have been originally occupied by Celtic inhabitants, but 
derives its name from the Eelgse, a Germanic tribe, who intruded upon the natives, 
reduced them to subjection, and extended their incursions to the southern shores of 
England. The present population, 4,782,000, is not homogeneous, but belongs to these 
two distinct stocks. In the northern provinces the people are of Germanic origin, 
therefore Belgians proper, formerly called Flemings, and the lower classes speak the 
Flemish language, which is merely a form of the Dutch. In the southern districts they 
are Walloons, of mixed Celtic extraction lilte the French, and use the Walloon tongue, 
which is precisely the same as the French of the thirteenth century. But pure French 
is uniformly the language of the government, of literature, of educated society, and is 



POPULAR AMUSEMENTS. 335 

generally understood except in remote rural situations ; while pure German is spoken 
in places adjoining the frontier of that country. Both races, though with little real 
sympathy between them, agree on various points. They are almost universally Eoman 
Catholics in religion, but all other sects are tolerated. They have generally a profound 
veneration for the clergy, and will devoutly observe rites and ceremonies in which the 
priests take part, which sm'prise the stranger by their extreme puerility. "While at no 
period eminent for literature, they have carried the fine arts to a high degree of 
perfection in the departments of painting and architecture. The artists of the early 
Flemish school, founded by Van Eyok, excelled in brilliancy of colouring and the 
faitlifiil imitation of nature, to which those of a later school, represented by Eubens, 
added nobleness of design, combined mth freedom of execution and harmony of parts. 
In architecture, the fine examples of Gothic are not confined to the churches, but 
include town-halls, with other civic buildings, and some private dwelling-houses raised 
by the opulent burghers of bygone times. All classes are distinguished by a passionate 
attachment to civil liberty; yet patriotism, owing to repeated change of masters, fluctuating 
territorial limits, and correspondences to bordering communities, can scarcely be said to 
exist, in the ordinary sense of the term. Local attachments refer to the town or viUage 
of birth rather than to the country. 

The popular fondness for spectacles has descended from very ancient times, and though 
not carried to the same extravagant length as formerly, the exhibitions on festival-days, 
sure to please the public, are not a little grotesque. A score of towns might be men- 
tioned familiar ^yith wicker-work giants and giantesses, which figure in processions on 
holidays ; and stilt-wallcers still appear in the streets of iffamur on occasions of general 
merriment, conducting themselves, however, more soberly than their predecessors a century 
ago. At carnival-time, in the preceding age, it was usual for the young men of the 
town to assemble in the square of St Eemigius, mounted on stilts. They formed them- 
selves into two battalions representing two distinct quarters, hoisted separate colours, red 
and white, gold and sand-yellow cockades, and had regular leaders. At a given signal, 
with drums and fifes playing, the armies joined battle, each striving to discomfit the 
other by crossing stilts and vigorous elbowing; but angry passions were frequently roused, 
leading to more violent modes of warfare, and the magistrates at last prohibited the 
display. Marshal Saxe, an eye-witness in 1748, affirmed that ' if two armies exhibited as 
much bravery at the moment of coming into collision as these young men did, it would 
no longer be a battle but a frightful butchery.' Peter the Great and Napoleon were 
severally treated with the spectacle. The last stilt-fight took place in honour of the entry 
of the Prince of Orange into Namur in 1814. A strong taste for music is universal; 
this is evinced by frequent assemblies of amateur performers, many of whom belong to 
the labouring-classes ; and by the chimes from the towers of the town-halls and the 
church-steeples, which are constantly pouring forth their notes on the passing breeze. 
In the great towns a salaried musical professor is retained to amuse the citizens daily by 
playing upon the bells. 




CHAPTEE III. 



THE NETHEBLANDS OR HOLLAND. 



OLLAND is the name commonly in use among us to denote 
'one of tiie most singular portions of tlie continent, an 
extensive portion of whicli is depressed below the level of the 
sea, occupied by a people who have bravely struggled to gain 
the ground beneath them from the waves, and are still com- 
pelled to maintain vast artificial ramparts to; preserve it from 
the threatening surge, while remarkable themselves for public 
spirit, commercial enterprise, and household thrift. This 
territory is naturally a continuation of Belgium, by which it 
is boimded on the south ; the JSTorth Sea washes the western 
and northern sides; eastward lie the dominions of Hanover 
»and Prussia. It has an extreme extent of about 160 
miles in a direct line from north to south, by 120 miles 
from east to west, and contains a superficial area of 12,600 miles, situated between 




338 HOLLAND. 

latitude 50° 43' and 53° 21' nortli, longitude 3° 24' and 7° 12' cast. These limits do not 
include Liixembuig, a completely isolated district, connected with, the crown, but a state 
of the Germanic Confederation. The coast-line of the country is interrupted at its south- 
west extremity hy the estuaries of the Scheldt and the Maas, the Dutch form of the 
French Meuse, which have a group of flat low islands in their channels, Walcheren, the 
two Bevelands, Tholen, Schouwen, Overflakkee, and Voorne. On the north occurs the 
deep indentation of the Zuyder Zee, or South Sea, so called to define its relative position 
to the !N"orth Sea. This is a hroad shallow expanse, with an islet chain running from off 
its mouth parallel to the main shore, consisting of Texel, Yheland, Ter ScheUing, and 
Ameland, sandy tracts, subject to changes of outline from the action of the billows. The 
north-east corner is marked by the smaller inlet of the Gulf of DoUart, the estuary of the 
Ems from Germany. N"o rock, hill, or natural forest, of any importance, appears in the 
interior. Though waters abound upon the surface, there are few examples of running 
streams except in the south, owing to the general flatness, while a considerable portion of 
the area is from twenty to thirty feet below the level of high tide. The distinctive 
names applied to the region refer to this peculiar conformation. The term HoUand 
signifies a low, concave, or hoUow tract, to wliich the Netherlands, Nederlanden, of the 
natives exactly corresponds in meaning, and which the French express by Les Pcajs Bos, 
or the Low Countries. 

In ancient accounts of the conntry, it is described as an extensive marsh diurnally 
submerged and abandoned by the tidal waters, with the exception of some shghtly 
elevated grounds susceptible of being occupied by man. "With astonishing energy the 
inhabitants maintained through successive centuries a contest with the floods, reclaimed 
lands from inundation, protected them by embankments ; and nature aided human 
industry in accomplishing the object, although occasionally defeating it. Broad sand- 
hills raised by the sea-winds along shore defend the low-lying interior where they exist 
from the invasion of the watery element ; and to prevent the drifting inland of their 
material, the sand-downs are planted with fir-trees and benty grass, the roots of which 
render the masses compact and fixed. Where natural agencies have not been favourable 
to the formation of such barriers, as on the coast of the Zuyder Zee and in the island pro- 
vince of Zeeland, artificial mounds or dykes guard the country. They are constructed of 
earth, sand, and clay, faced with willow boughs; are sometimes lined with masonry 
towards the base, while fringed to seaward with huge blocks of stone indiscriminately 
throAvn together, and further protected by piles driven into the ground, intended to break 
the force of the advancing waves. The quarries and forests of Iforway have contributed 
much of the material for these erections, some of which are of enormous magnitude. Both 
sides of the rivers are also extensively defended with the same bulwarks, as their beds are 
in many places above the general level of the surface ; in addition to which, the breaking 
up of the winter always brings with it the great danger of a sudden thaw and a high tide 
being conciu?rent events. The sea and the river-walls slope towards the water, form roads 
at the top, which are usually planted with double rows of trees, relieving the monotony of 
the landscape. All these protective works are under official superintendence with a view 
to their security ; watchmen are posted at every weak point when peril is anticipated ; 
labourers are in readiness to adopt measures to avert a disruption ; and if a dyke-break 
occurs, the thunder of cannon conveys the ominous intelligence to the neighbouring 
towns and villages. Whatever damage occurs, the people address themselves with 
invincible resolution to the task of making the necessary repairs, however great the cost. 
Hence, with good reason, one of the provinces adopted for its coat of arms the figure of a 
lion swimming, with the motto in Latin, ' I strive, and keep my head above water.' 



RIVERS OF HOLLAND. 339 

Many cliangos and calamities caused by the beleaguering floods mark the history of 

Holland— 

' A country that di'aws fifty feet of water. 
In which men live as in the hold of natm'c, 
And wlicn the sea does in upon them break, 
And drowns a province, does but spring a leak.' 

In the Eoman times, where the Zuyder Zee now roUs its waves, there was dry land, 
occupied by a lake, from wHch a river issued with a course of fifty miles to the sea. But 
in the thu-teentli century successive storms impelled the ' taU ocean ' against the coast 
which forced its way through a broad isthmus, obliterated the ancient lake, and converted 
it, with a large space of the surrounding country, into the existing expanse. In the year 
1421, a high tide raised by a violent tempest, and driven up the estuary of the Maas, 
ruptm-ed a dam, and occasioned a terrible inundation. Seventy-two villages were SAvept 
away; many thousands of the inhabitants perished; and the watery waste of the 
Biesbosch near Dort was formed, since recovered to some extent from submergence. 
Eepeated inroads of the sea in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries originated the great 
Lake of Haarlem, wliich took the place of meadows, gardens, and the populous village of 
Memvienlm-k. Upon the drainage of this lake by gigantic steam-power — an event of the 
present day — ^remains of the xmhappy village were found, with bones of the inhabitants. 
Several recent years have been eminently disastrous. In January 1861, during a thaw, 
the masses of ice brought down by the rivers from Germany blocked up then- channels, 
bm'st the dykes by their pressure, and laid the fields far and wide under water. The 
fertile district of Bommelerwaard, an island enclosed by the Waal and Maas, was the 
chief scene of the catastrophe. Sixteen villages were inundated, 18,000 persons were 
driven from their homes, and forty lost theu- lives. Some days afterwards severe frost 
returned, and the deluged country became a sea of ice, with houses, churches, and trees 
standing up above it at half their height. A skater entered the church of Gameren by 
one of the windows, passed over the pulpit, and made his exit by a window on the 
opposite side of the buUding. Occasionally in time of war, the people have cut the dams 
and opened the sluices in order to get rid of an enemy, upon the principle of choosing the 
lesser of two evils. This was done in 1574 when Leyden was reduced to extremity by 
the besieging Spaniards, and it compelled them to retire. 

The lower courses of the Scheldt and Maas, both from Belgium, but originating in 
France, Ue within the limits of Holland, with that of the Ehine from Prussia, all of which 
reach the North Sea on the west coast. The Scheldt enters the country at the head of its 
estuary, where it immediately divides into two principal branches which enclose the 
islands of South Beveland and Walcheren. The Maas crosses the frontier a short distance 
above Maestricht, receives large contributions from the Ehine, and separates towards its 
mouth into three great branches which encircle the islands of Overflakkee and Voorne. 
The Ehine passes the border 2000 feet wide, not far above the town of Arnheim, and 
rapidly imdergoes a remarkable reduction in its volume by the successive surrender of its 
waters. A large branch, the "Waal, flows from it westward and joins the Maas ; another, 
the Yssel, is next sent off northward to the Zuyder Zee ; a third division, the Lech, is 
then despatched to fall into the Maas above Eotterdam. The stream, retaining the name 
of the Old Ehine, but no longer entitled to be called the ' exulting and abounding river,' 
pursues its way to Utrecht, where a fourth bifurcation takes place, and the Vecht departs 
from it for an estuary of the Zuyder Zee. Sluggishly, with the aspect of a canal, it passes 
Leyden, and eight idles below, a wholly artificial channel, provided with sluices, enables 
the once mighty Ehiae to effect a passage to the sea, through the vast beds of sand which 
line the coast. Deprived of its natural outlet by a tempest which blocked it up, the 



340 HOLLAND. 

stream remained ■witliout one for nearly a thousand years, and was lost in the sands, or 
formed marshes, tiU engineering efforts at the beginning of the present century furnished 
the new water-course. 'No natural contrast can weU he more complete and striking than 
the one between the physical circumstances of the infant and the expiring Ehine — the 
Alps and glaciers in the one case — the sand-hills of the North Sea shore in the other. 
Tet it is interesting to note with an acute observer, that the two small populations at the 
two extremities, though far apart and in totally different external conditions, are morally 
and nationally very much alike. ' The Swiss,' observes Mr Laing, ' are the Dutchmen of 
the mountains. They are the same cold, unimaginative, money-seeking, yet vigorous, 
determined, energetic jieople as the Dutch at the mouths of the Ehine. In private 
household life the same order and cleanliness, attention to small things, plodding, 
persevering industry, and addiction to gain, predominate in the character of both ; and as 
citizens, the same reverence for law, and common sense, the same zeal for the public 
good, the same intense love of country, and, hidden under a phlegmatic exterior, the 
same capabiUty of great energy, and the same readiness to make sacrifices for it.' 

The surface of Holland is numerously sprinkled with lakes or meres, chiefly found in 
the more maritime districts, generally small and shallow, heuce favourable for drainage. 
In the course of the last two centuries a considerable number have been reclaimed for 
cultivation, or as pasture land, yielding rich crops of herbage, and are of high importance 
in husbandry. Upwards of 300 square miles have been added in this way to the extent of 
the productive area. The sites of the exhausted meres, called polders, are carefully dyked, 
being very low, in order to prevent the return of submergence, while the imdue accumula- 
tion of water by slow filtering is checked by hydraulic machinery, employed to raise it 
into adjoining canals. Wind-miUs supply the motive-power for this purpose, though 
steam-engines are partially in action, but from the want of coal it is not probable that 
the former, which at once arrest the attention of the stranger by their number and size, 
Avill speedily lose their prominence in the landscape. Yet it is not uncommon to meet 
with extensive polders, as lacustrine as ever, being completely under water, the remnants 
of some direful inundation which require lengthened and costly labour to remove. 
Canals constructed for drainage, and answering the general objects of intercommunication, 
intersect the coimtry in every direction, fringed on both sides with rows of poplars and 
willows. Being generally frozen over for a considerable time in winter, a great part of 
the population betake themselves to skating on them for business or pleasure. Provisions 
of various kinds are brought by women skaters from remote villages and hamlets to the 
markets of the towns, who attain great speed when the wind is in their favour. It is on 
record that two young females at Groningen compassed thirty miles in two hours. Long 
straight lines of canals, dykes, and rows of trees, with the interspersing wind-mills, 
compose much of the scenery, which rarely fails to interest the foreigner by its strange- 
ness to him ; and while very enjoyable luider a bright sky, with the vegetable profusion 
of summer bursting forth in its full glory, the mind acquires a sense of freedom, elevation, 
and elasticity, as the eye overlooks from one of the higher embankments the great 
surrounding level ranging to the far-distant horizon. 

The soil consists of the most recent marine and fluviatile deposits, yielding no economic 
mineral produce except potters-clay, brick-clay, fuUer's-earth, and peat for fuel. Owing 
to the large quantity of inland water, with complete exposure to the sea, and prevalent east 
winds in winter, the climate is remarkably humid and foggy, often severely cold through 
eight months of the year, while the four summer months are frequently intensely hot, and 
insalubrious to foreigners, from the exhalations of the marsh-lands. Being without natural 
woods, though plantations are by no means rare, the wild animals are whoUy unimportant ; 



SOIL AND PKODUCB. 341 

and tlie people depend for tlieir timber upon the produce of the forests of Germany 
brought down in enormous rafts by the Ehine. Aquatic plants are rendered numerous and 
varied by the abundant drains and meres, which foster the smaller reptiles, and invite 
aquatic birds ; the stork is a constant summer visitor, to be seen in all the towns and 
villages, where it is secured by law in the enjoyment of complete protection as a useful 
scavenger. Fish of various kinds abound on the coasts; and a considerable number of 
the maritime population engage in fisheries off shore, and also in the more distant , seas. 
Ship-building, distUlation, horticulture, pottery, the manufacture of toys, wooden clocks, 
and tobacco, are prevailing industries, but grazing husbandry and commerce are the main 
som-ces of the national wealth. Fine cattle sustained by rich meadows are extremely 
numerous; dairy produce is exported in enormous quantities; the import into Europe and 
other parts of the products of the Spice Islands — cloves, nutmegs, and mace— exclusively 
belongs to Holland ; and a large share of the carrying-trade in the productions of various 
countries is enjoyed by her merchants. The internal trade has long been carried on by 
the canals ; but the common roads running along the embankments are excellent ; and 
raUwaj's now connect the important places, and link the country with the great railway 
system of the continent. The famous ship-canal from Amsterdam to the Helder, designed 
to avoid the shallows of the Zuyder Zee, is nearly fifty miles in length. It was constructed 
at an immense expense, and of sufficient depth and breadth to carry the largest merchant- 
man, and admit of two frigates passing abreast. But it has not answered expectation. 
Besides being annually stopped by the ice for tliree months, accumulations of mud and 
aquatic plants render the passage of large vessels difficult and tedious ; and hence it has 
been gradually deserted by the deep-sea trade in favour of the channels to Eotterdam, 
siuce Antwerp ceased to be a Dutch port. 

Foreign oppression in its utmost rigour, with political vicissitudes of almost every 
diversity, have been experienced in this singular region, ■ while desperate struggles for 
independence have been witnessed within its limits, which were not made in vain, nor 
was the success abused. It formed part of the empire of Charles V. of Germany, and 
jaassed from him to his son Pliilip, becoming an appendage to the crown of Spain. Civil 
exactions followed intended to abridge liberty, and religious persecution to extirpate 
Protestantism, wer^ sustained by the presence of a powerful army to quell resistance. 
The Dutch, as the people are called, rose in arms under William of iTassau, Prince of 
Orange. The inhabitants of Holland, Zeeland, of the lordship of Utrecht, the northern 
portion of the duchy of Guelders, the county of Zutphen, the lordsliip of Overyssel, 
Groningen, and Friesland formed themselves into the Eepublic of the Seven United 
Provinces in 1579, and after a severe contest, gained the prize of freedom for which they 
fought, the Prince of Orange being placed at the head of the state as stadtholder, or guardian 
of the country. In the following century they rose to great national distinction, became 
the leading maritime and commercial power in Europe, acquired colonies, and raised 
fleets which contended with England for the supremacy on the narrow seas. Their 
influence declined, owing to the successful rivaby of other states. In 1747 the form of 
government became monarchical by the stadtholdership being declared hereditary. The 
French revolutionary armies poured in and established the Batavian Eepublic, after 
the name of an aboriginal tribe. In 1806 it was made a kingdom by Napoleon, and 
given to his brother Louis. It was incorporated with France in 1810 ; then con- 
nected with Belgium, and constituted into the Kingdom of the ]:>retherlands in 1815, 
an arrangement which subsisted till 1831, when the two became separate monarchies, 
the union being found utterly incompatible. The Dutch retained possession of aU the 
colonies. 



342 HOLLAND. 

Holland consists of eleven provinces, and has the Germanic duchy of Luxemhurg, 
held hy the sovereign as grand-dnke, associated with it, which gives him a vote ia the 
councils of the Germanic Confederation. 



Provinces, 
North HollancT, 
South Holland, 
Zeeland, , 
North Brabant, 
Utrecht, 
Gelderlaud, , 
Oreryssel, . 
Drehthe, . 
Friesland, . 
Groningen, 
Limburg, 
Luxemburg, 



Principal Towns. 
Amsterdam, Haarlem, Alkmaar, Saardam. 
The Hague, Eotterdaiu, Leyden, Dort, Delft. 
Middelburg, Flushing. 
Bois-le-Duc, Breda, Bergen-op-Zoom. 
Utrecht, Amersfort. 
Arnlieim, Nimeguen, Zutphen. 
ZyfoRe, Deventer, Kempen. 
Assel, Meppen. 
Leeuwarden, Harlingen. 
Groningen, Delfzyl. 
Maestricht, Euremonde, Vcnloo. 
Luxemburg. 



The foreign possessions are of considerable value. They include — ia Africa, settlements 
on the Guinea coast ; ia America, Dutch Guiana, the islands of Eustathius, Curagoa, and 
others in the West Indies; in Asia, parts of Sumatra, Java, the Celehes, part of the 
coast of Borneo, and Timor, with the Moluccas, Banca, and Ehiau, near Siagapore. 

The province of Koeth Holland is a peninsula projecting between the North Sea and 
the Zuyder Zee, terminating with a tongue of land not more than two miles broad, off 
which are the islands of Texel and Vlieland. The shore at this narrow point is defended 
from the inroads of the sea by the great dyke of the Helder, constructed entirely of blocks 
of Iforwegian granite, squared and smoothed like a pavement. It is six miles in length, 
forty feet broad at the top, along which a good road is carried, and has a slope to the sea 
of 200 feet, incHned at an angle of about 40°. The lowest tides are far from shewing 
the base, and the highest faU equally below the summit. Enormous buttresses project at 
intervals from the rampart for its protection. Sand-downs form the greater part of the 
west shore, one of the highest of which, Camperdown, is composed of extremely fine, pure, 
and white sand, used in the manufacture of glass. It overlooks the scene of the naval 
battle to which the name is given, ia which the Dutch were defeated by Admiral Duncan 
in 1797. The interior of the peninsula contains marshy districts, many small ponds, 
with lands rendered highly productive by drainage, as the site of the Haarlem Lake, 
drained by an EngHsh company, where more than 40,000 acres are now divided into 
farms imder tUlage or pastm'age. 

Amsterdam, the commercial capital of the kingdom, and its largest city, is seated on the southern side of an 
hilet of the Zuyder Zee, at the junction with it of the little river Amstel, in latitude 52° 22' north, longitude 
4° 53' east. The name refers to the position, properly Amsteldam, ' dam of the AmsteL' The site 
being naturally a morass, piles of wood have been driven to secure a foundation for the houses and buildings. 
This led Erasmus to remark on visiting it, ' that he was in a town where the inhabitants lived, like rooks, on 
the tops of trees.' The cuxumstance also induced the magistrates to lay a tax upon carriages, in order to 
restrict their use, uuder the idea that the movement of the wheels produced a dangerous concussion of the 
piles, but the regulation has been long rescinded, and seems to have been superfluous, as heavy goods are 
ahnost entirely transported along the canals. Still, the precaution pointed to a real danger, for dwellings 
now decline from the perpendiciJar, owing to the want of a firmer basis, and overloaded warehouses have 
sunk down below the general level from the same cause. The city was popularly said in former times to be 
buUt on herring-bones, as the fisheries then contributed largely to the immense wealth of the merchants. It 
forms a large semicu'cle, the curve of which is directed inland, while the straight side is on the sea-inlet, 
called the Y or Ij (pronoiuiced Eye), which is in places nearly a mile broad, and affords deep water iip 
to the quays. A rampart with bastions, now laid out in walks, and crowned with twenty-six wind-mills, 
describes the landward circuit. Interior to this, and running parallel with it, are three principal streets, 
of great breadth, and at least two miles long, each with a canal in the centre, between rows of trees. 
Imier streets and canals form the heart of the town, which is one of the most singular in Europe, once 
familiarly styled the Venice of the North, in allusion to its numerous water-courses, with the opulence 
and power of the citizens. The canals are said to cut up the ground into ninety-five distinct blocks or 



SAAEDAM — EOTTEEDAM. 343 

islands, connecteil with each other by 290 bridges. All the houses of the city are of brick, painted in various 
colours, with door-steps and pavements of stone, imported for the purpose; but the streets, except the three 
refciTod to, have an inferior appearance. The principal building, formerly called the Stadthouse, and occupied 
by the States-gcnerrJ, is now the palace of the sovereign during his temporaiy visits; it is a stone 
structure of vast dimensions and magnificent character, resting upon not less than 13,659 piles. The interior 
is adorned with a profusion of white and veined marble, of which many of the floors, walls, and doorways 
aro wholly composed ; and has one apartment, the grand haU, rarely equalled in size and splendour, which 
formed the waiting-room of those who attended the levees of the burgomasters. Besides the churches — 
one of which, called the Nmme Kerlc (New Church), is reckoned by the patriotic Dutch the finest ecclesias- 
tical stracture in Europe — towu-haU, exchange, and dockyard, the other pubho establishments include 
several Uterai-y and philosophical societies, a remarkable nmnber of benevolent institutions, a national 
picture-gallery, devoted cliiefly to productions of the Dutch school, and the recently-opened Fodor Museum, 
located in a handsome building. This last originated with a merchant of the same name, who, in 1860, 
bequeathed his valuable collection of works of art to the city, together with his residence and adjoining 
warehouses, on the condition of a suitable edifice being erected on the site. The chef-d'ceuvre is Scheffer's 
' Clu-istus Consolator,' piu-chascd at the sale of the Duchess of Orleans's collection, for £2100. Amsterdam 
contains a population of 263,000, dependent entirely for fresh water upon tanks supplied from the clouds, and 
water-barges which convey it from a distance. Another disadvantage is the offensive efSuvia from the canals 
in the heat of summer. 

Saardam, a ship-building town, occupies a site on the opposite shore of the Ai, and is conspicuous from afar 
by a long line of enormous wind-mills connected with it. The place has become vridely known from Peter the 
Great having made a short stay here, working in one of the building-yards. The cottage in which he resided 
is preserved with care, and has had many distinguished visitors. Broeclc, sunilarly situated, but a few miles 
inland, a mere village in size, has acquii'ed gi-eat notoriety as the cleanest place in the world. The houses are 
all bright with paint of gaudy colours, the little gardens are gay with flowers ; and paved alleys, not wide enough 
to admit a carriage, are the only streets, scrupulously kept clear of every unsightly speck. The interiors 
correspond with the exterior.'in pm'ity. It is a specimen of Dutch neatness and cleanliness carried to an 
extravagant excess. Haarlem, twelve miles west of the capiital, is, after it, the largest place in North 
Holland, containing 28,000 inliabitants. Bleach-works and various manufaotiu'es are carried on, but the 
principal trade is in flower seeds and bulbous roots, tulips and hyacinths, which are raised in extensive 
nursery-grounds, and sent to all parts of Europe. St Bavon's, the principal church, is famous for its organ, 
with 5000 pipes, 00 stops, and 4 rows of keys, built in the fifteenth centui-y, and, till a recent period, the 
largest of its kind. In the square adjoining, stands the statue of Coster, to whom the Dutch persist in ascribmg 
the invention of the art of printing. The town endured a seven months' siege from the Spaniards in 1573, 
remarkable for the resistance offered by the people, and the perfidy with which they were treated upon 
capitulating. A newspaper, the Courant, has existed since the year 1650. Alkmaar, on the line of the ship- 
canal, has the largest cheese market in the country, held weeldy, and is the scene of an amraal swan fair. 
Soorn, a decayed place on the Zuyder Zee, gave birth to the mariner Schouten, who first roimded Cape Horn, 
and so named it after his native town ; and to Tasman, who discovered Van Diemen's Land, now called after 
him, Tasmania. The large nets used in the herring-fishery were first constructed here. Hdder, an 
important port, is at tlie north extremity of the peninsula, with an artificial harbour, very strongly fortified, 
upon which Napoleon expended an immense sum, with the intention of making it a northern Gibraltar, but 
left the works imfinished. The channel between it and Texel Island is the principal entrance into the 
Zuyder Zee, and almost the only part of the coast which has deep water ; the accumulation of sand being 
prevented by the strong tidal current. 

South Holland, exolusively on the !N"ortli Sea, comprehends the country around the 
mouths of the Ehine and the Maas, which the latter river cuts up into the islands of 
Ysselmonde, Voorne, Overflakkee, and several others. It contains many important towns, 
nnd highly productive districts, and enjoys a large share of the national wealth and 
commerce. The surface has also some agreeable natural features, especially around the 
Hague, and from thence to Leyden, where almost the only reUcs remaining of the primeval 
forest are met with. Good roads, paved with bricks, besides the railway, traverse the 
woodland ; and occasionally a rope appears stretched from tree to tree at a considerable 
height over them, on which a lamp is suspended, sufficiently indicative of the handiwork 
of man. But the trees are left to grow according to their wiU, without the traiaing to 
which the Dutch are partial ; and pleasant glades are at hand of a thorouglily rustic 
character. 

Rotterdam, the second city of the kingdom, with a population of 111,400, stands on the north bank of 
the principal oxitlet of the Maas, about twenty miles from the sea, and forty miles south-south-west of 
Amsterdam ; its port receives the largest merchant-ships, whUe smaller vessels pass by canals into the 



344- HOLLAND. 

leading streets. It has also canal communication with most of the larger Dutch towns, and with Germany 
by the Ehine. It forms a triangle, the base line of which is on the river, a mile and a half in length. The 
open country lies on the one side beyond the stream, and a range of lofty houses occupies the other, with a 
row of fine trees in front, and a thoroughfare to which the misnomer of Boompjes, ' little trees,' is applied. 
The foreign commerce is veiy extensive as weU as the inland ti-afBc by the river. A bronze statue of 
Erasmus, a native of the city, stands in the principal market-place. The house in wliich he was born, 
indicated by an inscription, is now a shop for the sale of effei-vescing drinks. The house occupied for a tmie 
by Bayle, the author of the Dictionaiy, is also pointed out. Another dweUing has the ominous name of 
Duizend Vreescn, or 'Thousand Fears,' from the circumstance that dm-iiig a massacre by the Spanish soldiers 
the inmates saved their lives by stratagem. They slew the cats, sprinkled the blood at the entrance, and 
left the door open, vi'liich led the murderei-s who passed by to suppose they had been anticipated by their 
comrades in the work of death. The principal pubUo edifices are the Cathedral Church of St Laurence, the 
exchange, the town-hall, and the palace of justice. The chief prison of the Netherlands is here. Rotterdam 
never fails to interest the stranger, as it is commonly the place where a first acquaintance is made with 
Dutch scenes and usages. 

Schiedam, a few miles on the west, is the chief seat of the manufacture of the gin called Hollands. Dort, 
or Dardrecht, on the south-east, the rendezvous of the rafts of timber floated down from the Swiss and 
German forests by the rivers, has great historic distinction. It was the first gathering-place of the States- 
general, in 1572, after the declaration of independence ; and the scene of the ecclesiastical synod, in 1618, 
which, attended by some Anglican divines, condenmed the doctrines of Arminius. Gouda, on the north-east, 
is a large cheese-mart and tobacco-pipe manufactory, and has in its Church of St John many windows of 
painted glass, some of which are of very large size, and accounted the finest in Europe. Bridle, a little 
town on the island of Voorne, near the mouth of the Maas, is the fii-st place that comes into view on passing 
from the sea into the river. The name Uterally signifies a pair of spectacles, and means figm'atively, in 
allusion to its site, the outlook of Holland. It was the birthplace of the Admirals Van Tromp and De 
"^itt. Hellevoetsluys, on the south side of the island, is a fortified port and chief station of the navy, the 
place from wluch the Prince of Orange sailed to become William HI. of England by effecting the Eevolution 
of 1688. 

The Hague, three miles from the shore of the North Sea, is the political capital, the seat of the court, of 
the government, and the supreme judicial tribunals. It contains a popiJation of 82,600. The name is a con- 
traction of S' Gravenhagen, the ' Count's haugb or meadow,' in allusion to a seat at the place of the old 
counts of Holland. It has an air of elegance which does not belong to the other Dutch towns ; possesses 
handsome streets, houses, shops, and avenues of linden-trees ; contains a picture-gallery of unrivalled excellence 
in productions of the Dutch school ; and a museum located ia the same building, with apartments stored 
with valuables and curiosities from China and Japan. In one of the public offices are deposited the 
archives and state papers which have been preserved by the republican and regal governments of the 
counti-y for 400 years. The royal residence in the vicinity, 't Buis in 't Bosch, ' House in the 'Wood,' 
is a charming retreat ; but, indeed, the environs are quite covered with handsome villas. To Scheveningen, 
a large \Tllage on the neighbouruig coast, reached through a beautiful avenue of trees, the court and notables 
repair in summer for sea-batliing. William III. of England, and Huyghens the mathematician, were bom at 
the Hague. Delft, southward in the direction of Eotterdam, an antique and decayed-looking town, was 
formerly famous for its pottery, hence called ' deif,' a name once more familiar with English ears than at 
present ; but the manufacture is now unimportant. The churches have objects of interest in the tombs of 
the first Prince of Orange, assassinated in the town in 1584 ; of Grotius, a native ; and of Van Tromp, the 
victor in tliirty-tliree naval battles. Leyden (Fr. Leyde, the Lugdunum Batavoritm of the Romans, 
originally Luijkduin, from Luijl:, an ' end,' and dun, a ' hill ;' diu'ing the middle ages Lugduin or Leydis), 
northward on the railway to Haarlem, the literary capital of the kingdom, as the seat of a celebrated 
university, is situated on the canal-like channel of the Old Ehine, six miles from the sea. Though con- 
taining 37,000 inhabitants, it has little trade or commerce ; the streets are extremely dull and quiet, 
but have an unusual proportion of good houses, in harmony with its renown for eminent professors, grave 
jurists, and ponderous divines. The city is said to be the oldest in Holland, and in 16i0 had nearly thrice 
its present population. The story of its siege by the Spaniards in 157-1 is of romantic interest, find forms 
one of the brightest chapters in the annals of HoUand. It was closely beleaguered for several months, 
d-aring wliich no bread was seen through seven weeks, while horses, dogs, roots, and weeds were eagerly 
devoured. Pestilence was added to famine, but failed to subdue the determination of the citizens not to 
surrender. To reKeve them, the Prince of Orange ca-ased the dykes on the coast to be broken down, and laid 
the country under water. But it did not rise high enough to dislodge the enemy, or allow of the passage of 
boats laden with provisions. At last the wind changed. It blew from the North Sea, drove the water up 
the rivers, and while the great overflow carried destruction to the Spaniards, it transported food to the gates 
of Leyden. Tliis deliverance is still gratefully commemorated on its anniversary, the 3d of October. In 
reward for their heroism, the government ofTcrcd the inhabitants their choice of an exemption from all taxes 
for a stated period, or the foundation of a university, and much to their honour they chose the latter. The 
names of Grotius, Gomarus, Scaliger, Descartes, and Boerhaave occur in the list of its professors or scholars, 
with those of many of our countrymen, Evelyn, Goldsmith, and Fielding. It has an excellent botanical 



ZEELAND ARNHEIM. 345 

garden, and an unrivalled Japanese museum. The latter was not shewn to the Japanese ambassadors 
recently in Holland, as the objects had been obtained by merchants and consuls contrary to the laws of the 
country. 

Zeeland, 'sea-land,' according to the name, is an eminently maritime province in 
position, and has the waves rising high above a large portion of the surface at every tide. 
It embraces the islands iii the estuary of the Scheldt, and a portion of the mainland on 
the southern bank of the river, bordermg on Belgium. In the spring and autumnal 
months the insular sites are very unhealthy, especiaUy to strangers, oiving to the marsh 
fever, from which the English army suffered severely during the Ul-conducted expedition 
to "Walcheren in 1809, under the Earl of Chatham. The seaward side of that island, 
where a breach occurs in the line of sand-do^vns, is protected by one of the most 
stupendous of the dykes, 4700 yards long, and 30 feet high, the disruption of which 
would submerge the greater part of the province. It gave way in the year 1808 ; the sea 
poured in ; and the water rose in the streets of Middelburg to the roofs of the houses. 

Middelhw'Uj near the centre of "Walcheren, is a considerable town, to which, by a happy accident which 
befell a spectacle-maker, the invention of the telescope is traced. Flushing, on the south coast, a fortified 
port, has extensive docks and arsenals ; and with two forts on the opposite shore of the Scheldt commands 
the mouth of the river. The Admiral Do Euyter, who sailed up the Medway, burned the English fleet at 
Chatham, and alarmed London, in the reign of Charles II , was a native of the town. 

JSToETH Brabant, the largest province, is washed by the tidal waters of the Scheldt and 
Maas, but belongs cliiefly to the basin of the latter river. It forms the northern border 
of Belgium, and is principally distinguished by strong fortresses. Utrecht, the smallest 
province, has a coast-line on the Zuyder Zee, and a considerable portion of surface, which 
agreeably contrasts with the adjoining districts, in being slightly raised above their level. 
It is therefore devoted to tillage as well as pasturage, and further diversified with streams 
not requiring embankments, and with clumps of trees and copsewood. 

£ow-le-Duc, the French translation of the native S'ffertogeniosch, ' the Duke's TVood,' occupies the site of 
a hunting-seat of the old Dukes of Brabant, to which the name alludes. It is a fortified trading toT\'n, at the 
contiuence of two tributaries of the Maas, and has undergone several sieges. It possesses a cathedral, an 
academy of arts, an arsenal, &c., and has manufactures of various kinds. Breda, the scene of congresses, 
witli a military academy and arsenal, forms a fortress of the first class, which may be rendered inaccessible 
to an enemy, as the surrounding country admits of being laid under water. Bergen-op-Zoom, equally strong, 
fortified by Cohorn, is considered almost impregnable, and vras unsuccessfully besieged by the British in 1813. 
Utrecht, the fourth most important city of the kingdom, with a population of 55,500, stands on the Old 
PJiine, at the point ot the departure of the Vecht from the decayed stream, about 23 mUes south-east of 
Amsterdam. It has the advantage of a healthy site and beautiful environs, the grotmd being somewhat 
elevated, and the comitry well wooded with fine trees. It is the seat of a university, foimded in 1636, has 
ciiarming walks, and a church tower, from the summit of which, in clear weather, the eye may overlook 
nearly all the Netherlands. A Koman station existed at the spot, called Trajectus ad Rhenum, ' Pord on the 
Khine,' for which Ultra Trajcctum was substituted in the middle ages, the original of the present name. 
The city has been the scene of several important historical events. The compact of the states against Spain 
was here subscribed, as was the treaty which gave peace to Europe in 1713, hence styled the Treaty of 
Utrecht. Amersfort, on the north-east, deserves mention as the native place of the patriot Bameveldi, who, 
after a life spent in securing the independence of his country, fell a victim to the enmity of Prince Maui-ice, 
and was beheaded at the Hague in 1618, at the age of seventy-two. 

Gelderland and Overtssel, connected with the east coast of the Zuyder Zee, extend 
from it to the frontier of Germany, and are traversed by the Ehine, with its branches, 
the Waal and the Yssel. The former province is the finest part of HoUand, portions of 
which bear the name of the ' Dutch Paradise,' being studded with country-seats, parks, 
and gardens, while the eye is conscious that the rivers flow, and do not stagnate. 

Arnheim, the capital of Gelderland, is the largest town of the two districts, with 25,400 inhabitants, 
pleasantly placed on the Ehine, soon after it leaves Prussian territory, and enjoys a considerable river trade. 
Zutphen, on the Tssel, is enduringly associated with the memory of Sir Philip Sydney, who there received 
his death-wound in the battle of 15S6. Nimeguen, on the Waal, strongly defended, gives its name in history 
to the treaty of 1678 between Holland, France, and Spain, which was signed in the town-hall. Some distance 
below the town, the Waal bifurcates with the Maas before finally falling into it. They form together the 



34G HOLLAND. 

river-island o£ Bommel, at tlio -western end o£ wliioh stands tlie Castle of Loevestein, a site of celebrity. Tliis 
was the prison of Grotius for twenty months in 1019, where he wi'ots the greater part of his treatise Jus 
Belli et Pads. It was also the scene of his wife's devoted fidelity. She romantically effected his escape, 
aided by a trasty maid, by having hun conveyed away in a chest used for the transport of books, while she 
remained behind to conceal as long as possible his departure. ZioolU and Deventer, both flourishing towns 
in Overyssel, are associated with the widely-known Thomas-a-Kempis. In the latter he studied ; and in a 
convent near the former, he spent the greater part of his life, and died in 1471. 

Geoningen, Feiesland, and Debnthe, are tlie most northerly portions of the kingdom, 
the two former heing maritime, on the JSTorth Sea, and the latter wholly inland. The 
first-named province has excellent arable land under cultivation, but the general surface 
of the three is either sandy or marshy, very numerously sprinkled with lakes and ponds, 
around which are pasture-lands sustaining large numbers of horses and cattle. Extensive 
peat-beds occur, and as there is no coal nearer than the carboniferous basins of Belgium, 
the article is of high service as fuel in domestic economy. Some of the beds quiver 
perpetually, and hence the common saying, Het land leeft, 'the land is ahve.' The 
country being flat and low has to be guarded from the h'ruptions of the sea, and is inter- 
sected with a net-work of canals for drainage, serving also for traffic, as the ordinary roads 
are bad, and railways have not yet put in an appearance. The chronicles of Friesland 
are especially rife with calamities from the attacks of the stormy deep. It contains a 
monument without example in the kingdom, raised in honour of a Spanish governor near 
Harhngen, who introduced an improved method of constructing the sea-walls. The people 
are a Frisian race, fishermen on the shores, whose ancestors joined the Angles and Saxons 
in their migration to Britain, but have lost all distinctive characteristics by contact with 
their present neighbours. 

Gi'07iingen, a fortified and flourishing town of 36,000 inhabitants, the largest in the north-east of Holland, 
at some distance from the sea, communicates with it by a canal navigable by large vessels. It is the seat of 
a university founded in 1615, furnished ivith a good library, museum, and botanic garden. The market-place 
is the finest square in the whole kingdom, and the principal church has one of its highest towers, rising 
3i3 feet. Leeuwarden, the capital of Friesland, is a great canal centre, connected by a grand trunk with the 
Zuyder Zee, on the west, and the Gulf of DoUart on the east, passing by Groningen. It contains the tombs 
of the Princes of Orajige in one of the churches 

LiMBUEG, a long narrow tract traversed from south to north by the Maas, borders on 
North Brabant, but is chiefly enclosed by Prussian and Belgian ground. The grand 
duchy of Ltjxbmbueg, wholly isolated, lies on the MoseUe, which forms the eastern 
frontier, surrounded by Prussia, Belgium, and Prance. As a state of the Germanic 
Confederation, it gives the king of Holland three votes in the general council of the diet 
at Frankfort. 

Maestricht, the capital of Limburg, a town of 28,000 inhabitants and first-class fortress, lies on the left bank 
of the Maas, close to the Belgian frontier. Vast stone quarries perforate the liiU of the citadel, now 
called St Pierre, formerly Mons Bunnorum in memory of Attila, consisting of subterranean passages, which 
embrace a total length of many miles. In time of war, the inhabitants of the surrounding country have 
occupied them as a place of refuge, with their cattle. They are not fully known to any of the labourers, 
and inexperienced persons entermg alone would soon be bewildered in the labj'rinth. Among other fossils, 
have been found in these workings two heads of the gigantic Mosasaurus. Luxemburg, a small town on an 
affluent of the MoseUe, is one of the best fortified places in Eui'ope, with a gari'ison maintained by the 
Germanic Confederation. Strong by nature, it has been made additionally so by art, and is reckoned to be 
impregnable. The site has been compared to that of Jerusalem. A lower part of the town, on the margin 
of the Alsette, communicates with an upper by flights of steps and zigzag streets which are cut in the face 
of steeply-escarped rocks. 

The population of the Idugdom, 3,618,000, consists mainly of Hollanders or Dutch, a 
branch of the Germanic family speaking a dialect of the German language. More than 
a half of the number are Protestants of the Calvinistic Church, founded on the decrees of 
the Synod of Dort in 1618. The remainder are chiefly Eoman Catholics, though 
there are Lutherans, and other denominations, mth many Jews in the large towns. 



POPULATION. 347 

erinocially in Amsterdam. The national clergy are paid by the state, wliich. contributes 
also to tlio support of tlie ministers of ditFerent communions. They attend to tlie 
religious education of cliildren at stated times during the week, wliUe secular instruction 
is provided by the government. Many of the churches have four services on the Sunday, 
the first early in the morning ; and it is not uncommon for the officials to go round to 
receive offerings for the poor three times during a single service. Excellent elementary 
schools are established, in which the poorest are taught free, and only a small payment 
is requu'ed from those who are in better circumstances. The public treasury lilcewise 
sustains the three universities, Leyden, Utrecht, and Groningen, their order in point of 
importance. The system of forecasting the Weather is adopted by authority, based upon 
readings of the barometer, taken for every day of the year and every hour of the day, at 
Flushing, Maestricht, Groningen, and Helder. The first telegrapMo warning of a storm 
was given on the 1st of June 1860. French is spoken fluently by the upper classes, who 
are also generally proficient in English. Some knowledge of oitt mother-tongue is common 
with the middle and lower grades of the people; and after a little experience, the 
Englislrmau and the Dutchman, only accomplished in their native speech, may com- 
municate as to everyday wants without much difficulty, owing to similar forms of 
expression. ' Brood en Koekbakker,' ' Kofty en Thee te Koop,' inscriptions over shop- 
doors, cannot long remain a puzzle, though not quite so intelligible as ' Tabak, Snuif, en 
Sigaren.' 

The Dutch are intensely national, so much so as to be not a Httle vainglorious of 
moderate achievements among themselves. They are patterns of industry, frugality, 
and cleanliness; strongly attached to civil and religious liberty, exemplary in then- 
domestic relations, and extremely charitable to the poor; while of phlegmatic tem- 
perament, they are strongly prejudiced on behalf of rules and usages which found favour 
with their grandsiros, hence slow to admit improvements, and obstinate to excess. Perhaps 
not more than to most other mercantile nations are the hues of Canning applicable : 

' In matters of commerce, the fault of the Dutch 
Is giving too little, and asking too much.' 

They have excelled in the fine arts and various branches of learning, and been distinguished 
for their enterprise, but seem now deficient in genius and energy, and are not entitled to 
be considered one of the advancing nations. In jurisprudence and philology, the great 
names are Grotius, Heinsius, Leusden, SohreveHus, Burman, Gronovius ; in natural 
science, Huyghens, Boerhaave, Lecuwenhoeck, Camper, Swammerdam ; in criticism and 
theology, Erasmus, Arminius, Gomarus, Erpenius, Vitringa, Limborch ; in painting, 
Eembrandt, Teniers, Wouvermans, Vandervelde, Euysdael, and numerous others. WliUe 
customs are met with at every turn different to oiu- own, many provoke a smile by their 
oddity. A birth announced in the newspapers will often have the appendage of ' a 
prosperous delivery,' or a ' well-formed infant ;' and a death will be dolorously proclaimed 
by a newly-made widow's hand, with the record that ' Tabak, Snuif, en Sigaren ' continue 
to be sold. Of piquant appearance are the garden-houses of well-to-do traders in the 
suburbs of the towns, or those connected with the vUlas of wealthy rethed merchants, 
shining mth paints of divers hues, surrounded with trim hedges, closely-shaven grass- 
plots, and tidy flower-beds. Each has its motto in front, in painted or gUt letters, 
such as ' My Delight,' ' Beyond Expectation,' ' Eiu-al Felicity,' ' Our Contentment,' 
' Sweet SoHtude,' ' My Desire is Satisfied,' which serve to amuse the stranger, however 
disposed to question the taste of the proprietors. 




CHAPTEE lY. 



EEMANY, from the Latin Gevmania, is tlie Englisli name of the 
country which the natives call Deidschland, and tlie French 
\AUemagne. It occupies the central portions of Em-ope, is a region 
of high historic reno'svn and great political importance, embracing 
within its limits the principal possessions of two first-class powers, 
the Austrian and Prussian monarchies, ^rAh. several minor 
[kingdoms, and a multitude of states of subordinate rank, all 
' united in the bonds of a common confederation. The shores 

of the North Sea and the Baltic, with the Danish peninsida, 

form the northern boundary; the confines of Switzerland and Italy, with the head 
of the Adriatic, mark the southerly extent; France, Belgium, and Holland lie on 
the western frontier ; and from thence the country stretches to Prussian, Eussiau, and 



350 GERMANY. 

Austrian Poland, and to Hungary and Croatia. The territory tlius enclosed, lies between 
latitude 44° 50' and 54° 50' north, and between longitude 6° 20' and 20° 10' east. Its 
extreme length, north and south, amounts to 680 miles; the greatest breadth is 
somewhat less, or 615 miles; the circuit measures 2700 miles, of which only a 
comparatively small proportion is sea-coast; and the area contains 280,000 square miles. 
Complete uncertainty rests upon the origin and meaning of the classical denomination ; 
but it is conjectured by some to have been borrowed by the Romans from the Gauls, 
who denoted a loud cry by the word gairm, out of which the epithet might be formed in. 
allusion to the war-shout of the tribes, like the Homeric boeii agathos, ' good at the war- 
shout.' Another derivation gives to the term German the signification of 'war-man,' from 
gar, the root of the Erench guerre, and the Spanish guerra, ' war.' The AUemagne of the 
French is derived from the Alemanni, ' aU men,' a powerful confederacy of the populations 
who vigorously assailed the Eoman Empire, and were eventually mastered by the Franks. 
The first part of the native name, Deutschland, is formed from the old Gothic word 
thvuclisk or diuiisc, 'people,' referring to the popular tongue, and has its equivalent 
meaning in 'fatherland,' a favourite phrase with the present inhabitants. 

Three natural divisions may be recognised in this extensive territory, northern, central, 
and southern, differing in their superficial aspect. From the sea-margins on the north, 
extending to a distance inland, varying from 100 to 300 miles, the country is generally 
low and level, part of the great European plain. It consists of a series of sands, 
heaths, peat-moors, pine-woods, and small lakes, with cultivable tracts along the courses 
of the rivers ; and would be, to a large extent, almost a desert, were it not for the 
abundant rainfall and the industry of the people. Exposed to winds from the northern 
seas, the climate is humid and variable; fogs and storms are common; wMle the 
winters are persistently severe, deep snow covering the ground through three or four 
months of the season. 

The central region is beautifully diversified by hills, forming groups and ranges, some 
of which acquire the character of mountains, and enclose romantic valleys. They never 
fail to inspire the north Germans, accustomed to the wearisome monotony of nearly 
a dead level, with enthusiasm, though the general elevation is not considerable. The 
Harzgebirge, ' pine-resin mountains,' rise on the south of Hanover ; the Bohmerwald, or 
Bohemian Forest Chain, the Erzgebirge, ' ore mountains,' and the Eiesengebirge, 
' giant mountains,' wall in the basin-shaped valley of Bohemia ; the Thuringerwald over- 
spreads the Saxon duchies ; the Odenwald, continued southward by the Schwartzwald, 
or ' Black Forest,' forms the Rhenish highland system, running parallel to the course of the 
Rhine. These, and other elevated tracts, are sometimes collectively called the Hercynian 
Mountains, from the name of the immense forest, the Hercynia Silva of Tacitus, which 
once covered a large portion of the country, and was estimated by Ctesar at sixty days' 
journey in length, and nine in breadth. Schneekoppe, ' snow-cap,' the highest point, one 
of the summits of the Riesengebirge, over which passes the frontier line between Prussia 
and Austria, rises 5235 feet above the sea. Removed to a distance from the coast, while 
protected by hills from the sea-winds, the climate in Central Germany is much drier than 
in the northern division ; the sky is usually serene ; and the temperature less liable to 
sudden variations. 

The southern region embraces the high plateau or table-land of Bavaria, with the chains 
of the Ehfetian and ISTorio Alps in the background, which extend in enormous masses over 
the Tyrol and the other adjoining provinces of Austria. The elevation here checks the 
climatic effect of the southerly latitude ; and except in the close deep valleys and at great 
heights, where the opposite extremes of heat and cold are experienced, the temperature is 



EIVEB SYSTEMS OF GEEMANY. 351 

moderate. Germauy is thus in its conformation an ascent, by successive steps, from the 
low shifting sand-hills of the northern shores, to the snows and glaciers of the hi^h 
Alps. The loftiest summit is the Ortler Spitz, 12,850 feet ahove the sea, a magnificent 
momitain, close to the Italian and Swiss frontiers. It overlooks a house on the crest of 
the Stchdo Pass, occupied by the inspector of the road, at the elevation of more than 
9000 feet, the highest permanent human habitation and carriage-route in Europe ; and 
has at its northern base the ' Bears' Playground,' a level tract so called from the former 
frequent appearance of these animals at the spot, since rendered rare by the rifles of the 
Tyrolese. The peak of the Ortler was scaled for the first time in the year 1804 by 
three peasants, in consequence of a reward offered for the achievement by a member of 
the Austrian royal family. 

Pour sea-basins receive the superficial drainage of Germany. A small part finds its way, 
chiefly by the rapid Adige, southward from the Tyrol to the Adriatic ; a large proportion 
is carried eastward by the Danube to the Black Sea ; the greatest quantity is conducted 
northward by the Elbe, Weser, Ems, and Ehine, to the Iforth Sea, and by the Oder to 
the Baltic. Minute descriptions of the hydrography enumerate fifty navigable streams. 
The noble Danube intersects the country nearly from west to east. It descends from the 
slopes of the SohwaitziYald in Baden, passes by Uhn, 'Eatisbon, Passau, and Linz to Vienna, 
below which its waters quit the land of their birth. Within these limits, the important 
tributaries are the ILler, Lech, AltmuM, Isar, and Inn on the right bank; with the 
Wornitz, l!faab, and March or Morava, on the left. A rapid current, with many islands 
in the channel, dividing it into several branches — a flow through expanded vaUeys and 
deep defiles, between vine-clad MUs and forest-clothed mountains, villages and convents 
peeping up above the woods, and old castles crowning the heights — are features which 
distinguish the course of the stream, the finer scenes occurring at somewhat distant 
intervals. While the Danube is born in the country, the Ehine is received from 
Switzerland, and remains a border river from it and from Prance to some distance below 
Strasburg. It then separates the Palatinate from Baden, intersects Hesse-Daimstadt, 
flows by Mayence careeringly through a glorious gorge, to become wholly Prussian near 
Coblentz, passes Cologne mth a gradually relaxing pace to the frontier of Holland. Its 
principal affluents in the Germanic part of its course are the liTeckar and the Main on the 
right bank, the Moselle on the left. 

Prom source to mouth, the Elbe (Lat. Albis, i. e. the ' White Eiver ') is entnely 
German, and is the largest river answering to that condition. It is formed in. the central 
region, at the foot of Schneekoppe, on the north-eastern border of Bohemia, at the 
height of more than 4000 feet above the sea. After receiving the Moldan on the left 
bank, it escapes from the confined Bohemian basin, through a wild gorge in the enclosing 
mountains, descends to Dresden, and passes thence with a tranquil flow, through 
scenes of industry and fertility, by Magdeburg and Hamburg, to its embouchure 
at Cuxhaven. The stream has an expansion of more than ten miles at its mouth, 
and experiences there a tidal rise of twelve feet. In the early part of its course, 
while eflfecting the passage of the mountains, it flows between high battlements of 
sandstone rock, cut at intervals with smooth-waUed defiles, so deep and narrow as 
not to be reached by the direct sunbeams, forming the district commonly styled the 
Saxon Switzerland. While traversing the northern plain, it receives the Mulde and the 
Saale on the left bank, the Havel on the right. As an infant river, the Oder belongs 
to Austria, rising at the base of the Carpathians, but it speedily enters Prussia, and is 
confined to it, passing by Breslau and Prankfurt to Stettin, below which it forms one of 
the liaffs, or fresh-water expanses, which mark tihe shores of the Baltic. Having nearly 



352 GEEMANT. 

its whole course tlirough a gi'eat level, tlie stream is extensively capable of navigation, but 
tlie current is so feeble tbat a north wind wUl arrest its flow, and sometimes reverse it, by- 
driving the waters of the sea into the channel. The lakes of Germany have no important 
magnitude or points of interest, though extremely numerous in both the northern and 
southern, countries. 

The great northern plain consists of tertiary strata overlaid ■with very recent sand and 
mud, bespruilded ^vith erratic blocks. A very extensive area south of the Danube is also 
occupied by the same strata, but often highly altered by the intrusion of the granitic 
masses of the Alps, and elevated on the mountain-slopes. Secondary rocks compose 
the central region, from the Danube northwards to Hanover, dislocated, elevated, and 
modified in character by the intruded granite which forms the higher portions of the 
Harz, Erzgebirge, and Eeisengebirge. Basalts, trachytes, and other volcanic products, 
with numerous extinct craters, many of which are filled with pools, appear in the Eifel 
district, in the western division of Ehenish Prussia. Metals of almost every kind are 
obtained in abundance from the mountain-ranges ; and nowhere is mining conducted 
with greater economy and skill. The southern countries possess vast deposits of rock- 
salt. Four true carboniferous beds distinguish the central, with lignites of a more 
modern age, but except in a few places no considerable amount of coal is raised. 
Clays and earths used in arts and manufactures abound, and are articles of export, 
particularly the dull yellow limestone employed in lithography, of which nearly all 
the supply comes from Bavaria. Mineral springs occur in great numbers and remarkable 
variety, many of which have been visited from very early times for sanitary purposes. 
Woodland districts, often indicated by the word imld, ' wood,' as a terminal in their 
names, still answer to the denomination, as the Thuringerwald, Bohmerwald, and 
Schwartzwald, remnants of the old Hercynian forest. The common pine prevails in 
the north-east ; the oak, beech, and ash in the centre ; the Siberian pine, and larches of 
enormous dimensions, in the Alpine region. In most of the states, the large forests are 
the property of the government, and are under careful superintendence, the timber being 
of great commercial value in the foreign trade, while they are the main dependence at 
home of millions of people for fuel. The woods supply abundance of game for field- 
sports, commonly sheltering the ■wild boar, red deer, and wolf, with the black bear and 
lynx ill the high mountain districts. A small burrowing animal, the hamster, occurs 
in various parts in prodigious numbers, though an exterminating warfare is waged with 
it as a pest to the crops. 

Germany has been appropriately styled the labyrinth of geographers, owing to the 
number of its political divisions ; their diminutive size in many instances ; fragmentary 
character and involved distribution in others ; while several are connected with non- 
Germanic countries. It contains not less than thirty-four separate states, which form a 
confederation for the purpose of preserving the external and internal security of the 
country, with the independence and integrity of the component parts. They may be 
arranged in tliree groups, consisting of twelve northern, seventeen central, and five 
southern states. To the leading powers, Austria and Prussia, distinct chapters in this 
volume are devoted, while Holstein-Lauenbiu'g associated with Denmark, and Luxemburg 
mth Holland, are noticed in those connections. Their names are therefore simply 
inserted in the enumerations given. For the population of the minor states, see Tabb of 
Europe, p. 140. 



353 



I. NORTHERN STATES. 
States. Principal Towns. 

Kingclom of Prussia, Germanic part, . . . (See Prussia.) 

» Hanover, Hanover, Emden, Celle, Luneburg, Gottingen, ClausthaL 

Grand Duchy of Oldenburg, .... Oldenburg, Kniphausen. 

« Mecklenburg-Scliwerin, . . Schwerin, Rostock, Wismar, Dobberan. 

II Mccklenburg-Strelitz, . . Neu-Strelitz, Neu-Brandenburg. 

Duchy of Holstcin-Lauenbui'g, .... (See Denmark. ) 

n Brunsmck, Brunswick, Wolfenbuttel, Helmstadt. 

Principality of Lippe-Detmold, .... Detmold, Lemgo. 

• Liijpe-Schaumburg, , . . Buckeburg, Stadthagen. 

Free City of Bremen, ...,,. Bremen, Bremerhaven. 

Hamburg, Hamburg, Cuxhaven. 

n Lixbeck, Liibeck, Travemunde. 

Tlio kingdom of Hanover consists of two detaclied tracts, the largest of which lies 
on the Worth Sea, but is itself nearly divided into two parts by the enclosed territory 
of Oldenburg. The Elbe forms the boundary for upwards of a hundred miles on the 
north-east; the interior is traversed by the Weser and the Ems; and the surface 
belongs entirely to the great northern plain. It abounds with poor or unproductive 
soil — marsh-lands, peat-moors, and sandy heaths — ^but has fertile districts along the 
banks of the rivers. The smaller portion of the kingdom lies on the south, detached 
by part of the Brunswick duchy, and has a different aspect, being overspread with the 
Harz Mountains, rich in minerals, clothed with forests of pine and oak. Their highest 
simimit, 3543 feet, the Brocken, famous for its spectral illusions, which gave birth 
to many a wUd tale in the middle ages, is just beyond the frontier, on Prussian ground. 
The meteorological exhibition occurs chiefly in the autumnal months, but is very 
occasional, depending upon a rare juncture of circumstances. At sunrise or sunset, 
Avhen the opposite horizon is clothed with mist, the form of the moimtain, the inn 
at the summit, and the figures of spectators, appear delineated in cloud-land, but in 
colossal proportions. Gold, silver, lead, zinc, and copper are obtained from the mines, 
and in some instances from the same mountain. They are partly in the hands of the 
government, as are entirely the railways and telegraph-lines throughout the country. The 
great majority of the population, who, in 1861, amounted to 1,880,000, are Protestants of 
the Lutheran comihunion. 

Hanova; the capital, a city of 71,100 inhabitants, including the suburbs, is situated on the banks of the 
Leine, an affluent of the AYeser, and on the main Line of railway between Cologne and Berlin, in the midst 
of a sandy plain. Since 1837, when it became a royal residence, great improvements have taken place in its 
appearance, and a new town has risen up near the railway station. The old part contains specimens of 
quaint medieval architecture. Its principal buUdings are the town-haU, the theatre (one of the largest in 
Germany), the Idng's palace, the museum, the gallery of pictures, and its numerous benevolent and educa- 
tional institutions, of which the most noted is the Georgianum, a college for the sons of the nobility. Two 
palaces in the immediate environs, Herrenhausen and Montbrillant, have very beautiful gardens and grounds. 
The city was the scene of the deaths of Leibnitz and Zimmerman, and of the birth of the elder Herschel. 
Leibnitz's house is indicated, and his arm-chair is preserved in the royal library. This collection contains 
100,000 volumes, in addition to which there is a public library of 40,000. Hanover was the first city in 
Germany lighted with gas (1826). Cellc or Zcll, a manufacturing town, is on the north-oast ; and HiMeskeim, 
an episcopal city, on the south-east. Osnahriickj towards the south-western border, produces the coarse linens 
called Osnaburghs from the site. Emhden, at the outlet of the Ems, is the principal seaport, in a low situation 
requiring dykes for protection from inundations of the sea. Lunehurg, on a small affluent of the Elbe, gives 
its name to the most extensive of the heaths, used as a sheep-walk, and much resorted to by the keepers of bees 
when the heather is in bloom. There are upwards of 200,000 hives in the district, yielding honey of the annual 
value of £40,000. Gottingen, in the small detached district, is the seat of a imiversity, celebrated for books 
and duels. It was founded by the Elector, George 11. of England, in 1734, and speedily acquired reputation, 
but has declined since seven of the professors were deprived of their chairs in 1837 for holding liberal 
political opinions. Yet, in 1855, it had as many as 107 professors and 713 students. The library contains 
upwards of 300,000 volumes and 5000 manuscripts. ClaustJial, the chief town in the mining district, occupies 



354 GKKMANT. 

a high Weak situation in connection with the Harz, and has a school of mines, witli a mini for the coinage 
of the precious metals. 

The kingdom dates from the year 1815, having previously heen an electorate. In 1714, the country hecame 
connected -with Great Britain, by the second Elector, George, succeeding to Queen Anne as her nearest 
Protestant relative, the great-grandson of James I. The connection subsisted till the accession of Queeu 
Victoria in 1837, when females being excluded from tlie Hanoverian succession, that croAvn passed to her 
uncle, Ernest-Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, and put an end to one cause of English entanglement with 
continental politics. 

Oldenburg, a grand duchy, embraces a district on tlie IsTorth Sea, wholly surrounded 
in other directions hy Hanover, ■with two detached tracts in Holstein, and a third in 
Ehenish Prussia. Their united area does not equal that of Devonshire. The country 
is wholly agricultural, and very thinly peopled. A small corner of the coast has passed 
to Prussia by purchase, and forms the territory of ladhe, a naval station, on the eastern 
shore of the gulf of that name. The two states of Mecklenbukg-Schwbrin and Strelitz 
border each other on the coast of the Baltic, and are held by branches of the same family, 
associated in the making of laws and the imposition of taxes, while separate grand 
duchies. Their joint area faUs short of that of Yorkshire. The surface is for the most 
part a sandy plain, interspersed with pine forests and a prodigious number of small lakes, 
with some remarkable banks of stone and shingle on the shore. 

Oldenburg, with the grand ducal palace, is a small imimportant town on an aiHuent of the Weser, to the 
westward of Bremen. 

Schwerin, the capital of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, with a population of 22,900, is pleasantly situated on the side 
of a lake, with the old ducal castle on an island near the shore. Bostoch, the largest town, containing 26,300 
inhabitants, is seated upon the "Wamow, a river nearly half a mile broad which forms the harbour, and enters 
the Baltic about nine miles below. It is the seat of a university founded in 1419, with which Kepler was for 
a tune coimected. The principal church, St Peter's, has a spire rising 420 feet, which forms a useful sea-mark. 
Li the centre of the chief square stands the bronze statue of Blucher, a native of the town. The house in 
which he was born, in 1742, still exists. Another house is likemse pointed out as the one in which Grotius 
breathed his last ; and the spot is marked in St Mary's Cliurch where his body was interred, aftei-wards 
removed to Delft. Wismar, a commercial port, is at the head of an extensive bay, which forms an excellent 
harbour. Dobheran, a favourite sea-bathing resort of the north Germans, contains the summer residence of 
tlie grand duke, surrounded with pleasant beech-woods. The HeUge-dam, or ' holy dyke,' is on the shore, 
a mound of stones raised to serve as a barrier against the sea, of unknown date, and therefore once super- 
stitiously regarded. It is more than two miles in length, fifteen yards in breadth, and from twelve to 
sixteen feet high. In the sister-state, New Strelitz, the capital, and other places, are of minor note. The 
House of Mecklenbm-g is the oldest of the European reigning families. 

The duchy of Brunswick consists of three unconnected districts, with several others of 
trifling extent, chiefly interposed between the dominions of Hanover and Prussian 
Saxony, the total area of which is inferior to that of the county of Kent. Between 
Hanover and Ehenish Prussia lie the two principalities of Lippe-Detmold and Sohaumburg- 
LiPPE, shghtly exceeding the area of the county of Hertford. They are on opposite 
sides of the Weser, overspread with well-wooded hills belonging to the Teutoburger 
Wald, a range historically connected with the signal defeat of the Eomans by the revolted 
Germanic tribes in the age of Augustus. 

BrunswicJc, in the northernmost and largest section of the duchy, is an ancient city of about 40,000 
inhabitants, situated on the Oker, and on the railway from Hanover to Berlin. The old buildings and 
narrow streets have much picturesque architecture ; the catliedrai, of great antiquity, contains the tombs 
of members of the ducal house, some of whom had English connections; the museum has paintings by 
Jan Steens, Albert Dilrer, Holbein, Rembrandt, Raphael, Guido Euysdael, Michael Angelo, and Cellini On 
a fine site afforded by the levelled ramparts rises an obelisk, sixty feet high, commemorating the two dukes, 
father and son, who successively fell in the battles of Jena and Quatre Bras. The ducal house descends from 
Heniy the Lion, whose efiigy, and that of his wife, an English princess, the sister of Coeur de Lion, recline 
upon a tomb in the cathedral. The family became divided into two principal branches, the Dukes of 
Brunswick-Lunebui'g, subsequently Electors of Hanover, and the Dukes of Brunswick-Wolfenbuttel, the 
present dynasty. Wolfeuhuttel, a few miles on the south, is celebrated for its library of 200,000 
volumes, containing an extensive collection of Bibles. Amt^g them is Luther's with notes in his own 
handwriting. 



HANSB TOWNS. 355 

Ddinold and Buchehurg, the capitals of the Lippe principalities, are only small towns. Not far from the 
former, on the highest point of the Teiitoburgor "Walcl, stands a colossal statue, raised by tho German 
princes in honoiu- of Hermann or Arminius, the champion of German independence, who triumphed over 
the Eomans in the battle fought at the SaUrn Tcutolergicnsis in the year 10 A. D. 

Tlio free cities of BREJiE>f, Haiibueg, and Lubeck retain the name of the Hanse Towns 
a term derived from the old Gorman word Hansa, signifying a company or association for 
mutual support. They were so styled in the Treaty of Vienna in 1815. In early 
modioval times, when commerce was insecure by land and sea, owing to tmscrupulous 
nobles, bandits, and pirates, the great trading centres combined to protect their interests 
from depredation, and formed the Hanseatic League. It gradually became a most 
formidable body, negotiated with sovereigns, levied troops, waged war, and proceeded to 
maintain a rigorous monopoly of the entire trade of Korthern Europe. At one period eighty- 
five cities belonged to the confederacy. These were distributed into four classes or chcles. 
Liibeok was at the head of the first circle, and had imder it Hamburg, Bremen, Kostook, 
"Wismar, and other places. Cologne was at the head of the second cu'cle, with twenty- 
nme towns under it. Brunswick presided over the thu-d, consisting of thirteen towns ; 
and Dantzio over the fourth, which iucluded eight towns in its vicinity, and others 
more remote. The supreme authority of the alliance was vested in the deputies of 
the towns assembled in congress. To this ofiice any one might be elected. Hence 
the assembly embraced politicians, artists, lawyers, clergymen, as well as merchants, though 
the latter predominated. The League was at the height of its prosperity and power ia 
the fifteenth century. It declined in. the sixteenth, and was dissolved in the seventeenth, 
owing to the growth of order and influence in adjoining states, and the successful attacks 
of rival traders upon its exclusive pretensions. 

Bremen is situated on both banks of the Weser, about iifty miles above its mouth, and has a domain 
adjoining, cliiefly pasture-gi'ound, of about 100 square miles, sm-roimded by the territories of Hanover and 
Oldenburg. The town, clean and pleasant, contains a popiilation of 67,200. It is a principal place for the 
embarkation of Gemian emigrants, has regular communication with America by a line of packets, and very 
extensive trade in tobacco and cigars made at the spot. From America alone, in 1862, it imported produce 
valued at 11,000,000 dollars, exporting in return goods to the value of 12,000,000. In the same year the total 
value of its imports was 67,856,000 doUars, and its exports 63,216,000. Its governing body has the style of 
Die WiUheit, 'The Wisdom.' The old town-hall, a beautiful Gothic building, has opposite to it, in the 
market-place, a singular statue, eighteen feet high, to which the name of Roland is given, a hero of romance. 
Olbers, the physician and amateur-astronomer, who discovered the small planets Vesta and Pallas, was a 
native of Bremen, as well as Heeren the historian. For the convenience of vessels too large to come up 
the "Weser, a strip of ground was obtained from Hanover at the mouth of the river. Here a harbour has 
been constructed, opened in 1830, and the town of Bremcrhaven^ with 6000 inliabitants, has risen up. 

Eamhwff, the greatest commercial emporium of Germany, as well as of the continent, occupies the north 
or right bank of the Elbe, at the junction of the Alster with it, some seventy miles up the river, and is tho 
head of a small adjoiiring territory. It possesses also several islands, a few detached inland tracts, and the 
port of Cuxhaven at the mouth of the Elbe. This is the stopping place of vessels of the largest class, where 
others also lie at anchor awaiting favourable winds, and is resorted to by the Hambxirgcrs in summer for sea- 
batliing. The pubUc interests are presided over by a senate, the members of which are elected for life, and 
must serve, or quit the territory, at the same time paying a considerable fine. Till recently, external 
appearances in the city were not generally in harmony with its wealth and reputation, and but little was 
there to arrest attention besides varied costumes on passing along the streets. No grand old buildings met 
the eye, but several imposing structures, with a magnificent exchange, have been erected since the fire of 
1S12. That terrible conflagration is estimated to have destroyed property of the value of £8,000,000 sterling, 
and is supposed to have cost 300 lives. But as it ravaged the older and unsightly parts of the town, the 
opportunity was embraced to occupy the space made vacant with handsome houses and streets. Its chief 
buildings are the Church of St Michael, with one of the loftiest steeples in Europe ; the Exchange, one of the 
most conunodious in the world ; the Johanneum, a collegiate school, with a library of 200,000 volimies, and 
5000 MSS. ; two magnificent theatres ; the Jewish Hospital ; and the Seaman's Home. The celebrity of 
Hamburg rests upon the vastness of its trade, the enterprise and hospitality of its merchants, and the 
number of its munificently supported charitable institutions. In 1862, its imports reached £48,000,000 ; its 
exports since 1857, when vessels ceased to be obliged to give notice of clearing, have not been ascertained. 
During the present century, it has put on a peaceful aspect, by walls and rampaits being levelled, and their 
space devoted to walks and gardens. But the gates remain, and are not to be passed after nightfall without 



356 GERMANY. 

paying toll. "Within the memory of present inhabitants, ingress and egress were alike prohibited after 
midnight. This usage took its rise in those times wlien bandits were abroad in such force, that tlie 
magistrates of Hamburg and Liibeck maintained forty horsemen for the protection of merchants and 
goods through the thirty-eight miles between the two cities. Including the suburbs of St George and 
St Paul, the population amounts to 176,000. 

Liibeck stands on a moderate eminence encircled by the winding Trave, ten miles above its entrance into 
the Baltic, and has Travemiindc for its shipping port, a small town and bathing-place, situated at the mouth 
of the river, as the name imports. Though shorn completely of its former consequence, when, as the head 
of the Hanseatic League, its fleets commanded the sea, its voice decided in the affairs of kingdoms, while 
far-extended commercial relations rendered it the Carthage of the north ; the city still possesses a considerable 
transit trade, has opulent burghers, and retains many striking memorials of its past importance. Historical 
associations — houses, old, lofty, and picturesque, with their gable-ends facing the streets — church towers 
and spires out of the perpendicular — an antique cathedral and town-hall — rich wood-carvings and examples 
of feudal fortiiication — invest the place with peculiar interest. The Dom, or Cathedral, and the Marienkirche, 
St Mary's Church, contain many curious objects. The latter is one of the finest churches of Northern 
Germany, in elegantly pointed Gothic, and has an astronomical clock behind the high-altar, one of those 
ingenious and fantastic devices in which the mechanicians of the middle ages delighted to display their craft. 
Every day at noon figures of the emperor and seven electors strut forth, make a reverential obeisance before 
the statue of our Saviom-, and then retire. The town-hall or senate-house, though defaced by modern repairs, 
is a striking turreted structure, in ancient Gothic, with several noble halls, in one of which, now divided 
into compartments, the deputies of the Hanse Towns held their sessions. These meetings were almost 
always convened at Liibeck, triennially at Whitsuntide ; and the archives were kept in the city. One of its 
burgomasters presided ; and during the recess, its magistrates had the principal direction of the affairs of the 
League. The first general assembly within its walls met in the year 1260. The last was held in 1630, when 
the deputies merely appeared to subscribe an act of dissolution. Still the authorities keep up the memory of 
former consequence in their style and title, the common councillors being the ' well wise sirs,' the syndics 
' high wise,' and the head burgomaster ' your magnificence.' Of the old fortifications four gates remain. 
The Holstein Gate is an eminently beautiful specimen of ancient feudal architecture. Huge ramparts of 
earth, planted with trees and laid out with walks and drives, contribute to the ornament of the town and the 
convenience of the inhabitants, about 30,000 in number. Li the market-place a stone is pointed out, iipon 
which Mark Meyer, an admu'al, was beheaded, for cowardice in shunning an encounter v/ith the Danish 
fleet. Sir Godfrey Knellcr, Overbeok, and Ostade, the painters, with Mosheim, flie ecclesiastical historian, 
were natives of Liibeck. 

II. CENTRAL STATES. 
States. rrinoipal Towns. 

Kingdom of Saxony, Dresden, Leipsic, Chemnitz, Freiburg, Bautzen. 

Electorate of Hesse-Cassel, Cassel, Hanau, Fulda, Marburg, Schmalkaid. 

Grand Duchy of Hesse-D.irmstadt, . , . Darmstadt, Mainz, "Worms, Giessen. 

II Saxe-"Weimar-Eisenach, . , Weimar, Jena, Eisenach. 

" Luxemburg, (See Holland). 

Duchy of Saxe-Meiningen, Meiningen, Hildburghausen, Somieberg. 

B Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, .... Coburg, Gotha. 

ir Saxe-Altenburg, Altenburg, Eonneburg, Eisenberg. 

rr Anhalt-Dessau, &c., . . . . Dessau, Koethen, Bernburg, Alexisbad. 

II Nassau, Wiesbaden, Ems, Schwalbach, Selters. 

Principality of Waldeck, Arolsen, Pyrmont. 

g Eeuss, Elder, .... Greitz. 

II Eeuss, Younger, .... Schleitz, Gera, Lobenstein. 

II Schwarzburg-Eudolstadt, . . Kudolstadt, Frankenhausen. 

II Schwarzbui'g-Sondcrshausen, . Sondershaiisen, Arnstadt. 

Landgraviate of Hesse-Homburg, , . . Homburg, Meissenheim. 

Free City of Frankfurt, Frankfm-fc. 

Saxony, a small kingdom, about tlie extent of Yorkshire, but a fine and fertile region, 
is cbiefly enclosed by tbe dominions of Austria and Prussia, "with Bavaria and the Saxon 
ducMes on the "western side. It is traversed by the Elbe from south-east to north-west, 
and divided by the river into two not very unequal portions. The country is generally 
level in the whole northern district, and presents a pleasing succession of orchards and 
vuieyards, with the pastures on which the sheep are bred which furnish the wool so long 
celebrated for the quality of its fibre. But southerly it rises towards the ridge of the 



DRESDEN LEIPSIO. 357 

Erzgcbii'ge, or ore mountains, Avliicli separate it from Eoliemia, and lias iDeautifnlly 
l)icturesquo features in some parts, with the sternly desolate in others, where the granite 
of the range forms the surface. The sterile tract is remarkable for the variety of its 
mineral wealth, consisting of silver, lead, copper, tin, iron, zinc, cobalt, bismuth, and 
arsenic ; and is occupied by a hardy and intelligent mining population. Agriculture, the 
manufacture of fine woollen cloth and of porcelain, are prominent industries in other parts 
of the kingdom. The picturesque region lies on the Elbe above Dresden. For some 
miles from the citj'', the railway for Bohemia follows the course of the river, which flows 
between abrupt walls of sandstone, in the material of which the space for the line has 
been cut. Luxuriant woods intermingle with the rocky masses, and overhang the stream. 
Its course is very devious, and opens up at every turn some new vista of grandeur or 
beauty. This is the district styled the Saxon Switzerland, extending on either side some 
miles from the margin of the river. The remarkable points are the narrow and deeply-cut 
lanes between the rocks ; the disjoined masses which start up at once from the ground, 
sometimes at considerable distances from each other, as if lords in possession of particular 
domams ; and their singular forms, that of huge regular columns capped with projecting 
blocks, or table-mountains with perfectly perpendicular sides, or truncated cones and 
inverted pyramids, the latter seeming as if a gust of wind would capsize them. One of 
the giants of the territory, the Konigstein, rises 800 feet above the Elbe, with a spacious 
tabular summit, and is surrounded on all sides by precipitous escarpments of several 
hundred feet, while so isolated as not to be within the range of ordinary artillery from 
any other height. It is therefore a fortress, the access to which is wholly artificial ; and 
one of the few citadels which has never been taken. Water is obtained for the garrison 
in abundance from a weU sunk to an immense depth through the rock ; extensive excava- 
tions serve as storehouses for provisions; and several vacant acres around the fortifications 
admit of cultivation. The population of the kingdom in 1861 was 2,225,240. 

Dresden, the capital, is seated on the Elbe, which separates the old town from the new, and is crossed by 
two bridges. The city contains a population of 128,000, and has very pleasing environs. Without possessing 
any first-class pxiblio buildings, it has several remarkably rich in works of art ; a picture gallery, the best out 
of Italy; museums of arms, natural history, antiquities, engravings, and porcelain; a library of 300,000 
volumes ; and the oddly-named Green Vaults, a suite of vaulted apartments on the ground-floor of the 
royal palace, crowded with articles of vertu, of precious stones, and of gold and silver ornaments, valued at 
several millions sterling. It has therefore been called the German Florence, but lacks the historical and 
literary distinction, the fine scenery, and the bright blue sky of tho Italian city. Its finest churches 
are the Frauenkirehej the Roman Catholic church, with a splendid organ, the Sophienkirche, and the 
Kreuzkirche. No particular branch of industry is prominent, as the porcelain so widely known and 
universally admired under the name of Dresden china is chiefly made at Meissen, a town on the Elbe foiirteen 
miles below. This was the first seat of the production of the ware in Europe. The art is referred to a local 
apothecary or alchemist, who is said to have stumbled upon the mode of transmuting clay into china while 
aspiring to produce the precious metals from the baser. The discovery proved a source of great wealth to 
Saxony, which enjoyed for many years the monopoly of the manufacture. The old Castle of Meissen, perched 
on a rock, has somewhat incongruously been converted into a porcelain factory. Hahnemann, the founder 
of homoeopathy, a native, was the son of a porcelain painter. 

Leipsic (Ger. Leipzig, formerly Libiziki, said to mean ' the home of the linden-trees,' from the Slavic, 
Up or lipa, a linden-tree), second in population, 78,500, is situated on a fertile plain traversed by the small 
streams of the Elster and Pleisse, 70 miles by rail north-west of Dresden. It is the seat of a university of 
distmction, founded in 1409 ; and the centre of the German book-trade ; and, indeed, in this respect, ranks 
third among the cities of tho world, coming immediately after London and Paris. Besides a considerable 
number of resident booksellers, who have an Exchange of their own, there is always a large influx at the 
three annual fairs. These are held at Michaelmas, the New Year, and Easter, each lasting for three weeks. 
The town, ordinarily dull, then exhibits a very animated appearance, as the concourse of traders and 
visitors, many from foreign parts, especially at Easter (including even Turkey, Greece, Armenia, Persia, and 
even of late, it is said, China), amounts generally to more than 50,000. Transactions to the extent of 
£10,000,000 take place at Easter. Leipsic has consequently become the chief seat of type-founding in 
Germany. "Without any particular attractions, Leipsic has great historical celebrity, but chiefly as the scene 
of the terrible three days' conflict, in October 1813, between Napoleon and the Allies, which issued in his 



358 GEEMANT. 

defeat, and the deliverance of Germany. TMs ' tattle of nations,' as it is justly called, from the numbers 
engaged and the consequences, was fought on the plain in the environs, and partly in the streets. On the 
fiftieth anniversary, commemorated October 19, 1863, by veteran survivors and an immense multitude, the 
fomidation stone of a memorial was laid on the Thonberg, a low flat hill, tlie principal station of Napoleon 
durmg the fight. Chemnitz, the most important manufacturing town, ivitli 45,000 inhabitants, has many 
operatives in a superior condition, possessing freeliold cottages, with gardens, which they cultivate when 
other work is slack. Freiburg, the capital of the minmg district, is celebrated for its mining school and 
rich mineralogical museum. The institution, founded by Prince Xavier in 1765, was placed under the care of 
Werner, and has had Humboldt, Ton Buch, Jamieson, and many other eminent naturalists connected 
with it. The town, is seated upon the metalliferous gneiss, pierced by dykes of porphyry, and is 
within a short walk of an extraordinary variety of geological formations. In a circle round it, with a radius 
of about tliree miles, there are nearly 100 mines of silver, copper, lead, and cobalt, where about 200 shafts, 
71,000 fathoms of adit or water-course, and 250,000 fathoms of level or gallery, exhibit every species of 
timbering and masonry used in mining. In the neighboui-ing valley of the Midda, the ores are daily roasted 
and smelted in twenty or thirty furnaces of various construction, and tlie beautiful process of separation 
is always to be seen in action. Of late years the produce of the mines has greatly fallen off, owing to the 
exhaustion of the richest veins, or their descent to a depth from wliich the water cannot be drained. The 
town is ancient, and contains a population of 17,000, much reduced since the seventeenth century, when 
the silver-mines were most prolific, the first of which was discovered about the year 1190. 

The Saxon House consists of two branches descended from Ernest and Albert, the sons of Frederick the 
Gentle, who divided his possessions between them. The elder or Ernestine branch is ducal, represented by 
the Princes of Saxe-'Weimar, Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, and other lines. The younger or Albertine branch was 
made royal by Napoleon, and adhered to his fortunes when Germany in general rose in arms against him. 
The Saxon sovereign was in consequence deprived of a large portion of territory by the Congress of Vienna, 
which was transferred to Prussia. 

The electorate of Hbsse-Cassel consists of one large and several isolated districts of 
very insignificant size. The main portion is a long irregular tract, extending from the 
territory of Hanover on the north to that of Frankfurt on the south. It is traversed 
centrally hy the .Fulda Eiver, an affluent of the Weser, which forms the north-eastern 
frontier, while the Maine flows along the southern border. The surface is generally hilly, 
in some parts mountainous, well wooded, and abundantly fruitful ; but for a lengthened 
period there has been no harmony between the people and the government, owing to a 
succession of unworthy rulers. 

Cassel, the electoral capital, is pleasantly seated on both banks of the Fidda, connected by railway with 
Hanover on the north, Leipsic on the east, Cologne on the west, and Frankfurt on the south. It contains 38,000 
inliabitants, and has various manufactures planted or fostered by Flemish and French settlers, driven into 
exile by religious persecution. The gardens, conservatories, fountains, and the colossal statue of Hercules, 
within the hollow of whose club eight persons can stand, around the Wilhelmshohe, or summer palace of 
the elector in the neighbourhood, have acqtured for it the name of the German Versailles. It has a square 
called Friedrichs-Platz, the largest in any German to^vn. Cassel was the capital of the ephemeral kingdom 
of Westphalia, which Napoleon created, and bestowed upon his brother Jerome. Banaii, on the Maine, 
twelve mUes from Frankfurt, is eminent for its jewellery, gold and silver wares, woollen and other 
manufactures, founded by Protestant refugees from Belgium. In the vicinity. Napoleon, on his 
retreat from Leipsic, fought his last battles in Germany, October 30 and 31, 1813, in which he was 
victorious. Fulda, on the river of that name, chiefly a Roman Catholic town, boasts the shrine of the 
Anglo-Saxon missionary, St Boniface, in its cathedral, where his body is said to have been interred after his 
murder by the Frisians in 75i. Marburg, on the Lahn, possesses a Protestant university, the first that was 
founded after the Keformation, and was the scene of theological discussion between Luther and Zuinghus, 
who occupied two houses said to be stiQ extant. Schmalkald, in one of the detached tracts lying between 
the duchies of Meiningen and Gotha, is memorable for the great Protestant League of 1531, the articles of 
which were drawn up there by Luther and his associates, and signed by princes and divines in one of the 
inns. The town is small, ancient, and httle altered, consisting of timber-built houses with high-pointed 
gables, the occupants of which are mostly connected \vith iron-mines, forges, and smithies. It lies in a valley 
in the heart of the Thuringian Forest, a region in which the villagers love the singing of birds, and employ 
their leisure in teaching them to imitate certain strains, the chaffinch being a prime favourite, soon learning 
in captivity a variety of short airs. Bechstem has given several of these acquired ditties of the Thuriagian 
finches, as the Wine Song. 

'Fritz, Fritz, Fritz! willst du mii sum Wein gehenV 
' Fred, Fred, Fred ! wilt thou go with us to the wine V 

Hesse-Daemstadt, a grand duchy, includes two principal portions, northern and 
southern, of nearly equal extent, separated by a strip of land belonging to Frankfurt and 



DARMSTADT WEIMAB. 359 

Hesse-Cassol. Taken togetlier, along with some small adjunots, tliey fonn a region about 
twice the size of Lancashire. The northern district is mountainous, being intersected by 
the range of the Vogelsberg, consisting entirely of trap-rock, wMoli rises to the height of 
3000 feet. The southern is generally level, except on the eastern side, which is occupied 
by the beautiful hills of the Odenwald, of moderate elevation, with fine beech woods on 
their slopes. This last district is traversed by the Ehine, and formed by it into unequal 
eastern and western divisions. From the loftiest summit of the Odenwald, the conical 
granitic mass of Melibocus, surmounted by a white tower, the eye looks down upon 
villages, gardens, orchards, and vineyards, traces the winding river, marks the junction of 
the Neckar with it ; Mainz, Worms, Mannheim, and Sphes being embraced in the 
field of view. 

Barmsiadt, on the Kttle river Darai, consists of a confined old town, and an agreeable new one spread over 
a considerable space, forming a small capital of 28,000 inhabitants. The residences of the reigning family are 
luipretending mansions ; yet one of them contains a library of 200,000 volumes. Its principal buildings are 
the arsenal, barracks, and churches, one of which is croivned by a dome supported upon twenty-eight large 
columns, liebig, tlie distinguished chemist, was born here soon after the commencement of the century. 
Mainz (Fi-ench Mayence), more important, stands on the left bank of the Khine, near the junction of tho 
Maine with it, and marks the extreme upper limit of the fine part of its course tiU Switzerland is gained. 
Tho city is a great commercial centre and military station, defended by a citadel and outworks ; is reckoned 
the strongest fortress of the Germanic Confederation ; and is garrisoned by a large number of Austrian and 
Prussian troops. The commandant is alternately chosen from each nation, and serves for five years. 
Independent of the soldiery, the population amounts to 41,000. A bridge of boats crosses tlie river, with one 
of iron for the railway route to Vienna. Mainz dates from Eoman times, when it was called Moguntiacum, 
and was raised to ecclesiastical distinction by Charlemagne. Its archbishops were princes of the German 
empire, and claimed the right of placing the crown upon the head of the emperors. Notwithstanding 
railway and steam-boat traific, commercial activity, and the music of military bands, its general aspect 
belongs to the past. Gutenberg, tho inventor of printing, was a native and resident. His dwelling no 
longer exists, but its site is indicated, and a statue of him by Thorwaldsen occupies one of the open spaces. 
Worms, on the same side of the river to the south, is an ancient imperial city, once of great consequence, 
but now a melanclioly scene of utter decay, with only 11,000 inhabitants. It has a name in history as the 
scene of the diet in 1531, at which Luther appeared, and denounced the corruptions of the Church of Home. 
The neighboui'hood was celebrated by the old minstrels as the ' Land of Joy,' and produces some of the 
best Rhenish wine. Bingen, a small frontier town on the Rhine towards Prussian territory, is the centre of 
higlily-attractive scenery, and a common halting-place with summer tourists. Some of the most celebrated 
vintages of the Eheingau lie between it and Mainz. Giessen is the chief town of Upper Hesse, or the 
northern division, and the seat of a university. 

The Hoiise of Hesse,vof which there are two main branches, descends from two sons of Philip the Magnani- 
mous, who died in 1567, and allotted his possessions to his family. WiUiam, the elder, obtained the largest 
share, with Cassel for Ms capital, while George obtained Darmstadt. Of this younger line the Hesse- 
Hombui-g family is a branch, holding a territory which will retm'n to it on the failure of heirs. 

Saxb-Wbimae-Eisenaoh, a grand duchy, consists of not less than fifteen fragments, 
lying between Hesse-Cassel and Saxony, with a total extent inferior to that of the comity 
of Sussex. The two principal portions are separated chiefly by the territory of Gotha, 
which has the Weimar division on the eastern side, and that of Eisenach on the western. 
Sites celebrated in the history of religion, literature, and war are within their limits. The 
surface is everywhere pleasantly diversified, has a productive soil, and embraces noble 
remains of the old Thuringian woodland. 

Weimar, fifty miles south-west of Leipsio, is now simply a small plain town, but deriving interest from its 
former residents, Schiller, Goethe, Herder, and Wielaud. The houses of the two first named are pointed out, 
and also their graves. Its opera-hoiise is famous, and it has a library of liO,000 vohmies. Jena, twelve 
mUes distant, beautifully placed in a valley on the Saale, is the seat of a veiy eminent university, 
supported by the Saxon states. Its name is given to the great battle in the neighbourhood, gained by 
Napoleon on the 14th of October 1806, which made him master of Prussia and Northern Germany for several 
years. The spot where the aged Duke of Brunswick fell is marked by a monument. Eisenach, well-built, 
thriving, and industrial, is distinguished by the Castle of "Wartbm-g in the immediate vicinity, very 
strikingly placed on a steep and lofty eminence, surrounded by forests. This was formerly a residence 
of the landgraves of Thm-mgia. It became what Luther called his ' Patmos,' as the place to wliich he 
was conveyed by the friendly violence of the Elector of Saxony, in order to screen hun from his enemies on 



3G0 GERMANY. 

returning from the diet of Worms. Tlie room he occupied for ten months is shewn, -with the chapel in which 
he preached, and both are carefully preserved. A magniiicenl tree in the forest, eight feet in diameter, 
bears the name of ' Luther's Beech,' from the tradition that it marks the place of his friendly arrest. Another 
tree not far from "Worms has the name of ' Luther's Elm,' from the tradition that he reposed at the spot 
while on his way to attend the diet. 

The Saxon duchies of Cobueg-Gotha, Mkiningen, and Altbnburg adjoin ths 
preceding district, and form three states, each composed of detached tracts, but so small that 
their aggregate area is considerably less than that of Devonshire. On the northward lies 
the ducal territory of Anhalt, a little larger than the county of "Warwick, and almost 
entirely environed by the province of Prussian Saxony. It is traversed by the Elbe, 
which receives the Mulde within its limits, and is intersected by another important 
afiJuent, the SaaUe, which joins the main river a short distance beyond the frontier. 

Ooburg, on the small stream of the Itz, which flows into the Maine, has a very widely-known name, from the 
connection of the reigning House with the British royal famUy, but the place is small, containing only 
10,600 inhabitants. The ducal palace of the Ehrenburg, ' burg of honoui',' a simple and chaste building, 
occupies three sides of the principal square, and contains the government offices, a library of 30,000 volumes, 
and a collection of objects of natural history, with coins and prints. The environs of the town are very 
beautiful. Perched on a commanding eminence which immediately overhangs it, stands the old ducal castle 
which afforded an asylum to Luther, and was besieged unsuccessfully by "WaUenstein. Gotha, the alternate 
capital of the duchy and residence of the court with Coburg, is seated on an eminence, at the foot of which 
winds the Leine, a tributary of the TVerra ; and is about midway on the railway-route between Leipsio and 
Cassel. It is the larger town of the two, has various manufactures, a literary and scientific character, with a 
geographical publishing establishment of the first class, that of M. Perthes. The house issues the celebrated 
Almanach de GotJia, which completed the century of its existence in the year 1S63, and then appeared with a 
brief historical notice of its career. The ducal residence has an imposing appearance from its position, on the 
crown of the height on which the town is built. It contams a library of 150,000 volumes, and 6000 MSS., 
among which are 2000 Arabic, and from 300 to 400 Persian and Turkish, a valuable cabinet of engravings, and 
one of the best collections of coins and medals in Germany, niimbering in all 93,000. The country districts 
are to a large extent hUly forest lands, clothed with pines, often rising to the height of nearly 300 feet, 
famed as hunting-gromids for red deer and other game, whUe the timber obtained for building purposes 
yields an important revenue to the state. 

Meiningen, on the "Werra Kivei', the capital of a duchy which gave Queen Adelaide to the British 
throne, its largest town, has scarcely 7000 inhabitants. Sonneherg, about half the size, is a remarkable 
industrial site, where the wares are extensively made which are sold throughout the world under the name 
of ' Dutch toys.' 

Altenburg, near the Pleisse, which flows to Leipsic, upwards of twenty miles to the northward, is a well- 
built commercial town, with a population of 16,800, among whom the antique costume of long bygone days is 
prevalent. Eiseribergj * iron mountain,' also a manufacturing town, produces woollens, porcelain, and 
eai-thenware. 

Dessau, the capital of Anhalt, is very pleasantly situated on the Mulde, near its confluence with the Elbe, 
in a richly-cultivated district. This town, with Koethen and Bernburg, formerly represented three 
distinct duchies. That of Koethen was united to Dessau in 1S53 ; and that of Bernburg lapsed to it in 1863, 
by the failure of its ducal line. Alcxishad^ a small watering-place, with strong chalybeate springs, has its 
name from the late Alexander Charles, Duke of Anhalt-Bernburg, who caused most of the buildings for 
visitors to be erected, and had a viUa at the spot. 

Kassau, a ducal state, consists of a single territory of compact form, somewhat smaller 
in size than Lancashire. It extends along the right bank of the Ehine, from the junction 
of the Maine with it to the neighbourhood of Ehrenbrietstein, opposite Coblentz, and is 
almost wholly environed by Prussia and Hesse-Darmstadt. It embraces the eastern side 
of the grand deiile of the Eheingau, through which the river flows full to the brim, 
and vigorous in its current, between castle-crowned crags, sloping vine-clad hills ; towns 
and viUages by the score lying on the banks, full of life and animation, sobered, yet 
rendered doubly interesting by the hues of antiquity. The interior is traversed from 
east to west by the Lahn, which divides it into two nearly equal portions, northern 
and southern, having its course through a valley of rich woods and verdant pastures. 
Northward rise the heights of the Westerwald, bleak and pastoral ; southward lies the 
range of Taunus, rife mth sylvan scenes and industrious cultivation. The country is 



WIESBADEN — PEANKFURT. 3G1 

very rcmarkaljle for tho number of its mineral springs and fasliionalole -wateruig-plaoes. 
Tlioy vary greatly in tlicir properties and temperature, some Toeing quite cold, while 
others arc strongly heated. The district possesses a large amouiit of mineral wealth, 
consisting of copper, iron, and manganese of superior quality, chiefly obtained from mines 
in tho basin of the Lahn. 

Wiesbaden, the residence of tlie duke, tlio seat of government, and principal resort of visitors, is a 
handsomely-built town of modern appearance, m wliich hotels, lodging-houses, saloons, and gardens are 
conspicuous, with a throng of upper-class strangers from June to September. The resident population is 
about 20,000, but during tho aforesaid months it is greatly increased. It is situated within a short distance 
of tho Rhine, twenty-six miles by rail west of Frankfurt, in a delightful valley open towards the south, but 
enclosed on the other sides by the swelling hills of Taunus, which serve as a screen from tlie cold \vinds, and 
render it a suitable place of abode for delicate persons in winter. There are fifteen mineral springs of the 
same alkaline quality, closely corresponding also in their temperature, and hence believed to be the 
outpourings of a common soui'ce. The principal, called Kochbrunnen, ' boiling spring,' has a cloud of vapour 
resting upon the surface of the water, and is in a state of ebullition, with the heat of 156 degrees of 
Fahrenheit. The town occupies the site of a Roman station, of which remains are constantly turned up in 
the process of digging for the foundation of buildings. Urns, in the valley of the Lahn, was likewise known 
to tlie Romans as a bathing-place, who called it Embasis, the ' washing-tub,' from which the present name 
is derived. The other waters in the most repute are those of Schwalbach, Schlangenbad, and Setters. 
Sir F. Head remarks, that should his ' reader be consumptive, or, what is much more probable, be dyspeptic, 
let him hurry to Ems ; if he wishes to instil iron into his system, and to brace up his muscles, let him go 
to Langen-Schwalbach ; if his brain should require calming, his nerves soothing, and his sldn softening, 
let him glide onwards to Schlangenbad ; but if he be rheumatic in his limbs, or if mercury should be 
running riot in his system, let him hasten "body and bones" to Wiesbaden, where, they say, by being 
parboiled in tlie Kochbrunnen, all his troubles will evaporate.' The far-famed Selters or Seltzer water, drunk 
as a luxury through the whole civilised world, is obtained from a spring near the village, so called at 
the base of the Westerwald. More than a million and a half of bottles of it are stated to be exported 
annually. 

The duchy derives its name from the picturesque Castle of Nassau, an extensive ruin on the summit of a 
conical wooded height by the Lahn, which has the small, ancient, and decayed town of Nassau on the opposite 
bank. It is a conspicuous and romantic object in the landscape. From the feudal proprietor of this strong- 
hold in the middle ages the ducal house descends, and forms the elder branch of a family the younger of 
which is represented by the kings of Holland. 

The five principalities, "VValdeck, Eeuss elder and younger, and the two Schwarzbuegs, 
with the landgraviate of Hesse-Hombdrg, are of very trifling extent, as their united area 
does not equal that of the county of JSTorthumberland. With the free city of Frankfurt, 
they complete the list of the Central German States. 

Pyrmont, in a small northern division of "Waldeck, though not the capital of the princedom, is the largest 
town, yet with only 7000 inhabitants. It lies close to the Hanoverian border, and is distinguished as one 
of the oldest watering-places in Europe, to which Cliarlemagne repaii-ed, visited downwards from his time, 
at present by reduced numbers, but of the highest rank. The springs are variously chalybeate, saline, and 
acidulous, some of which are so strongly impregnated with carbonic acid gas, that the water eifervesces hke 
champagne. A large quantity is bottled and exported. The vicinity of the town is remarkable for the 
Dxmst Holile, a cavity in the sandstone rock, emitting a deadly vapoui-, the same as the choke-damp 
of mines, therefore enclosed to prevent injmy from incautious exposure to it. Small animals are killed in a 
few minutes. 

ffomburg, nme miles north of Frankfurt, the little capital of the smallest Hessian state, is charmingly 
placed amid the forest-clad hills of Taunus, and attracts by curative springs in addition to the lovely scenery, 
while the inglorious distinction belongs to it of surpassing aE the other gambling dens of Germany in the 
magnitude of its transactions. 

Frankfurt, an ancient imperial free city, in possession of a small adjoining territory of thirty-nine square 
miles, is seated on the north bank of the Maine, about twenty mUes above its junction with the Rhine, 
and contains a population of 75,000. A subui'b, called Sachsenhauseu, lies on the south bank of the river ; 
both sides are lined with quays ; and are comiected by an old stone bridge. It is the capital of the 
Germanic Confederation, as the place where the diet holds its sessions, and the residence of tlie foreign 
ministers. Without possessmg any public buildings of striking architectural merit, the general appearance 
is very noble. The streets are spacious in the newer portions ; the houses in them are palaces, occupied 
by mercliants, bankers, and diplomatists ; and signs of opulence are every^vhere apparent in the environs. 
Great historical celebrity belongs to the city. Occupying a central position, it was early made the site of 
national assemblies ; and was afterwards the place in which through several centuries the emperors of 
Germany were elected. The Hotel de Ville contains the Hall of Election, where the deliberations were 



362 GERMANT. 

carried on and the suffrages given ; and also the Imperial Hall, in which the newly-chosen sovereign 
gave his first public banquet, hung round with portraits of the potentates. In the adjoining cathedral they 
were crowned. Frankfurt has long been the seat of great inland commerce, and a centre of banking 
transactions for the continent. Its inhabitants have always included a large number of Jews, among whom 
the Eothschilds here acquired their wealth and influence. The house occupied by the founder of their 
fortunes is indicated in the Juden-gassSy or Jews Street, to which members of the persuasion were foimerly 
restricted. This street was formerly closed at either end with gates ; which were locked at an early liour 
every night, and no ingress or egress allowed till the morning. The Jews now reside in any quarter they 
choose, and possess a very handsome synagogue. Goethe was born in the city, and has a statue in one of the 
squares. Museums, libraries, galleries of art, and charitable institutions are numeroiis. 

lU. SOUTHERN STATES. 
States. Principal Towns. 

Empire of Austria, Germanic Part, . . . (See Austrian Empire.) 

Kingdom of Bavaria, Munich, Nuremberg, Augsburg, 'Wurzb-Qrg, Ratisbon. 

II "Wurtemberg, .... Stuttgart, Ulm, Heilbronn. 

Grand Duchy of Baden, Carlsruhe, Mannheim, Heidelberg, Freiburg. 

Principality of Lichtenstein, .... Lichtenstein. 

Bavaria is by far the most important of tlie minor German states in extent of territory, 
population, and political influence. It consists of two divisions of unequal size, eastern 
and western, separated by tbe possessions of "Wurtemberg, Baden, and Hesse-Darmstadt. 
The eastern portion, much the largest, is called the Territory of the Danube and Maine, 
being watered by those rivers. The western is the Territory of the Rhine, lying along its 
left bank, and is also styled the Palatiaate. It was formerly part of an extensive district 
governed by Electors Palatine of the Bavarian house, one of whom, Frederic V., married 
the Princess Elizabeth, a daughter of James I., whose great-grandson ascended the 
throne of England as George I. The area of the two divisions is inferior to that of 
Scotland. Population (in 1861), 4,689,800. 

The eastern, or main portion of the kiagdom, comprising seven of the eight provinces, 
is extensively bordered by the Austrian empire, and divided into northern and southern 
sections by the Danube, which flows through it from west to east. That river is fully 
formed as a noble stream within its limits. It becomes navigable at Ulm on the western 
frontier, and receives on its onward passage the lUer, Lech, Isar, and Inn on the right, 
with the Altmuhl, N'ab, and Eegen on the left. Two fine monuments raised in honour 
of the German nation grace its banks. Six miles below Eatisbon, on a rock rising up 
boldly from the river, stands the "Walhalla, a splendid Doric temple, erected by the late 
king to receive the busts and statues of distinguished Germans, completed and inaugurated 
in 1842. On the Michaelsberg, a high rock at the junction of the Altmuhl, which marks 
the eastern end of a grand gorge, the Temple of Liberation rises in majestic proportions, a 
memorial of the deliverance of Germany from a foreign yoke obtained by the battle of 
Leipsic. It was opened with great ceremony on the fiftieth anniversary of the conflict 
in 1863. The names of the different races who fought and conquered, with those of 
eighteen of the principal commanders, Austrians, Prussians, Bavarians, and others, are 
inscribed on tablets. Of the commanders only one survived at the period of the opening 
— the king of Wurtemberg. Over the entrance are the words in bronzed zinc : ' To the 
German Warriors of the War of Liberation, Ludwig I., King of Bavaria, 1863.' The 
Michaelsberg rises to the height of 374 feet, and the temple ascends 204 feet above the 
summit. 

South of the Danube the country is a high undulating plain or table-land, penetrated 
by spurs of the Tyrolese Alps, and overspread with mimerous lakes, of which the 
Chiemsee is the largest, and the Konigsee, close to the Austrian frontier, the most 
beautiful. North of the river, the surface is diversified by the wooded ranges of the 



BAVARIA. 363 

Bolnnoi'wald on the eastern frontier, tlio Ficlitelgeljirge on tlie nortli-east, tlie Speissart on 
the north-west, and the romantic region of the Franconian Switzerland in the centre. 
The group of the Fichtelgehirge, ' pine-bearing mountains,' is a prominent hydrographical 
point on the great water-shed of Europe, separating streams which flow from it in opposite 
directions, and ultimately reach different seas. The White Maine rises within its limits, 
at the base of Schnesberg, and flows westward to the Ehine ; the Eger emerges from the 
cluster, and travels eastward to the Elbe; the Saalle runs northward to the same channel; 
and the I^aab southward to the Danube. These four rivers, having then- sources and 
early course connected mth an area of limited extent, led to the region being compared 
to the Garden of Eden with its quadruple streams. The central district, called the 
Franoouian Switzerland, is included between the towns of JSTuremberg, Bamberg, and 
Baireuth. The name refers to the picturesque natural scenery, and to the early colonists 
of the country, the Franks, who originated the old territorial division of Franoonia, now 
forming three circles or provinces of Bavaria. It consists of a high plaui cut with deep 
valleys or dells in which the interest of the region centres. The dells are the beds of 
trout-streams, adorned with rich clumps of vegetation, and lined with limestone rocks, 
between which at intervals neat villages nestle, and on which the remains of feudal 
castles, turrets, and watch-towers appear. The rocks are very remarkable for the number 
and extent of their chambered caverns, in which immense quantities of the bones and 
teeth of bears, hysenas, and other animals of extinct species have been found, now largely 
rifled of their contents. The Cave of Ktihloch, which resembles in size and proportions 
the interior of a large church, contained upon its floor, covering it to the depth of six 
feet, hundreds of cart-loads of black animal dust, mingled with teeth, principally 
proceeding from mouldering bones. Dr Buckland estimated the amount to be equal to 
at least 2500 individuals of the cavern-bear. The country, among its living animals, 
retains the stag, roebuck, fallow deer, wild boar, wild cat, and chamois. Otters are found 
in almost all the rivers, and the beaver lingers on some solitary streams. SiJecimens of 
the latter, taken on a smaU tributary of the Isar, are in the museum of natural objects at 
Mimioh. The lynx and bear are supposed now to be extiuet. The last bear seen was 
killed in 1835, and the last lynx in 1846, both in the mountains bordering on the Tyvol. 
Wolves likewise ai^e nearly exterminated in the forests. One was killed iu 1837, near the 
Tegern-see; three iu 1848, ia the Palatinate; one in 1852, in the Upper Palatiaate; and 
one m 1859, in Lower Franconia. 

The Bavarians, far beyond any other German people, are addicted to the beer-drinking 
habit. Liordinate quantities are taken daily by all classes. The state derives a large 
portion of its revenue from this propensity, and the country has no little resemblance to 
an enormous brewery, from the number and size of the establishments created to meet the 
national demand. ' Listen,' says Mr WUberforce, a recent visitor, ' to the conversation of 
Bavarians, it turns on beer. See to what the thoughts of the exile recur, to the beer of 
his country. Sit down in a coffee-house or eating-house, and the waiter brings you beer 
;mordered, and when you have emptied your glass replenishes it without a summons. 
Tell a doctor the cHmate of Munich does not agree with you, and he "\viU ask if you drink 
enough beer. Ai-rive at a place before the steamer, or train is due, and yon are told you 
have so long to drink beer. Go to balls, and you find that it replaces champagne with the 
rich, and dancing with the poor. I once went to a servants' ball and stayed there some 
time ; but when I came away, dancing had not begun, and all the society was sitting as 
still as ever drinking beer.' By an iniquitous and absurd law, marriage is not allowed 
tOl a couple have what is called assured means of subsistence ; and as the authorities are 
the sole judges in the case, the permission is delayed for years, in order to obtain the fees 



304 GEEMANY. 

attendant on eacli application. Social immorality is lience the natui'al result, and a 
number of illegitimate births sometimes exceeding that of the legitimate. In a south- 
eastern section of the kingdom, an old popular custom maintains its ground in spite of 
gens d'armes and fines, quite foreign to the orderly movements of German life, akin to the 
American system of lyncli-law, and apparently a lingering trace of the judicial visitations 
for which secret societies were organised in the middle ages. Upon an individual 
becoming obnoxious by his avarice, usury, or any offence not cognizable by law, he 
receives -warning to amend his manners. If his misdeeds are continued, a band of men 
is collected by private smnmons from a distance, who appear in disguise, surround his 
house at night, armed with every instrument capable of making a discordant noise — pans, 
bells, horns, trvimpets, and whips. After a hideous uproar, the culprit is called out, and 
dares not disobey. A dispatch is then read to him by torchhght, as if coming from the 
Emperor Charlemagne, which sets forth his crimes, and admonishes him to reform on 
pain of further proceedings. The ceremony closes with a renewal of the uj)roar, in which 
jeers and yells mingle with every kind of clang and bang. Charlemagne is the great 
traditional hero of the peasantry, and is claimed by the Bavarians as their countryman. 
A quiet spot in a vaUey on the south-west of Munich, marked by a corn-mill and a few 
neat buildings, is referred to as the place of his bu'th. 

The population consists very generally of Eoman Catholics, distinguished in the rural 
districts especially by a profound respect for rehcs and the devout observance of 
pilgrimages, for whom the manufacture of sacred unages is a flourishmg trade in several 
villages. In the small town of Altotting, near the river Inn, the slmne of the Black 
Vu'gin constitutes it the Loretto of Bavaria. The figure, over the high-altar in the 
church, is of undoubted antiquity, eastern origin, and sable complexion. For more than 
1000 years devotees have flocked to the sanctuary, and still come annually in crowds, seeking 
some cure of disease, or other benefit, from the dark-hued object of their veneration. 
At Ammergau, towards the frontier of the Tyrol, the dramatic representation of the story 
of the Passion is a decennial performance. The name of the village refers to its position 
in the gau or valley of the Ammej; which descends from the highlands through it to join 
the Isar on the plains. In 1633, after a famine and pestilence, a portion of the inhabit- 
ants made a vow that thenceforth they would perform every tenth year the Passion of 
Clirist in a sacred play ; and since that time the pledge has been kept with the slight 
variation that in 1680 the year was changed so as to accord with the recurring decennial 
periods of the century. Such spectacles were common in the middle ages, under the 
name of ' mysteries ' or ' moralities,' and received the sanction of Protestantism in its early 
stages. But the practice has very properly been generally abandoned, and the Ammergau 
play is now the principal surviving example of it. A rustic edifice is raised for the 
occasion in the vicinity ; the stage scenery and the dresses are the work of the villagers ; 
and the actors are all inhabitants of the place. The last representation took place on the 
30th of September 1860, in the presence of the king of Bavaria, and of several English 
visitors, who bore testimony to the perfect decorum of the peasantry, performers and 
spectators, yet strongly felt the utter inapplicability of such a scene to other times and 
places than its own. The representation wiU. next occur in 1870. 

Munich, the ' capital, called by the Germans Miinchen, ' monkstown,' lies on the banks o£ the Isar, and 
contains a population of 148,000. It was founded in 962, and walled in 1157. Seated on the Bavarian 
table-land, it occupies a more elevated position than any European city after Madrid, and being on a naked 
plain, it suffers alternately from exposui-e to biting blasts from the Tyrolcse Alps in winter and spring, 
and to a burning sun without shade in summer. The city consists of an old town of narrow thorough- 
fares huddled close to the river, and of a new one far spread in every direction around it, distinguished by 
spacious streets and squares, chastely magnificent public edifices, statues, and monuments, extensive pleasure- 



MUNICH — AUGSBUEG. 



365 



grounds, walks, and drives. This last and principal portion has been formed during the present century, 
and was mainly the work of the late king, who did his best at once to embellish his capital and corrupt its 
inhabitants. The Glyptothek or sculpture-gallery, and the Pinakothek or picture-gallery, with no fewer than 
300,000 engravings ; the Odeum, devoted to music ; the royal library, of vast extent, with 800,000 volumes, 
18,600 MSS., and many rarities — contained in noble buildings, annually attract a large number of the votaries 
of art and tasto from various countries. The imiversity, founded in 1826, is one of the most respectable in 




Eoyal Palace, Mimich. 

German}'. But Munich is not without a list of disagreeables. Its heat, glare, dust, and shadelessness, 
in summer, are painful ; its splashy mud in wet weather, and its keen winds in cold, are not pleasant ; 
its beer-drinking is excessive ; its formal salutations are interminable ; and tlie full salute to royalty in 
the streets, wliich is required, is ludicrous. Outside tlie city, a colossal bronze female figure, 81 feet high, 
intended to personify Bavaria, stands upon a pedestal of marble. The statue is hollow, and may be 
ascended by a spiral staircase to have a look-out from the eyes. The city is noted for its manufacture of 
telescopes and mathematical instruments. Twenty miles to the east, lies the village of Hohenliuden — the 
scene of the battle (celebrated by Campbell's ode) in which Moreau triumphed over the Austrians in the first 
year of the centurj'. 

A ugshurg, seated on the Lech, on the north-west, is ancient and very picturesque, with evidence in the 
vast size of many dwelling-houses of the wealth, in former days, of its citizens, who were ' merchant-princes,' 
managing the exchanges of Europe. An inn, ■\vith the sign of the Three Moors, mentioned in records of the 
year 1364, is still extant, after an existence of five centuries. The old episcopal palace remains, in the hall of 
which the Protestant declaration of faith dra^vn up by Luther and Melancthon was presented to the 
Emperor Charles V. in 1530, hence called the Confession of Augsburg, is now devoted to public business. 
Though decayed, the city still contains 45,000 inhabitants, and issues the most influential and widely 



366 



GERMANY. 



cii-oulated o£ the continental newspapers, the AUgemeinc Zcitung. Transactions of great magnitude are 
conducted in banking, jewellery, horology, cotton, and other manufactures. Ratisbon, equally celebrated in 
tlie past, but now much more reduced, occupies the south bank of the Danube, nearly opposite to the influx 
of the Eegen, and has hence the Gennan name of Eegensburg. It marks the western limit of the incursions 
of the Turks in Europe, some of their advanced parties having appeared in the neighbourhood during the 
famous siege of Vieimia in 1683. The imperial diets were held for a long period in the town-haU, beneath 
which the hideous dungeons are shewn in which prisoners were immured, and the torture-chamber in which 
attempts were made to extort confessions. There are manufactures of porcelain, steel goods, leather, and 
tobacco. The astronomer Kepler died at Eatisbon, and w.as buried in an unmarked grave. Passau, on the 
eastern frontier, occupies a remarkable position, built on the tongue of land formed between the Danube and 
the Inn at their jimction, while on the opposite or north bank the dark stream of the Ilz enters, and aromid 
lies an amphitheatre of crags and mountains. Near the opiDosite or western frontier, and close to the great 
river, is the village of Blenheim, the scene of Marlborough's decisive defeat of the French in 1704. 

Nuremherg (Ger. NUrnherg), next to the capital in population, 62,700, is seated on the Pegnitz, a 
tributary of the Maine, wliich divides it into two nerirly equal parts, and is crossed by fourteen bridges. The 
town was founded in 905, and in 938 became the seat of the first German diet. It was raised to distinc- 
tion at an early period by the ingenuity of its natives in various handicrafts, and it retams perhaps more 
than any other place the aspect it wore in the middle ages. There are feudal walls, turrets, and watch-towers 
■ — ^irregular streets — houses with acutely-pointed gables facing them — projecting oriel windows — palatial stone 
dwellings with beautifully-sculptured fronts, erected by the leading citizens when their commerce was so 
extensive as to find expression in the proverb, ' Nuremberg's hand — goes through every land.' Numerous 
inventions in the mechanical arts originated here, as copperplate engraving, the g>m-lock, the air-gim, the 
clarionet, a machine for wire-draiving, the combination of metals now adopted in the manufacture of brass, 
and watches, not made roimd, but oval-shaped, hence called ' Nuremberg eggs.' Albert Diu-er, painter, 
sculptor, and engraver, 1471 — 1523, was a native, as well as Hans Sachs, the cobbler and poet, a contemporary. 
Their houses remain ; their graves are indicated ; and both have streets named after them. After falling 
from a highly-prosperous condition into sad decay, chiefly through the calamities of war, the town has again 
become an important seat of manufacture and trade. It produces cloths, metal-wares, mirrors, and furni- 
tm-e ; exports immense quantities of the so-called Dutch toys, the workmanship of the Thuringian villagers ; 
and serves as a general dep6t for goods passing between northern and southern districts. Bamherg on the 
north, Saireuth on the north-east, and Wursburg on the north-west, are considerable industrial sites. 
Kissengen, thirty miles north of the latter, is the principal Bavarian watermg-place, with acidulous and 
chalybeate springs, to which many English anmially repair, and the water is largely exported. 

Sjyires (Ger. Speyer), the chief town in the Palatinate, or Rhenish Bavaria, stands on the left bank of the 
Ehine, and is of high antiquity, historical interest, and mournful celebrity. Princes once took coimsel 
within its walls, and eight emperors were bm-ied in its cathedral. At the diet held here in 1529, the 
protestation of the Eefomied leaders against its decree originated the distinctive name of Protestants for 
the followers of Luther. It has the remains of an ancient palace, in which 49 diets were held. The citizens 
once enjoyed a monopoly of the carrying trade on the river, and were distinguished for their military as well 
as commercial spirit. But the army of Louis XIV. of France, in 1683, reduced the town to a dismal ruin. 
Upon its capture, the inhabitants had notice to quit by an appointed day on pain of death ; the place was 
set on fire ; and a conflagration of three days and nights ensued. In little more than a century afterwards, 
1794, when beginning to recover from this blow, the French revolutionary army renewed the desolation. 
Spires is now the mere skeleton of its former self, with only about 9000 inhabitants. The cathedral, restored 
by the government, is one of the noblest in Europe, remarkable for the simple, colossal, and symmetrical 
grandeur of the design, with the advantage of standing detached in a plot of ornamental ground, like our own 
cathedrals, a feature which attends few foreign ecclesiastical edifices. 

The reigning family of Bavaria descends from Otto of Wittelsbach, 1180. After being ducal and electoral, 
it was made regal by Napoleon in 1806. 

"VVuRTBMBERG, a Small regal state, inferior in extent to tlie Welsli principality, lies 
■between Bavaria on the east and Baden on tlie 'west, and is enclosed by them, except on 
the soiitli, -wliere it touches the Lake of Constance, and nearly surrounds the Prussian 
patrimony of Hohenzollern. The Danube, as an infant river, crosses the southern part of 
the country from west to east ; hut the Neckar is the characteristic stream, flowing from 
the centre northward to the Ehine, through a rich and beautiful valley, a scene of vine 
cultivation. The bold heights of the Schwartzwald rise on the side towards Baden, and a 
rugged plateau occupies a central area, apart from which the surface exhibits gentle hills 
and valleys in the highest degree fertile, and industriously cultivated. 

Stuttgart, the capital, seated on the Nesenbach, which joins the Neckar, contains a population of 56,000. 
Hills closely surround the town, thickly clothed mth vineyards, which give a rich and beautiful appearance 
to the environs in summer, and may be seen from all the streets. The charm of the situation, with mineral 



BADEN — OARLSRUHE. 367 

springs in tlio nciililjourliood, and tlie moderate cost of living, invite strangers to a temporary residence. 
Tlio public library is distinguished by its collection of Bibles, one of the largest in the world, consisting of 
more than 8000, in sixty different languages. Danneker, the sculptor, -whose Ariadne is the pride of 
Frankfiu-t, was a native, became professor of the Fine Arts in the Academy, and remained a resident till his 
dcatli in ISil. Stuttgart is the seat of an important book-trade. Heilbronn, on the lower course of the 
Ncckar, an industrial town, is the centre of the principal vintage district. Tiibingen, on its upper banks, 
contauis the university of the kingdom, founded in 1477, which had among its earliest professors Melanothon 
and Kcuchlin. Its most celebrated professor in modern times is Baur, the founder of the weU-kno^vn ' Tiibingen 
school ' of theology. Uhland, the lyric poet, recently deceased, resided here ; "Wieland composed his Oberon in 
tlie neighbourhood ; and SchUler was born at a vUlage lower down the stream. Ulm, on the Danube, at its 
entrance into Bavaria, ancient and dull, possesses a cathedral of the first class, now devoted to the service of 
Protestantism. The tovm is a fortress of the Germanic Confederation, of inglorious notoriety from the 
surrender, within its walls, in 1805, of General Mack to Napoleon, with the entire Austrian army under his 
command, without striking a blow. 

Baden, a grand ducliy, is a long narrow territory on the right bank of the Ehine, 
extending along its course from the Swiss frontier to the border of Hesse-Darmstadt. It 
is traversed from north to south by the granitic range of the Sohwartzwald, or Black 
Forest, so called from the dark hue of the piues which clothe the lower slopes and the 
enclosed valleys of the upper region. The highest point, the Feldberg, rises to 4675 feet 
above the sea, and long bears the winter's flakes upon its head. In spring the melting of 
the snow along the whole crest of the ridge swells an endless number of streams, which 
often set out from very closely-contiguous points, and travel in opposite directions, some 
by the Eliine to the ITorth Sea, others by the Danube to the Black Sea. It has been 
said that the droppings from different sides of the same house-roof, in some instances, 
take these courses ; and thus pass to basins a thousand miles apart from each other. 
Very strUdng scenery marks many parts of the range, as in the vaUey of the Treisam, a 
defile by which it is crossed from Freiburg to Schaf hausen. This is locally called the 
Hbllenthal, or VaUey of Hell, but it has nothing infernal, or even savage, in its aspect, 
though with wild and sublime features. The pass is celebrated in military history for the 
successful retreat of Moreaii and his army through it in 1796. On gaining the summit, 
and looking out on the opposite side, the waters of the Lake of Constance may be 
discerned, and a wide panorama is unfolded, to which the name of the Kingdom of 
Heaven has been given. The Ifeckar crosses the northern part of the duchy on its way 
to the Ehine. The Danube rises within its limits, in the southern portion. A fountain 
in the castle-garden of the village of Donaueschingen is the nominal source ; but two 
riUs descending the eastern slopes of the Schwartzwald are better entitled to the 
distinction. Mountain scenery, extensive woods, numerous streams, a mild climate, and 
a fertile soU, have won for Baden the epithet of Das Eden Deuischlands, ' The Paradise of 
Germany.' It produces rich ci'ops of the ordinary cereals, with tobacco, maize, hops, 
flax, hemp, wine, and oil. In the Black Forest district the villagers manufacture a large 
mmiber of wooden clocks, polish crystals, and rear singing-birds. 

Carlsruhe, the capital, is a small, elegant, but dull place, of modern origin and formal appearance, situated 
a few miles east of the Ehine. Population, 27,000. It contains the grand-dnoal palace, from which all 
the principal streets, thirty-two in nmnber, diverge like the rays of a fan, and has a few other buildings 
praised for their architecture. The principal are, besides the grand-ducal palace, the palace of the old 
margrave, the polytechnic school, the schools of science and the fine arts, churches, the mint, barracks, 
hospitals, and arsenal. The site was formerly a forest, large remains of which are still in the environs. 
Here the Margrave Charles had a hunting-seat, called Carl's-ruhe, ' Charles's Eest,' which became the 
nucleus of the city, and supplied it with a name, in the early part of the last century. Baden-Baden, on 
the south, in high repute as a visiting-place from its warm mineral waters, offers various attractions to 
mere pleasure-seekers, with whom it is thronged in the summer months. Not the least is the charming 
locality, encircled by hills, offshoots of the Black Forest, which abound with murmurmg streams and 
delicious woodland shades. The springs were loiown to the Romans, who planted a colony at the spot, 
with the name of Civitas Aurelia Aquensis. The hottest has a temperature of 153° Fahrenheit. Twelve 
others rise near it, and render the soil so warm that snow never lies on the ground in the coldest weather. 



368 GERMANY. 

Mannheim, situated at the confluence of the Neckar with the Rhine, the largest town in the duchy, with 
27,100 inhabitants, is also the chief seat of commerce. It is very regularly built, has spacious streets crossing 
each other at right angles, and quite a modern air, having been ahnost entirely reconstructed since the close 
of the last century, when the French were compelled to surrender it to the Austrians, after a bombardment 
which laid the greater part in ruins. Being easy of access, as well as pleasant and cheap as a place of 
residence, it has a considerable colony of English. 

Heidelberg, an antiqiie-iooking town, thirteen miles to the eastward, with 16,000 inhabitants, occupies 
the south bank of the Neckar, and the slope of a hill rising up from it, where the valley of the river opens 
into the spacious valley of the Ehine. The richness and beauty of the country, Avith various memorials 
of the past, and the unfortunate history of the place, combine to render it full of interest. Formerly 
the capital of the Palatinate, a state now merged in adjoining territories, it underwent all the cruel 
vicissitudes of that district in the seventeenth century — bombardments, pillage, fire, and sword, first from the 
imperialists, next from the French. The conspicuous object is the palatial castle of the old Electors, which, 
after being restored from the ravages of war, was fired by lightning in 1764, and reduced to desolation. The 
grand ruin stands on a wooded height, and commands one of the finest views of its kind in the world, 
embracmg the winding Neckar and the gleaming Ehine ; with towns, villages, church-towers, and vineyards, 
bounded by the distant heights of the Vosges Mountains in France. In a cellar beneath the castle is the 
famous Tun, capable of holding 800 hogsheads, the largest of all wine-casks, but inferior in size to many of 
the porter-vats of London. St Peter's Church is memorably connected with Jerome of Prague, who nailed 
to its door a summary of the reformed doctrine which he preached to a multitude in the churchyard. 
Heidelberg is the seat of a university, the oldest in Germany proper, having been founded in 1386. It has 
a library of 150,000 volumes, and a large manuscript collection, and is much resorted to by students from 
England and Scotland. The German students are notoriously addicted to duelling, beer-drinking, and 
boisterous revelry in tlie streets at night. Freiburg, in the southern part of the duchy, possesses one of the 
finest Gothic cathedrals in Germany, the tower of which, surmounted by a spire, is 380 feet liigh, remarkable 
for its lightness and elegance. The toivn stands on the Treisam, a few miles from its descent through the 
Valley of Hell from the Black Forest ; and is the seat of the Koman Catholic university for the duchy. It 
has many other educational institutions besides manufactures of chemical products, soap and starch, with 
foundries, bleaching-works, &c. A statue of Schwarz, a native and resident monk, one of the inventors of 
gunpowder, who is believed to have lost liis life while pursuing the study about the year 1354, has recently 
been erected in the Augustine Place. Constance, at the western extremity of the lake of that name, now 
a reduced place, has a name in history as the scene of the ecclesiastical council, 1411—1418, which deposed 
two rival popes, elected a successor, condemned the doctrines of Wickliff, and consigned John Huss and 
Jerome of Prague to the flames. The field in which they sufi'ered is pointed out in the suburbs, and the 
very spot of their martyrdom into which the stake was driven. England was represented at the council by a 
deputation imder the Bishop of Salisbirry, who died during its sittings, and has a grave marked by a brass 
plate before the high-altar in the cathedi-aL 

LiCHTENSTEiN, a priiioipality, tlie smallest state of the G-ernianio Confederation, lies to 
tlie south of the Lake of Constance, on the right hank of the Ehine, enclosed hy 
Switzerland and the Tyrol. It is about equal in area to one-third of the county of 
Eutland, and has a town of the same name for its capital, with a village population as to 
numbers. 

The Prince of Lichtenstein resides at Vienna, where his palace, with a picture-gaUery, is one of the show- 
places. The state was till very recently governed in much the same manner as his own immense private 
domains in Moravia. But in 1862, the handful of inhabitants made a quiet movement, and obtained a 
constitution. According to its articles, the seat of government is transferred from Vienna to Lichtenstein ; 
representatives are to vote tlie budget ; and the administration is to be ' radically different and separate from 
that of the prince's domains.' Soon afterwards the first number of the Lichtenstein Gazette appeared, but 
as there was no press in the principality, it was printed at Feldldrch, a smaU town in the Tyrol. 

Germany was included in the vast dominions of Charlemagne, who was crowned by 
the hands of the pope Emperor of the West in the year 800. With him began the 
long line of emperors of Germany extending through a thousand years, or tiU. the com- 
mencement of the present century. But his dynasty bscomLug extinct in 911, the different 
provincial chiefs, consisting of seculars and ecclesiastics, who at one time amounted to 
300, constituted themselves into a national assembly, assumed the right of electing 
the sovereign, and placed members of various houses upon the imperial throne by 
their suffrages. This arrangement subsisted tiU the year 1806, Avhen the victories of 
INapoleon, and the defection of subordinate princes to him, induced Erancis II. to resign 
the German crown, and assume the title simply of Francis I., Emperor of Austria. Then 



TRADE AND COIIJIEIICE. 3G9 

followed tlio sliort-livecl ' Confederation of the Eliino,' in wliicli those states were included 
whoso riilcrs were suhservienb to the views of France. This was succeeded by the 
' Germanic Confederation,' established by the Congress of Vienna in 1815, consisting of 
the minor powers, with Austria and Prussia at their head, united for the purpose of 
mutual protection and defence, which maintains its existence, but has always been in a 
very precarious condition. The general administration is conducted by a Diet sitting at 
Frankfurt, composed of representatives chosen by the governments — not by the people, in 
which the plenipotentiary of Austria always presides, and has a casting voice. Each state 
is bound to furnish a military contingent to the federal army according to its amount of 
population, whUe the fortresses of Mayence, Ulm, Luxembnrg, Landau, Eastadt, and 
Ingoldstadt are garrisoned by federal troops. In their internal economy the several 
states are quite independent, and adopt various forms of government, but in all, constitu- 
tional principles are more or less distinctly recognised, though with great reluctance in 
several instances by the ruling powers. Besides the reigning houses, upwards of a 
hundred princes and counts of the old empire remain who have been ' mediatised,' or 
deprived of sovereign rights, but are permitted to retain their titles and estates. 

Internal communication is in a highly-efficient condition, by m.eans of an extensive 
sj'stem of railways, and the numerous rivers susceptible of steam navigation. Manufac- 
tures, though varied, are only conducted upon a great scale at a few points, but are very 
general in relation to articles necessary or common in domestic life ; these are largely 
made by the peasantry themselves at intervals of leisure from other pursuits. Agriculture 
is the principal employment, and embraces the growth of rye to a much greater amount 
than wheat for the bread of the people. Commerce, formerly shackled by the exaction 
of dues on. goods passing the frontier of each petty state, is now nearly relieved from this 
incumbrance by the incorporation of most of the states in the Customs Union, or Zollverein, 
which renders all merchandise free throughout the League after one levy. Hamburgh, 
Bremen, Lubeck, and Emden are the chief seats of the foreign commerce. Frankfurt, 
Nuremberg, Augsburg, Munich, Cassel, Brunswick, Leipsio, and Stuttgart rank as prin- 
cipal centres of the inland trade, extensively carried on by means of periodical fairs. The 
two last-named cities are the only places in Europe at which book-fairs are held. Leipsic 
supplies the north of Germany with literature, and Stuttgart the south. The business is 
conducted entirely aipon the system of exchange. ' The bookseller, perhaps, from Kiel on 
the Baltic, meets and exchanges publications with the bookseller, perhaps, from Zurich ; 
gives so many copies of his publication — a duU sermon possibly — for so many of the 
others, perhaps an entertaining novel. Each gets an assoi'tment of goods by this traffic, 
such as he knows wiU suit his customers, out of a publication of which he could not 
perhaps sell a score of copies within his own circle ; but a score sold in every bookselling 
ou'cle in Germany gets rid of an edition.' Public libraries are large and numerous ; 
elementary instruction is efficiently provided for in most of the states ; and universities 
are sufficiently well endowed to render classical and scientific knowledge cheaply 
attainable. 

The subjects of the Germanic Confederation form an aggregate number exceeding 
44,000,000, but excluding the inhabitants of the Prussian and Austrian portions, the 
total population of the minor states, to which this chapter is devoted, is little more than 
17,000,000. This last number is composed almost entirely of people of the Teutonic 
race, speaking two principal dialects— the Hoch Deutscli, or High German, distinguished 
by its rough and guttural sounds, prevalent in the southern and central districts ; and the 
Nieder Deutsch, or Low German, characterised by a softer enunciation, the popular speech 
in. the northern states. The High German was the mother-tongue of Luther, and the 



370 GERMANY. 

language into -wliiclx lie translated the Bible. It hence became the universal vehicle of 
Hterature, and is the medium of intercourse among the educated classes in all parts of the 
country, generally understood, as alone taught ia the schools. Both High and Low 
Germans are very similar in habits, character, and disposition. They are phlegmatic, 
thrifty, and ploddiag — equalities very ordinary in themselves, but wlaich, when allied with 
genius, taste, and discernment, contribute to elevate those endowed with the combiaation 
to the highest rank iu the departments of polite literature, the fine arts, and natural 
science. Poetry has been nobly represented by Klopstock, Goethe, ScMller, Korner, 
Arndt, and Uhland ; music by Handel, Haydn, Beethoven, Mozart, "Weber, and 
Mendelssohn; physical science by Werner, Humboldt, Von Buch, Berghaus, Bessel, 
Struve, Gauss, Madler, Eacke, Eitter, and Liebig; and no nation can furnish such a host 
of writers eminent in mental philosophy and jurisprudence, in philology and archaeology, 
in historical research, biblical criticism, and sacred literature in general. In the present 
century, Germans have distinguished themselves as intrepid travellers, and have enduringly 
associated their names with various fields of adventure — Humboldt with South America 
and Eussian Asia, Tschudi with Peru, Martins with Brazil, Lepsius with Egypt, 
Schomburgk with British Guiana and Burmah, Gutzlaff with China, Siebold with Japan, 
the brothers Schlagentweit with Central Asia, Barth, Owerveg, and Vogel with Central 
Africa, and Leichardt with Central Australia. 

In relation to religion, the greater proportion of the people in the northern and central 
states are Protestants, divided into Lutherans and Calvinists or Eeformed, the former of 
which are the most numerous. There are minor sects, as the Moravian Brethren, whose 
mother-colony at Herrnhut, 'the watch of the Lord,' in Saxony, founded in 1722, has 
planted offshoots in almost all parts of the world. Saxony has also some adherents of the 
Greek Church. In the southern countries Eoman Catholics form a decided majority of the 
population. The modern seceders from the Eomish Chiu'ch, styling themselves Christian 
Catholics, who were chiefly provoked to the secession by the exhibition of the Holy Coat at 
Treves in 1844, are found in various parts, but in gradually diminishing numbers. Having 
become democrats in politics, and freethinkers in general on religious subjects, several 
governments imposed vexatious restrictions upon them with a view to their suppression, 
prohibited their pubHc meetings, withdrew the rights of citizenship, or went to the extreme 
of enforcing banishment. 

By the general body of both Protestants and Catholics little distinction is drawn 
between Sunday and week-days, except that great part of the former is the favoured time 
for recreation in the public gardens and houses of entertainment in the environs of the 
towns. Both communions agree in a regard for old customs, a respect for anniversaries, 
and a fondness for festivals, carefully attending to every observance in their celebration 
which time has hallowed. All over Germany on Christmas-eve, every house, belonging 
to either rich or poor, has its gaUy-decked Christmas-tree, sometimes called Chrisfbaum, 
or ' Christ's tree ; ' and wherever Germans go, as emigrants to the remotest parts of the 
globe, as artist-students to Eome, as resident merchants to London or ISTew York, at every 
recurrence of the season, the tree makes its appearance in the domestic circle, at once the 
symbol of their faith and the emblem of their nationality. 




Tile Eoyal Palace, Berlin. 



CHAPTER V. 




HE region around the mouth of the Vistula was anciently 
occupied by a people called the Pruczi, from whom the name of 
Prussia is derived. Their territory embraced only the district 
stretching from thence to the ITiemen, and is stUl known as Prussia 
Proper, which, together with the adjoining province of Posen, 
lies beyond the pale of Germany, and was formerly part of the 
kingdom of Poland. The name of Prussia has, however, since 
been extended from a small territory to the dominions of a 
great monarchy, the vast proportion of wHoh is Germanic, and 
acquired its present extension in 1815, at the close of the long 
Napoleonic wars. Prussia thus constituted, consists of two principal divisions of very 
unequal size, enthely separated from each other. They may be called Eastern and 
Western from their relative position, and Maritime and Ehenish from their respective 



372 PRUSSIA. 

positions. The total area, 107,960 square miles, is inferior to that of the United 
Kingdom by considerably more than the extent of Wales. 

I. EASTERN OR MARITIME PRUSSIA. 

This main division of the kingdom, comprising five-sixths of the whole area, extends 
along the Baltic from the frontier of Mecklenburg to that of Eussia ; embraces a large part 
of the north of Germany ; and stretches inland to the Austrian territories. The coast-Hne, 
along the shore of the Baltic, very nearly 500 miles in length, exhibits a succession of 
sand-hiUs through the greater part of its course, and is monotonous and dreary in 
the extreme. But eastward, it is distinguished by the formation of tongues of sand, 
called nehrungs, of extraordinary length in proportion to their breadth, variously flat 
or undulating with hillocks which the winds have piled, and enclosing expanses of fresh 
water, called haffs or bays. The latter are the estuaries of rivers, shallow, but of 
considerable extent, communicating with the sea, but rendered lake-Eke by the narrowness 
of the outlets and the fluviatile quality of the water. Thus the mouth of the Vistula 
is enclosed on the north-western side by a sandy promontory, eighteen miles long by 
only a quarter of a mile broad, terminating in the well-known Hela of Dantzic, marked 
by a revolving light. Another of these singular tracts commences eastward of the corn- 
exporting city, thirty-eight miles long by less than one mile broad. It bounds the 
Frisohe-haff, so named from its freshness, the estuary of the Pregel, which has an area of 
250 square miles, and opens to the sea by a narrow strait, half a mile wide. A third 
sandy ridge lies immediately to the north, fifty-two miles long by one and a quarter in 
average breadth, almost entirely destitute of vegetation, but occupied by a few scattered 
hamlets. It encloses the Curische-hafi', or Bay of the Cures, an ancient people who dwelt 
upon its banks. The Memen discharges itself into this watery expanse of 470 square 
miles, connected with the sea by the Memel Deeps, a passage about 300 yards wide. 

This part of the coast is remarkable for its produce of amber, the carbonaceous mineral so 
well known for its electrical properties, and so prized for ornamental purposes. Though 
found along the western shores of Prussia, the chief source of the supply is between 
Dantzic and Memel. After high north winds have agitated the sea, shoals of sea- weed are 
washed towards the strand, among which the article is found, adhering to the mass, or 
entangled in it. As soon as a cargo arrives within convenient distance, the amber 
fishers enter the water to secure it, haul the prize upon the beach, and examine its contents. 
The amber occurs in nodules, varying in size from that of a nut to that of a man's 
head, though the latter size is very rare. It has also been obtained by regular mining 
in the sands, and divers have been employed to search for it at the bottom of the sea, but 
neither plan proved remunerative, and the biUows are now the sole agents of the supply. 
About 150 hogsheads are annually collected, an amount which has been steadUy 
maintained for three centuries. But the occupation is strictly closed to individual 
enterprise. The Grand-masters of the Teutonic Order, duriag their reign upon the coast, 
took possession of the trade, and derived a considerable revenue from it. It afterwards 
became a royal monopoly. An officer of the government superintended the collection, and 
disposed of the proceeds by public auction. Watchmen, or ' strand-riders,' kept guard on 
the coast ; gallows were erected in ierrorem along the shore ; and any person detected 
collecting on his own account was liable to capital punishment. Since the commence- 
ment of the present century, the right of collecting has been let by the government to 
contractors, who pay an annual rental, and have the monopoly of the produce. Though 
the former severe laws are not in force, yet detaining a piece of amber accidentally found, 
renders the party liable to a prosecution for theft ; and in the use of the beach, persons 



EASTERN PRUSSIA. 373 

going beyond certain limits are subject to a penalty for the trespass. Amber is a resin of 
vegetable origin, supposed to be yielded by an extinct species of pine, exuding like the 
gum wliich. wo see issue from trees in the orchards of the present day, but indurated 
and mineralised. Hence we may assume that in places where the waters now freely sport, 
forests of amber pines once waved to the winds, and were either slowly submerged by 
encroachments of the sea, or suddenly engulfed by some grand catastrophe of nature. 
Insects are often found imbedded in the mineral. Pope says of flies in amber : 

' The tilings themselves are neither rich nor rare, 
The wonder 's how the devil they got there.' 

But the fact is obviously susceptible of very easy explanation. Some of the insects 
appear evidently to have struggled after being entangled in the originally viscous mass. 
Occasionally a leg or wing is found at a distance from the body, which had been detached 
in the effort to escape, or a limb appears alone, plainly broken off in the partially 
successful attempt at disengagement. The highly-interesting substance is chiefly sent to 
Turkey, where it is used, as well as in Germany, to form mouth-pieces for tobacco-pipes. 
The largest known specimen, weighing eighteen pounds, is in the Eoyal Museum, Berlin. 
But a total quantity of 800 pounds was collected after a storm on the 1st of January 
1848. 

A few islands closely adjoin the western part of the main shores. Those of Usedom 
and WoUin, level and wooded, enclose the Stettiner-haff, or Bay of Stettin, and form 
three channels connected with the adjacent coast, by which it communicates with the 
Baltic ; but the ordinary line of navigation is the central passage. Gustavus Adolphus, at 
the commencement of his memorable campaign, landed on the former island with his 
army, and set his troops an instructive example, by falling upon his knees on the beach in 
prayer, rising to work with his own hands in throwing up intrenchments. Eligen, more 
to the west, the largest island belonging to Germany, is separated from the mainland by 
a strait about a mile in breadth, and is supposed to have been torn from it in the early 
part of the fourteenth century, during one of the most violent hurricanes on record. It 
is of very singular form, being cut up by indentations of the sea into a series of peninsulas, 
but presents a surface pleasingly diversified with hiU and dale, well-wooded slopes, and 
wild romantic ravines. Its scenery, of which beauty and softness are the prevailing 
features, render it a great point of attraction in summer for sea-bathing with the 
inhabitants of North Germany, as its chalk-cliffs and flowery glens so strilcingly contrast 
with their o-\vn sandy plains and swampy heaths. The highest point of one of the 
promontories, composed of grotesquely-grouped masses of chalk, is called the Konigstuhl, 
'King's Chair,' or 'King Frederick "William's Chair,' from which a flight of 600 ste]DS, cut 
in the rock, leads down to the strand. But Eiigen is historically interesting as one of the 
last strongholds of paganism in the north of Europe, still containing the sites of temples, 
stone cofifins, jars full of bones and ashes, tumuli, and cromlechs. These are traces of a 
barbarous people, whom Odoacer, king of the Eugii, fourteen centuries ago, led from this 
remote spot, and the neighbouring shores of Pomerania, to the conquest of Eome and Italy. 
The island was considered sacred to the goddess Hertha. Tacitus describes the site of 
her worship. An ancient beech forest, containing an oval-shaped pond, called the 
Black Lake, from the sombre shade of the adjoining trees, is still regarded with feelings 
of superstition, and believed to be identical with the place described by the historian. 
The present islanders are a very creditable race, long familiar with humane regulations 
respecting wrecks, which provide for the security of stranded property and the relief of 
distressed seamen. 

Inland Prussia, to a considerable distance from the shores, except towards the Vistula, 



374 PRUSSIA. 

is a flat tminteresting country, for the most part a great plain of sand, with rounded 
fragments of slate and granite rocks scattered over it, torn from the primitive mountains 
of Scandinavia, and transported to their present site by some unclironicled deluge. Small 
lakes, morasses, pine woods, and heathy moors are very numerous. One of the largest of 
the latter, the Tuchler Heide, or Heath of Tuchel, in the central province of 
Brandenburg, extends fifty miles in length, by from twenty-five to thirty in breadth, and 
is a collection of drift sand, incapable of cultivation, producing only heathery plants, a 
few shrubs, and pines. On the south-west the surface is diversified by a portion of the 
Harz Moimtains, which stretch in an east-south-east direction from Goslar, in Hanover, to 
Mansfeld, in Prussian Saxony; in which direction the slopes of the Eiesengebirge abound 
with striking scenes. This range forms the boundary between the Prussian and Austrian 
territories. A small chapel at the summit of Schneekoppe stands on the frontier-line. 
This is the highest point of the chain, 5235 feet above the sea, the 'prince of German 
mountains,' so called as the loftiest of its elevations apart from the Alps. It appears 
higher than it really is on the approach from the north, rising at once from the plain, 
without being diminished in its altitude by any intervening ridges of lower elevation. 
The prospect from the crest is very extensive when fine weather is commanded, embracing 
the fertile plains of SUesia, studded with towns and villages, on the one hand, with 
rugged glens, wild and steep precipices, on the other, the side towards Bohemia. Within 
twenty minutes' walk of the top, the humble inn or chalet of Hampebaude, provided for 
the accommodation of travellers, at the altitude of 4300 feet, is the highest inhabited 
house in Prussia. 

There is no important river entirely Prussian from source to moutL The Oder 
answers the most closely to this condition, having only a slight portion of its upper 
course within the Austrian empu'e, and then passing centrally through the heart of the 
country to the Bay of Stettin. On the south-west, the Elbe winds over the surface from 
the Saxon to the Hanoverian border. Eastward the lower course of the Vistula is 
embraced, from the frontier of Poland to its discharge in the Gulf of Dantzic. On the 
north-east the Memen is received from Eussia, and flows to the Curische-haff. Between, 
the two last named is the Pregel, entirely confined to the province of Prussia Proper, 
wHch terminates in the Erische-haff, but is only a stream of subordinate rank. In this 
province lakes are the most nmnerous, and embrace the largest examples. The total 
number throughout the country is reckoned at upwards of 1000, some of which are from 
ten to twenty mUes in length, but the majority arc very small. ISTone have any attractive 
features, but they are generally well stocked with fish. The numerous lakes and marshes 
have been formed by the rivers, which, travelling languidly owing to the very slight fall of 
the surface, are unable to discharge their waters after heavy rains, or when the snows melt, 
and hence speedily overflow their banks. Lakes and rivers are firmly frozen over in the 
muter months; and the snow lies long and deep upon the ground, especially in the 
north-eastern districts. The Silesian province yields calamine, the ore from which zinc is 
derived, in great abundance, and has zinc-works upon the largest scale, which extensively 
supply the foreign market with the product. In Prussian Saxony, mines of lead and 
iron are wi'ought in the Harz Mountains, which yield also ur various parts of the range 
marble, alabaster, and granite, giving employment to an industrial population of about 
70,000 ; and in Pomerania, near Stettin, the important discovery has very recently been 
made of vast beds of rock-salt of the purest quality. The northern part of the Ehine 
province has rich coal and iron mines, and the river-vaUeys axe rich wine-producing 
districts. 



EASTERN PRUSSIA. 375 

Tlie eastern section of Prussia consists of sis provinces, wliich are divided into 
regencies and subdivided into circles. 

Provinces. Cities and Towns. 

Gennanio — Brandenburg, .... Berlin, Potsdam, Frankfurt, Brandenburg. 

K Silesia Breslau, Gorlitz, Neisse, Glogau, Brieg. 

Prussian Saxony, . . . Magdeburg, Halle, Erfurt, Naumburg. 

» Pomerania, Stettin, Stralsund, Griefswald, Kugen. 

Nou-Gennanio — Prussia Proper, . . . Konigsberg, Dantzio, Elbing, Tilsit, Memel, Thorn. 

II Posen, Posen, Lissa, Eawitsch, Bromberg. 

The reigning house is a younger branch of the family of Hohenzollern, who held the comparatively humble 
office of burgraves or stadtholders of the city of Nuremberg in Bavaria. In 1415 one of them obtained, by 
purchase from the Emperor Sigismund, the sovereignty of Brandenburg, with the dignity of elector. In 1618 
the dukedom of Prussia Proper fell to the electorate by the failiu-e of its male line ; and the state was raised 
to power and consequence by Frederick-William, 1640-16S8, commonly called the Great Elector. His son 
obtained the title of king from the Emperor Leopold, by a bribe administered to the imperial confessor, and 
put the cro-\vn upon his own head as Frederick I., at Konigsberg in 1701. The kingdom, enlarged by the 
wars of Frederick the Great and the partition of Poland, was conquered by Napoleon, but reconstituted 
with additional possessions by the Congress of Yienna in 1815. Since that period the little territory of 
Jahde, on the North Sea, has been obtained by purchase from Oldenburg, as previously mentioned ; and the 
two states of Hohenzollern, the patrimony of the elder branch of the reigning family, formerly members of 
the Germanic Confederation, have been incorporated in the monarchy. This last arrangement, by which 
Prussia acquired a footing in Southern Germany, took effect in the year 1848, and the princes were 
compensated by pensions for the surrender of their rights. 

Beandenbueg, an inland province, is intersected hj the Oder on tlie eastern side in the 
middle part of its course, and contributes on the western several affluents to tlie Elbe. 
It has a considerable extent of infertile surface, a low average of population, but acquires 
importance from being the nucleus of the monarchy, containing the capital. 

.BfiWm, the metropolis of the kingdom, is seated in the centre of a flat sandy plain, on both banks of the 
Spree, in latitude 52° 30' north, longitude 13° 18' east, and contains a population of 547,000, including the 
military. The river winds with a sluggish current circuitously tlirough it, and is crossed by thirty-seven 
bridges within its limits, finally joining the Havel, which discharges into the Elbe. The city has an elegant 
yet formal appearance ; remarkably broad streets, and numerous spacious squares, the latter adorned with 
statues ; but being entirely of modern date, called into existence chiefly by the will of Frederick the Great, 
it fails to excite that interest which much smaller places inspire by venerable structures and picturesque 
dwellings, ' historical stone and bme.' It possesses, however, one feature finer than anything of the kind in 
Em'ope, the street called Vnter den Linden^ * beneath the lime-trees,' reacliing in a straight line from the 
royal palace to the triumphal arch of the Brandenburg Gate, the principal entrance into the capital, and a 
very imposing portal. This noble thoroughfare has four rows of trees, consisting of limes, chestnuts, aspens, 
acacias, and plantains, which form a central walk for pedestrians, and a road for carriages on each side, where 
the fashionable and the wealthy exhibit themselves and their equipages. Palaces and public buildings are 
on either hand — the Museum, the Opera, the University, the Arsenal, and the Academy of Arts — which 
combine with the varied foliage to render this a superb architectural vista. Berlin is well supplied with 
literary, scientific, and educational institutions ; it possesses a royal library of 500,000 volumes ; and may be 
regarded as the centre of intellectual development in the north of Gennany. Its charitable institutions 
are also numerous, the most important being the two magnificent hospitals of the Charite and the Bethunien. 
The university, founded in 1810, has risen to great distinction, and numbers among its former and present 
professors many illustrious names, as those of Neander, Schleiermacher, and Hengstenberg, the theologians ; 
Fichte, Hegel, and Schelling the metaphysicians ; Encke the astronomer ; Humboldt and Fvitter the 
geographers ; Eaumer the historian ; Savigny the jmist ; Bekker, Zumpt, and Bopp, the philologists ; 
Dove the physicist ; and Ehrenberg the naturalist. But with all their civilisation, the Berliners have not yet 
supplied themselves with the social conveniences of many an ordinary English village as to drainage and 
water-supply, so essential to cleanliness and health. Though unfavourably situated for commerce, having no 
easy communication with the sea, yet still the manufactures are impoi-tant and varied, embracing woollen, 
cotton, and silk goods ; paper, porcelain, and earthenware ; and the beautifully executed cast-iron articles for 
use and ornament wluch have obtained the name of 'Berlin jewellery.' 

Potsdam, eighteen miles on the south-west, occupies a pleasant site on the north bank of the Havel, which 
appears the more agreeable in contrast with the dreariness of nature immediately around the capital. The 
river here expands into a lake, and has weE-wooded sloping shores. The town is a principal station of the 
army, and the frequent residence of the sovereign, with four palaces in and about it. Population, 41,700. 
In one of the squares is an obelisk of marble 76 feet high. A plain sarcophagus in the church of the garrison, 
containing the remains of Frederick the Great, surmounted by captured flags, and his retreat in the vicinity 



376 PRUSSIA. 

of Sans Souci, ' without care,' where he died, are the objects of interest to strangers. Potsdam is the 
birthplace of Alexander Von Humboldt. Simndau, a small town regularly fortified, stands at the junction of 
the Spree with the Havel, and can be strengthened by the inundation of the envii-ons. Its citadel has often 
received prisoners of state. Frankfurt, on the Oder, 50 miles east of Berlin, undistinguished save by the 
commerce commanded by its position, is seated on a navigable river which serves as an outlet for the mining 
and manufacturing produce of Silesia, and is connected by canals mth the Elbe and the Vistula. It has 
three great fairs amiuaUy, much frequented by Poles and Silesians, and considerable manufactures. About 
fom- and a half miles distant is Ktmersdorf, where Frederick the Great was defeated by the Austro-Eussian 
forces in 1759. 

Silesia, a south-eastern district, -watered by the upper course of the Oder, borders on. 
the dominions of Austria, and formerly belonged to the empire. It was conquered by 
the arms of the great Frederick, and is distinguished in military history as the scene of 
many decisive battles, not only during the struggle for its possession, but in the wars of 
ISTapoleon. The province is now the most populous and prosperous portion of Prussia, a 
region of fertile and weU-oultivated fields, of bleaching-grounds lilie acres of snow, of 
manufacturing and mining industry, and of beautiful scenery. On entering from the 
north, hamlets, villages, and . towns multiply as the interior is penetrated, while the view 
of monotonous plains is exchanged for that of undulating hills, which become bolder, tOl 
the high range of the Eiesengebirge appears on the southern horizon. 

Breslau (Pol. Wracklaw), centrally placed, occupies both banks of the Oder, and ranks after Berlin in point 
of population, 145,000, consisting of a considerable niunber of Catholics, but with a decided majority of 
Protestants. The signs of opulence appear in the environs in numerous villas and ornamental grounds ; 
and as the chief mart for the corn, metals, and Uncus of the province, the streets are the scenes of great 
animation and traffic. It has important manufactui'es, and upwards of 100 distilleries. At Easter, 
when the principal wool-fair is held, the largest of the kind on the continent, the town is thronged 
with merchants, many of whom are far-comers, appearing in oriental costumes. It possesses a library of 
300,000 volmnes, and is the seat of a university founded in 1702. The Church of St Elizabeth has the loftiest 
tower in Prussia, 364 feet high. One of the principal squares, the Blucher-platz, contains a colossal bronze 
statue of the warrior, who gamed his great victory over the Prench, in 1813, at the Katzbatch, a few miles to 
the westward, at the age of seventy-one, and died tranquilly at an adjoining village in 1819. His tomb is by 
the high-road, marked by a.granite monument, shaded by three linden-trees. On the approach to Breslau 
from the north, the great Frederick gained the battle of Lissa, in which he defeated a triple force of the 
Austrians. The other provincial towns are numerous, highly industrial, but are not separately large, and 
have no historical unportance. 

Prussian Saxony, a western district, includes part of the middle course of the Elbe, 
and a portion of the Harz Mountains, with the highest point of the group, the celebrated 
Brocken. Detached tracts are associated with it, and some of the smaller German states 
are almost wholly impacted within its limits. Prussia obtained the southern part of 
this province at the expense of the kingdom of Saxony. That statfe was deemed lawful 
spoil by the Congress of Vienna, justly amenable to an entirely new appropriation, owing 
to the adherence of its sovereign to the cause of jSTapoleon. But after lengthened 
discussions, he was permitted to retain his patrimony, reduced in its dimensions by a 
partial surrender of territory. Copper and other mines are wrought extensively in the 
Harz ; and extensive corn-lands occur, highly fertile, but very monotonous, being 
without enclosing hedgerows, and rarely dotted by a tree. This portion of the Idngdom 
was the cradle of the Eeformation, as the scene of the birth, education, and death of 
Luther. It has been the theatre also of many battles and sieges. 

Magdeburg, a large commercial and manufacturmg town on the Elbe and some islands in its channel, 
situated eighty miles south-westward of BerUn. It is a fortress of the first class, mth a citadel on one of 
the river-islands, and contains a population, including the suburbs, of 78,600, besides the garrison. The 
citadel is used as a state prison, and was the scene of Baron Trenck's long captivity. The town is the 
focus of four of the principal lines of railway in Germany, and has manufactures of silk, cotton and woollen 
goods, gloves, ribbons, &c., with extensive breweries and distilleries. The cathedral, built between 1208 and 
1363, is a noble building, with many interesting monuments and objects in the interior, such as the tomb of 
the Emperor Otho, the founder of the city, and of his wife, the Saxon Prmcess Editha. Pleasant pubUc 
gardens are laid out by the side of the river beyond the fortifications. An inscription, 'Eemember the 
10th of May 1631,' recorded on one o£ the houses, marks a terrible incident in the history of Magdeburg. 



PRUSSIAN SAXONY. 377 

On its capture by the imperialists under Tilly during the Thirty Years' War, the eommandant was executed, 
and the inhabitants, to the number of 30,000 men, women, and children were butchered. Tidings of this 
hoiTiblo deed were announced to tlie emperor by the dispatch, that ' since the destruction of Jerusalem and 
Troy such a victoiy has not been.' The ferocious Tilly lies buried near the shrine of the Black Virgin of 
Allotting in Bavaria, before referred to. Halhcrstadt and Quedlmburr/, the latter the bii'thplace of 
Klopstook, arc on the south-west. Halle, with 41,000 inhabitants, is more important, rapidly advancing 
also as a railway centre, is situated on the Saale, and is the seat of a university, founded in 1C94, -with which 
many great names are associated, and of the Francke Institution, embracing an orphan-house and schools. 
Tlie to\vn is distinguished by the activity of its printing-presses. The name derived from Hall, an old 
word for ' salt,' refers to the brine-springs of the place and its neighbourhood, from which a large quantity of 
salt {from 200,000 to o00,000 hundredweights annually) is made by a peculiar class of workmen called the 
' H.allorcs.' Further to the south, the village of Lutzcn gives its name to the battle in which Gustavus 
Adolphus fell in 1632, at a spot now marked by an erratic block called the Stone of the Swede. It was the 
scene also of an eng.agement in 1813, in which Napoleon was victorious over the allies, previous to the battle 
of Leipsic. A few miles distant is the field of Eossbach, where Frederick the Great achieved his great 
triumph over the combined French and Austrians in 1757. 

Eiseleben, a small place about twenty miles west of Halle, with manufactures of potash and tobacco, and in 
the vicinity copper and silver mines and smelting-works, is famous as the scene of Luther's birth in li83. 
Portions of the house remain. Here also he died in 1546. In the Church of St Andrew are the cap, cloak, 
and other relics of the great Reformer. Erfurt, in the extreme south of the province, a fortified and 
considerable town, contains Luther's Cell, in the Augustine monastery, now converted into an asylum for 
destitute childron. He became a monk in 1505, and resided there several years. Witteiibcrg, on the Elbe, is 
distinguished as the place where he openly proclaimed the Reformation. It contains liis tomb, with that of 
Melancthon. A statue of him in the market-place bears the inscription in German, ' Is it God's work ? then 
will it endure. Is it man's ? then will it perish.' 

PoMERANiA, a maritime region, extends along the shores of the Baltic from the territory 
of Mecklenburg nearly to the GuK of Dantzio, and has the island of Eugen towards the 
western extremity. It embraces the lower course of the Oder, with a large extent of dreary 
sterile surface, and is one of the most thinly-peopled portions of the kingdom. The 
western part of the province, conquered by Gustavus Adolphus, long remained connected 
with Sweden, and was usually styled Swedish Pomerania. By the arrangements of 
the Congress of Vienna, it was finally ceded to Prussia, while the Swedish crown was 
aggrandised by the annexation of Norway. 

Stettin, a fortified tomi and flourisliing shipping port, with 64,000 inhabitants, including the military, is 
seated chiefly on the left bank of the Oder, but has a suburb on the opposite side. Its commerce is veiy 
extensive in the export of corn, wool, and other produce brought down by the river. Two Russian empresses 
were natives of the place — Catherine, surnamed the Great, and Maria Feodorowna, the wife of the Emperor 
Paul, and the mother oi Alexander and Nicholas. Their respective fathers were the local governors at the 
time of their birth. Below the to^^^l the river expands into a spacious bay, the Stettiner-haff, and finally 
discharges into the Baltic by three channels formed by two islands and the mainland. Swiiicmiinde, a 
small seaport, on the largest island, TJsedom, marks the principal line of navigation, or the central channel. 
On this island the great Gustavus landed with his army in 1630, to take part, on the side of Protestantism, 
in the religious war then raging in Germany. The same spot speedily witnessed the disembarkation of a 
largo band of English and Scotch auxiliaries, one of whom, Munro, who wrote an account of the campaigns 
of his chief, was supposed to be the original of the Captain Dugald Dalgetty, who so amusingly figures in Sir 
"Walter Scott's Ler/cnd of Montrose. Strahund, a strongly-fortified port, is seated on the mainland opposite 
the Rugen island, and was formerly the capital of Swedish Pomerania. It is celebrated for its long siege 
by "Wallenstein at the head of the imperialists in 1628, who had sworn to take it, ' even though it were 
fastened by chains to heaven,' but was compelled to retire with great loss. It was also the scene of one of 
Charles XIL's romantic adventures. Upon escaping from Tm-key, and returning to his own dominions, he 
reached the place so overcome with fatigue, that he was found asleep without the walls by a sentinel on 
duty. The stone on which he laid liis head is preserved in the town-halL Oriefswald, on an adjoining part 
of the coast, with 15,600 inhabitants, has a small university. JPutbus, a beautiful sea-bathing resort, and 
Bergen, a small town, are in the isle of Rugen. 

Prussia Proper extends along the coast from the preceding province to the frontier of 
Eussia, and embraces the lower courses of the Vistula and Niemen, with the intervening 
basin of the Pregel. Along the borders of the first-named river are fertile arable lands, 
but the greater part of the surface exhibits an alternation of lakes, swamps, sandy wastes, 
and dark pine-woods. Though including two of the most populous cities of the 



378 PRUSSIA, 

kingdom, tlie proportion of inliaLitants to tlie area is small. Tlie winter climate is severe, 
distinguished by wild and pitiless snow-storms, popularly caUed ' Courland weather,' 
commg from the direction of the Eussian province of that name. This part of the 
country was long subject to the Teutonic knights, an order of military priests founded 
in Palestine during the Crusades, but there obscured and kept in abeyance by the more 
powerful Templars and Hospitallers. Summoned in the 13th centmy to the aid of 
Christian Poland against the barbarous Pruczi, and other heathen neighbours, they 
gladly hastened to the eastern shores of the Baltic, mastered the territory, erected strong- 
holds, built castles, and enforced their faith upon the natives with the sword. The 
knights had their Masters at Konigsberg and other places, while the Grand-masters were 
established at Marienburg on the Vistula, where the palace they occupied stOl exists. 
Albert of Brandenburg, the last chief of the Order, embraced Lutheranism and renounced 
bis vows, when the district was constituted into the duchy of Prussia, and made 
hereditary in his famUy, Upon the failure of his line in 1618, the duchy lapsed to the 
Electors of Brandenburg, who assumed the regal style in the following century. 

Konigsherg, the fourth city of the kingdom, with a population of 9il-,000, including 7400 military, and an 
important commercial port, occupies both banks of the Pregel, and an island in the river, a short distance 
above its entrance into the Frische-haff. Vessels too large for the shallow water of the lake discharge and 
receive cargoes at Pillau, on the narrow channel by which communication is maintained with the Baltic, 
like Rome, it is built on seven hills ; it has also seven gates and seven bridges — discriminating circumstances 
by which to test the integrity of a professed native in foreign parts — and in addition, there is a head over the 
clock on the town-hall which puts out its tongue at every stroke of the clapper. The city spreads over a 
■wide area, as it includes a considerable extent of water-surface, many gardens and shi-ubberies, and no less 
than thirty public squares and market-places, some of them very spacious. It is the seat of a university, 
founded in 1544, with a library of 160,000 volumes, and an observatory on an old bastion, rendered famous 
by the labours of the late Professor Bessel, who, after watching through three years the star 61 Cygni, 
announced its annual parallax in the year 1838, which was the first approximation to a measurement of the 
distance of stellar bodies. The oldest and busiest portion of the city is on the river-island, the site of the 
cathedral, which contains the grave of Kant, the metaphysician, who Uved at a stUl existing house, No. 3 
in the Prinzessin Strasse. Konigsberg was founded by Ottokar, king of Bohemia in 1255, who erected a 
wooden fort on a spot now occupied by a cavalry barrack; and hence in 1855 the city held a jubUee 
commemorating the completion of the 0th century of its existence. Next arose a more durable stronghold 
of stone, surrounded with walls and a moat, furnished with towers and drawbridges, which, after under- 
going repeated alterations, is now the schloss or palace, devoted to government offices. It was the refuge 
of the royal family of Prussia when driven by Napoleon from Berlin, and contains an apartment of 
interest, called the Amber Chamber, adorned with the carbonaceous mineral obtained from the neighbouring 
shores. The battle-fields of Friedland and Eylau are in the adjouiing country. Tilsit, on the stream of the 
Tilse, an afHuent of the Niemen, is veiy unimportant, but known to fame as the scene of Napoleon's fantastic 
interview with the Emperor Alexander in 1807. Memel, at the outlet of the Curische-haff, the most 
northerly to^vn in the Prussian dominions, with a population of 17,600, is the central point of the Baltic 
timber trade, brought down by the Niemen from the Lithuanian forests. Its quays and streets exhibit a 
lively scene and a motley throng dimng the trading season, or while the navigation is open. There are 
German and Eussian merchants — Enghsh, French, and Dutch captains and sailors — Lithuanian boatmen, 
foresters, and farmers — Jew dealers and pedlers — and occasionally some country people of singular appearance 
and costume are seen, the Samaitish inhabitants of the adjoining tract of Samogitia, a branch of the 
Finnish race, of low stature, wearing the mean-looking ash-coloured woollen cloak of tlieir ancestors. The 
tOAvn is noted for its ship-building. It is two years older than Konigsberg, having been founded by the 
Livonian order of knights in 1253. North of Memel the countiy is a desert of loose sand — the sea on one 
side, and pine-forests, interspersed with cultivated tracts, on the other. At about twelve miles distance, a 
barrier defines the Prassian border, beyond wliich lies a tract of neutral ground leading to another barrier, 
which marks the Eussian frontier. 

Dantzic, the most important port of the kingdom, and a first-class fortress, with 82,000 inhabitants, including 
10,000 soldiers, is situated on the western main arm of the Vistula, about three miles above its entrance into 
the sea. Eamparts, bastions, redoubts, and wet ditches, with gigantic works to lay the adjoining country 
under water, render it as unpregnable as any position can be made by artificial means. Lines of chestnuts 
and other trees give a pleasant appearance to the suburbs in summer; country-houses are suggestive of citizen 
opulence and comfort ; but the interior is mostly a maze of narrow streets and somewhat gloomy antique 
dwellings, with few public buildings deserving notice besides the cathedral and exchange. Commercially the 
city ranks -with the greatest corn-shipping ports in the world, besides exporting timber, linseed, hemp, flax, and 



posEN. 379 

otlier produce of tlio countries watered Ijy tlio Vistula. The granaries are on an island fonned by two arms of 
the Mottlau, a tributary of the river, called Speiclierinsel, or ' Magazine Island.' They are buildings of six or 
seven stories, fiu'nished with an ample allowance of windows, wliich are left open in dry weather to ventUate 
the corn. No person is allowed to live upon the island, and, as a precaution against fire, no lights are ever 
admitted. Drawbridges connect it with the streets, which are raised at night. Ships are loaded with remark- 
able dispatch by gangs of porters, who will complete a cargo of 500 quarters of wheat in three or four hours. 
D.intzio was long one of the principal Hanse Towns, but accepted, with certain limitations, the protection of 
the kings of Poland. Various attempts were made by the Poles to become its real masters. In repelling 
their attacks, the citizens received such important aid from a number of Scotch residents, whose ancestors 
had settled in the place as weavers, that they were invested with the privileges of freemen. The district 
where they resided still bears the name of Sehottland. The city was taken by the French in 1807 under 
Marshal Lefebre, whom Napoleon created Dulce of Dantzic ; it was recaptured after an obstinate defence in 1813. 
Fahrenheit, the optician, who invented the thermometer bearing his name, and Hevelius, the astronomer, 
were natives. Maricnburff, on the eastern arm of the Vistula, is distinguished by its castle-palace, erected 
by the Teutonic knights as their head-quarters, partly re-edified by the Prussian government. Subterranean 
dungeons are memorials of the power and tyranny of the order. Thorn, on the river close to the Kussian 
frontier, strongly fortified, was the bii-thplace of Copernicus. Fraucnburg, overlooking the Frisohe-haff, was 
the scene of his residence and death. In a house on the hiU of the cathedral he wrote his famous treatise on 
the motions of the heavenly bodies, and founded the system of modern astronomy. A simple tablet in the 
cathedral in which he held a canom-y, marked with a rude sphere and a half-effaced name, indicates his grave. 
PosBN, an inland province eastward of tlie Oder, borders on Eussian Poland, and was 
formerly part of the Polish monarchy, acquired by Prussia upon the iniquitous partition 
of that unfortunate country at the close of the last century. The district is intersected 
from east to west by the river Warta, the principal tributary of the Oder, which it joins 
within the limits of Brandenburg. Agriculture is the prevailing industry of the people, 
who consist mainly of Poles, but with a considerable number of Germans and Jews. 
There are few towns of any important size besides the capital ; and villages appear in 
many parts only at distant intervals, separated by monotonous spaces of flat cultivated 
fields or dreary pine-woods, often of very wretched appearance, but in harmony with the 
down-trod social condition of the numerically-predominant race. The Polish part of the 
population, supposed to be under-estimated in the government returns, is considered to be 
in the proportion of eight to five of the German and Jewish. 

Posen, at one time the capital of Poland, is centrally seated on the "Warta, and contains 51,000 inhabitants, 
among whom Jew pedlers figure conspicuously in the streets, with long ilowing beards, dressed in their 
oriental costmne. It is strongly fortified, possesses a cathedral distinguished by the noble simplicity of its 
style, with twenty-three churches, aU Roman Catholic except two, which are Protestant, and a striking 
to^vn-hall. The trade^is extensive in the export of corn, hemp, flax, tobacco, and hops, raised in the 
province. Bromberg, on the north-east, is a frontier town of 21,000 inhabitants, on the railway between 
Berlin and "Warsaw. A few miles beyond it the Prussian train stops, and delivers over its passengers to the 
searching scrutiny of Eussian officials. 

Prussia has carefully avoided the open violence of Eussia and Austria in governing her Polish subjects. 
But covert means have been as carefuUy adopted to extinguish if possible their nationality, chiefly by the 
system of ' obscurantism.' Throughout Posen it seems as if the desponding exclamation of Kosciusko, Finis 
Folonice, had been realised. In every department luider government control, which embraces the whole 
internal administration of the province, no Pole need apply for employment. The mayors appointed to PoUsh 
villages are Germans. Tlie district counsellors, landratke, elected in the rest of Prussia, are in Posen named by 
the government, and are generally Germans. A knowledge of Polish is not required of any of these functionaries, 
though the persons with whom they are chiefly in contact are Polish peasants. In the prefecture there are 
two interpreters, but not one official who understands Polish. German inscriptions are over all the public 
ofiices. The clerks at the railway-stations, the conductors, and even the stokers are Germans. The entire 
history of Poland is a proscribed subject in tlie schools ; and no Polish school is allowed unless instruction in 
three out of six classes is given in German. Hence the Poles are accustomed to say that ' Eussia is a bear, 
Austria a hyrena, and Prussia a fox — a fox with a large liberal tail which she loves to exhibit to the eyes of 
Em'ope, but a cunrdng, fraudulent, and destructive fox nevertheless.' 

"While sharing in the spoil of Poland, the infamy belongs to Prussia of being the first to propose the 
dismemberment. It was Fi-ederick-"W"illiam who despatched his brother Prince Henry to St Petersburg to 
lay before the Empress Catherme the plan of partition, and urge an assent to it. ' Gain Austria,' was the 
final reply, ' and let her amuse France ; England I will flatter ; Turkey I wiU frighten.' The first partition 
treaty was signed in August 1772. So completely were English statesmen hoodwinked, that in a letter from 
Chatham to Shelbume, in October 1773, he remarked, ' Tour lordship knows I am quite a Euss.' 




Celebrated Sites on the Rhine, 
n. WESTERN OR RHENISH PRUSSIA. 

The smaller detaclied portion of the kingdom is separated from the larger chiefly hy the 
territories of Hesse-Cassel, Brunswick, and .Hanover. It consists of two provinces which 
rank with its most populous and flourishing districts, and have generally more varied 
superficial features than the greater part of the principal division, while embracing the 
grand part of the Ehine channel. 



Provinces. 
"Westphalian Province, 
Ehine Province, . 



Cities and Towns. 
Miinster, Hamm, Iserlohn, Bielefeld, Minden. 
Cologne, Bonn, Coblentz, Dusseldorf, Aix-la-Chapelle. 



Westphalia is bordered by the above-named territories, with those of Waldeck, 
Darmstadt, and Nassau, a part of HoUand, and the sister-province. It belongs on the 
eastern side to the basin of the Weser, and on the northern to that of the Ems, but is 
chiefly included in the valley of the Ehine, to which it contributes two tributaries, the 
Eiihr and the Lippe. Several ranges of hiUs appear in the south, with part of the 
Teutoburgor Wald in the north. But the surface is mostly level, devoted to the inferior 
kinds of grain, and to the rearing of live-stock, while a portion is included in the mining 
district of Northern Germany. It is eminently the country of rye-bread, consumed by 
high and low, man and horse ; and also of smoked hams for export, which are cured over 
fires made of the twigs of juniper. In former days it v^as the chief seat of the Vehm- 
gericM, or Secret Tribunal, which, however, held its meetings openly, and exercised a 
jurisdiction distinct from that provided for by due course of law, arising out of its 
inefficiency and partial administration. 

Miinster, a short distance from the left bank of the Ems, the largest to%vn, with 27,000 inhabitants, including 
the railitary, is well built, and contains some antique beautiful structures, and various objects of curiosity. It 



EIIENISH PRUSSIA. 381 

has a name in history connected with John of Leyden and his Anabaptist followers (1535-1536), v/ho took posses- 
sion of tlio place, proclaiiiicd it to be the New Jerusalem, and enjoyed a short-lived triumph. The house of tlie 
fanatic, marked with quaint carvii;g, is still shewn in the market-place ; and the iron cage in which he was cruelly 
put to be tortured by tiie populace prior to execution, is kept in the church of St Lambert's. In the town-hall 
tlie Treaty of 'Westphalia was signed in 1648, which tenninated the Thirty Years' "War, and secured religious 
liberty to tlie Protestants. Portraits of the high contracting parties are preserved, with the seats on which they 
sat. JTamm, on the south, the residence for a time of the e.x:iled Bourbon princes, is a small manufaoturin" 
toivn benefiting by its position, at the intersection of four lines of railway, to Miinster, Cologne, Minden and 
Cassel. Iserlohn, further south, Is distinguished by the variety of its liardware products, of iron, copper, and 
brass, made in the vicinity, which has very picturesque natural features, to which ruined castles lend their 
attractions, now intermingled with forges, workshops, and mills. Bielefeld, eastward of Munster, -ivith 
delightful environs, is the principal seat of the 'Westphalian linen and tliread trade. ^linden, on the north- 
east, is strongly fortified on the "Weser, the name of which is given to the battle in which the French were 
defeated in 1759, by the allied British and Brunswickers. But the action was fought at a vUlan-e a few miles 
distant to the northward. 

The Ehine Province, tlie most populous portion of the monarcliy after Silesia, lies 
west of the preceding district, and is bordered by Holland, Belgium, France, Bavaria, 
and Nassau. It is intersected by the great river from south, to north ; and tbe principal 
part of the population is found within a few miles of it, on either bank. It includes 
also the lower course of its affluent, the winding and lovely Moselle. Away from the 
river-valleys, there is a large extent of high dreary country, where the climate is bleak, the 
soil barren, and the inhabitants are few, rude, ignorant, and excessively superstitious, 
while in patches of forest the howl of the wolf is not yet extinct. This appUes to the 
table-land of the Hundsruok, or the ' dog's-back ' hills, south of the Moselle, to nearly the 
whole district bordering on Belgium, and to the region of the Eifel-gebirge, which inter- 
venes between it and the Ehine, naturally remarkable for its extinct volcanoes, deep 
crateriform lakes, and noxioiis vapoiu's. 

Cologne (Ger. Kiiln, the Colonia Agrippina of the Eomans), next to Berlin and Breslau in population, 120,500, 
inclusive of 7000 soldiers, is a fortified city of the first rank, on the left bank of the Ehine, connected with 
the opposite side of the river by an old bridge of boats, and a tubular structure for the railway. It preserves a 
memorial of its Eoman origin in its name, which is only a corrupt form of Colonia. Besides the cathedral and 
some specimens of ancient church architecture, there is nothing in its external aspect to arrest attention, but 
the view of its numerous towers and steeples, as seen athwart the river, is extremely imposing. The interior 
is chiefly a maze of narrow irregular streets and lanes, the odour of which, from want of drainage, is in strik- 
ing contrast with that of its staple maniifacture, the aromatic liquid with the well-known name of Ban de 
Cologne, of which millions of flasks are annually exported. The cathedral, close to the railway station and 
the tubular bridge, wa^ founded more than six centuries ago, then long suspended, and is not yet finished, 
but commands acUniration as one of the most perfect specimens of Gothic architecture extant. Though in 
process, it will not be completed according to the whole of the origmal design. The church of St Ursula is 
noted as the place where, according to tradition, are preserved the bones of 11,000 virgins, companions of St 
Ursula, who were slaughtered by the Huns because they refused to break their vows of chastity. Eubens was 
a native of Cologne, and presented to St Peter's Church, in which he was baptized, one of his best paintings, 
representing the Martyrdom of the Apostle. Bonn, on the same side of the river, in the ascending direction, 
is a celebrated scat of learning, and attracts a number of English residents by its educational advantages. 
The names of Niebulir and Schlegel occur in connection with the university. In the square near the cathedral, 
a monument of Beethoven, who was bom and resided in a house pointed out in one of the streets, has recently 
been placed. The town stands near the entrance of the Ehine gorge, and commands fine views of the 
Siebengebirge, or Seven Mountains, whicli form the portal, bold and rough volcanic masses, castle-crowned, 
and vine-clad, wherever terraces can bo formed admitting of being planted. Cohlentz, containing 28,000 
inhabitants, including military, who are always here in considerable force, is finely situated higher up 
the Ehine, on the triangular point of land formed by the confluence of the Moselle. It derives its 
name from the junction of the two rivers, a corruption of the Confluentia of the Eomans. The 
site is one of great natiu'al beauty, the seat also of warlike demonstrations. Forts rise on every 
hand. One is specially conspicuous in every point of view, the rock-fortress of Ehrenbreitstein, ' broad 
stone of honour,' on the opposite side of the river, the battlements of which overlook a landscape that wiU 
well repay the fatigue of ascending the heights. Being contiguous to the wine districts, the town has an 
extensive trade in the export of their produce, as also of the Seltzer waters of Nassau, a territory which 
commences immediately above it on the right bank of the stream. An old church stands at the confluence 
of the rivers, originally built in the year 836, witliin which the grandsons of Charlemagne met, and divided 
liis vast empire into Germany, France, and Italy. 



382 PRUSSIA. 

DUssddovf, singularly neat and regularly built, with pleasant ganlens and walks on the site o! its old 
ramparts, occupies the right bank of the Bliine, on its lower course through the province, where tlie current 
is sluggish, and the banks are imromantic. It is a flourishing shipping.port for the produce of a great 
industrial district, contains a population of 41,000, and is the seat of a modem school of historical 
painting of celebrity, the founders of which were Cornelius and Sohadow. A few miles to the eastwai-d, 
Mberfeld, and its neighbour Barmen, united by a bridge across the "Wupper, fonu the Manchester of 
Prussia, containing between them upwards of 100,000 inhabitants. Linen, silk, and cotton goods are pro- 
duced in great quantities, and dyeing is extensively conducted with the beautiful colour called Tm-key red, 
of local manufacture. Clevea, in tlie country westward of the Ehine, one of the historic towns, formerly the 
capital of a duchy, has declined ; while Crefeld, wholly without i^lace in any chronicle, has risen up from 
obscm-ity to a population of 30,000, engaged witli silks and velvets. Essen, also a modern industrial site, but 
a town of veiy ancient date, twenty miles north-east of Dusseldorf, is indebted to tlie coal and iron of the 
neighbourhood for its prosperity. It is distinguished by tall engine-chimneys, large ironworks, and the vast 
steel manufactory cf M. Krupp, the products of which were represented at the International Exhibition, 
London, by a solid cylindrical mass of steel eight feet long by nearly four feet wide. At this establishment, 
wheel-tyres for railway and other purposes, of wonderful strength, are made, with whicli many of the 
English railway comi^anies are supplied. 

Aix-la-Cliapelle, on the railway between Belgium and the Rhine, close to the frontier of the former, is a 
city both of ancient fame and present importance, with nearly 60,000 inhabitants, splendid houses, and manu- 
factures of cloths, watches, jewellery, needles, glass-pins, and other articles, for which it has long been distm- 
guished. It has warm mineral springs, of sulphureous quality, known from the time of the Romans, which 
annually attract a great number of visitors, and rise at the high temperature of 143° Fahrenheit. Its 
history embraces tlie assembhng of several congresses, one in 1668 to conclude peace between France and 
Spain ; another in 1748, to negotiate a general peace in Europe ; and a third in 1818, to decide upon the 
evacuation of France by the allied armies. On the last occasion, Sh* Thomas Lawrence attended to paint the 
portraits of the sovereigns and statesmen assembled for the "Windsor Gallery. Charlemagne made it his 
residence, and the capital of his dominions north of the Alps ; it became also the scene of his death. His tomb 
is in the cathedral, marked with the inscriiDtion Carolo Magno. It was opened in 1861, in the presence of 
the whole chapter, government officials, civic notables, and several physicians, when the remains were found 
intact, in excellent preservation, in wi-appers of a beautiful sfllceu tissue. The cathedral contains a large 
coUeotion of relics, which are publicly sliewn to the people once every seven years, tlirough a wliole week in 
July, and attract crowds from a distance. In few parts of Europe are the lower classes, especially the 
peasantry, more superstitious tlian in Rhenish Prussia. Treves, in the valley of the Moselle, of the highest 
antiquity, once very populous, is now decayed, having only about 21,000 inhabitants. It is distinguished by 
fine remains of Roman greatness, and a very lovely neighbourhood. But the * Holy Coat ' in the cathedral, 
believed to be the seamless coat of our Saviour, is deemed the greatest treasure of the city, and regarded 
with the profoundest reverence. It was formerly exhibited at regular intervals to the public gaze. This 
spectacle, after being long suspended, was revived in 1810, when vast multitudes, estimated at more than 
a quarter of a million persons, collected to honour the relic. It was repeated in 1844, and attended by a 
greater crowd, some of whom were alleged to have been miraculously cured of disease by a sight of the 
garment. But the folly disgusted many of the more intelligent Roman Catholics, and led to the secession 
of Ronge and his followers from the Romish Church. At Treves the Moselle is crossed by a bridge men- 
tioned by Tacitus, originally founded in tlie reign of the Emperor Augustus. But having been blown up 
by the Frencli during the wars of Louis XIV., the piers are now the only remains of Roman work. 

Tiie territory of HolienzoUern, incorporated in the Prussian monarchy during the 
present age, is in the south of Germany, wholly enclosed by the estates of Wurtemberg 
and Baden, making a close approach to the north-west extremity of the Lake of Constance. 
It consists of a narrow tract of land, diversified by the eastern offsets of the Black Forest 
range, crossed by the Danube in the south, and by the JSTeckar in the north. It was 
formerly divided into two independent principalities, held by two branches of the elder 
line of the HohenzoLlerns. But by a private compact, the king of Prussia, who represented 
the more fortunate younger Hne, was declared the head of the family; and to him the 
princes resigned their sovereign rights in 1849, retaining their estates and receiving 
pensions. The entire district corresponds in size to one of the smaller EngUsh counties. 
It contains an almost exclusively Eoman Cathohc population, and belongs ecclesiastically 
to the archbishopric of Freiburg, in the duchy of Baden, 

Scchingen, once the capital, is a very small town on an aiHuent of the Neckar, containing a Roman Catholic 
college. The old castle, the cradle of the Prussian royal House, ruined, but partly restored, remains in tho 
environs, seated on the Zollern heights, and hence the patronymic of HohenzoUem. Sigmaringen, on the 
Danube, is little more than a village, but has been mads the seat of the Prussian provincial government. 



Tho district of Jahde, at tlie other extremity oi! the monarchy, on the estuary of the river of that 
name, flowing into the Nortli Sea, ohtaincd for tho purpose of forming a naval dep6t, lias not yet a thousand 
ijihabitants. 

The Prussian, dominions contain a population of 18,200,000, tliree-fourtlis of -whom are 
Germans, High or Low, according to their locality. The remainder are chieily races of 
Slavonic origin, found in Prussia Proper, Posen, and SUesia, using various dialects 
belonging to that stock of languages, the Polish, Wendish, and Slovak, aU in process of 
being superseded by the German. A kindred tongue was spoken by the original 
Pruozi, but it has been long extinct, and representatives of that people are not now 
distinguishable. Protestantism is the prevailing religious profession, except in the Polish 
and Ehenish proviuces, where the Boman Catholics form a very decided majority. 
Agricultural piu-suits everywhere predominate, conducted with little skill, but with such 
unwearied industry, that crops are raised from a naturally poor soil in sufficient abundance 
to meet the home consumption, and leave an important surplus for export. Domestic 
manufactures of coarse linens and wooUens are very general, whUe the factory-system is 
applied to production in portions of Silesia and on the Ehine. Complete provision for 
national instruction is made ; and all parents are bound by law to avail themselves of its 
advantages for their children, unless it can be shewn that they are receiving a proper 
education from another source. The kingdom enjoys a constitutional form of government ; 
but a strong party exists among the ixpper classes, who interfere with its free working, 
being in favour of a return to arbitiMiy po^Ye^. and a rigorous censorship of the press. 




Eailway Bridge at Cologne. 




DuTienstein on the Danube. 



CHAPTEE VI. 



THE AUSTRIAN ElIPIBE. 




USTEIA, the name of an arohdncliy, also denominates an 
■/J empire of which, that province is the nucleus, occupying the 
'iQ second place among the states of Europe in point of extent, 
being next to Eussia in area, though vastly inferior to it, 
and holding the fovirth rank among the five great powers. 
It is distinguished by striking superficial features and iine 
't natural resources, as well as by political influence; and 
consists principally of an inland region circling round the 
head of the Adriatic Sea, thence extending chiefly northward 
and eastward, so as to include large central and south- 
eastern portions of the continent. Saxony, Prussia, and 
Eussian Poland lie on the north; Bavaria, Switzerland, and 
Italy on the west ; Eussia and Turkey on the east ; Italy below the Po, the Adriatic, 
and Turkey on the south. While embracing within these bounds numerous nationalities 
dLEfering from each other in race, language, customs, religion, and degree of civilisation, 
with great diversity of soU and climate, the Austrian dominions form in the main 
a compact oblong territory, with well-defined natural frontiers in general, consisting 
of chains of mountains, great rivers, and the sea. A narrow southerly projection along 
the east coast of the Adriatic, or Dalmatia, is the chief interruption offered to the 
regularity of the outline. The major axis of the oblong runs east and west, and has an 
extreme length of 800 mUes ; the average extent, north and south, may be taken at 450 
miles ; the total area includes 254,000 square miles, equal to more than twice the magni- 
tude of the British Islands, and exceeding by one-fourth the size of France. The entire 
frontier-line is estimated to measure not less than 5000 mQes, of which only a com- 
paratively small portion consists of sea-coast. This limited maritime accommodation, with 



ITS PHYSICAL EBATUEES. 



385 



tho fact of high mountain-ranges intervening het-ween the greater part of the productive 
area and the shores, is the main natural disadvantage of the empire. The "whole country- 
is situated between the parallels of 42° and 51° north latitude, and between the meridians 
of 9° 20' and 26° 20' east longitude. 

The Austrian territory comprehends great superficial diversities. Within its limits are 
the vast flats of Hungary, the undulating levels of Bohemia, Moravia, and GaUcia, with 
part of the fertile plain of ISTorthern Italy. But towering highlands and hilly ranges are 
more prominent, occupying fuU three-fourths of the area. The chains of the Ehsetian, 
Norie, Carnic, Julian, and Dinaric Alps overspread the south-western districts; the 
ridges of the Eiesengebirge, Erzgebirge, Bbhmerwald, and Marische-gebirge form a 
rampart around Bohemia, separating it from the rest of Germany ; the Sudetic Mountains 
divide Moravia from Silesia ; and the Carpathians sweep in a huge semicu'cle around the 
north of Hungary, leaving the Danube near Presburg, and after performing the curve, 
returning through Transylvania again to the river on the WaUachian frontier. The 
respective features of the highlands and lowlands are noticed in the detailed account of 
the several provinces, along with the mineral wealth and vegetable products of the 
different regions. But the general remark may here be introduced, that Austria yields to 
no portion of the continent in the abundance and variety of its mineral stores. Besides 
furnishing a valuable proportion of gold and silver, all the useful metals occur, except 
platina, generally in profusion, while there are beds of rock-salt and coal of immense 
extent, though the latter have not been thoroughly explored, are not much worked, and 
the produce is often of inferior quality. Mineral and thermal springs are numerously- 
distributed, frequented for sanitary purposes, among which those of Carlsbad, Marienbad, 
Eger, Toplitz, Sedlitz, and Baden enjoy a European reputation. 

The climate varies considerably, along with the cultivated vegetation, o-wing to the 
extent and diversity of the surface. Three zones may be generally distinguished — 
southern, central, and northern. In the warm southern zone, between latitude 42° and 
46°, the -vine and maize flourish throughout, -with rice, myrtles, olives, oranges, and 
lemons in the more favourable situations. In the central temperate zone, between 46° 
and 49°, which embraces the largest proportion of the area, maize and wine are stUL raised 
in perfection, but d^ not succeed in the northern zone, or above 49°, except in a few 
localities. This last is specially the region of grain, fruit, hops, hemp, and flax. Natural 
forests of oak, beech, and elm extensively clothe the lower grounds, -with birch, larch, 
and pine on the uplands, supplying timber, tar, potash, charcoal, bark, and cork, though 
there are great tracts of country, both low and elevated, -without a tree or a bush. The 
wUd animals include the bear, wolf, lynx, and jackal, but reduced in number during the 
present century in consequence of rewards offered for their destruction by the public 
authorities, while the beaver, otter, marmot, chamois, and wild goat, are similarly 
diminished by the chase. 

Among its rivers, the empire comprises the upper courses of the Elbe, Oder, and 
Vistula, which flow out of it to the northward; the upper Dniester and the central 
Danube, which pass the frontier to the eastward ; the Isonzo, Piave, Brenta, and Adige, 
confined to its limits, descending southward to the Adriatic, -with the lower course of the 
Po discharging in the same basin. The Danube, -with its mighty arms, is the prime 
hydrographical feature, ha-vLng a total flow of 850 miles in the Austrian dominions, 
navigable through the whole extent, and traversed by a large number of steamers and 
tugs. It crosses the, border from Bavaria below Passau, with a contracted -width, but 
with great depth, at that point, runs easterly by Vienna into the heart of Hungary, where, 
at Pesth, it has a breadth of 2000 feet. Having made an abrupt bend, it flows nearly 



386 THE AUSTEIAN EMPIRE. 

due south to the Turkish frontier, and from thence proceeds eastward again, forming the 
houndary-line to Orsova, %7here it quits the empire at the ravine of the Iron Gate. The 
Morava or March, Waag, and Theiss enter the great water-course on the left bank, with 
the Inn, Enns, Eaab, Drave, and Save on the right. In wiater the river is usually- 
frozen over, and is the occasion of great disasters on the return of spring, if the thaw is 
rapid and coincident rains descend. The great body of water brought into its channel 
from the melted snow furiously breaks ixp the ice with explosions resembling the discharge 
of artillery, tosses immense masses to and fro like straws, carries them ashore, and 
inundates the country for niUes on either bank. In the spring of 1862 the whole region 
between Vienna and Pesth was thus destructively visited. Towns had to be abandoned 
in haste by the inhabitants to save their lives ; cattle and flocks were drowned ; houses 
and cottages fell from the flood sapping their foundations, or loosening the iU-cemented 
materials of their walls ; the winter seed was washed out of the ground ; the drifted ice 
accumulated in places up to the roofs of the dwellings; and so suddenly did the 
inundation subside as to leave quantities of the large Danubian fish in pools behind it, 
and the peasants went fishing in the fields. Moimtain lakes abound in connection with 
the Alps and Carpathians ; two large but shallow expanses occupy the great plain of 
"Western Hungary; and examples of minor dimensions occur in almost all parts of the 
country. 

The political divisions of the empire consist of twenty j)rovinces, called crown-lands, 
of very varying extent, which may be arranged in four principal groups — ^the Germanic, 
Polish, Hungarian, and Italian. 



Germanic Provinces, 



Polish Provinces, 
Hungarian Provinces, 



Italian Province, 



Provinces. 
Lower Austria, 
Upper Austria, 
Bohemia, 
Moravia, . 



Tyrol and Torarlberg, 

Sabbnrg, 

Styria, 

Carintliia, 

Carniola, . 

The Littoral, . 

Galicia, with Cracow, 

Bnkowina, 

Hungary, , 

The Banat, . 

Transylvania, 

Croatia and Slavonia, , 

Dalmatia, . 

The Military Frontier. 

Venetia, 



Cities and Towns, 
Vienna, Wiener-Neustadt, Krems, Baden. 
Linz, Steyer, "Wels. 

Prague, Eger, Pilsen, Carlsbad, Toplitz. 
Briinn, Iglau, Ohniitz, Pressnitz. 
Troppan, Teschen, Biehtz. 
Innsbruck, Hall, Brixen, Botzen, Trent. 
Salzburg, Hallein, Wildbad-Gastein. 
Gratz, Marburg, Eisenerz, Mariazel. 
Klagenfurth, VUlach, Bleiberg. 
Laybach, Adelsberg, Idria. 
Trieste, Capo d'Istria, Pola. 
Lemberg, Halicz, Cracow, Wielicza. 
Czeruowitz. 

Buda-Pesth, Presburg, Debreczin, Erlau, Tokay. 
Temeswar, Theresianopel. 
Klausenburg, Kronstadt, Hermonstadt. 
Agrani, Fiiime, Peterwardein, Karlowitz. 
Zara, Spalatro, Eagusa, Cattaro. 

(See Italy). 



I. GBBMANIC PROVINCES. 

Austria Proper, an archduchy, extends along both banks of the Danube, between the 
frontiers of Bavaria and Hungary, and consists of two provinces, Lower and Upper, 
respectively eastern and western, separated in part by the stream of the Enns, one of the 
smaller affluents of the great river. This district received the German name of Oester- 
reicJi, whence Austria, signifying 'eastern state,' as it formed the eastern border of the 
dominions of Charlemagne. It is the hereditary patrimony of the reigning house, the 
cradle and nucleus of the empire, to which other possessions have been gradually attached 
by treaty, marriage, or descent, very few additions having been made by conquest. 



COURSE OF THE DANUBE. 

Upper Austria is chiefly a rugged tract overspread 
with branches of the Alps. They liliewise intrude into 
the Lower division, and form the beautiful chain of 
the Wiener Wald, Avhich makes a close approach to 
Vienna, and abruptly descends to the Danube in its 
vicinity. Eomantic valleys intersect this range; fine 
woods clothe the slopes ; villas and chateaux are on 
every hand ; and picturesque ruins of ancient castles 
occasionally appear, monuments of feudal times, which 
add to the charms of the landscape. Being at an 
inconsiderable distance from the heart of the city, 
the hill-tops are often visited by crowds of the ] 
inhabitants, to enjoy the fresh air and the noble 
prospects. The loftiest summit, called the Kahlenberg, 
is historically famous in its annals. During the last 
siege of the capital by the Turks, when the people 
were sore pressed and in despair of relief, rockets 
were seen one night to rise from it, the appointed 
signals of the approach of a friendly army, whose 
banners were beheld the next morning waving to the 
breeze on its crest. Though of no great elevation, being 
under a thousand feet, the view embraces a vast 
stretch of country, and a great variety of interesting 
objects. There is the metropolis, with the graceful 
spire of its cathedral in the centre rising beautifully 
against the sky. The towers of Presburg, forty miles 
off, may be seen, and in clear weather a glimpse of 
the more distant Carpathian Mountains may be caught. 
At the base rolls the Danube, with its steamers, barges, 
and floats of timber, winding between wooded islets ; 
and for many a m^le the eye can follow the course of 
the monarch of strictly European rivers — now partly 
concealed from view by dense forests, and anon 
exposed in broad sheets reflecting the sunbeams. The 
sites also of several great battles, such as Aspern, 
Essliag, and Wagram, fought among the islands of the 
stream and on its banks, are overlooked. 

Vienna, the capital of the empire, locally called 
the ' Emperor's City,' Kaiserstadf, is situated on 
the south side of the Danuhe, but apart from the 
stream itself, with which it communicates by an 
insignificant branch. The city is in latitude 48° 
10' north, longitude 16° 20' east, and contains a 
population of about 560,000, including the environs. 
It dates from the middle of the twelfth century, 
when Duke Henry II., father of the Leopold of 
inglorious memory, who treacherously seized and 
imprisoned Richard Cceur de Lion while passing 
througli his dominions, made the spot his residence. 
The site was then largely a dense forest, occupied by 
the bear, wolf, wild ox, and deer, while the beaver 
constracted its dam in the adjoining waters. The 



387 




The Danulje from Vienna to Linz. 



388 THE AUSTRIAN EMPIRE. 

Viennese o£ the present day have living remains of the primeval woodland at the far extremity of the Prater, 
which is their Hyde Park, extending over several low islands formed by arms of the Danube. There are fine 
a^ed trees towering over thickets so tranquil that a rambler might fancy hunself many a league away from the 
busy crowd. The city is very regularly built. It consists of an inner circle — ^the old town, exterior to which 
is an environing open grassy space, planted with trees, laid out with walks and roads, while enclosed by an 
outer cu'cle, formed by a broad band of suburbs of comparatively modern date. In the centre of the whole, 
as a radiatmg point for the streets, stands St Stephen's Cathedral, with its steeple rising to the height of 465 
feet, combining all that is beautiful and imposing in Gothic architecture, reputed to be the largest church in 
Germany. Comparing Vienna with other important places, it has been said that there is much more 
regularity in Berlin, a more frequent intermixture of showy edifices in Dresden, more lightness and airiness 
of effect m the best parts o£ Munich, a greater profusion of olden-tune memorials in Augsburg and Nurem- 
biu-g, but in none is there so much of that sober and solid stateliness, without gloom, which is perhaps the 
most fitting style of building for a large city. 

DweUing-houses of vast extent distinguish Vienna, intended for the accommodation of several families, to 
whom they are let in stories or flats ; or a single story is often capacious enough to be divided into three or 
four tenements. A house-master or porter has charge of the common door, which is closed at night at ten 
o'clock, and only opened afterwards on payment of a fee. Some of these masses of building used for dwellings 
are of enoi'mous dimensions, and may have a population equal to that of a large village or small town 
under one roof. The capital is the greatest seat of manufactures in the empire, and the centre of its inland 
commerce. Silk goods, gold and silver lace, hardwares, porcelain, jewellery, musical instruments, carriages, 
furniture, and paper are extensively produced. Libraries, museums, cabinets, and picture-galleries are 
nmnerous, and remarkably rich in literary treasures, curiosities, and works of art, to which strangers are 
readily admitted. Since the dawn of the railway age, movement and progress have been very evident in the 
outward appearance of the capital. The great event in its history is the taking down of the high walls and 
projecting bastions which environed the old or inner city, by which a wide belt of land is secured for build- 
ing, decorative, and recreative purposes. Blocks of costly houses have been erected, Rrench in character, 
with bay-windows, ornamented friezes and pilasters, and statues in the niches. A new arsenal, com- 
prising barracks, armoury, chapel, and storehouses, is an enormous pile. A Votive Church, on the glacis or 
esplanade, subscribed for in all parts of the empire as a monmnent of gratitude for the preservation of the 
emperor's life from attempted assassination, commenced in 1856, and stUl in process, wiU be one of the best 
reproductions of pointed architecture in Germany. But a dark shadow rests upon the place, if the ofiicial 
report of its annual death-rate is correct. In London, an average of 2i persons out of every 1000 die 
each year ; and^this is greatly in excess of some of the healthiest parts of England. But in Vienna the 
annual average is 49 persons out of eveiy 1000, so that according to the given estunate of the popula- 
tion, 12,500 hmnan beings perish every year merely because they reside on the banks of the Danube instead 
of those of the Thames. 

Vienna has been the scene of many historical events. It was twice unsuccessfully besieged by the Turks, 
the first time under Soliman the Magnificent in 1529. The second and most famous siege was commenced by 
the grand vizier, Kara Mustapha, on the 14th of July 1683, and lasted to the 12th of September following, 
when the city was relieved from imminent hazard of capture by the Poles under the renowned John Sobieski. 
Nimaerous memorials remain of this struggle. The Turkenschauze, a rampart thrown up by the Turks, is 
stiU pointed out near the village of Wahring, on the way from the city to the Kahlenberg. In one of the 
suburbs the Church of Maria Prost, bmlt ui 1721, marks the site of the grand vizier's tent. His head is in the 
town arsenal, also the cord by which he was strangled on returning from the disastrous expedition, and his 
sliirt or shroud covered ivith Arabic inscriptions. These were deciphered by Von Hammer, and found to be 
chiefly passages from the Koran. Upon the Austrian capture of Belgrade, his body was disinterred, the head 
separated from it, and transferred to Vienna. The green standard of the Prophet is preserved in the imperial 
arsenal. George Kolshitzki, a Pole, who had succeeded in passing the Turkish lines to communicate with 
the relieving army, was afterwards permitted to open a cofiee-house, as a reward for the service, the first in 
Christian Europe ; and long afterwards every keeper of a cafe in the city was required to have his poi-trait 
hung up in his establishment. Viemia was twice occupied by the French under Napoleon, in 1805 and 1809 ; 
and here was held the famous congress upon liis first abdication, which sat from November 3, 1814 to June 
9, 1815, to re-arrange the map of Europe. 

Schonhrunn, the usual summer residence of the emperor, about two miles from the city, derives its name 
from a spring in the grounds, Schone Brwnnen, the ' beautiful fountain.' The palace is crowded with por- 
traits of the Hapsburgs, few of which excite interest except those of females, Maria Theresa, and the unfor- 
tunate Maria Antoinette. It was the abode of Napoleon while in possession of the capital ; and also the 
residence of his son, the Duke of Keichstadt, who died in the same apartment which his father had occupied, 
and lies in the burial-vault of the imperial family, attached to the Capuchin Church in the city. This vault 
contains upwards of seventy metal coffins. Maria Theresa descended into it every Priday, for fourteen years 
after the death o£ her husband Francis, to pray by his remains. Beyond the Danube, nearly opposite Vienna, 
the villages of'Aspern, Essling, and Wagram give their names to great battles between the Austrians and 
the French. Some miles higher up the river, on the same bank, stands the ruined Castle of Diirrenstein, 



BOHEMIA. 



389 



magnifioontly placed at tlio end o£ a long ridge of hills, with jagged peaks of rook around, and cottages below. 
In this robber-stronghold of the middle ages the lion-hearted Uichard of England was imprisoned. Baden 
a place of baths, inns, and lodging-houses, fifteen miles south of Vienna, has a summer throng attracted by- 
its warm sulphureous springs, impregnated with carbonic acid gas, and the beauty of the neighbourhood, 




Ebensee on the Traun. 

Linz, the capital of Upper Austria, with 27,000 inhabitants, is chiefly distinguished by its fine situation 
on the south bank of the Danube, a singularly extensive market-place, an encircling chain of thirty-two 
round towers which form the new fortifications, and the snow-clad tops of the Styrian Alps on the southern 
horizon. Ebensee, at the southern extremity of the Traun see, is only remarkable for its salt-works, and the 
extensive view obtained from the mountain on the west of the village. 

Bohemia, a nortli--vvest section of tlie empire, once a separate kingdom, is one of its 
most important divisions in point of extent, population, and resources. It is a basin- 
shaped territory, drained by the Elbe and its tributaries, the Moldau and the Eger, and 
very nearly enclosed by a mountain-wall, through an opening of which, on the north, the 
river finds its way out of the district, and descends into the plaia of ^Northern Germany. 
The bounding ranges consist of the Bohmerwald, or Bohemian Forest, on the south-west ; 
the Erzgebirge, or Ore Mountains, on the north-west -, the Eiesengebirge, or Giant Moun- 
tains, on the north-east ; and the Marisohe-gebirge, or Moravian Mountains, on the south- 
east. With these highlands very striking scenery is connected, and one of the most 
extraordinary natural sites in Europe — ^the Eook Labyrinth of Adersbach— on the north- 
east frontier. This is a valley more than six miles long by three broad, containing an 
assemblage of detached masses of sandstone, of immense size and varying shape—that of 
pillars, towers, battlements, obelisks, and inverted cones — appearing at a distance lilce a 
city of gigantic architecture in ruins, the interstices between the rocks being converted by 
no great stretch of fancy into lanes, streets, and squares. The Sugar Loaf, the Watch 
Tower, the Pulpit, the Emperor's Throne, are names given to the ;more conspicuous or 
singular forms. This nature-made labyrinth is kept under look and key, and requires a 
guide to be explored without the hazard of being lost. It seems to have been constructed 
by the action of powerful currents of water which wore away the softer parts of the 
originally compact sandstone. Apart from its borders the country is not at all pic- 
turesque, but a plain, simply relieved from monotony by occasional swells and gentle 



390 THE AUSTRIAN EMPIRE. 

imdulations, witli here and there an isolated MIL The Germans call it the ' Kettle-land ' 
from its basin shape, and the number of its hot steaming springs. Viewed in connection 
with the encircling heights, it seems as if the surface had once been the bed of an exten- 
sive lake, which was drained upon a rupture occurring in the northern barrier, through 
which the Elbe now finds an outlet. The soU is highly fertile, and the landscapes have 
a rich appearance in summer, resembling an interminable garden, fruit-trees lining the 
roads, vineyards, orchards, hop-grounds, and cornfields alternating with each other. The 
most productive district, around the little town of Leitmeritz, where the best wines are 
made, is popularly called the paradise of Bohemia and the corn-magazine of Saxony. The 
manufactures of ornamental glass are in high repute, and mining is conducted on the 
southern slopes of the Ore Mountains. At Joachimsthal, situated in a very striking pass, 
there is a silver-mine which is said to be the oldest in Europe, and the first for which 
mining laws were framed. Here also the first silver dollars were coined, called thalers or 
' valley pieces,' a contraction of the name of the town, Joachimsthaler. 

Prague, the capital, next to Vienna in population, 142,000, is very finely situated nearly in the centre of 
the country, on both sides of the Moldau, which follows a winding course through it from south to north. 
TTilk and rocky eminences ascend from the water's edge, the slopes of which are covered mth houses rising 
one above another, intermingled with noble trees, and overtopped by sixty towers, spires, and domes belong- 
ing to the public edifices. The old town is the largest portion, on the right bank of the river, the district of 
trade. The opposite side is the aristocratic quarter, containing the palace of the old Bohemian kings, the 
palace of "WaUenstein, and those of present noble famiUes, mostly imoccupied. The two divisions are con- 
nected by a celebrated stone bridge of ancient date, and by a very chaste chain bridge, both of which afford fine 
views of the place and its environs. Prague is the seat of the oldest university ia Germany, the head of an 
archiepiscopate, and a principal centre of manufacturing industry, connected by railway -with Vienna and 
Dresden. In contains a very large number of Jews, who form one of the oldest colonies of that people in 
Europe, and perhaps the most distinct, as they have municipal institutions peculiar to themselves. Many 
eminent names appear in the history of the city, those of John Huss, Jerome of Prague, and Ziska the blind 
Hussite chief, of Tyoho Brahe and Kepler, Frederic V. and his queen, Elizabeth of England, WaUenstein, and 
Gustavus Adolphus. Autograph writings of Huss are preserved in the library of the Clementinum, and in 
that of the museum. 

The provincial towns are numerous, but not of important size, or special interest, though several attract 
great nixmbers of sunmier visitors by tlieir mineral waters. Egci; close to the Bavarian frontier, has a place 
iir history as the scene of "Wallenstein's murder, in the year 1631. The burgomaster's house, in which the 
fonl deed was committed, stands in the market-place, and the bedroom is shewn in which he was slain. 
Carkbad, or Cliarles's Bath, eighty miles to the west of Prague, has its name from the Emperor Charles IV., 
who is said to have accidentally discovered the peculiarity of the site while hunting in the forest, by one of 
the dogs falling into the scalding water. The town is perhaps the most strictly aristocratic watering-place 
in Europe. It lies in a narrow romantic valley, on the margin of a small stream, surrounded by hills richly 
clothed with foliiige, and traversed by sei-pentine footpaths leading to spots which command varied and 
extensive prospects. The houses are almost all intended for the reception of summer guests. They are not 
known so much by streets and numbers, as by signs like inns, inscribed upon them, usually in French for the 
guidance of foreigners. Some of the indications are sufficiently fantastical, as ' The Eye of God,' ' The Lap of 
the Virgin,' ' The Nest of the Seven "Wise Swallows,' ' The Arms of the Beautiful Mermaid,' and even ' This 
Night thou shalt sleep in Paradise.' The principal spring pours forth its water in jets from four to five 
feet high, repeated many times every minute. It has a temperature of 165° Fahrenheit, boils eggs hard, and 
ranks ivith the hottest mineral waters of Europe. Some springs, discovered in 185S, have the property, from 
the quantity of silver contained in the waters, of converting into a hard red-coloured stone anything that is 
immersed in them for a short time. Examples of vases, statuettes, and other objects, originally of soft clay, 
which had been thus treated, were in the Great Exhibition, London, 1861. The first, and at present the 
only English church erected in the Austrian empire is at Carkbad. Toplitz, near the border of Saxony, at 
the base of the Ore Mountains, has seventeen springs of varying temperature, the hottest being 120° Fahren- 
heit, which annually collect an aristocratic company to the bathing-houses. It is seated upon the small 
stream of the Saubach, or ' Swine Kivulet,' so called from a swineherd making the discovery of the springs, 
to which he was led by the sagacity of one of his pigs. During the great earthquake of Lisbon in 1755, it 
was observed that the waters of Tdphtz became turbid, then ceased to flow for a time, and subsequently 
returned in an increased quantity of a blood-red colour. Tliose of Carlsbad were similarly affected. 

The Bohemians were governed by their own sovereigns till the early part of the 16th century, when the 
croivn reverted by marriage to the House of Austria. In the century following, it was nearly snatched from 
the imperial grasp. Strongly attached to the Eeformed faith, and having had their liberties assailed, the 



MORAVIA. 391 

people revolted, elected a king, Frederick V., the Palatine of the Ehine, son-in-law of James L of England, 
who accepted the dignity, but was unable to retain it. Totally defeated by the imperialists at the battle of 
the "White Hill, near Prague, in 1620, his adherents speedily felt the full weight of the imperial vengeance. 
Wliolesale executions followed; Protestantism was proscribed; and by relentless persecution with the 
voluntary expatriation of thousands, its profession became extinct in the land of Huss. The Bohemians of 
the present day belong almost exclusively to the Eomish Church, the Jews formmg the chief exceptions. 

The peasantry are singularly superstitious. According to popular belief, the festivals of the Virgin used 
to bo held sacred even by animals ; and birds, for instance, took particular care not to work at their nests on 
those days. The cuckoo, having infringed that custom, was cursed, and obliged to wander perpetually with- 
out over having a nest of its own. But St Jolm Nepomuk fairly shares the honour of public veneration with 
the Virgin. Originally an obscure priest, his bronze statue stands upon the bridge of Prague, at the spot 
where legend says he was thrown into the river by the order of a pagan king, when a miracle was wrought 
for the recovery of the body. Centuries elapsed before notice was taken of his name and merits. But in 
1729 he was canonised, and his shrine in the cathedral, of solid silver, said to weigh 27 cwt., is now one of 
the most splendid in Eui'ope. As the patron of bridges, his efBgy appears upon many a structm-e of the kind. 
Every year, on the 16th of May, his festival is kept, and generally lasts eight days. Prague is then so full 
that the peasantry encamp in the streets. The bridge is stopped for vehicles, in order that the thousands of 
foot-passengers may the more readily throng it. Portraits of the saint appear in the windows ; cannon 
thimder from the heights; confessions and oiierings are received by a retinue of priests from morning 
till night ; and all over the country the devotees address themselves with unflagging ardour to songs and 
waltzes. 

Moravia, the adjoining district on the east, apart from its borders, is an extensive, 
fertile, and higMy-cultivated plain, celebrated for its grain crops and fruitful orchards, 
chiefly included in the basin of the March or Morava. Though the name is given to an 
interesting Protestant sect, it would be vain to look for any of the so-called Moravians or 
United Brethren within its limits, as the founders of the community were constrained by 
persecution to quit the country in the former part of the last century. The Sudetic 
Mountains separate the province from that of Austrian Silesia on the north-east, a narrow 
tract contiguous to the large Prussian territory of the same name, wMch Frederick the 
Great -wrested from the empire. It contributes some af&uents to the Oder, and contains 
the source of the Vistula, which issues from a morass towards the eastern frontier. 

JBriinn, the capital of Moravia, with 58,000 inhabitants, is centrally situated, about ninety miles nearly due 
north of Vienna, connected with it by railway, and likewise with Prague. It is the head of an archiepiscopate, 
and a great manufacturing town, so distinguished for its woollen cloths as to be called the Austrian Leeds. 
But sUk, cotton, linen, glass, soap, tobacco, leather, and dyeing works are carried on. Two hills render it 
conspicuous, one of which is surmounted by the cathedral, and the other by the Castle of Spielberg, used as 
a prison for poHtical offenders, m which were confined Baron Trenck, General Mack, and Silvio Pellico. An 
insignificant place in itself, Austerlitz, is about twelve miles on the east, the scene of the great battle in 
which the Austrian and Russian armies under their respective emperors were signally defeated by the French, 
in 1805, under ITapoleon. It is therefore sometimes called the Battle of the Three Emperors. Ohniiiz, on 
the north-east, only of moderate extent, is strongly fortified, and the seat of a modem university. Troppau, 
the chief town in Austrian Silesia, about the same "size, is noted for the manufacttire of firearms. From the 
neighbourhood of Vienna, tlrrough Moravia to the Silesian frontier, a distance of nearly 200 miles, the country 
is almost mthout interruption the private property of Prince Lichtenstein, one of the Viennese nobles. 

The small province of Salzburg, constituted at a recent date, lies on the Bavarian 
border between Upper Austria and Tyrol. It is almost entirely a moimtainous district, 
occupied by branches of the Noric Alps, and the vaUey of the Salza, a torrent-like 
affluent of the river Inn. Salt is obtained in large quantities from the mines of 
Durrenberg, which have been wrought upwards of six centuries, and an important 
amoimt of gold was once procured in the high valley of Gastein. The territory was 
formerly the patrimony of a prince-bishop of the German empire, and had a considerable 
Protestant population till the early part of the last century, when many thousands left 
their homes and country for ever, rather than submit to the dictation of the Jesuits and 
abjure their faith. 

The town of Salzburg, on both sides of the rapid Salza, surrounded by splendid mountains covered with 
verdure, is said to occupy the finest site of any place in Europe. In addition to the charming position, it 
possesses a noble cathedral, and is distinguished by its comiection with Mozart. Two houses are marked 



392 THE AUSTRIAN EMPIRE. 

prominently with the great composer's name ; the cue in which he was bom, and another in wliich he 
resided for a time after his return from London. A good bronze statue of him stands in the principal square. 
Salzburg is a centre for many interesting excursions, but the town is one of very minor rank as to trade and 
population. Wildhad-Gastein^ so called in allusion to the wild coimtry around it and its baths, is a watering- 
place 300O feet above the sea, in the vicinity of the Gross Glockner. The warm mineral springs were visited 
centuries ago by the emperors and princes of Germany, and are still frequented by the upper classes, though 
the site is most secluded, and the manners of the inhabitants very primitive. They range in temperature 
from 115° to 120° Fahrenheit, and owe their value to the combination of the chemical ingredients, various 
salts, not to then- separate strength. At this spot the small river Ache forms a splendid water-fall, descending 
in three leaps about 300 feet. 

The Tyrol, immediately adjoining Switzerland, is an. easterly continuation of its natural 
features, exhibited in a somewhat less imposing manner, yet with an aspect of great 
grandeur, embracing mountain masses whitened with the perpetual snow, immense glaciers, 
deep narrow valleys into which the avalanche descends and the cascade faUs, the sloping 
sides of which are densely clothed with woods. The charm of the scenery is not a little 
heightened by its association with a peasantry of frank manners and hospitable spirit, 
without a tinge of Swiss sordidness in the more upland districts, though its development 
may be expected in proportion as travellers become numerous who have a money 
equivalent ready on every occasion for the most trivial service. The main chain of the 
Alps crosses the country from west to east, and sends off secondary ranges within its 
limits in various directions, rendering the province a mountain-citadel, which a handful 
of determined men might successfully defend against an army in the narrow passes. On 
the eastern border rises the Gross Glockner, or Big Bell, 12,563 feet, so called from the 
fancied resemblance of the highest peak to that instrument. On the western frontier 
towers the Ortler Spitz, 12,850 feet, the highest point of the Austrian empire. Between 
the two is the Drei Herrn Spitz, or Three Lords' Peak, 10,122 feet, so named from the 
old Counts of Tyrol and Gbrz, with the Archbishop of Salzburg, being accustomed to 
assemble their retainers at the spot. On opposite sides of the main chain are the two 
principal river-valleys, that of the Inn, on the northern, stretching generally from west to 
east, and that of the Adige, on the southern, running from north to south. They are 
connected by the Brenner Pass, one of the lowest of the carriage-roads across the Alps, 
6788 feet, but remarkable for the number of castellated forts which crown the heights on 
either hand, erected during the middle ages to guard the country from invasion. The 
tract called the Vobaelberg is on the north-western side of the province, and borders the 
eastern extremity of the Lake of Constance. The Tyrolese are imbued with strong 
rehgious feelings, and are devotedly attached to their country, though numbers are 
compelled to migrate from it in search of subsistence, becoming pedlers and servants, 
owing to the impossibility of obtaining support in a region where the pasturage is so 
limited, and the absolutely sterile ground so extensive. They are fond of music, dancing, 
festivals, and athletic exercises, are admirable marksmen and expert chamois hunters, 
loyal to the Austrian House, but unwUling to engage in military service except in defence 
of their native hills and valleys. 

Innsbruck, the seat of the provincial estates, is a very handsome town of 14,000 mhabitants, occupying 
both banks of the Inn, which are united by an old wooden bridge, whence the name, briicJce, a bridge, and 
also by a recent suspension one. The situation is magnificent, as the river-valley is 1800 feet above the sea, 
and is enclosed by mountains which rise from 6000 to 9000 feet, upon which the snow glistens in the summer's 
sun. Manufactures of wooUen and silk goods are carried on, witli carved work, and the transit trade is 
important. The town possesses a university, with which a national museum is connected, chiefly devoted to 
objects illustrating the arts and natural history of the Tyrol. It contains also the grave and statue of Hofer, 
the brave peasant-general who so nobly defended his country against the French in 1809, till betrayed by one 
of liis associates, and shot at Mantua by order of Napoleon. The principal church is remarkable for the 
tomb of the Emperor Maximilian I., one of the most splendid and elaborate monuments in Europe, with the 
singular distinction, that though constructed by his direction it never received his remains. Hall, a few 
miles distant, is distinguished by salt-mines," from which the province derives its supply of the mineral. 



STYRIA. 393 

Brixen, Botsen, and Trent are on the southern side of the Alps, in the basin of the Adige, -where, mth every 
advance towards the Italian frontier, the country becomes less rugged, the vegetation more varied and 
luxuriant, and the people losi:ig their northern characteristics, begin to exhibit those of the southern stock in 
complexion, habits, and speech. Trent, in a district of wine, mulberry-trees, and sUkworms, is an ancient 
but decaying place, chiefly Italian, often mentioned from having been the seat of the great ecclesiastical 
council, convened, in consequence of the Keformation, to determine disputed points of doctrine, which held 
its sessions from 1545 to 1563 in the Church of Santa Maria Maggiore. 

Styria, on the south of Austria Proper, is extensively oootipied by chains of tlie Alpine 
system; but the surface gradually becomes depressed eastward, till it sinks down, into 
the great plain of Hungary, by which it is bordered' in that direction. The Save forms 
the southern frontier of the province ; the Drave intersects it from west to east ; the 
Mur, one of its tributaries, chiefly waters the centre ; and by these channels, with that of 
the Enns, the entire drainage is conducted to the Danube. The mountain region is 
covered with forests of firs and larches, which abound with game, are haunted by the 
wolf and bear, are still vast and dense, though long subject to reduction to supply fuel 
for the smelting-furnaces in a liighly metalliferous district. Iron is the principal product, 
and hardwares the staple manufacture. The ore, a very rich carbonate, far superior to 
English and Swedish kinds, occurs in enormous quantities. It forms the main mass of 
some entire mountains, and is obtained by open excavations like stone from the quarry. 
Captain Basil HaU mentions a tradition of long standing among the miners. It relates 
that when the barbarians from the regions north of the Danube drove the Eomans from 
Styria, then caUed ISToricum, the Genius of the "Mountains, willing to do the new 
inhabitants a favour, appeared to the conquerors, and said : ' Take your choice : will you 
have gold-mines for a year? — silver for twenty years? — or iron for ever?' 'The wise 
ancestors of the Styrians, who had just begun to learn the true relative value of the 
precious metals, by ascertaining practically that their rude swords were an overmatch for 
all the wealth of the Eomans, at once decided to accept iron for ever.' The province is 
traversed by the Vienna and Trieste Eailway, which crosses the Styrian Alps at the 
Semmering Mountain, by many curves, bridges, and tunnels, attaining the height of 
2872 feet above the sea. The mountaineers are, like the Tyrolese, excellent marksmen 
and intrepid hunters. The dress of both males and females is very picturesque, 
exhibiting various hues, among which green is the most common. 

Grats, the capital, 140 miles southward of Vienna by rail, is finely seated on the Mur, and only interior in 
beauty of situation to Salzburg and Prague. It is a large and important mercantile town, witli 63,000 
inhabitants, the residence of a bishop, the seat of a ruiiversity, possesses various manufactures of textile 
fabrics and hardware goods, and is reputed to be the cheapest place in Europe for provisions. The name is 
derived from the Slavonic, Miemetz-ki-Gfrad, referring to a fortified hill in the centre of the town. This 
was crowned by a citadel which the French battered down in 1809. The distinguishing feature is now the 
Johanneum, so called after its founder the Archduke John, an institution for the promotion of science, art, 
and industry, which contams a valuable library and museum. Von Hammer, the historian, was a native. 
Here likewise the persecuting and infamous Emperor Ferdinand II. was bom, who caused many thousands of 
!Protestant books to be burned in Gratz, and indulged for years in the chase of the ' heretic boars,' Ketzev- 
Sauen, as he was pleased to call their owners, till they became extinct. 

All the other towns of Styria are of very inferior note. But Eisenerz claims attention from its site in the 
great mining district, surrounded with fir-clad mountains, which resound with the clang of hammers, and 
are lighted up at night by the fires of charcoal-burners and the glare of furnaces. The place is small and 
ancient. It lies at the base of the Erzeberg, or Ore Mountain, which has a circuit of about five miles, a height 
of 2840 feet, and has yielded iron ore from time immemorial, being literally a mass of the metaL The mines 
are worked partly by the Austrian government and partly by a private company. Another place of interest, but 
of a difl^erent kind, is Mariazel, ' Mary in the Cell,' a village famous for a miracle-working image of the Virgin, 
which constitutes it the Loretto of Austria. The image is very old and very ugly, but the vicinity is most 
romantic, the church handsome and the shrine gorgeous, enriched from the offerings of devotees who 
annually go in procession on pilgrimage to it from different towns of the empire. St Stephen's Cathedral, 
Vienna, is the starting-point of the pilgrims from that city, who have a journey of some fifty miles before 
them. Previous to the appointed day, a proclamation is fixed to the great gate, bearing the imperial 
sanction, inviting all pious subjects to the enterprise, in order to implore from the Virgin such personal and 



394 THE AUSTRIAN EMPIRE. 

domestic comforts as they need, and supplicate continued prosperity to the House of Hapsburg. It is now 
conducted in a more orderly manner than formerly, for the village being small, beds few, and pilgrims many, 
they used to spend the night in the neighbourmg woods, drinking, singing songs, dancing, and squabbling. 
The scandal has been somewhat obviated by the two principal processions taking place at different periods, 
the one from Vienna on the 2d of July, and the other from Gratz oti the 12th of August. Mariazel is 
sm-rounded with iron-mines and furnaces ; and has near it the principal cannon foundry of the Austrian 
government. 

The three districts of Carinthia, Carniola, and The Littoral lie hetween. North-western 
Styria and the Adriatic, and are largely overspread by the chains of the Carnic and 
Julian Alps, with their subordinate highlands. They formed the chief part of the 
kingdom of Illyria, founded by decree of ITapoleon in the year 1809, and were after his 
fall re-united as a kingdom to the Austrian empire, till the present arrangement into 
three provinces was adopted in 1849. Caeinthia, the most northerly, belongs to the 
basin of the upper Drave, and is both bordered and iaiersected by high Umestone ranges. 
It contains the most valuable lead-mines in the Austrian dominions ; and has for an 
article of export the aromatic herb, called Speik, a species of spikenard, Valeriana celtica. 
This plant, though found on most of the eastern Alps, is so characteristic of a particular 
mountain in Carinthia, as to have originated its name, the SpeUi-kogle. The peasants 
pluck it up by the roots, and after being dried, it is sent in barrels to Trieste, from 
whence it is exported to the Levantine countries, where it forms a considerable object of 
commerce, being used to flavour tobacco, and also for pastiles. The Wendish or 
Slavonic part of the population are of melancholy temperament, shy, and difiident, some 
misunderstanding of which perhaps originated the idea of inhospitality, as mentioned by 
Goldsmith, 

' The rude Carinthian boor 
Against the houseless stranger shuts the door.' 

Cabniola, on the south, traversed by the Save, is distinguished by the immense number 
of caverns in its limestone mountains, as well as by the intermittent Lake of Zirknitz, and 
the quicksilver-mines of Idria. The Littoral, or coast region, at the head of the 
Adriatic, is subdivided into the four districts of Gbrz, and Gradiska, with the territory of 
Trieste, and the peninsula of Istria. A complete change marks the vegetation on 
descending the seaward slope of the vVlps to its margin. The pines, firs, and larches of 
the loftier uplands are left behind ; the beech and oak disappear ; the singular region of 
the Karst is entered, a high and extensive limestone plateau, almost without the scantiest 
shrub, over which the Bora wind rushes with tremendous fury, terminating abruptly a 
few miles from Trieste. From the edge of the desolate table-land, the eye overlooks 
shores lined with vineyards, oKve-groves, and rice-grounds, where the mulberry-tree 
flourishes, and the silkworm is reared. 

Klagenftirth, the chief place in Carinthia, is a town of moderate size, with an air of prosperity, possessing 
manufactures of cloth, silk, and muslin, and very agreeable environs. Westward lies the Worthsee, a 
beautiful lake, enclosed by a landscape of green fields, wooded heights, and ruined castles. Beyond is 
Villach, a small town on the Drave, the scene of one of the first great defeats suffered by the Tui-ks, in 1492, 
while attempting to reach the heart of Christendom. A few miles further west is Bleihcrg, -with the 
extensive and productive lead -mines adjoining. A sacred mountain rises in the neighbourhood, with two 
pilgrimage chapels at the summit. It is said to have been ascended by the pope himself, who, with all due 
formality, dedicated it to the Virgin. This was as a preservative from the repetition of a dreadful catastrophe 
in 1345, when the larger portion of its mass gave way, and sixteen villages, with their inhabitants, were 
entombed by the debris. 

Layhach, the capital of Carniola, stands at a short distance from the south bank of the Save, and has 
17,000 inhabitants. It was on two occasions the residence for some months of Sir Humphry Davy, and the 
seat of the Congress in 1820-1821, which was fatal for a time to Italian liberty. The great sights of the 
province are on the western side, and at no considerable distance from each other. In one of the valleys lies 
the Lake of Zirknitz, which varies in size from four or five to seven or eight leagues in circuit, and sometimes 
entirely disappears, leaving its bed dry, a phenomenon apparently dependent upon subterranean cavities 



TRIBSia 



395 



whicli receive a redundant or scant supply of water according to the season. Among the numerous caverns, 
that of Adclsberg is remarkable for its vast extent, stalactical formations, and the entrance into it of the river 
Pcuka which docs not reappear. In its dark waters, and in a few similar places in the neighbourhood, the 
J'roieus angidnus is found. Tliis curious creature is of an eel-like form, a pale fleshy colour, very impatient of 
light, and seems capable of living for years without aliment by a simple change of the water in which it is 
placed. Tlie quicksilver-mine at Idria, in the same region, is one of the most productive in the world, 
worked in the service of the government. The small town occupies a deep vaUey ; and its inliabitauts 
indicate by theii' pale countenances the pernicious atmosphere they inhale, impregnated by the vapours of 
various preparations of mercury mamifactured in the place. The whole district is said to be so affected that 
cattlo cannot be reared, and neither fruit nor grain will ripen. Formerly criminals were deported to the 
mine as workmen, but now free labourers are employed, tempted by high wages. 








"■^^t^c -^^ 



Trieste. 



Trieste, an important city and the principal seaport of the emjiire, is seated on the shore of a gulf at the head 
of the Adriatic, within eight hours' steaming distance of Venice, and contains a population of 65,000. It is 
the residence of consuls of most commercial nations, maintains a large mercantile marine, and is to the 
south of Germany as Hamburg to the north, the great port of entry and of export. Steamers of the 
Austrian Lloyd's Company proceed hence regularly to Alexandria, Smyrna, Constantinople, and most parts of 
the Eastern Mediterranean. Besides ship-building establishments, there are extensive sugar-refineries, soap- 
works, rope-walks, and other manufactures. The old town ,'is somewhat inland, on the slope of a hill 
crowned by the castle -with the cathedral, an ancient building in the Byzantine style, near it. It is connected 
witli the new town adjoining the harbour by the Corso, the principal street, which contains handsome edifices, 
elegant shops, and gay coifee-houses. The chief tr.aders and merchants are foreigners, among whom may be 
found a considerable number of our own countrymen, sufficient to support a neat church. Greeks and Jews 
are also numerous. The great body of the middle classes are Italians, who speak the Italian, which is the 
language of tlie theatres and courts of justice. The lower orders, especially the peasantry who attend the 
markets, are "Wends, who use a Slavonic dialect. German is the language of the imperial authorities. 
Trieste has a summer climate remarkable for its great and abrupt changes. The ordinary heat is intense, 
owing to the reilection of the rays of the burning sun from the rocky adjacent hills, while there is a general 
want of shade, with the occasional visits of the sirocco, a hot and oppressive south-east wind. This alternates 
with the Bora ^vind from the north-east, so piercingly cold, sudden in its onset, and so powerful that vehicles 



396 THE AUSTEIAN EMPIRE. 

and passengers are overturned by its gusts. Capo d'Istria, formerly a dependency of the Venetian Republic 
occupies an island a few miles to the southward, connected with the main shore by a causeway, and produces 
large quantities of salt by the evaporation of the sea-water. Pola, at the extremity of the Istrian peninsula 
is a small town in command of an excellent harbour, but is most distinguished as a place of the hichest 
antiquity, retaining fine remains of Eoman architecture, consisting of temples, a triumphal arch, and an 
enormous amphitheatre in a nearly perfect state of preservation, ' We entered the harbour in a felucca,' 
remarks Sir Humphry Davy, 'as the sun was setting, and I know no scene more splendid than the 
amphitheatre seen from the sea in this light. It appears not as a building in ruin, but like a newly-erected 
work ; and the reflection of the colours of its brilliant marbles and beautiful form, seen upon the calm 
surface of the waters, gave to it a double effect— that of a glorious production of art, and a magnificent 
picture.' Pola has attained considerable importance since the Austrian government has made it a naval 
station and port for war-vessels. Its harbour is both safe and commodious, having water for the largest ships- 
of-war close inshore, and room enough for the whole British navy, and easily accessible. 

II. POLISH PKOVINCES. 

Galicia, a nortli-east section of the empire, is an extensive district on the northern 
side of the Carpathian Mountains, and consists of a high terrace at their base, traversed 
\>j a few low ranges of hills, from which the surface declines into vast plains, the 
characteristic features of the region. It is watered on the west by the Vistula and its 
affluents, hut belongs eastwardly to the basins of the Danube and the Dniester. ITear the 
mountains the country is overspread with forests, which stiU harbour the wolf and bear, 
though systematic measures have long been in action to effect their extermination. 
Stimulated by rewards offered by the government, the peasantry destroyed, in little more 
than two years, 41 bears and 4938 wolves. The plains yield vast quantities of wheat, 
which is sent by the Vistula on rafts to Dantzic for export, besides barley and oats, used 
for domestic distillation. Plas, hemp, hops, and tobacco are likewise grown. Eock-salt 
is the important mineral, quarried in various places, but principally at Wielicza, where 
there is one of the most extensive and productive mines in the world. The province was 
annexed to the empire upon the unrighteous partition of Poland in the last century ; and 
in 1846, the city of Cracow, with the small territory belonging to it, till that time a free 
state, was absorbed with the consent of the other partitioning powers. In the western 
portion of the country the people are Poles, and in the eastern, Euthenians, a closely-aUied 
Slavonic race. Jews are everywhere numerous, and are almost universally the village inn- 
keepers. There is great divergency in the views of the people throughout the province, 
which separates them into two hostile political parties, to the delight of the Austrian 
authorities. The nobles, landed proprietors, citizens, and all the educated classes are in 
favour of a revived Poland, while the ignorant peasants, under the influence of the priests, 
are on the side of a Eoman Catholic concordat-loving emperor. In Eussian Poland, the 
Catholic clergy are patriots because Eussia is schismatic. In Austrian Poland, they have 
no sympathy with the feeling for independence, because Vienna is Papal. But the 
peasants are urged by another, and perhaps a stronger motive to pohtical subserviency. 
Emancipated from serfdom, and endowed with lands by the government, in reward for 
their loyalty during the insurrection of 1846, when they rose against and massacred the 
insurgent masters, they cherish the idea of obtaining fresh forests and pastures by adhering 
to the existing order of things. ISTational considerations are therefore subordinated to 
personal and imperial interests. The Bdkowina, a small district on the south-east, was 
formerly part of Moldavia, ceded by the Turks to Austria in the year 1777. It is a forest 
region, traversed by the Sereth and the Pruth, affluents of the Danube. 

Lemherg, the capital of Galicia, centrally placed on an affluent of the Bug, contains a population^ of 
70,000, a considerable proportion of whom are Jews, who have one of the finest synagogues in the Austrian 
dominions. The remainder belong chiefly to the Eoman Catholic, Armenian, and Greek communions, each of 
which has a resident archbishop. The iowa. is the seat of a university, and possesses a public library rich in 
Polish literature. Many of the Jews are wealthy merchants. They have the trade principally in their 



POLISH PROVINCES. 397 

lianda, which is very extensive iii com and cattle, largely carried on at annual fairs. Peasants from the 
neighboui'Iiood injured by wolves are frequently brought in to the hospital. Halicz or Galicz, situated on the 
Dniester, from which GaUcia has derived its name, is simply now its oldest town, dating from the twelfth 
century, and distinguished by the ruins of a hill-seated fortress, the scene of many a bloody struggle. It was 
at the head of a grand-duchy, which included the eastern part of the province, with Volhynia, and was long 
governed by Varangian or Eusso-Korman princes. 

Cracov), seated on the Vistula, is a venerable, curious, and interesting city, the ancient capital of Poland, 
with a striking aspect in the distant view, owing to the spires and towers of numerous churches, and the old 
palace-castle placed upon a loek, now iised as a barrack and hospital. But the streets are gloomy and 
deserted, yet have at once the impress of better days and fallen fortunes. The inhabitants number 41,000. 
The cathedral, high-seated by the ancient royal castle, is the interesting spot, containmg the tombs of many 
of the sovereigns, some with recumbent effigies. The inscriptions connected \vith them read like a history 
of Poland. Tliat of Casimir the Great is of red marble, enclosed by an iron railing. A record on the tomb 
of Sigismund I. proclaims him ' King of Poland, Grand-duke of Lithuania, Conqueror of the Tartars, of the 
AVaUaohians, of the Russians and Prussians ! ' In a separate crypt below the church, repose the remains of 
Jolin Sobieski, Pouiatowski, and Kosciusko. The latter has a monument in the neighbourhood of the city, 
consisting of a conical mound of eartli on an eminence, rising from a base of 300 feet in diameter to the 
height of 175 feet. It was erected in 1819, by the voluntary labour of the people, of earth coUeeted from his 
battle-fields, some of wluch was brought by crippled soldiers in their helmets, and by women in their 
slippers. Cracow was the residence of the sovereigns down to the time of Sigismund III. in 1610. They were 
crowned before the high-altar in the cathedral. The regalia remained to the year 1794. The university, 
of ancient foundation, possesses a statue of Copernicus, who was for a time one of the professors, executed 
by Thorwaldsen. From the rising-grounds to the north, a fine view of the town is obtained with all its 
towers ; the valley of the VistxUa, and the range of the Carpathians, in the loftiest and most unbroken part 
of the chain : the Eisthaler-Thurm — the highest of the Titra group — presenting an aspect truly Alpine. 

Widicza, a small to\vn on the south-east of Cracow, is celebrated for its salt-mines, which are worked by 
the Austrian government, and have been in operation upwards of six centuries. They are mentioned in 
Polish annals as early as 1237, under Boleslaus the Chaste, and then not as a new discovery. The excavations 
completely underlio the town, the streets of which are without men in the daytime, who are toiling in the 
underground world. They descend to the depth of 1200 feet; extend through a space more than half a 
league in length by a quarter in breadth; and require from four to five hours to be explored. The 
works include three stories, each of which corresponds to a bed of compact rock-salt ; and consist of 
galleries or passages and chambers of vast magnitude formed by the removal of the mineral. Some of the 
chambers are supported by immense piUars of salt left by the workmen ; others are adorned with obelisks 
and statues of salt ; most of them are inscribed with particular names cut in the salt ; and one contains a 
salt-lake which is crossed in a flat-bottomed boat. The spot of greatest interest is a chapel dedicated to St 
Anthony, who is traditionally said to have hrought about the discovery of the mines. It is supposed to have 
been constructed more than four centuries ago. The columns, mth their ornamented capitals, the arches, 
the images of the Saviour, the Virgin, and the saints, the figures of two priests represented at prayers before 
the shrine, the altar and the pulpit with their decorations, are aE carved out of the rock-salt. In this chapel 
high-mass is regularly celebrated once every year, and attended by all the miners. 

Calvarya, a village and monastery south-west of Cracow, among the roots of the Carpathians, is one of the 
Holy Places of the Poles, deriving its name from the supposed resemblance of the site to Mount Calvary. It 
is the scene of a vast gathering in the month of August, when an annual indulgence is proclaimed to those 
who visit the spot. The place then assumes the diihensions and population of a large city, and the appear- 
ance of an immense camp. Besides pUgrims to the number of 60,000 on the average, who are chiefly 
peasants, at least one-third more consist of spectators and traders. Streets are formed of wooden booths and 
huts of the most primitive construction, wliich ser-ve the purpose of houses and shops, and are adapted to the 
hot summer weather. The peasants arrive village by village, each group with its leader, and its standard 
emblazoned with particular devices. They come from hundreds of miles, out of all parts of Poland, many 
from Posen, are di-essed in holiday attire, carry long thick staves to help them on the way, and sing religious 
chants along the line of march. On reaching their destination, the standards are planted in the ground, and 
serve as gathering-points to those who may have been separated from their party. In the com-tyard before 
the church of the monastery are two long rows of confessionals, one on each side, and in front is a balcony, 
from which the monks give absolution and preach to the people. Calvarya was founded by one of the old 
Palatines of Cracow, and subsequently endowed by the Czartoiyskis. In its immediate neighbourhood, the 
Moimt of landskrona was the last stronghold of the last band of heroes who resisted the Austrians and 
Russians after the insurrection of Kosciusko. 

The district of the Bukowina derives its name from the Slavonic biicJcow, an oak, in allusion to the forests. 
Czernomtz, the chief town, situated on the Pruth, has manufactures of clocks and hardwares. 




in. HUNGAEIAN PROVINCES. 

Hungary, styled a kingdom, once an independent and powerful state, is an eastern 
portion of the empire, its largest and most important member. As a province, according 
to tlie restricted limits adopted since the abortive insnirection of 1848-1849, it lies enclosed 
hy the Carpathian Mountains on the north ; Transylvania on the east ; the Banat and 
Slavonia on the south; Styria, Lower Austria, and Moravia on the west. Witliiri 
Hungarian limits, the Carpathians culminate in the peak of Lomnitz, about the longitude 
of Cracow, at the height of 8,636 feet above the sea, which appears to be the 
loftiest summit of the whole range. The country consists chiefly of an immense plain, 
and possesses a soil of extraordinary fertility, but along the rivers extensive swamps are 
formed by their low borders being readily overflowed. There are also in various parts 
tracts of deep sand, locally called pus-da, interspersed with soda-lakes, which dry up in 
summer, and leave their beds incrusted with the mineral. But the extent of the unpro- 
fitable surface is small in comparison with the productive or cultivable area ; and both 
the swampy and sandy tracts are in process of reduction by works energetically con- 
ducted for their reclamation. The Danube runs from west to east towards the central 
region, where the general breadth of the liver amounts to 2000 feet. Bending abruptly 
to the south, it preserves that course to the junction of the Drave with it, on the northern 
border of Slavonia ; and then proceeds south-east to its confluence with the Save, having 
previously received another of its principal tributaries, the Theiss, by which the whole of 
Hungary is intersected from north to south. The Eaab, also an important affluent, joins 
the noble stream in the western portion of the country. In this district the two largest 



HUNGARY. 399 

lakes occur, the Neusiedler-See, which may he seen from the liills in the neighbourhood 
of Vienna, and the Platten-See, at a greater distance from the frontier. The water of the 
former is brackish, and the latter intensely salt. Both are shallow, surrounded by 
marshes, and fluctuate much in their extent. In the Hansag-marsh, connected with the 
Neusiedler-See, the ' wild boy ' was discovered in 1749 ; ho was supposed to be about ten 
years of age, long refused to wear clothes, or eat cooked victuals, but at last conformed to 
domestic habits, though it was found impossible to teach hmi to articulate a single 
syllable. 

Besides its rich dark vegetable mould, the forests are extensive, and the mineral wealth 
varied and abundant. But the development of these natural resources has been largely 
restrained by imperfect means of internal communication, and an illiberal commercial 
policy ; and though great progress has been made of late years in promoting traffic by the 
introduction of steam-navigation and the opening of several important lines of railway, 
yet pohtical dissatisfaction remains to exert its invariably depressing influence upon public 
industry. Gold, silver, quicksilver, copper, lead, iron, coal, and rock-salt are yielded. Of 
three adjoining towns in the north-west, among offsets of the Carpatliian range, a pro- 
verb of long standing states that Kremnitz is surrounded with walls of gold, Schemnitz 
with walls of silver, and ISTeusohl with walls of copper, in allusion to then- supply of the 
respective metals. The gold and silver mines are still worked, but are in an exhausted 
condition. Schemnitz has a mining academy founded in the reign of the Empress Maria 
Theresa, for the purpose of educating ofiS.cers to superintend all the mining and smelting 
works throughout the emphe. The veins here are of gigantic dimensions, from 20 to 
200 feet wide, but worked with great difficulty and expense, owing to the rock decom- 
posing rapidly, which renders it necessary to case the galleries with wood. Water care- 
fully collected in reservoirs is employed to move the machinery, while fuel for smelting is 
supplied by the thick forests of oak, pine, and beech which clothe the lulls. The drainage 
of all the mines in the neighbourhood is conducted to a common level, 600 feet below the 
surface, from whence it is conveyed to the point of discharge by an adit or gallery, 
twelve mUes long, excavated through a mountain-ridge, a work remarkable for boldness of 
project and skill in execution. The old town of Eperies has extensive salt-works ; and 
also a mine in the vicinity from which the precious or noble opal is obtained, a gem of 
great beauty and value, distinguished by its brilliant interchange of colours. 

But Hungary is essentially agriciiltural in its industry. With little tillage the prolific 
soil yields abundant harvests of all kinds of grain, some of which, as wheat of the finest 
quality, is known in the Erench and English markets. Tobacco is also extensively culti- 
vated, with the vine for wines, which resemble the best produce of Burgundy and the 
Ehine, but have greater body and strength, and are said to possess a particular restorative 
virtue from the phosphoric acid which they contain. The average yearly production is 
estimated at 400,000,000 gallons, of which at least one-thu-d is available for export, which 
would be largely increased, as well as the tobacco and corn crops, by free trade, political 
security, and greater facihties for transport. Upon the pasture-lands immense numbers 
of live-stock are reared, with swine in the woods. At the International Exhibition of the 
year 1862, a few fleeces were shewn, with some pieces of bacon and lard, as the repre- 
sentatives of more than 15,000,000 sheep and 8,000,000 hogs. At the same time, the 
productions of the porcelain manufactory of Herend were displayed, and admired as very 
successful imitations of Chinese and Japanese fancy articles. But manufactures are 
generally limited to the weaving of coarse wooUen cloth by the peasantry, and the 
production of household wares for their own use. 

The Hungarians proper, who form the main body of the population, call themselves 



400 THE AUSTRIAN EMPIRE. 

Magyars, and belong to the Mongolian family, but the peculiarities of personal appearance 
distiaotive of the stock have been widely obhterated, especially among the upper classes, 
by intermarriage with members of the Caucasian race. They migrated from the countries 
beyond the Uralian Mountains and the Caspian Sea to their present seat in the ninth 
century ; founded a powerful state, governed at first by chiefs of the House of Arpad, and 
then by kings of the same line. The first of the latter, commonly called St Stephen, 
from the renunciation of heathenism by the nation in his reign, received investiture from 
the pope, Sylvester II., in the year 1000, with a crown sent for the purpose, which is still 
extant. The male line of the Arpads failed in 1301, and was followed by sovereigns of 
different foreign families tiU 1526, when, by free election, the Austrian House was placed 
upon the throne. But the Turks invaded and held possession of the greater part of the 
country for upwards of a century. The Austrian princes became kings of Hungary, subject 
to certain stipulations ratified by treaty, the notorious violation of which led to the recent 
gallant but ill-fated struggle for national independence. St Stephen's crown, a much- 
venerated rehc, after being kept at Presburg, was removed to Vienna by the Emperor 
Joseph II., who sought to centrahse his dominions, but was soon afterwards restored to 
appease the general dissatisfaction, and thenceforward preserved at Buda. During the 
late insurrection it was given up to Kossuth and his friends by the keeper, saying : 'Here 
I deliver you the Holy Crown wherewith more than fifty kings have been crowned.' 
Upon perceiving that the revolutionary leaders remained covered while receiving it, the 
spectators cried out: 'Take the hat off! take the hat off!' During their flight into 
Turkey, the custodians secreted it in the earth, in the midst of a clump of trees growing 
in a sequestered spot, not far from the frontier of WaUachia, where it was discovered in 
1853, after a long search by officers of the Austrian government. 

The Magyars retain their national language, which belongs to the great Pinnio 
linguistic family, subject to slight modifications owing to long-continued contact with 
other forms of speech. Its vowels are resolved into two classes, one of which, a, o, u, 
denotes the masculine, and the other, e, i, o, ii, the feminine. The words are so formed 
that a masculine and feminine vowel never meet in the same vocable, whether simple or 
compound. Another peculiarity is that the Christian name is always mentioned last, as 
Hunyady Janos, instead of John Hunyady. The language is the vehicle of interesting 
historic annals and popular poetry. Various productions in it were supposed to be 
irrecoverably lost with the library of Matthias Corvinus, the greatest of the Hungarian 
kings, who reigned from 1458 to 1490. This prince, distinguished by his love of 
learning, spared no expense in procuring books, and possessed a library at Buda, at the 
time of his death, of 50,000 volumes, the finest collection then in existence. It was 
neglected and diminished by his successors, who were in the habit of making presents 
from it to foreign courts, in an age when books were scarce ; and when, in 1541, Buda 
was captured by the Turks under Sultan SoUman the Magnificent, the library disappeared 
from notice. Repeated inquiries were made respecting it, after the expulsion of the 
Turks, but without effect, though the hope was strongly entertained by many that it 
might be found by careful search at Constantinople. Its discovery by a commission 
appointed for the pui-pose in the Old Seragho was announced in 1863, a short time 
before that building was destroyed by fire, but whether it perished, or was rescued, and 
what it contains, has not been reported. 

Besides the dominant Magyars, who are largely Protestants as well as Eoman Catholics, 
there are a considerable number of Slowaks, WaUachs, Serbs, and other Slavonic races 
belonging to the Greek Church, with German colonists, Jews, and gipsies. Great variety 
of costume distinguishes the people, even of the same stock, and occupying closely 



nUNGAKIAN PROVINCES. 401 

adjoining districts. This was very happily shewn by pliotographs at the International 
E.xJiibition. They represented tlie herdsman of the plains of the Theiss in his sheep-skin 
coat, the shepherd of the forests of Bakony in his felted cloak trimmed with red, the 
peasant of the Lower Danuhe in his Hue tight-fitting Sunday-dress, the horseman of 
Cuiirania in his wide linen trousers, the Eouman woman in her embroidered gown and 
ornamental head-dress, and the sturdy German colonists who have adopted with but 
slight variation the attire distinctive of their locality. 

JBuda-Pcsth, the modem capital, consists of two towns on opposite sides o£ the Danuhe, at tlie distance o£ 
about 135 miles to the south-cast of Vienna, with which communication is maintained by railway and 
steamers. The river, 2000 feet wide and 27 feet deep, of a clear green colour, flows v/ith a strong ciu'rent, 
hut is usually covered -with ice from December to March. It is spamied by a huge suspension-bridge erected 
by Mr Tierney Clark, the engineer of Hammersmith Bridge, near London, which connects the two towns, and 
was severely tested at its opening by the retreat of the patriot Hungarian army across it before the Austrians. 
Buda, on the right bank, called 0/en, ' oven,' by the Germans, in allusion to its liot springs, contains a 
population of 55,000, and is of ancient date and appearance. It occupies the base and slopes of picturesque 
hills, one of "wliich is crowned by a stem feudal citadel, directly overlooking the place in which the regalia 
of Himgary was fonnerly preserved ; "while another, iip which the houses creep, rises higher in the vicinity, 
commands a fine view of the river and the plains for an immense distance, and has an observatory at the 
summit. The hot springs issue from the foot of the hills at varioiis points. They are sulphureous, have a 
temperature of 118° Fahrenheit, and are used as baths — a purpose to which they were applied by the Romans 
.'\nd the Turks. The town, during the rule of the latter, which lasted from 15il to 168S, was the seat of a 
governor-general or vizier, who had several pashas under him. Many mosques were erected with lofty 
mhiarets, and destroyed upon the expulsion of the Moslem. Pesth, much larger, containing 131,000 
inhabitants, is the opposite of its neighbour, seated on level ground, almost wholly modern, and regularly 
built, with many handsome houses and spacious streets. It possesses a national university, museum, and 
theatre, is a great tradmg centre in the agricultural produce of the comitry, and puts on a very animated 
appearance at the amiual fairs which bring together a vast concourse of strangers. Several newspapers in 
the Magyar language are published. At a short distance up the river, the village of Alt-Buda occupies the 
site of a Roman station, that of Aquincum, indicated by various remains, where, at a subsequent date, the 
terrible Attila cstahUshed his head-quarters. Further on, the ruins of "Wissegrad appear- on the summit of a 
hill, a palatial castle, the favourite residence of Matthias Corvinus and other native sovereigns. 

Presburg, the ancient capital, the scene of the coronations and of the assembly of the Diet, is situated just 
within the frontier, on the north bank of the Danirbe, 41 miles by rail from Vienna. Though a decayed 
place, it possesses considerable trade, contains 43,000 inhabitants, and has a name in history. Here, in 1741, 
the young Empress Maria Theresa, assailed by a host of enemies, summoned the Hungarian nobles to meet 
her, and by a brief recital of her wrongs, while she appeared clad in deep moiirning, with St Stephen's crown 
upon her head, and his sword by her side, roused them to adopt her cause enthusiastically. Here also, in 
1805, the treaty was signed between the Austrian Emperor Francis and ISTapoleon, which ceded Venice to the 
French, and the Tyrol to the Bavcirians. Outside the town, is an artificial mound, called the Konigsberg, to 
which every new king of Hungary repaired on horseback on the day of his coronation, and waved St Stephen's 
sword to the fom- cardinal points, in token of his purpose to defend the country from enemies from whatever 
quarter they might come. Komorn, lower down the iwer, a town of some size, is best known by its fortress, 
supposed to be impregnable. It was held during the late insurrection by General Klapka against the 
Austrians, and given up to them on honourable terms when the struggle had ceased elsewhere. Oedcnhiirg, 
near the ITeusiedler-See, is distmgxdshed by its wine produce, and has one of the principal seats of the 
Esterhazy family in the vicinity. Stuhhceissenhurg^ about forty miles south-west of Buda, a considerable 
place inhabited almost exclusively by Magyars, is one of their oldest towns, and served as a capital under the 
early sovereigns, twelve of whom, including Matthias Corvinus, were here interred. Moliacs, a village on the 
Danube as it approaches the Drave, is of fatal celebrity in the history of the nation, as the scene of the 
decisive triumph of the Turks in 1526, which soon afterwards brought the comrtry into subjection to them. 
The flower of the nobles perished; the king, Lewis 11., while escaping from the battle-field, was drowned in 
a swamp ; and liis death opened the way for the election of the first Austrian ruler. 

Debreczin, eastward of the Theiss, in the heart of the kingdom, is one of the chief seats of manufactures 
and commerce, with a population of 36,000. It consists of scattered one-storied houses, has wide, rambling, 
impaved streets, appears more Uke an aggregate of hamlets than a town, and has therefore been styled the 
largest village in Europe. There is a Protestant college upon an extensive scale. This place was for a time 
the seat of the national diet mider Kossuth, after Pesth had fallen into the hands of the Austrians, and was 
subsequently the scene of many summary executions, in which several eminent men were involved. Erlau, 
on the north-east of Pesth, the seat of an ancient bishopric, foimded by St Stephen, is enclosed with walls, 
and has a pleasant appearance, beuig surrounded with vine-clad hills, and containing many good public 
buildings. The inhabitants are engaged with vineyards. The best red wines are made in the neighbourhood, 
Z 



402 THE AUSTRIAN EMPIRE. 

for wlucli there is a growing demand in the foreign market. Tokay, on the banks of the Theiss, gives its 
name to a dessert wine in high repute, obtained from dry grapes. Tlio general excellence of the wines, both 
red and white, i.s ascribed to the species of grape, the peculiarities of the soil, to the strongly-contrasted 
summer and winter seasons, and to the vineyards occupying sunny slopes of considerable elevation. It 
deserves remarlc that Hungary and Greece are the only coiuitries of any consequence which have Iiitherto 
escaped the recent vine disease. 




Piesbuig 



By treaty, when the nobles of Hungary rallied round the Empress IVIaria Theresa, it was provided that the 
government of the country was to be confided to natives only. Articles agreed upon in 1790-1791 declared 
that ' the power of making, changing, and interpreting laws in the kingdom of Hungary belongs to the 
sovereign legitunately crowned, together ivith the Diet legally convened ; that the Diet has the right of 
voting taxes and fixing the number of recruits ; that it shall be convened at least once every three years ; 
that nothing can be done in Hungary by means of royal letters-patent.' The infringement of tliese provisions 
led to the unsuccessful attempt to throw off the yoke of Austria in 1848-1S19. But while stipulating for an 
independent internal administration, the old Himgarian constitution was radically defective. It made the 
nobles a privileged class, bearing no share of the iiublio burdens, and exempt even from military service, 
except at their own option. It reduced the whole of the peasantiy to a state of serfdom. These anomalies 
were, however, abolished by the national Diet at the outbreak of the war. 

The Banat, a reoeiitly-oonstituted province, emlDraoes tlie soutliem pnrt of the 
Hungarian plain, and is extensively a region of marshes, especially towards tlie Daniihe, 
though great works of drainage have been executed. It is however an important 
granary, intersected hy several canals, one of which, connecting the rivers Beja and 
Temes, is upwards of eighty miles in length, and was originally constructed by the 
Eomans. During the summer heats the swampy tracts are plagued with myriads of flies 
or gnats, which form perfect clouds, attack the cattle, horses, and swine, often with fatal 
eifect from their numbers. The peasants protect themselves by lighting great fires of 
materials which burn slowly and make much smoke, to which the animals fly for refuge. 



Tli-VNSYLVANIA SLAVONIA. 403 

Those insects are 'believed to Lo identical with the spooies called Faria infernalis by 
Linnaeus. 

Tcmeswar, tlio provincial capital, has various manufactures, and is strongly fortified, provided with 
acconnnodation for a garrison of 10,000 men. The nanio refers to the Temss on which it is situated, in a 
very unhealthy locality. This river descends to the Danube, which it enters a few miles below Belgrade. 
Thercsianopcl, or Maria-Tliercsianstadt, is the most populous place, containing 53,400 inhabitants, but has 
the aspect of an aggregation of villages rather than of a town. 

Transylvania, the south-eastern portion of the empire, is enclosed by Hungary on the 
west, the Bukowina on the north, and the nominal dominions of Turkey on the east and 
south, or the provinces of Moldavia and Wallachia. It is altogether a highland region, 
bordered by the Southern Carpathians, and overspread by offsets of the range. The 
district contains much wild scenery, many difficult gorges and defiles, with only levels of 
inconsiderable extent along the rivers, the principal of which are the Aluta and Maros, 
belonging to the system of the Danube. It thus forms a natural fastness, and bears 
much the same relation to the plain of Hungary as "Wales to England. Long and severe 
winters, with very heavy falls of snow, alternate with short warm summers. The 
population is composed of a medley of races, but consists mainly of Magyars, once the 
politically dominant class ; German colonists, established for centuries in the country, 
who take the lead in industry, commerce, and general civilisation ; and Eoumans or 
Wallachs, the strongest in numbers, but very ignorant and abject, as the consequence of 
ages of ill-treatment. Formerly denied all j)olitioal rights by their neighbours, the boon 
had no value in their esteem when offered it by the Hungarian patriots in 1848; and 
they Avere readUy induced to take part with the House of Austria in the great struggle of 
the period. Transylvania possesses considerable mineral wealth, and was once styled the 
gold-mine of Europe from its supply of the precious metal, which is still obtained in 
various places. 

Klausenburg, seated on an affluent of the Theiss, near the centre of the province, ranks as the capital, but 
is not the largest place. It is surrounded by walls passed by six gates ; has a Roman Catholic and Protestant 
college, manufactures of woollens, china, and paper ; and gave Matthew Corvinus, a native, to the throne of 
Hungary. Karlshurg, on the Maros, is a small fortified to-wn, with a cathedral, in the neighboui-hood of the 
most valuable gold-mines. Sermanstadt, in the south of the province, within the district known as the 
MUitaiy Frontier; is the military capital, strongly fortified, the see of a Greek bishop, and has Eoman 
Catholic and Lutheran seminaries, with a good national museum. A few miles on the south, the Aluta Kiver 
crosses the Carjoathian Mountains by the fine pass of the Hother-thurm, and descends into the plains of 
Wallaoliia. Mount Jfegoi, east of the pass, the principal elevation, rises to the height of 833S feet. 
ICronstadt, the nearest town to the Turkish frontier, is the most populous and commercial place, with 
26,800 inhabitants, among whom are several opulent Greek merchants, who chiefly carry on the trade with 
the adjoinuig Principalities. Printing and the paper-manufacture are leading industries. 

As a mountain stronghold admirably adapted as a base for militaiy operations, the warlike Turkish sultans 
of former days coveted Transylvania, or influence in it, in order to secure possession of Hungaiy, and 
ultimately succeeded. They intrigued with native pretenders to the Hungarian throne, one of whom, John 
Zapolya, was placed upon it, by whom the whole of the peasantry were reduced to a state of serfdom ; and 
the kingdom, weakened by the fiercest civil dissensions, fell at length beneath their power. 

Slavonia, a long narrow tract, generally level, lies between the Danube and its two 
great tributaries, the Drave on the north and the Save on the south. The latter river 
forms the boundary from Turkish territory. Austrian Ceoatia, chiefly mountainous, 
is a westerly continuation of the country to the coast of the Adriatic. Both districts 
were formerly incorporated in the kingdom of Hungary, and now jointly fonn a single 
province of the Austrian empire. 

Peteiivardein, in Slavonia, on the south bank of the Danube, is a small poor town, but a very strong 
military post, with a fortress on a rocky eminence, projecting abruptly into the river, by which it is 
surromided on three sides. It was the scene of one of Prince Eugene's victories over the Turks in 1716. The 
name of tlie place is said to commemorate Peter the Hermit, who marshalled his army of Crusaders at the 
spot. The citadel long continues in sight, owing to its high position and the windings of the river, ■which 
flows on to Karloviitz, a trading town, somewhat picturesque, with a name in history. The treaty was here 



40-4 



THE AUSTRIAN EMPIEE. 



coneludcd in 1GS9, under English and Dutch mediation, which separated Slavoma, Hungary, and Transyl- 
vania from Turkey, and made them over to Austria. It is the residence of tlie metro2:iolitan of tlie Greek 
church in the Austrian dominions. Scmlin^ small and mean, a stopping-place for steamers, is important as a 
frontier town, well known from its position, on the tongue of land formed by tlie junction of the Save with 
the Danube ; opposite to it is Belgrade, still Turldsh in its celebrated fortress, the garrison, and a few of 
tlie inhabitants. 




Peterwardein. 

Agram, in Croatia, mth about 14,000 inhabitants, is the eajjital of the imited districts, the residence of the 
Ban or viceroy, and the seat of the high civil tribunals. It is pleasantly situated in a hilly and wooded district 
two miles from the north bank of the Save, but above the point where the river begins to be navigable for 
steamers. An upper town, well built, occupied by the higlier classes, crowns the summit of a hill, and 
contains the goveninient house, the national casino, which includes reading-rooms and a museum. A lower 
town forms a distinct poor quarter, adjoining which, but separate, is the abbey-town, where the catliedral 
and episcopal palace are situated. Both Gennan and Slavic newspapers are published. Carlstadt, a small 
town on the banks of the Kulpa, an affluent of the Save, receives the corn of the Banat by it in long narrow 
boats, whence it is conveyed to the coast at Fiimie along the Louisen-Strasse. Tliis celebrated road, 
named after the Archduchess Maria Louisa, eighty-six miles long, was executed in the early part of the 
century. It traverses a very wild mountain region, and involved great engineering difficulties in its 
construction. Fiume^ a seaport on a gulf of the Adriatic, is a handsome trading and manufacturing towii, 
formerly connected with Hungary, and its only port, but severed from it in 1849 with the adjacent territory. 
It suffers from the viouiity of Trieste, forty miles distant on the north-west, across tlie Istrian peninsula, as 
well as from the intervention of the Julian Alps between it and the great com and wine producuig distiicts. 
Ship-building is a principal industry, for which the splendid mountain forests afford the greatest facilities ; 
there is also one of the largest paper-making estabhshments in the empu'e. Tlie people are Italian and 
Slavic, with a sprinkling of Magyars. 

Daxmatia, nominally a tingdom, comprises a long and narrow territory on the Adriatic, 
terminating southward almost in a point, bounded inland by the provinces of Turkey. 
Many elongated islands extend parallel to the shores, and closely fringe them, forming 
numerous landlocked anchorages in which productive fisheries are conducted. These 
insular tracts are beautiful, populous, and fertile, extensively clothed with olive-groves 
and almond-plantations, as well as with vines, while the climate in the best localities 
admits of the growth of indigo. There is much less of vegetation and culture on the 
mainland, as it is rugged and mountainous, overspread with offsets of the Dinaric Alps, a 
chain ruiming parallel to the coast, at no great distance from it, and forming the Turkish 



THE MILITARY FRONTIER. 405 

border. Tlio mass of the people are of Slavic origin, but tliose on the shores have many- 
traces of Venetian civilisation, while the peasantry ia the iaterior correspond not a little 
ui appearance to the Turks, wearuig the red fez on the head, mth huge pistols in the belt. 
In the islands the men are addicted to maritime occupations, and make the best seamen 
in the Adriatic, while all inxstic work is performed by the women during their absence on 
fisliing and trading voyages. Dalmatia was a province of the Eoman empire, and gave a 
native to the imperial throne in the person of Diocletian. In modern times it has been 
more or less Hungarian and Turkish, but was chiefly Venetian down to the fall of that 
republic, when it became Austrian. For some years it was held by the French, and 
governed by Marshal Marmont, created Duke of Eagiisa, the name of one of its towns, 
but reverted to Austria upon the faU of Napoleon. 

Zara, the seat of the provincial government, is a small port sliut in by fortifications, but has a consider- 
able -loUage population in the neighbourhood. It possesses a secui-e and convenient harbour, has some 
Roman remains, and consists of dwellings chiefly in the Venetian style. The trade includes the import of 
manufactures from Trieste, and the expoi-t of maraschino, anchovies, almonds, and other productions of the 
vicinity. Maraschino is a liqueur made from the black clierry, in the preparation of which several 
distilleries are engaged. The notable event in the history of the place is its capture iu 1346, in a daring 
assault by Marino Faliero, which opened the way for him to the cliief magistracy of Venice, to become the 
only Doge ever formally executed for crimes against the state. Spalatro, southward on the coast, the largest 
town and principal seat of commerce, contains 10,000 inhabitants, and is of interest as the retreat of the 
Eoman Emperor Diocletian upon his volmitary resignation of the imperial throne. Fine and vast remains of 
his palace accommodate a large number of the people with habitations. Jlagiisa, lilcswise maritime, lias an 
agreeable appearance, the site being piotm'esque, the liouses of solid stone, the streets clean and well paved, 
■whUe several public buildings are handsome. Tire place was formerly the head of a small commercial 
republic, the weak but resolute opponent of Venice, and therefore the ally of Genoa, befriended by the Porte. 
It has now an active coasting trade, exports the raw produce brought from the Turlcish proraice of 
Herzegovina, and imports mamifactures which are exchanged for it. Earthqiiakes more or less violent have 
frequently occurred, one of which, in 1667, destroyed half the population. Cattaro, the most southerly port, 
is the utmost b'mit of the Austrian empu-e in that direction, being close to the Turkish provinces of Albania 
and Montenegi'O. The small town, strongly fortified by natui'e and art, is magnificently seated at the upper 
extremity of a long, wuiding, lake-lilce inlet, suiTOunded by towering mountains. VUlages and isolated 
villas luie the edge of the water. Rich vineyards, with citron and oUve grounds, slope rapidly upward to 
a considerable distance ; and above the Une of vegetation, tremendous bare rocks rise suddenly and 
precipitously to an Alpine elevation. Outside tlie gate of the town, vmder a rude roof and some trees 
adjoining, a market is held, at which the Montenegrins barter their agricultural and pastoral produce for 
salt, arms, aimnunition, and coarse manufactures. They reach the place from their highland territory by the 
ladder of Cattaro, one of the most remarkable roads ever constructed. It is cut in the face of a momitain 
from 3000 to 4000 feet high, and consists o£ a series of zigzags of very steep inclination, rising one above the 
other, not unlike a coU of ropes as seen from above or below. 

The smaU island of Lissa, a member of tiie Dalmatian archipelago, was a depot for British goods during the 
period of their exclusion from the continent by the decrees of Napoleon I. ; and from this spot they were 
smuggled through Tui-kish territory into the very heart of Germany. Such was the prosperity of the trade 
that the population rose from 4000 to 12,000. A swarm of boats from the sounds and creeks of the mainland 
brought provisions, and took back the fabrics of Manchester and Leeds, the hardvrares of Sheffield and 
Bimiingham. The French attempted its capture by a naval expedition from Ancona, but were defeated by 
the gallant Hoste. A small fort was constructed, the towers of which stiU retain the names they bore, those 
of ■Wellington, Bentinok, and Robertson, the latter from the civil and military governor. 

The district called The Military Frontier consists of a belt of country on the Tiu-kish 
border, which was set apart exclusively for military purposes at a time when the Turks 
were formidable to the powers of Christendom. It extends from Dahnatia to 
Transylvania, tlu-ough the southernmost part of Croatia, Slavonia, and Himgary, a 
distance of 900 miles, and has an average breadth of about thirty miles. This region is 
occupied by a chain of strong fortresses, among which that of Peterwardein, is the 
most important, while the Danube is lined at regular intervals with guard-houses. 
AU the male population are under the obligation of military service in lieu of ground- 
rent and taxes, and are disciplined for it, attending drill, doing duty at appointed periods 
as sentiaels, and otherwise as their superiors may determine, while liable to be employed 



405 



THE AUSTRIAN EMPIRE. 



at a distance as the exigencies of tlie empire may require. The administration of civil 
affairs is conducted by the officers of the frontier corps ; and the divisions of the territory 
are not hy provinces, districts, or parishes, hut by regiments, battalions, and companies, 
as indicated by sign-posts at their respective boundaries. This arrangement originated in 
the reign of the Empress Maria Theresa, at the suggestion of Prince Eugene ; and has 
been maintained to the present period, subject to various modifications, as a training- 
school from which to recruit the regular standing army. 

Venetia, the Italian proviace, held in impatient subjection to the rule of Austria by 
fortresses and a large military force, is noticed in its geogTaphical connection with Italy. 

The empire contams a total population exceeding 37,000,000, consisting of various 
races of distinct origin, restricted in intercommunication by difference of language, great 
intervening distances, and Unes of formidable mountains. Eaces of a common Slavonic 
stock, but exhibiting many diversities, compose nearly one-half of the people. Next in 
number are the Germans, who form about one-fifth of the aggregate, but occupy the first 
place in point of intelligence, industry, and political influence. The third class in 
numerical importance are Greco-Latins, who include the Italians of Venetia and the 
southern part of the Tyrol, with the Wallachs or Eoumans of Transylvania and Hungary. 
The Magyars constitute the fourth conspicuous portion of the population. Nearly 
three-fourths of the subjects of Austria belong to the Eoman Cathohc communion, 
and have a parochial clergy largely independent of the civU power, except with the 
consent of the high ecclesiastical authorities. The form of government has long been 
an avowed autocratic tyranny, hereditary in the House of Hapsburg. But in recent 
years, imder the pressure of difficulties, a constitutional form has been assumed by the 
establishment of the Eeichsrath, a parliament composed of two houses, in which the 
dominant German element is chiefly represented. Entire nationalities, as the Hungarians 
and Venetians, refuse to recognise Vienna as the central seat of public policy, and are 
only retained as parts of the emjpire by overwhelming armaments, the cost of which 
exhausts its exchequer, and has to some extent damaged its credit in all European 
financial circles. 





Palls of the Aar at Handek. 

CHAPTER VII. 

SWITZERLAND. 

WITZERLAND, one of the smallest states of Europe, and almost 
tlie only one of celebrity without some maritime frontier, is the 
seat of its grandest -iiatural scenery, the cradle of two of its most 
famous rivers, the Ehine and the Elione, and has been distin- 
guished in. its annals for centuries as the stronghold of freedom, 
whUe it is also the centre of attraction at present to travellers of 
all nations, for the purpose of paying homage to its mountams and 
glaciers, its lakes, torrents, and water-falls. The name is derived 
from that of one of the cantons, Schwytz, the inhabitants of which 
took a leading part in the emancipation of the country from the 
Austrian yoke, in the early part of the fourteenth century. It was anciently caUed 
Helvetia, from its primitive Celtic popidation, the Helvetii, who entered upon aggressive 
wars with the Romans, in Avhioh they suffered so severely as to become almost extinct as 
a separate people. The ancient name was revived in the Helvetic Republic, one of the 
political arrangements which fell with the overthrow of ]!fapoleon. The country is 
enclosed by Germany on the north and east ; by France on the west ; and Italy on 
the south. Its northern border is defined generally by the Rhine and the Lake of 




408 SWITZEBLAITD. 

Constance ; the eastern by tte Rhine and diverging ranges of the Alps ; the -western by 
the coiu-se of the Doubs and the ridges of the Jura ; the southern by the grand chaia of 
the High Alps, embracing the Pennine, Lepontine, and Ehaetian divisions. Between these 
limits lies the elliptical area of Switzerland, extending rather more than 200 mUes from 
east to west iu its greatest length, by 156 miles from north to south, a surface slightly 
exceeding the half of Scotland in its dimensions. 

The southern and south-eastern districts, iacluding two-thirds of the area, belong to the 
proper Alpine region. This part of the country exhibits every variety of mountaia and 
vaUey, naked precipice and wooded slope, crystal stream and roaring torrent, with a vast 
extent of perpetual snow on the loftier elevations, and of glacial ice-fields creeping down 
from them deep into the glens, in strange contrast with then? fresh green-sward, fruitful 
orchards, and pleasant cottages. The remainder of the surface consists chiefly of a 
comparatively lowland tract, though reaUy a high plateau, diversified with ridges, on 
which aU the principal lakes and the important to'^vns are situated. It extends north-east 
and south-west between the Lakes of Geneva and Constance, and has the Jm-a range on 
its north-western border, stretching in parallel ridges along the frontier between the 
Ehone and the Ehtne, which present a totally different aspect to that of the Alpine 
masses ; nowhere reaching the elevation of perpetual snow, and clothed from base to 
summit with magnificent pine-woods. Primitive rocks, granite, gneiss, and slates 
compose the upper parts of the Alps. These are flanked by secondary formations, the 
equivalents of our own oolitic limestones, which occur at great heights, and serve to mark 
the comparatively recent date of the alpine upheaval. Similar limestones form the entire 
mass of the Jura range, and indicate its age. The intervening plateau consists generally 
of tertiary strata, comprising alternations of soft limestones and sandstones, with clays 
and marls. Besides ordinary building materials and iron, the mineral produce of the 
country is much less important than might be inferred from its mountainous structure, 
but its resources in this respect are by no means fully known. Mineral springs are, 
however, extremely numerous, some of which are of great medicinal celebrity, resorted 
to by foreign visitors. Those of Leuk, in the canton of the Valais, upwards of 4500 feet 
above the sea, have the temperature of 124° Pahrenheit, and are much frequented by the 
French. 

The main chain of the Alps reaches Switzerland eastward of Mont Blanc, and runs 
along the southern frontier through half of its extent, or to the St Gothard, which forms 
an immense central mountain-knot or nucleus. It becomes interior at this jDoint, and 
overspreads from the border-line the canton of the Grisons eastward to the TjtoI. The 
loftiest masses, Monte Eosa, 15,152 feet, and Mont Cervin or the Matterhorn, 14,837 
feet, have a divided nationality, being Swiss on one side and Italian on the other. The 
former has been scaled, an achievement of recent date, but the latter has defied every 
attempt to reach the peak, and appears to be invincible from its obelisk shape. Prom the 
St Gothard a great branch diverges into the interior, westward, called the Bernese Alps, 
as the dividing-line between the cantons of Berne and Valais. It rises as a northern 
wall to the valley of the Ehone, and forms the magnificent region of the Oberland. This 
range is distinguished by a family of giants, the sharply-defined Pinster-Aai-Horn, or 
'Peak of Darkness;' the Monch, or 'Monk;' the Eiger, or 'Giant;' the Jungfrau, or 
' Virgin ;' the Schreckhorn, or ' Peak of Terror ;' the Wetterhorn, or ' Peak of Tempests ;' 
the Engleshorn, or ' Peak of Angels ;' and others of the noble brotherhood. Their 
snowy summits, the ' billows of a granite sea,' tower from 13,000 to near 15,000 feet, and 
overlook broad subjacent streams of ice. These heights have all been recently scaled, 
and for the first time by members of the British Alpine Club, except the Jungfrau, the 



THE HIGH ALFa. 409 

crest of which was gained by the brothers Meyer of Aaran, iii 1812. It was again 
ascended by Professors Forbes and Agassiz in 1841, and has lately been trod by the foot 
of an English lady, Mrs Winkworth. Ey means of gorges which cleave the mountains 
to the depth of several thousand feet, in many instances mere rents and the beds of 
torrents, the main chains are crossed. Several of the routes are good carriage-roads, made 
with immense labour by blasting the rocks, timnelling through them, and bridging the 





The Matterhorn and Zermatt. 

chasms ; but the greater number, from forty to fifty altogether, are either simply footways 
or bridle-paths, often winding through terrific scenery, seldom travelled except in summer, 
being blocked up with snow through the winter months. The priucipal passes are 
enumerated proceeding along the main range from west to east, with their heights, and 
the places they connect. „ . v^ ■ ,, > 

'^ •> Height in Feet. 

The Great St Bernard, leading from Martigny, in the Lower Valais, to Aosta, in Piedmont, 8,185 

The Cervin, or Matterhorn, from Zermatt, in the Valais, to Chatillon, in Piedmont, . . 11,000 

The Simplon, from Brieg, in the Upper Valais, to Domo d'Ossola, in Lomhardy, . . 6,592 

The St Gothard, from Altorf, on the Eeuss, to Bellinzona, on the Ticino, .... 7,087 

The Splugen, fi'om the Grisons to Chiavenna, in Lombardy G,939 

The Gemmi, through the Bernese Alps, connecting the cantons of Berno and Valais, . . 7,596 

The Grimsel, through the same chain, in the upper part of the Hasli Valley, . . . 7,126 

The Pass of St Gothard, traversed by diligences ; long an important commercial 
thoroughfare, is the only road carried over the crest of the mountains, all the others 
being conducted tlu-ough the deep gorges. The Simplon road, executed by Napoleon, at 
the commencement of the centmy, was the work of six years, though at one time 



410 SWITZERLAND. 

30,000 men were cmploj'ed in its construction. It extends about 30 niUes, has an 
average width of 25 feet, and embraces several extensive tunnels, with 611 bridges. The 
Corvin Pass is the highest in. Europe, but is only a mule-path. That of the Great St 
Bernard is also not practicable throughout for wheels. It is celebrated for having been 
traversed by Napoleon and his army in the year 1800, and is annually crossed by an 
average number of more than 10,000 jDassengers. The hospice at the smnmit, a large 
stone buUding, the highest permanent habitation in Europe, is occupied by some Bene- 
dictine monks, engaged in the entertainment of ordinary travellers, and the relief of way- 
farers arrested and endangered by the snow-storms, and is celebrated for its noble-looking 
sagacious dogs. It contains a dead-house, in which are kept the entire bodies of those 
who have been frozen to death, or kOled by the avalanches, and never claimed, rigid 
as marble, withered up, but preserved from putrefying by the icy cold of the climate. 
The monks are all young men, generally entering upon their duties about the age of 
eighteen, and removing to establishments in more genial localities after a term of years, 
as the human system could not long support exposure to the dry, keen, cold, and rarefied 
air of the St Bernard. 

All the High AljJS are snow-mountains, and arc the scenes of terrible phenomena from 
avalanches or snow falls, frequently destructive to life and property in the adjoiuing vallej's. 
Accumulating in immense quantities in the upper regions, the snowy masses become 
detached from the steep declivities by their own weight, or are loosened by the solar heat, 
and thence descend, acquiring greater dimensions and increased speed on their course, till 
finally arrested in the subjacent valleys. Eocks are broken into fragments by the rushing 
avalanches, woods are swept away in their path, the beds of streams are filled up, thereby 
occasioning fl.oods ; hospices, farmhouses, and entii'e villages have been buried. More 
dangerous, but of rarer occurrence, are landslips ; masses of earth and rock are detached 
by the action of various natural causes, which carry desolation and death into the regions 
below, such as overwhelmed the ill-fated hamlet of Pleurs in 1618, and that of Goldau in 
1806, and buried their inhabitants. Professor Tyndall, the first to conquer the Weisshorn 
in 1861, witnessed a landslip irpon a small scale while effecting the descent. 'A deep and 
confused roar,' says he, ' attracted our attention. Prom a point near the summit a rock 
had been discharged. It plunged do-ivn a dry couloir, raising a cloud of dust at each 
bump against the mountain. A hundred similar ones were immediately in motion, while 
the spaces between the larger masses were filled by an innumerable flight of smaller 
stones. Each of them shakes its quantum of dust in the air, until finally the avalanche 
is enveloped in a vast cloud. The clatter of this devil's cavalry was stunning. Black 
masses of rock emerged here and there from the cloud, and sped through the air like 
flying fiends. Their motion was not one of translation merely, but they whizzed and 
vibrated in their flight as if urged by wings. The clang of echoes resoimded from side to 
side, from the Schallenberg to the Weisshorn and back, imtil finally the whole troop 
came to rest, after many a deep-sormding thud in the snow, at the bottom of the 
mountain. This stone avalanche was one of the most extraordinary things I had ever 
witnessed.' By the dislodgment of an immense mass from Monte Conto, on a September 
night in 1618, the little town of Pleurs was overwhelmed. Its 2000 inhabitants 
perished while asleep in their beds ; and sixty feet of earth, stones, and rubbish now lie 
over the site, shaded by a forest of chestnuts. The fall of the Eossberg in 1806 destroyed 
the vOlago of Goldau, Avith more than 500 persons, who lie buried beneath mounds which 
nature has rendered ornamental, being green with grass and gay with -wild-flowers. 

Glaciers are the most remarkable features in the physiognomy of the Alps. They are 
appendages to the snow mountains, bearing much the same relation to them as icicles to 



SOURCES OF THE RHINE AND THE RHONE. 



411 



tho roof of a house ; and are formed hy tlio partial thawing of tho snowy masses, with 
subsequent congelation, about the line wliore, on descending from the higher regions, the 
temperature begins its annual oscillations above and below the freezing-point. The icy 
product, apparently rigid, but really semi-fluid, is urged down into the valleys by the 
pressure of its particles, and the inclination of its bed, and, while wasted below, is recruited 
from above. Tlio singular spectacle is hence exhibited in the full glory of summer of 
enormous masses of ice existing iu close connection with fruitful orchards, smiling gardens, 
fields ripening for the harvest, and the hum of bees. Four hundred glaciers are reckoned 
in tlie space between Mont Blanc and tlie Tyrol, varying greatly in their magnitude, but 
estimated to cover a total area of more than 1000 square miles. They differ likewise 
in external appearance, but have the general aspect of streams suddenly arrested in their 
headlong course down the declivities, and congealed. 

' Torrents, metliinlvS, that heard a mighty Voioa, 
And stopped at once, amidst their maddest phmge ! 
Motionless torrents ! silent cataracts ! ' 

Two great rivers, the Ehuie and the Ehone, originate in this waste of glaciers, though, 
within the limits of Switzerland, neither is available as a channel of communication. 

The Ehine embraces in its basin the greater portion of the country. The principal 
source is on tlie eastern side of the vast mountain nucleus of the St Gothard ; but the 
river is formed by the junction of two main branches in the canton of the Grisons. It 
thence flows northward to the Lake of Constance, and after its outlet, is confined chiefly 
to the northern frontier. A large proportion of the interior drainage is conveyed to its 
cliannel by the Aar, the most important tributary, which receives by various affluents the 
surplus waters of the Lakes of Zurich, Zug, Lucerne, Neufohatel, and Bienne. The Ehone 
descends from a glacier at the base of Mont Furoa, on the western side of the St Gothard. 
It runs centrally through the entire canton of the Valais, jiasses through the Lake of 
Geneva, receives the Arve soon after its emergence, and speedily enters France. A visit 
to the confluence of the two strongly-contrasted rivers — ^the Ehone, blue, clear, and stately; 
the Arve, muddy, brawling, and torrent-like — is one of the pleasantest excursions that 
can be made from Geneva. The eastern part of the Grisons is traversed by the Upper 
Inn, a feeder of the Danube ; fiowmg through the grand vaUey called the Engadine, whUe 
the southern canton of Tessin contributes tho Ticino to the system of the Po. Thus the 
superficial drainage is carried ofi" by the rivers to four distinct basins, those of the Nortli 
Sea, the Mediterranean, the Black Sea, and the Adriatic. Descending from high 
elevations, and traversing a rugged countrj'', the streams exhibit numerous water-falls 
which form a striking feature of the scenery. The Ehine has a total descent of from 
seventy to eighty feet near Schaffhausen, making it in three leaps, rendered very imposing 
by the great volume of water. The Staubbach, in the valley of Lauterbrunnen, acquires 
interest and beauty from an opposite clement ; tho thinness of the stream, in connection 
with the great height of the rocky rampart from which it is precipitated, being not far 
short of 1000 feet. Long before reaching the bottom, the water is broken up into spray, 
and hence the name, which signifies ' dust-fall.' The appearance is commonly illustrated 
by that of a long lace veil suspended from the summit, and waving as it hangs ; but it 
suggested to Byron another striking imagination : 

' Like tlie pale courser's tail, 
Tho giant steed to be bestrode by Death, 
As told in the Ajjocalypse.' 

Lakes characterise the country more than any other part of continental Europe, with the 
exception of Sweden and Finland, and have shores very remarkable for their loveliness or 



412 SWITZERLAND, 

their grandeiir. Besides those named, which are on the northern side of the Alps, 
portions of the Lago Maggiore and Lago Lugano, on the southern slope, are Swiss. The 
largest example, the crescent-shaped Lake of Geneva, extends about fifty miles following 
the outer hne of the curve, hy six miles ia its greatest hreadth, and has in various places a 
very profound depth. It was called by the Eomans Lacus Lemanus, and is often 
referred to under that name. 

' Clear, placid Leman ! thy contrasted lake, 
"With the wild world I dwell in, is a thing 
Which warns me, with its stillness, to forsaka 
Earth's troubled waters for a purer spring. 
This quiet sail is as a noiseless wing 
To waft me from destraotion.' 

The shores command views of the High Alps, which are very magnilioent, e,spsoiaUy at 
sunset, when the hues of the summits change from the dazzling white to the deep rich 
crimson, from the crimson to the pink, from the puik to the cold gray, till the colour and 
outline are lost in the dimness of evening. 

Great differences in the elevation of the surface give rise to very different climates 
within narrow bounds, the cold of the polar zone on the moiintam-tops co-existing with a 
moderate temperature at a subjacent level, greater mildness below, and op^jressive summer 
heat ill the deep and close valleys, owing to the confinement of the air, and excessive 
radiation from the high rocky walls on either side. Hence the vegetation varies 
ascendiugly. The characteristic floras of all countries from the Mediterranean to the 
Arctic zone are met with in successive belts on passing from a lowland to a highland 
position. In the lower valleys, on the banks of rivers and lakes, the vine is cultivated, 
up to the height of about 1800 feet above the sea. The oak ascends to 2800 feet; 
walnuts and chestmits to 3000 feet ; beeches to 4000 feet ; the birch, alder, and pine to 
7000 feet. Above this, on the verge of snow-fields and glaciers, just where vegetation is 
about to expire, it becomes most ornamental, consisting of blue-beUs and hyacinths, lilies 
and gentians, with which bushes of the lovely red rhododendron are intermingled on tlie 
velvet turf. Higher still are licliens, and then the desolation of eternal frost. The wild 
animals exist, like the plants, in successive zones along the sides of the mountains ; among 
them are found, at the greater heights, the ibex or rock-goat, now very scarce, the chamois, 
also thinned by the hunter, and the marmot, of common occiu'rence, whose shrill 
whistle often breaks the silence of the upper sohtudes. The marmots, valued for their fur, 
associate in families, form burrows in the ground, and pass the winter in a state of 
lethargy. In the upland forests are the wolf and bear, but now rarely heard of, especially 
the latter, except in the severest winters. 

Switzerland is divided into twenty-two cantons or provinces, which form a con- 
federation of twenty-five distinct republics, as three of the number, Berne, AppenzeU, 
and Unterwalden are each politically distributed into two separate states. The independ- 
ence of the country dates from the year 1307, when tliree of the cantons, Schwytz, Uri, 
and Unterwalden, combined to assert their freedom ; and eight years later, on the 15th 
of Ifovember 1315, signally defeated a large Austrian army on the field of Morgarten. 
The general interests of the federation are under the direction of a Diet, composed of 
deputies from all the states, who appoint a president and the principal executive officers. 
Its sessions are successively held at Berne, Zurich, and Lucerne ; but the former is the 
permanent seat of the government, the residence of the foreign ministers, and is therefore 
considered the capital. Of the cantons, seven are western, twelve are north-eastern, and 
three are southern. 




Central Cantons, 



I'Torth-Eastern Cantons, 



Southern Cantons, 



Cantons. 
Eerne, . '^. 
Friboiirg, . 
Taud, . 
Genera, 
Neufcliatel, . 
Soleure, 
Basle, 
Lucerne, . 
Zug, 
Sohwytz, 
XTnterwalden, 
TJri, . 
Glarus, . 
Aargau, 
Zurich, . 
SchaffhauseU; 
Thnrgau, 
St Gall, 
Appenzell, 



Tessin, 
Grisons, 



Towns and Principal Sites. 
. Eerne, Thun, Interlachen, Laiiterbrunnen. 

Fribourg, Morat. 
, Lausaime, Vevay, Yverdun. 

Geneva, Ferney, Carouge. 
. Neufchatel, VaUengin, Chaiix-do-Fonds, Locle. 

Soleure, Olten. 
, Basle, Liesthal. 

Lucerne, Sempaoh. 
. Zug. 

SchAvytz, Morgarteii, Einsiodlen. 
. Stanz, Sarnen. 

Altorf, Biirglen. 
. Glarus, Niifels. 
Aarau, Baden. 
. Zurich, TVinterthur. 

Schaffhausen. 
. Frauenfeld. 

St GaU, "Wallenstadt, Pfeffers. 
. Appenzell, Herlsau, Trogen. 
Sion, Martigny, Leulc, Brieg. 
. BeUinzona, Locarno, Lugano. 
Coire, Bemhardin, Splugen. 



411: 



SWITZERLAND. 



Tlie canton of Berne, the second in jsoint of extent, coniprehends a large portion of the 
plain of Switzerland. It extends from tlie Jura Mountains on. the north, to the Bernese 
Alps en the south, where the region of the Oberland, remarkable for its multitudinous 
snow-crowned peaks, is formed, and group of glaciers. In the included space are the 
Lakes of Brienz, Thun, and Bienne, with a portion of that of ISTeufchatel, and the greater 
part of the course of the Aar, the only navigable river of any consequence in the whole 
country. 

Berne, the capital oi the confederation, but not the largest town, contains a population of 29,000. It is 
handsomely built of stone, and is seated on a sandstone platform at the height of 1700 feet above the sea, on 
the left bank of the Aar, by which it is nearly surrounded. It possesses a good public library and museum ; 
many ornamental fountains in the streets ; charitable institutions admirably regulated ; and commands fine 
views of the mountains on the southern horizon — the Jungfrau, Finster-Aar-Horn, and their brethren, from 
various terraces. Haller, the illustrious physician and naturalist, was a native, and died in the place of his 
bii-tli. Berne is said to derive its name from tlie old German hdren, signifying 'a bear.' The figure of the 
animal is conspicuous in the armorial bearings of the canton ; and stuffed specimens of all ages are in the 
museum. Bruin is represented in stone along the thoroughfares ; and a nmnber of living beai'S are kept in 
an enclosure for exliibition at the public expense. In 1862 an unfortunate English visitor, looking into the 
bear-pit, lost his balance, fell among the brutes, and perished after a dreadful struggle with them. At Hofwyl, 
a iew miles on the north, the late IL FeUenberg founded the still celebrated industrial and educational 
establishment on the Pestalozzian principle. Thun, ne ii the outlet of the A u from its lake, contiins tlii- 
military school of the confederation. The situation is extremely lo-icly, and the town is icndeiod picturesque 
by old bridges, a venerable church, and a feudal castle of the t-nslfth centuiv i the summit of " steep hou c 
clad hill in its centre. The lake, about ten miles long, has neat 
villas and hamlets on its borders, and is traversed by stcameis, 
crowded in smnmer with travellers bound for the tour of the 
Oberland, or returning from it. Intcrlacken, delightfully situ 
ated between the Lakes of Thun and Brienz, consists chieflj of 
boarding-houses, sh.aded by enormous walnut-trees, wheie the 
natives carry on a profitable trade with visitors in beautiful 
wood carvings. Lauterhrunnen, a village oil the south, deiives 
its name, signifying ' notliing but fountains,' from the numbci 
of little streams that leap into the vaUey from the boideriii„ 
heights. The ' sky-born water-fall ' of the Staubbach is its ' 
great attraction, with contiguity to the "Wengem Alp, tl e 
avalanches of the Jungfrau, and the glaciers of the Grindelwald 

Feibourg, the adjoining canton on the west, i=! 
mountainous on the southern border, almost 
everywhere finely diversified with hills, but with- 
out heights reaching to the snow-hne. It i^ 
traversed by the Savino through nearly its whole 
extent from south to north, flowing in part of ito 




Glacier of Gimdelwald 



FRIBOUEG — VAUD. 



415 



course tlu'ough a singularly romantic gorge, and fmally uniting witli tlie Aar. Excellent 
mcadow-lanJs sustain largo iiumlDers of cattle, the best breeds in the country ; and dairy 
husbandry, especially cheesemaking, is extensively pursued, and in high repute for the 
quality of the produce. The cheese called Gruyeres, from a place in the valley of the 
Upper Savino, where it is made, is exported to all parts of the world. 

Frilourg, with a population of 10,000, on the Savine, consists of a lower town built by the side of the river, 
but chiefly of an upper occupying the declivity of a rock that lines the stream, along which the houses are 
arranged in terraces, while some are at the summit, on the very edge of the precipice. Ancient fortiiications, 
consisting of embattled walls, watch-towers, and gateways, remain in a perfect state, which, with the 
incquaUty of the ground, render the distant view highly imposing. The gorge through which the river 
winds is crossed by several bridges, one of which, on the suspension principle, is 175 feet above the stream, 
and remarkable for its great length, 906 feet, being the longest bridge of a .single span ever constructed. 
The Roman Catholic Cathedi'al possesses an organ, built by a native, said to be the richest toned instrument 
in the world ; it has the finest peal of bells, with the highest spire, of any church in Switzerland. Moral, 
on the east shore of the small lake of that name, is a celebrated site with the Swiss, as the scene of the battle 
in which they totally defeated the invading army of Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, in 1476. 
* Tiiere is a spot should not be passed in vain — 

Morat I the proud, tho patriot field ! where man 

May gazo on ghastly trophies of tho slain. 

Nor blush for those who conquered on that plain.' 
The bodies of thousands of the enemy were left unbui'ied where they fell. Some bones remained strev/ed 
about to a recent date, but all relics liave been collected and inten-ed at a spot surmounted by an obelisk. 
The Place des Tilleuls, or Limes, in Fribourg, has its name from an existing lime or linden tree, which, 
according to tradition, was immediately planted in honour of the victory. 

The canton of Vaud extends along the northern shore of the Lake of Geneva, and fills 
up the space intervening between it and the French frontier, embracing the southern part 
of the Lake of Neufchatel. It formed part of fta. - do^vn to the year 1.5-36, then became 




41G SWITZERLAND. 

a dependency of Berne by conquest, and was admitted into tlie confederation as a separate 
member in 1798. 

Lausanne, on the Genevan lake, is distinguislied by the exceeding beauty of its situation, occupying three 
hills belonging to the lower slope of Mont Jorat, with the intervening valleys. It contains a population of 
20,500, chiefly engaged in makuig watches, chronometers, and jewellery; possesses a catliedral, college, and 
museum ; and is associated with the memory of several literary celebrities. Kemble, the tragedian, lies 
in the adjoining cemetery of Pierre de Plain. Gibbon completed his History of the Decline and Fall of the 
Soman Empire in a house stUl extant, but changed, and now the Hotel Gibbon. ' It was on tlie day, or 
rather the night, of the 27th of June 17S7,' according to his own account, ' between the hours of eleven and 
twelve, that I wrote the last line of the last page in a summer-house in my garden. After laying down my 
pen, I took several turns in a berceau, or covered-walk of acacias, which commands a prospect of the country, 
the lake, and the mountains. The air was temperate, the sky was serene, the silver orb of the moon was 
reflected from the waves, and all nature was silent.' Vcvuy, eastward on the lake, at tiie opening of a gorge, 
is a small but highly-attractive place, in the centre of orchards and vineyards. Two of the regicides, Ludlow 
and Broughton, who took part in sentencing Charles I. to the scaffold, resided here as exiles, and axe interred 
in St Martin's Church. At the extremity of the lake, stands the Castle of CliiUon, on a rock close inshore, 
rendered memorable by Lord Byron's poem, the Prisoner of Chilian. The castle is now used as a magazino 
for munitions of war. 

Tlie canton of Geneva, one of tlie smallest of the federal states, but the most 
distinguished in history, extends around the western extremity of its lake, and makes a 
slight advance on either side, but is wholly cut off on the southern by France, and very 
nearly so on the northern, from communication by land mth the sister-republics. It is 
watered by the Ehone, which passes westward through it into the French territory after 
receiving the Arve from Savoy. 

Geneva, the largest and most flourishing town of Switzerland, contains 41,000 inhabitants, distinguished 
for their industry and enterprise, attachment to liberty, and literary predilections. Watches, chronometers, 
musical boxes, mathematical instruments, and articles of jewellery are the staple manufactures, exhibited in 
many attractive shops, and extensively exported. It is situated at the elBux of the Ehone from the lake, 
which rushes through it clear as glass and blue as indigo, forms two islands on its passage, on one of which 
stands a group of antiquated buildings, vrhile the other is laid out as a public pleasure-groruid. Eew places 
have undergone a more marked improvement of late years, embracing the removal of the ancient ramparts, 
the provision of quays and a harboiu' for the accommodation of steamers, a new stone bridge across the river, 
a jardin Anglaise close to the lake, with wallis, trees, and fountains, an English chm-ch, with several large 
and splendid hotels. K'o to\vn, perhaps, of the same size can boast of such a list of illustrious names 
associated with it, either as natives, exiles, or voluntary residents, Farel, Calvin, Beza, Cranmer, John Knox, 
Casaubon, Lefort, Eousseau, Voltaire, IsTeckar, De Luc, Saussure, Eomiet, Huber, De CandoUe, Josephine, 
Marie Louise, Su' Himipluy Davy, Sismondi, and Merle d'Aubigne. Calvhi settled in Geneva as pubUo 
teacher of theologj' in 15-il, and died there in 1564 He acquired complete ascendency over the inhabitants, 
founded the college now possessing a library of 40,000 volumes, attracted the Protestant youth from all 
quarters to the place for educational purposes, and thereby made it a centre of iEiHuence to Germany, France, 
England, Scotland, and other countries. The cathedi'al church of St Peter contains his pulpit. Many 
charming excursions may be made from the town, and fine views are obtained fi-om various points, both in 
and around it of Mont Blanc, distinctly ■^^sible in clear weather, at the distance of about fifty miles. JFerney, 
a village witliin the French frontier, but close to the Swiss border, where "Voltaire resided nearly twenty years, 
and built a chateau, two rooms of which are shewn in much the same state as they were when occupied 
by him. 

The territories of Neufchatbl and Soleueb, separated by an iutervening portion of 
Berne, are of limited dimensions, and correspond in being traversed by ridges of the 
Jura, and the long parallel valleys they enclose. From the northern slope of the range 
the small canton of Basle extends to the Ehine, consisting cliiefly of a fertile and populous 
plain. 

The town of Neufchatel, on the westem side of its lake, is a place of considerable trade in the export of 
wine, the produce of neighbouring vineyards, and of watches made in villages of the canton, which are 
mostly sent to Geneva. The workmen pursue their handicraft in then- own dwellings, and confine them- 
selves to one pai-iicular part of the mechanism. In the ancient church the doctrines of the Eeformation 
were preached as early as the year 1530. Farel, the reformer, was buried at an adjoining site, but the spot 
has not been indicated. A museum contains an interesting collection of geological specimens from the Jura, 
arranged by the celebrated Agassiz, a native. On the slope of a hiU in the background of the town lies the 
largest of the erratic blocks strewn over the face of the limestone range. It is 62 feet long by 48 broad, and 
consists of granite similar to that of the Alps. Soleure, on the Aar, likewise contains a collection of Jura 



THE FOEEST CANTONS. 417 

fossils in its inuscimi, and possesses an arsenal in wliicli curious armour of the old Switzers and Eurgundians 
is stored. Kosciusko, tlio Polisli patriot, died here in 1817. Basic, once a free imperial city, is seated on the 
Ehine, principally on the left or westei-u bank, at the point wliere the stream makes its great bend to the 
north. It commands a very considerable commerce, being close to the frontiers of France and Germany, at 
the Iiead of the steam navigation of the river, and a great centre of railways. It ranks next to Geneva in 
population, 37,000, contains a onee famous university, many benevolent and educational institutions, with a 
good public library and museum, and is said to be the wealthiest city in Switzerland. Erasmus, whose tomb 
is in the cathedral, was connected with it as a professor, as well as the two mathematicians, Euler and 
Bernouilli, who were born in the city. Holbein, the painter, was likewise a native. Basle is often named in 
chm-ch histories, as it was the seat of a great ecclesiastical council in the former part of the 15th centuiy. A 
singular practice prevailed down to near the close of the last century, that of the clocks being kept an hour in 
advance of tlie proper time, the origin of which is obscure. One explanation is, that a design to deliver the 
town to the enemy at a certain appointed hour was defeated by the town-clock, which was to have given the 
signal, striking an houi' in advance, which led the conspirators to suppose that they were too late, and 
quashed the movement. Therefore the clocks were afterwards kept wrong in grateful remembrance of the 
means of deliverance. Tlie custom was abandoned, after strenuous opposition, in 1795 ; and true railway time 
has now, for some years, been kept at Basle. 

Among the central states, those of Lucerne, Untbewalden', Uei, and Schwttz are 
distingmshed as the Foiu: Eorest Cantons. They form together the shores of the tortuons 
Lake of Lucerne, one of the most beautiful sheets of water in the world, hegiit with strikingly 
varied scenes. Sloping liills, smiling with verdure, studded with small towns, hamlets, 
and dwellings, lie around the north-west extremity, above which Mount Pilatus grandly 
towers, standing as a kind of sentry in. advance of the Alps, whose clear or cloud-capped 
brow is a weather-index to the boatmen, shepherds, and villagers below. High mountain- 
barriers press in upon the waters in the opposite direction, which alternately advance in the 
boldest projections and recede to form closely-landlocked bays, where stupendous precipices 
rise sheer upright from the basin as its brim, or overhang it threateningly, or have little strips 
of verdant pasture on which a few cottages can nestle at their base. This region is of 
interest from its associations, as the land of Tell, containing many sites connected with 
his personal history, and the early struggles of the people for independence. ZuG, the 
smallest of the Swiss states, encloses the larger part of the lake bearing its name, the 
southern portion of which projects into Schwytz, and has at its termination the isolated 
and well-known Mount Eighi, overlooking both the Lakes of Zug and Lucerne, and a 
wonderful panorama. The territory of Glaeus, adjoiaiug that of Schwytz on the east, 
embraces a bold mountaiuous surface, with the vaUey of the Linth iu the centre, a river 
which traverses with torrent-hke speed its whole extent from south to north, and falls 
into the fine Lake of WaUeustadt on the northern border. 

Lucerne, at the outlet of the Eeuss from its lake, is one of the three towns where the federal Diet holds its 
sessions, and may be considered the Roman Catholic tSapital of Switzerland, from nearly all the population, 
11,500, belonging to that communion, while it is the ordinary residence of the papal nuncio. Three old bridges 
cross the river, curiously decorated with paintings of legendary, historical, and sacred subjects, forming, in 
the words of Wordsworth, ' lessons for every heart, a Bible for all eyes.' The town retains its feudal forti- 
fications, possesses an arsenal containing some ancient military trophies of interest, and has, in a quiet 
seclusion in the vicinity, a monument designed by Thorwaldsen, consisting of a colossal wormded lion, in 
honour of the Swiss guards who perished at Paris while defending the TuHeries in 1792. There are no 
pai-ticular manuf actui-es ; but the transit trade, carried on with Italy by means of steamers across the Lake and 
the Pass of the St Gothard, is considerable. Sempach, a vUlage eight miles on the north-west, on the shore 
of a small lake, marks the site of the second great victory of tlie Swiss over the Duke of Burgundy, in 13S6. 
It was gained by means of the self-devotion of Arnold von "Winkelried, who rushed upon .the spears of the 
enemy, grasped as many of them as he could in his aims, and thus opened a gap in the mail-clad ranks 
for his compatriots to rush in. 

Stanz, a small town in the cantonal division of the Niedem-wald, ' Lower "Woods,' of which the heroic 
Arnold was a native, contains a statue of luni in the market-place ; he is represented with the bmidle of 
spears in liis arms. A tablet in the parish church commemorates the unfortunate people whom the 
French massacred for defending their homes in 1798, while the survivors became exiles. Sarncn, in the 
Obdem-wald, the 'Upper Woods,' is a pastoral village pleasantly situated on the shore of a small lake. 
On the border of Unterwalden and Lucerne, belonging to both cantons, rises the dark form of Mount 
Pilatus, 7000 feet above the sea, fringed vrith forests. It was once sin object of dread to the peasantry. 

2 a 



418 



SWITZERLAND. 



The name is said to be derived from a wild legend, thai Pontius Pilate, being banished into Gaul by 
the Emperor Tiberius, wandered hither, and while conscience-stricken, filing himself into a black lake at 
the summit. A small pool, formed by the melting of the Avuiter's snow, occupies there a hollow, but 
becomes exhausted in the summer. Alpnach, a village at the base, has its name connected with the famous 
' SUde,' described by Professor Playfair, constructed and used for the passage of timber from the mountain, 
in the early part of the century. This was an inclined trough composed of nearly 30,000 trees, wliich 
descended from the height of 2500 feet down to the edge of the Lake of Lucerne, a distance of eight miles. 
Enormous trunks, having been previously prepared, were discharged into the lake by their own momentum 
in the short space of about six minutes. It is, however, no longer in use. 

Altorf, the chief place in the canton of TJri, but only a village, is of mterest from its traditional 
connection with the legend of Tell, as the spot where he shot tlie apple from his child's head. A stone 
fountain in the open square, surmounted by figures of the father and the boy, commemorates the 
incident. Bilrglen, a beautiful rural hamlet hard hj, adorned mth luxuriant vegetation, claims the 
patriot as a native. A little chapel stands on the spot occupied by his house, covered with very rude 
paintings descriptive of various scenes of liis life, accompanied with sentences from Scripture. On the front 
of the chapel is the text, ' "We are called unto liberty — but by love serve one another.' Between Biirglen and 
Altorf a rapid stream is crossed, in which Tell is said to have lost his life in old age in endeavouring to 

save a cliild from 
drowning when 
the waters were 
high. These sites 
idjoin the south- 
ern extremity 
of the Lucerne 
Lake, and are 
close to the 
influx into it 
of the Keuss. 
Ihe river-valley 
thence ascends 
through a series 
of magnificent 
gorges from 30 
to 40 miles up 
to the heights of 
the St Gothard, 
iccompanied by 
tlie high - road 
Ai hich repeat- 
edly crosses the 
sti earn by bridges, 
pisses through 
nmnels, follows 
zigzag terraces, 
while its roar is 
incessantly heard as it dashes along, or tumbles in cataracts, in the ravine below. In this valley, up to the 
point of the perpetual snows, French, Austrian, and Eussian armies marched, manoeuvred, and fought, in 
the year 1799. 

Sehxiiytz, from which comes the name, Switzerland, is a town of 5000 inhabitants, the head of a canton 
containing a spot held in the greatest reverence by the Roman Catholics of the country, and those of 
adjoining districts. This is at Eimiedlen, a village of inns and alehouses for the reception of pilgrims 
to the shrine of the 'Black Lady of Switzerland,' in the neighbouring Benedictine abbey — one of the 
finest in Switzerland. The site is a high, bleak, and sterile plain. In the church is a shrme of black 
marble, where a little ebony figure of the Virgin and Child, gaudily adorned, is exhibited. Thousands are 
attracted to it, particularly on the great annual festival, or virginal levee, wliich is held in September, and 
lasts for a fortnight. Confessions ai-e heai'd in German, Italian, French, or Eomansch ; while trade flourishes 
out of doors, in the sale of images, pictm-es, and various knicknacks in honour of the Virgin. 

2iig, small and antiquated, is pleasantly seated at the north-east extremity of its lake, the shores of which 
present a rich appearance from numerous gardens, orchards, and vineyards. The defile of Morgai-ten is on 
the border of the canton towards Schwytz, where 20,000 Austrians were defeated in 1315 by a small body of 
Swiss mountaineers. 

Glanis, on the Linth, in a secluded valley overhung with high rocks, is the seat of important cotton and 
doth manufactures, and exports lai-ge quantities of the green cheese for which the canton is celebrated. Its 




Fluellen m ITri. 



AARA0 ZURICH. 



419 



Gothic clmrcli is used by both Catliojic and Protestant congregations. Zuiiiglius was the pastor from 1500 
to I'M. Niifds, a viUago a few miles on the north, was the scene of the tliird great triumph of tlie 
peasantry over the Austrians in 13S8. Tlie event is annually commemorated by a festival, when a sermon is 
preached by tlie Protestant and Catholic ministers on alternate years. 

Tlireo of the north-eastern cantons, Aargau, Zurich, and Schaffhausen, border on the 
Rhine in the western part of its flow, and belong to the region of the Swiss plain, though 
their surface is generally varied with hills of moderate height. Thurgau, lilcemse a 
district chiefly of rich levels and broad open vaUeys, extends along the shore of the Lake 
of Constance. St Gall touches the southern extremity of the lake, and circles thence 
round the entire canton of Appenzbll to the Eliine, as it runs from south to north. 

Aarau, the cliief town of Aargau, is a small manufacturing place on the Aar, at the south base of the Jura. 
Bruf/ff, lower down on the river, ancient, walled, and diminutive, the birthplace of Zinnnerman, is in an 
interesting locality. At a short distance are the baths of Schintznach, a frequented watering-place, with the 
tall square keep adjoining of the Castle of Hapsburg, from which its owner, Pi,udolph, was called, in the 13th 
century, to sway the sceptre of Charlemagne, and become the founder of the Austrian House. Below Brugg, 
in the plain, the Aar is joined by the Eeuss from Lucerne, and the Linimat from Zuiich, the joint streams 
shortly afterwards discharging into the Ehine. At and aroimd the meeting of the waters stood Vindonissa, 
a great Helvetic settlement and stronghold of the Eonians, the substructions of which have been traced, with 
other remains, over a wide extent of ground. Baden, on the Limrnat, has waiin sulphureous springs which 
have been visited by invalids from very early times. 




Zurich. 

Zurich, at the north extremity of its lake, where the Limrnat gushes from it with a broad impetuous 
cun'ent, is built along both banks of the river in a valley hemmed in by mountains. It is a seat of the 
federal Diet, and the most important manutaotui'ing tovm in the country, producing silk and cotton gjods, 
with machinery. The inhabitants, 19,700, have long been distinguished for their literary as weU as 
commercial spirit. Owing to the activity of its press, at the time of the Keformation, and the number of 
learned Protestant refugees who found here an asylum from persecution, it acquired the name of the Athens 
of Switzerland. Coverdale's Bible, the first entire English version of the Scriptures, is presumed to have 



4:20 SWITZERLAND. 

been printed at Zurioli in 1535. In the cathedral, a massive venerable structure, Zuinglius preached for the 
last six years of his life. He perished ■while attending his flock on the field of battle at Cappel, in 1531. At 
the close of the last century, Lavater, the physiognomist, a native, vras for twenty-three years minister of St 
Peter's Church, and fell in the streets by the shot of a French soldier, in 1799, close to his own door. In the 
town library, containing 40,000 voliunes, are three Latin letters in the handwriting of the unfortunate Lady 
Jane Grey addressed to Bullinger. The university libraiy possesses original manuscripts of many of the 
early reformers, the valuable portion of which has been pubUshed in the present age. The Lake of Zurich, 
thirty miles long by one and a half in medimn breadth, has no grand mountains on its borders, though their 
outline is ^'isible in the distance. Its shores are distinguished by quiet beauty, cultivated landscapes, 
and neat villages, which appear to great advantage, rising vnth. their church steeples and tiled roofs up the 
hillsides arormd its waters. 

ScJiaffkausen, on the right or north bank of the Rhine, has little interest but a celebrated name, as it is 
given to the grand Falls of the river at a short distance below the town. Frauenfeld, the little capital of 
Thurgau, is a scene of industry in connection mth cotton-miUs and dye-works. St Gall, ancient and 
historically distinguished, vrithin ten mUes of the Lake of Constance, is a busy manufacturing town of 14,500 
inhabitants, engaged with bleacheries, cotton-spimiing, and the production of embroidered muslins. This 
place was a seat of learning and centre of civilisation in rude ages, owing to its abbey, the monks of which 
officiated as teachers, attracted scholars from distant parts of Europe, and employed themselves in transcribing 
the classical authors, some of whose \vriting3 are indebted to them for theu' rescue from oblivion. The 
abbey-church is now the cathedral, and the other buildings are devoted to secular uses. Pfeffers, with 
slightly saline hot springs, some bath-houses, and a chapel, is very remarkable from its site. This is a 
mountain-split through which the stream of the Tamina furiously dashes. The sides of the half gorge and 
half cavern are dark, savage, and jagged, approaching so closely overhead as only to allow of scanty dayhght 
entering, and narrow strips of the sky to be visible. Appenzell, at the head of one division of its canton, 
called Inner Ehoden, is little more than a slovenly village. The name is derived from Abbatis Cella, 
referrhig to a country-house of the old abbots of St Gall at the spot. Herisau, the chief place in the other 
cantonal division, or Outer Ehoden, a little larger, is neat and flourishing, with manufactures of cotton, 
muslin, and silk, the employment of a large number of persons in the neighbourhood. 

Valais, a soutli-westem district, embraces the valley of the Upper Ehone, and consists 
of an enormous trough, seventy miles long, hut narrow at the base, through which the 
river descends from its glacial source at the one extremity to its entrance into the Lake 
of Geneva at the other. The Bernese Alps rise on the northern side, crossed hy the 
strangely sublime Pass of the Gemmi. The higher Pennine and Lepontine Alps form 
the southern wall, which include Monte Eosa and the Matterhorn, with the routes of the 
Great St Bernard and the Simplon. Many subsidiary valleys are connected laterally with 
the main, trench. In this region the most striking contrasts are exhibited — ^luxiu'iant 
vegetation below and utter sterility aloft — the most oppressive heat in summer at the one 
poiut, and perpetual ice-fields at the other — nature in all her magnificence, and man 
subject to hideous infirmity and complete abasement. Here the most numerous examples 
are met with of the two terrible diseases to which the inhabitants of the Swiss mountain 
valleys are exposed — goitre, a malformation of the neck, and cretinism, a form of idiocy — 
the causes of which are obscure. Tessin, central among the southern cantons, embraces 
the country descending from the crest of the St Gothard to the Lago Maggiore, and is 
for the most part Italian, as well in its position and scenery, as in the language and 
manners of the people. The Grisons, a south-eastern district, the largest and least 
populous of the cantons, includes the valleys traversed by the two great arms of the 
Rhine, from their sources to the confluence, with the valley of the Inn, forming tho 
Engadine, and many intersecting chains of the higher Alps. The name is derived from 
that of a popular league against the nobles, constituted in the early part of the fifteenth 
century, called the ' Gray League,' lia Grisclia, from the gray homespun dress of the 
confederate peasants. 

Sion, the chief town of Valais, seated on the north bank of the E.hone, is very inconsiderable, as are all 
the ether places in the canton. But it presents an exceedingly picturesque appearance at a distance, having 
three extensive old castles on successive craggy peaks. Lculc, a village higher up the river, on the same bank, 
gives its name to a hamlet with warm springs, Leukerbad, a few miles distant, at the foot of the Gemmi Pass. 
This cluster of wooden dwellings is upwards of 4500 feet above the sea. Its bathing-houses are thronged 
with visitors in the height of summer, but wholly abandoned and shut up from October to May. Tliree 



ITALIAN CANTONS. 421 

times sinco their ostablisliment in tlie sixteenth century they Iiave been oyer\ylieImecl by avalanches. The 
hottest spring rises at a temperature of 124° Falirenheit, with the volume of a rivulet. St Gingough, on the 
borders of the Lalce of Geneva, lies at the entrance of a deep ravine, which divides Savoy from the Valais. 




St Gm^oagh, 

Brieg, in the Upper Valais, on the south side of the Khone, marks the coimnencement of the ascent of the 
Simplon route into Italy, and is a halting-place for travellers about to cross, or having made the journey. 
Martigny, in the Lower Valais, twenty-four miles south-south-east of the east end of the Lake of Geneva, 
near the entrance of the torrent-like Drance into the Ehone, occupies tho same position with reference 
to the road across the Great St Bernard, and contains a convent, from the inmates of which those of the 
momitain monasterj' are recruited. Zermatt, a village of clean wooden houses, with a neat church at the 
upper extremity of the Val St Nicholas, is a principal station, mtli high Alpine climbers, 5400 feet above 
the sea, set in, perhaps, the grandest spot in Europe. It stands at the junction of three valleys, each with 
its characteristic glacier, overlooked by Monte Eosa from one side, and the Matterhorn from another. 

BelUnzona, on the left bank of the Tioino, one of the cliief towns of Tessin, is feudal in its aspect, from 
three old adjoining castles, and Italian in the stylo of its dwellings. It is the entrepot of a considerable 
transit trade between Switzerland and Italy, and the seat of the cantonal government for six years alternately 
with Locarno, at the north extremity of the Lago Maggiore, and with Lugano, similarly situated with 
reference to the lake to which its name is given. 

Coire, an ancient town of 5000 inhabitants, the principal place in the Grisons, stands near the right bank of 
the Upper Ehine, and enjoys commercial advantages by its position at the junction of various roads, and 
on the highway of travel from Italy, through Switzerland, into Germany. Melchenaic, a hamlet higher 
up the Ehine, has an inn, formerly a chateau, which was converted into a school in the last century, 
in which Louis Philippe officiated as a teacher in the days of his adversity. His rank and name were 
kno^vn to the master alone. Spliigen, a little village, is remarkable for the approach to it from Coire, 
through the Via Mala, a tremendous defile, and its oivn position, 4700 feet above the sea, at the point 
where the two roads for Italy diverge, which respectively follow the Passes of the Spliigen and Bernardin. 

The illustration of the High Alps is a task to which our countrymen have addressed 
themselves of late years with remarkable zeal and success, amply vindicating their claim 
to be considered a keen-eyed, sure-footed, and clear-headed race, not to be deterred from 
an object by danger or fatigue. The Swiss, in imitation of the British Alpine Club, 
have formed an association at Berne, under the title of ' Schweizeriche Alpen Club,' 
for the purpose of encoru^aging, as far as possible, the exploration of untrodden peaks, and 
of building huts for shelter and scientific observation in the more desolate and interesting 
localities. But excursionists wUl do well to bear in mind, that while all honour belongs 
to the men who knowingly venture then- lives in the cause of science, hke Saussuie, 



422 



SWITZEKLAND. 



Agassiz, and Forljes, society will not faU to connect censure witli regret, in the event of 
fatal accidents occim'ing in tlie attempt to scale the ' iced mountain's top,' with no 
higher olDJect in view than that of standing where human footstep never stood before. 

Switzerland contained in 1860 a population of 2,510,000, belonging mainly to two 
distinct stocks, the German or Teutonic, and the Latin. The Germans are by far the most 
numerous, occupying the central, northern, and eastern cantons, and their language is 
officially adopted by the general government. The Latins consist of French in the western, 
and Italians in the southern districts. About tliree-fifths of the people are Protestants, 
and two-fiftlis Roman Catholics. Only a few cantons contain within their limits 
considerable proportions of the two communions. In those of Lucerne, Uri, Sch-wytz, 
Unterwalden, Zug, Tessin, and "Valais, nearly all the inhabitants are Gathohcs. Thus 
differing in creed, race, and language, harmony has not always been mamtained in the 
internal political relations of the confederacy, but the menace of foreign aggression has 
never faUed to strengthen the bond of union. Agriculture is the prevaihng pursuit, 
most carefully conducted entirely by hand-labour; but many of the German Swiss are 
silk and cotton manufacturers, while the French Smss are occupied largely with jewellery, 
horology, and artistic productions. Public education is in a highly-advanced state, 
especially in the Protestant cantons, where also are to be seen the neatest homesteads, 
the best husbandry, with other evidences of general intelligence and domestic comfort. 
The people are hardy, industrious, and tempierate in the main; brave, patriotic, and 
virtuous, but imbued with an excessive love of money, betrayed in exorbitant charges to 
travellers, which the thoughtless extravagance of some of their wealthy visitors has not 
failed to strengthen. Though enthusiastically attached to their native land, they seem 
incapable of appreciating the sublime or beautiful in nature, and wUl unceremoniously 
exclude the most glorious landscape from view by a cattle-shed, which might as conveni- 
ently be placed in a position which would leave it open to the eye from their thresholds. 




Swiss Milkman 




Coiirt of Lions, AUiambrn. 



SECTION IIL-SOUTHERN EUROPE. 



CHAPTEE I. 



(HE soiitli-western extremity of Europe, occupied by the kingdoms 
<C of Spain and Portugal, forms a peninsula, commonly styled the 
1 ( Spanish, from that power being in possession of the greater part 
(„ of the area. It was kno^vn to the Greeks and Eomans as the 
Hesperian from its western jjosition, and also as the Iberian from 
jthe name of one of the principal rivers, the Iberus or modem 
Ebro. The peninsula is connected with the main mass of the 
continent by a comparatively broad isthmus on the north-east, 
intersected by the Pyrenees ; and is bounded in other directions 
by the waters of the Atlantic and the Mediterranean. It 
differs remarkably in shape from the other two peninsulas of Southern Europe, the 
elongated and slender Italian, and the tapering Turko-Hellenic. The ancients compared 
the country to a bull's hide on accoimt of its configuration, a rude but not inapt 
resemblance, as it forms a compact irregular square, and possesses a very extensive 
margin, chiefly of sea-coast, from which large portions of the interior are removed 




424 SPAIN. 

to a considerable distance. It is upwards of 500 mUes from north to south, and 
more than 600 miles fi-om east to west, while the area includes about 212,000 square 
miles, of which the lion's share belongs to Spain. Stirring memories are associated 
with the soil. It was the scene of the campaigns of Hannibal and Soipio, formed 
an important part of the Eoman empire, gave Trajan to the imperial throne, and added 
Lucan, Martial, and Seneca to the list of the Latin classics. For a long period in the 
middle ages, while largely under the dominion of the Moors, it was almost the only seat 
of art, science, and literary culture in Em^ope. From its ports, at a little later date, 
Bartholomew Diaz went out to reach the southern extremity of Africa, foU6wed by 
Columbus to discover a Transatlantic world, by Vasco di Gama to open a maritime 
route to India, and by Magellan to circumnavigate the globe. In recent times, British 
valour signalised itself in connection with its shores, towns, and landscapes, by the 
naval triumphs of St Vincent and Trafalgar, the sieges of Gibraltar, Badajoz, and 
St Sebastian, the battles of Salamanca, Talavera, and Vittoria. One of the most 
universally popular books, the Don Quixote of Cervantes, emanated from Spain, and a 
melancholy notoriety belongs to its abolished judicial institution, the secret tribunal of 
the Inquisition. 

The Spanish monarchy embraces five-sixths of the peninsula, or 176,000 square mUes, 
and includes its insular dependencies, the Balearic Isles, on the eastern side. Its general 
boundaries are the Atlantic and Portugal on the west ; the Bay of Biscay, an arm of the 
ocean, and France, on the north ; the Mediterranean and the Strait of Gibraltar, on the 
east and south. These lunits include the southernmost point of the European continent. 
Cape Tarifa; likemse its highest mountain apart from the Alps, or the Cerro de 
llulhacen, towering to 11,665 feet above the sea; its most elevated railway, carried across 
the Asturian chain, ascending 3053 feet above the mean tidal rise at Bilbao ; its loftiest- 
seated capital city, Madrid, 2175 feet; and two royal palaces at a greater altitude, the 
Escurial, 3520 feet, only a trifle lower than the top of Snowdon, and La Granja, 3943 
feet, higher than the siunmit of Vesuvius. 

The Pyrenees, crowned with snow, form a well-defined border from France. They 
intersect the connecting isthmus from the Gulf of Lyon to the Bay of Biscay ; and the 
highlands are thence continued by the lower range of the Asturians through the whole 
north of Spaia to its western extremity, the bluff headland of Cape Finisterre. The 
frontier mountains are the most precipitous and the grandest on the Spanish side, which 
includes also the highest point, the Pic de ISTethou, rising to the elevation of 11,426 feet, 
first scaled by a Eussian officer, with a French companion and guides, in 1842. The 
peak is an eastern summit of Mont Maladetta, or the ' Accursed,' perhaps so called from 
its dreary nakedness, as if 'the ghost of some mountain belonging to a departed world.' 
This aspect is aU the more striking as the Pyrenees are remarkable for vast forests of 
pine, oak, and beech, while the lower slopes and floors of the valleys are carpeted with the 
greenest grass. The chain is from forty to fifty nules broad ; and is cut at great heights 
by passes, locally styled puertos, ports or gates, which serve as lines of commmiication. 
They are commonly mere gaps, only a few feet wide, through which the wind rushes with 
great power, howling dismally. Of the Port de Venasque, a thoroughfare from the 
Spanish town of that name, it is proverbially said, that ui it ' a father will not look back 
at his son, nor a son wait for his father.' Another notch near Mont Perdu, called the 
Brfeche de Eoland, bears the name of the brave Paladin of Charlemagne, who is tradition- 
ally said to have cut it with his sword ; and was himself cut off by the mountaineers in 
that of Eoncesvaux. Most of the passes are practicable on horseback, and two for 
carriages are respectively at the eastern and western extremities. Hannibal and Csssar 



PHTSIOAL GEOGRAPHY OF THE COUNTRY. 4-25 

led armies across tlio Pyrenees in ancient times ; Ciiarlemagne and Edward the Black 
Prinoo in tlie medieval ; I^apoleon and Wellington in the modern age. 

The central region of the country is an extensive table-land or plateau, with a mean 
altitude of 2000 feet, which descends abruptly towards the Mediterranean, but has a long 
gradual slope westward towards Portugal and the Atlantic, in which direction most of the 
rivers travel. The plateau is bounded on the north by the Asturian prolongation of the 
Pyrenees ; traversed centrally from east to west in a deviating manner by the Sierra de 
Guadarama and the Sierra de Toledo ; and walled on the south by the Sierra Morena. 
This last ridge overlooks the vaUey of the Guadalquiver, beyond which rises the Sierra 
Nevada, with the silvery head of the Cerro de Mulhagen on the north-east of Granada, 
far above the snow-line, the culminating point of Spain. In the nomenclature of the 
mountains their respective forms are referred to — sierra denoting a saw-like or serrated 
range ; pie, a pomted height ; and cerro, a hog-backed hill. The high plains between the 
central ridges are generally treeless, arid, and dreary, to which the name of despoblabo, or 
desert, is given, and appropriately so, when viewed in contrast with the luxuriant aspect 
of the lowlands by which the plateau is sku'ted. Owing to elevation and exposure, they 
are swept by piercing winds in winter, while scorched by a burnmg sun in summer ; and 
hence the climate of Madrid, seated on one of them, is said to consist of nine months of 
winter and three of hell ! The gallego, a cold wind, nipping and injurious, blows from 
the north-west; and a hot blast, the solano, from the south-east, exciting fever and 
producing enervation. Forests appear on the slopes of this high region, in which the 
cork-tree, the evergreen-oak, the kermes-oak, the sumach-tree, the chestnut, and hazel are 
conspicuous, while the maritime lowlands on the south and east abound with the choicest 
vegetable productions, and appear like a garden in perpetual bloom. Here orange-trees 
flourish thu'ty feet high, laden with golden fruit; groves of the myrtle, lemon, and 
mulbeiTy are common ; the olive, fig, vine, almond, and sugar-cane are cultivated ; 
extensive rice-grounds appear, and the date-palm indicates a cHmate of almost tropical heat. 

The country is deficient in its river system, owing to the dryness of the chmate on 
the great central table-land ; the rivers formed are not for that reason proportionate to 
the magnitude of the area. Nor are they available to any considerable extent for the 
purposes of navigation, suffering from want of water during the summer droughts, while 
swollen into impetuous torrents by the melting of the snows on the mountain-ranges. 
The most important are the Douro, northern ; the Tagus, central ; the Guadiana and the 
Guadalquiver, southern. These have a wesfierly flow to the Atlantic, but the fiist two 
named pass out of the country, and have the lower parts of their course, where their 
commercial value is the greatest, entirely confined to Portugal. The Guadiana also quits 
Spain for Portugal, but returns to it again to form the frontier between the two countries 
at its mouth. In the Spanish part of its course, this stream disappears among swamps, 
and has a subterranean flow of nearly thirty miles, but throws up numerous pools at the 
surface, called los ojos, ' the eyes,' de la Quadiana. Among the rivers discharging into 
the Mediterranean, the Ebro is the largest, and one of the most considerable which 
Europe contributes to its basin. It drains the southern slope of the Pyrenees, and has 
its source near the crest of the chain. The syllable guadi, a component in the names of 
several Spanish streams, and of other localities, is a corruption of the Arabic wady, ' a 
river ' or ' river-vaUey,' introduced into the country by the Moors, and adopted from 
them. It appears in Guadiana, the ' Eiver Ana,' and in Guadalquiver, an altered form of 
Wady-al-Kebir, 'the great river,' as the stream would seem to the Africans when 
compared with the scant water-courses of their native land. The Spaniards took the 
word with them to the New World, where it figures in the names of sites in Mexico. 



42 G SPAIN. 

Among tlie wild animals, the chamois and ibex, the bear and wolf, are found on 
the heights and in the forests of the Pyrenees, but in diminishing numbers, from the 
exterminating war waged against them by chasseurs and peasantry. The wolf is the black 
variety, or lobo of Spain, general in the rocky and elevated ranges throughout the country, 
stronger than the common species, shy and ferocious, haunting the passes, watching for 
an opportunity to seize a victim from a string of mules. ' A dangerous person is the 
wolf,' remarked a shepherd in the hearing of Mr Borrow, ' and cunning as dangerous : 
who knows more than he 1 He knows the vulnerable point of every animal ; see, for 
example, how he flies at the neck of a buUook, tearing open the veins with his grim 
teeth and claws. But does he attack a horse in tliis manner ? I trow not.' ' !N"ot he,' 
said another shepherd, 'he is too good a judge; but he fastens on the haunches, and 
hamstrings him in a moment. Oh the fear of the horse when he comes near the dwelling 
of the wolf ! ' ' Yet the mares laiow occasionally how to balk him,' replied his com- 
panion. ' See them feeding in the campo with their young eria about them ; presently 
the alarm is given that the wolf is drawing near ; they start wUdly, and run about for a 
moment, but it is only for a moment ; amain they gather together, forming themselves into 
a circle, in the centre of Avhich they place the foals. Onward comes the wolf, hoping to 
make his dinner on horseflesh ; he is mistaken, however, the mares have ballted him, and 
are as cunning as himself ; not a taU. is to be seen — not a liinder quarter — but there stand 
the whole troop, their fronts towards him ready to receive him ; and as he runs round 
them barking and howling, they rise successively on their hind-legs, ready to stamp him 
to the earth, should he attempt to hurt their eria or themselves.' The lynx and boar are 
common to various localities ; the Barbary ape inhabits the rock of Gibraltar ; and several 
insects are of economic value, the gall-nut fly, the cantharides, and the kermes, besides the 
bee and silkworm. Of the domesticated animals, the horses of Andalusia, descended from 
Arab steeds, are a noble race ; the mules and asses are superior breeds, strong, active, and 
sure-footed, used for transit on the mountain-roads ; and the merino-sheep, reared to the 
number of from five to six millions, produce the fine wool which has led to the 
introduction of the stock into most European countries and Australia. 

The peninsula was the Mexico of the ancient world, rich in the precious metals, which 
invited the Phoenicians and Carthagmians to establish colonies on the shores, till the 
Eomans came in and took up possession of the whole country, with the remaining part of 
the spoil that was readily accessible. Lying exposed at the surface, or to be reached by 
slight excavations, and washings of the soil, the gold was speedily exhausted. So abundant 
was the silver, however, that some of the commonest implements of the inhabitants were 
composed of it. The Phoenicians obtained the metal in such quantities, that they are 
said to have laden their vessels with it to the water's edge, and used it for their ordinary 
utensils. Spain is still remarkable for the vastness and variety of its mineral stores, but 
the political distractions of the country, with the apathy of the people, have interfered 
with the development of its buried treasures. Mines are, however, worked in various 
districts, and will bo more extensively as railways open a convenient mode of transit, and 
thereby invite the introduction of foreign enterprise. Silver-mines are wrought with 
success in Andalusia ; tin and cobalt are obtained in Galicia ; iron ores occur abundantly 
in the Astm-ian Mountains, where there is also pit-coal for smelting ; and lead is diffused 
generally in astonishing cpiantities, and in every combination. The galenas, or argen- 
tiferous lead ores, frequently contain silver in the largest proportion. An important 
supply of Cjuicksilver is drawn from enormous veins of cinnabar at Almaden, a to-\vn on 
the table-land north of the Sierra Morena, where the mines have been open since the 
time of the Eomans. They are supposed to be the richest in the metal of any known 



INTEniOR REGION. 427 

sites, and aro tlio property of tho government. The hills of Cardona, at the base of the 
Pp'oneos, abound with rook-salt. 

Spain, including the Balearic Isles, is divided into forty-eight provinces, all of which 
are named after their principal towns ; an arrangement of the present century, datin" 
from the year 1833. It was formerly distributed into fourteen great districts, several of 
which were once independent kingdoms, principalities, and lordships. Their names are 
well kno-\\Ti from the records of history, while often referred to in the present day. They 
are hence inserted in connection with the existing divisions in the enumerations given. 

I. INTERIOR REGION. 



Old Divisions. 


New Provinces. 


Cities and Tovpns. 


New Castile, . 


Madrid, 


Madrid, El Escurial, Cliinchon. 


rr 


. Toledo, . 


. Toledo, Aranjuez, Talavera. 


.r 


Chidad Eeal, 


Chidad Eeal, Almagro, Almadcn. 




. Cuen^a, . 


. Cuen^a, Hequena. 


!■ 


Guadalaxara, 


Guadalaxara, Sigucuza, Alcala. 


Leou, 


. Leon, 


. Leon, Astorga, Villafranca. 


'> 


Salamanca, 


Salamanca, Ciudad Eodrigo. 


» 


. Zamora, . 


. Zamora, Beneventc. 


Esteemaduka, . 


Badajos, 


Badajos. 




. Caoeres, . 


. Caceres, Truxillo, Alcantara. 


Aragon-, 


Saragossa, . 


Saragossa. 


» 


. Huesca, 


. Huesoa. 




Teruel, 


Teruel. 


Navarre, 


. Pamplona, 


. Pamj^lona. 



New Castile, an extensive district in the heart of the peninsula, embraces elevated 
plains intersected centrally by the ridge of the Sierra de Toledo, and bordered northward 
by the range of the Sierra de Guaderama and its connected heights. The upper courses 
of the Tagus and the Guadiana are within its limits, which are divided from each other 
by the central ridge, while the northern range forms the boundary from Old Castile. 
Ifew Castile produces olives, corn, pulse, and saffron, but flocks of sheep constitute the 
chief wealth of extensive tracts of land. The commerce carried on by means of long 
trains of mules reminds the tourist of the caravan-traffic over eastern deserts. The 
Castilians have even more than the general haughtiness of Spaniards. Their language is 
that of literature and of all the educated classes in Spain. 

3Ta(3rid, the metropolis of the monarchy, was so constituted by Philip 11., in the sixteenth century, from 
its position being supposed to mark the centre of Spain, though far removed from the sea, distant from a 
navigable river, apart also from the productive districts, and without easy communication with them till the 
engineer came wdth the railway to connect it with the southern coast. The city, in latitude 40° 25' north, 
longitude 3° 40' west, stands on the left bank of the Manzanares, an imimportant affluent of the Tagus, 
usually dried up in the summer months. The site is singularly unfavourable, a high baiTen plain, with scarcely 
a garden, tree, or tract of pasture for miles around, except along the course of the stream v/here there are some 
woods and orchards ; but verdant mountains appear in tiie more distant environs. It is surrounded by a 
brick wall, about eight miles in circuit, pierced by sixteen gates. A remarkably fine street extends from an 
open space in the centre to an eastern gate, on which side lies the Prado, a long and spacious walk between 
rows of trees, adorned with several fountains, the evening resort in summer of aU classes of tho inliabitants. 
On the opposite side, by the Manzanares, stands the palace, a vast square edifice of wliite stone, each front 
of which is 100 feet high, and 470 feet long, enclosing an open central area. The royal public library 
contains 200,000 volumes, and the national picture-gallery is a vast collection of rare excellence. The 
royal armoury is one of the finest in the world ; the Toledo blades, the artistic amiour and shields from 
Augsburg and MUan are superb. Madrid has numerous churches and convents for nuns, 17 hospitals, 14 
barracks, nearly 100 elementary schools, a university, 8 theatres, 25 daily newspapers, and numerous literary 
and artistic institutions. Madrid has been much improved in its aspect by tho removal of several 
monasteries (forty-four were suppressed in 1836), which rendered the streets gloomy by their small grated 
windows. The population is supposed to exceed 300,000, consisting mostly of Spaniards, but collected to 
a considerable extent from different parts of the country. The capital is about 680 miles south-south-west 
of Paris, and 265 miles north-east of Lisbon. 

About thirty miles to the north-west is the small town and convent-palace of the Escurial, the latter a 



428 sPAiif. 

stupendous fabric, little less than a milo in circuit. It was erected by Pliilip II., in fulfilment of a vow made 
at the battle of St Quentin, which he gained oil the day of St Lawrence, the martyr, August 10, 1557. The 
buildings are arranged in the form of a gridiron, in honour of the saint, wlio is said to have suffered death by 
being roasted on an instrument of that kind. The royal apartments form tlie handle, the conventual the 
bars, and long courts indicate the interstices. There is a richly-decorated church, with a mausoleum 
containing some of the Austrian and Bourbon sovereigns of Spain, and a library which the French pillaged of 
many valuables. The entire pile, according to current accounts, has 48 wine-cellars, SO staircases, SCO 
columns, 73 foimtains, 1860 rooms, 11,000 windows, 14,000 doors, and cost 6,000,000 ducats. It is now with 
difficulty kept up in a very forlorn condition by grants from the state. Chinchon, a poor place, has a 
memorable name. The grandee derived his title from it, whose wife, the Countess of Chinchon or Cinchon, 
while vice-queen of Peru, derived benefit from the use of Peruvian bark, and brought it to Spain as early as 
1640. It was hence called the ' Countess's Bark,' and the trees yielding it form the genus Cinchona, the 
source of quinine. 

Toledo, forty miles soutli by west of Madrid, connected with it by railwa,y, occupies a steep rocky hUl 
washed by the Tagus, and nearly enclosed by it. It is of ancient date, being famous in the time of tlie 
Bo'mans, when it was called Toktum, and possessing some relics of the classic ages, as a ruined amphitheatre, 
walls, &o., was the capital of the country imder the Goths, but belongs to the class of decayed cities, though 
retaining ecclesiastical pre-eminence, the archbishop being the primate of all Spain. It has a rmiversity and 
four colleges, with hospitals, asylums, and a mint. The name often occurs in connection with the manufacture 
of sword-blades, which were so celebrated in long bygone times as to be despatched as merchandise to all parts 
of Europe. A factory of arms, where swords are made for the government, is still carried on near the river, 
tlie sand and water of which are believed to be essential to their proper tempering. It was visited by Mr 
Borrow, from whose experience it would seem that the modern Toledo blades may be accoimted equal to the 
ancient. * I asked,' says he, * some of the principal workmen whether, at tlie present day, they could 
manufacture weapons of equal value to those of former days, or whether the secret had been lost. " Ca ! " 
said they, " the swords of Toledo were never so good as those which we are daily making. It is ridiculous 
enough to see strangers coming here to purchase old swords, the greater part of wliich are mere rubbish, and 
never made at Toledo, yet for such they will give a large price, whilst they would grudge two dollars for this 
jewel, which was made but yesterday;" thereupon putting into my hand a middle-sized rapier. "Your 
honour," said they, " seems to have a strong arm, prove its temper against the stone wall — thrust boldly, and 
fear not." I have a strong arm, and dashed the point with my utmost force against the solid granite : my 
arm was numbed to the shoulder from the ^'iolence of the concussion, and continued so for nearly a week, but 
the sword appeared not to be at all blunted, or to have sufl^ered in any respect. " A better sword than that," 
said an ancient workman, a native of Old Castile, " never transfixed Moor out yonder on the sagra." ' 

Aranjues, higher up the Tagus, in a ftrtile locality, is the site of a royal residence in a lovely spot, 
surroimded with gardens containing groups of noble elms, cedars, and plantains. Talavera, lower down the 
river, has a well-known name from the victory gained near it by the British under 'Wellington over the 
Prenoh in 1809. Ciudad Real, south of the Guadiana, is the chief place in tlie old district of La Mancha, in 
which Don Quixote is represented as having commenced his adventures. Almagro, in the same neighbourhood, 
produces a rich black lace, one of the few articles of Spanish manufacture which offers any temptation to the 
traveller. Cuenga, close to the eastern border of New Castile, is in a scene of great natural beauty, on the 
banks of the Xucar, with high walls, a stately cathedral, and striking Moorish features. It was once 
celebrated for arts, literature, and industry, but its glory has now quite departed. Guadalaxara, north-east 
of Madrid, a small cloth-manufacturing toivn, is on the Hernares, a stream which flows to the Tagus, 
passing by Alcala, the birthplace of Cervantes. 

Leon, formerly a distinct kingdom, is a nortli-western district, ■watered by tlie Upper 
Dom'O and its affluents. The surface is largely mountainous or rugged, in some parts 
sterile. The towns are not of present importance, though several are of historic note. 
The people exhibit decided differences, a portion of them forming the singular class of the 
Maragatos, or Moorish Goths, descended from those natives of the peninsula who took 
part with the Moors on theu" invasion of Spain, and became assimilated to them. They 
never intermarry with the ordinary Spaniards ; are distinct in dress, habits, and 
temperament ; and have for their home a tract of barren and rocky country in the 
neighbourhood of Astorga. But they are known far and wide, in the cajDital and the 
popidous cities, at the inns and on the high-roads. As their soil ill rewards the task of 
cultivation, the men travel as arrieros or carriers, and almost deem it a disgrace to follow 
any other profession. In all respects they are the same as their original ancestry, except 
in their calling and religion, if indeed their forefathers so far conformed to the Moors as 
to embrace their faith. 




Olive Gaidens of Oliveias 

Leon, near the base of the Asturian Mountains, is ancient, gloomy-looking, dirty, ci-owded with beggars, 
possesses many churches, with a remarkably fine cathedral — a specimen of the pm-est Gothic, containing the 
tombs of many sovereigns of Leon, saints and martyrs. The environs are fertile and beautiful, abounding 
with trees, and with streams running down from the moimtains in the background. Astorr/a, a small 
walled town thirty miles distant, may be deemed the capital of the Maragatos. A colossal figure of lead 
appears on the roof of the cathedral, the statue of one of them, a carrier, in his distinctive di-ess, who 
contributed a large simi to its endowment. Villafranca, towards the border of GaUcia, is strikingly placed in 
a deep hollow with surrounding heights close at hand, near the grand Pass of Fuencebadon leading into 
the GaUcian province. This is an ascent of nine miles from the entrance to the summit by the side of a 
profoimd ravine. Trees grow luxuriantly wherever there is a slope — oaks, poplars, and chestnuts. 
Meadows of rich grass hang on the steeps, where mowers ply their scythes, though it seems scarcely 
possible for them to secure a footing. Everything here is at once wild, strange, and beaxitiful. Salamanca, 
long celebrated as the seat of a imiversity of renown in Europe, and called the 'Mother of Virtue, 
Science, and Art ' (which, in the fifteenth centuiy, had SOOO students, but in 1S50, only 500), is now best 
remembered in connection with Wellington's defeat of Mannont in the vicinity in 1812. It stands on the 
Tormes, an afduent of the Douro, is surrounded by walls pierced by nine gates, contains twenty-five churches, 
many convents, and the largest public square in Spain, employed as a bull-ring, and capable of accommodating 
from 16,000 to 20,000 spectators. Population about 14,000. ' A melancholy to^vn is Salamanca ; the days of 
its coUegiate gloiy are long since gone by, never more to return.' The bridge referred to, outside the gate 
del Bio, has twenty-seven arches, and is of unknown date, but undoubtedly of Eoman origin. 

EsTEEMADTJEA, a •Western province bordering on Portugal, is iatersected by the Tagus and 
tlie Guadiana. Though a westerly continuation of the central tahle-landa, the general 
elevation is much lower; and heing well watered, 'the valleys are clothed with rich 
pastures, while the sloping hills are adorned with woods. But the greater part of the 
country is uncultivated, and has lain desolate ever since the expulsion of the Moors, while 
the people are mostly poor and miserable. The system of Spanish sheep-farming supplies 
the reason. It is almost entu'ely a monopoly in the hands of nobles, persons ia power, 
and dignified ecclesiastics, some of whom have as many as 40,000 sheep. They form an 
incorporated company, possess and exercise the right of depasturing their flocks on all 
lands throughout the kingdom at their pleasure, to the detriment of the community. In 
summer the sheep are on the high grounds of Castile and Leon ; but on the approach of 



430 SPAIN-. 

winter tliey are driven dovm. to tlie lower levels of Estremadura and Andalusia. 
Proprietors of enclosed lands on the route are obliged by law to leave spaces clear for tbe 
passage, nor can the owners of the pasture-grounds turn up a sod for cultivation without 
the consent of those interested to prevent it. 

Badajos, close to the Portuguese frontier, is seated ou the Guadiana, here a tolerably wide but shallow and 
sluggish stream, winding through a country of brown moors relieved by the sight of blue mountains in the 
distance. The town has a few coarse manufactures, and is the seat of extensive contraband dealings with the 
adjoining kingdom. It is strongly fortified, and acquired a historic name during the Peninsular "War in 1812, 
when it was taken by storm by the British army under -Wellington. In the previous year, the village of 
Albuera, on the south, was the scene of a hard-won victory obtained by the combined British and Spanish 
over the French under Marshal Soult. SIcrida, liigher up the Guadiana, now of small importance, represents 
a large ancient city, the Emerita Augusta of the Bomans. 

Ahagon and ISTavabeb, north-eastern districts, once distinct kingdoms, border each 
other along the Pyrenees, and are therefore highly-diversified regions. The former 
extends from the crest of the chain to the Ebro, and passes to a considerable distance 
southward of the river. The latter is a much smaller tract, cliieily confined to the slo^je 
and immediate base of the moimtaius, at the western extremity of the range. 

Saragassa, the capital of the old monarchy of Aragon, is a large ancient city of 82,000 inhabitants, situated 
on the Ebro which divides it into two portions connected by a striking stone bridge. It existed as a native 
tomai in the early Eoman age, and being rebuilt by the Empex-or Augustus, was called after Irim tesar 
Augusta, of which the present name is a coiTuption. It is the head of an archbishopric, contains two 
cathedrals, a university, and has manufactures of silks and cloths. The heroic resistance offered by the 
inhabitants to the French in 1808 — 1809, in which the ' Maid of Saragossa ' was conspicuous, is the famous 
episode in its annals, when ' war to the knife's point ' was the reply to every sununons to surrender. It had 
a seasonable and decided effect in rousing the national spirit in other parts of the country against the 
invaders. Pamplona, or Pampeluna, at the base of the Pyrenees, is an important military position, with a 
strong fortress, to guard the frontier. Its bull-ring is capable of accommodating 10,000 spectators. On the 
north-east lies the Pass of Eoncesvaux, in which the army of Charlemagne was checked by the mountaineers, 
upon its advance into Spain in 778. Further east are the baths of Panticosa, a village about 5000 feet above 
the sea, in a basin-shaped valley surrounded by naked rocks and tremendous precipices, visited by Spaniards 
of the upper class for a short time in the height of summer. Tndcla, a small town on the Ebro, has its name 
coimected with the celebrated Jewish traveller of the middle ages, commonly called Benjamin of Tudela. 




Spanish Costumes. 




II. NORTH MAEITIME EEGION. 



OM Divisions. 
Biscay, 



astdrias, 
Galicia, 



^ew Provinces. 

Bilbao, . 

St Sebastian, 

Vitoria, . 

Santander, 

Logrono, 

Bui'gos, 

Soria, 

Valladolid: 

Palencia, 

Segovia, 

Avila, 

Oviedo, 

Corunna, 

Lugo, . 

Orense, . 

Pontevcdi-i 



Principal Towns. 
Bilbao, Durango, Orduna. 
St Sebastian, Tolosa, Fuentarabia, In-.n. 
Vitoria. 

Santander, Laredo, Barcena, Keinosa. 
Logrono, Calahorra, Haro. 
Burgos, Lenna. 
Soria, Osma. 

Valladolid, Medina de Kio Seoo. 
Palencia, Torquemada. 
Segovia, La Granja. 
Avila, Medina del Campo. 
Oviedo, Gijon, Sama. 
Corunna, Ferrol, Santiago de Compostella. 
Lugo, Mondonedo. 
Orense. 
Pontevedra, Vigo. 



Biscay, an ancient lordsliip, is a small rugged territory on tlie shore of the Bay of 
Biscay, immediately adjoining France, from which it is divided by the Eidassoa Eiver. 
It is the seat of the Basque population, a distinct race from the Spaniards proper, who 
speak a peculiar language, the Euscarra, which has no relation to any of the luiown 
linguistic families. They believe it to have been once prevalent throughout Spain, and 
are by some considered to represent the aborigines of the peninsula. In person they are 
active and athletic, have in general fair complexions and handsome features, while of 
frank, lively, sociable, fiery, and generous temper ; brave to a proverb, making excellent 
soldiers. There is no class of nobility among them, nor will any one acknowledge a 
superior. Hence they recoil from servitude, and though compelled to seek employment 
out of then- own country, it is rarely accepted except in situations which involve 
confidence, and enable them to meet masters upon somewhat equal terms. But the 
women, who are generally considered inferiors by the men, often become domestic 



432 SPAIN. 

servants in the towns, and are liigHy valued. The Basques are fond of music, and excel 
in musical composition, hut they have no poetry except of the trivial kind, and the words 
which accompany the strains are usually very commonplace, or without any definite 
meaning whatever. 
Bilbao, the principal northern port of the kingdom, and one of its most commercial to-\vns, is situated on 




Bilh-io 

the river Wervion, eight or nine miles from the sea, and contains about 10,000 inhabitants. It has convenient 
quays and ship-building docks, with iron and copper mines in tlie neiglibourhood, and is the chief emporium 
for the export of Spanish "wooL The windings of the narrow picturesque river are ' The Bilboes ' of our 
ancient mariners, in which they feared to be penned, and to whose entanglements the marriage-noose is com- 
pared in Beaumont and Fletcher. A shallow and dangerous bar marks the mouth of the stream, but higher 
up the channel has tolerable depth, and vessels of considerable burden ascend to a short distance from the 
to^vn, and the smaller reach its centre at high-water, going alongside a handsome quay which forms part of 
the public promenade. Here is the station of the railway which crosses the Cantabrian Pyrenees to the 
Ebro, passing through the grandest scenery, and connects itself with the east coast by the line to Barcelona. 
In 1860, the English astronomers, professional and amateur, were conveyed to Bilbao, by the government 
screw-steamer the Himalaya, who observed at various inland stations the great solar eclipse of that year. 
St Sebastian, a fortified seapoii: on the east, within easy visiting distance from Biarritz and Bayonne in 
Er.ince, contains the graves of many of our countiymen, officers and soldiers, who fell wheji it was taken by 
storm by the British army in 1S12. Irun and Fuentaralia, small frontier places near the outlet of the 
EidassoSi, have tlie fords between them, only passable at low-water, of which 'Wellington was informed by 
some native fishermen. He was thus enabled to throw part of his army across, thereby gaining the first 
permanent footing on the French territory. Vitoria, a pleasant inland toAvn, lias obtained distinction as the 
scene of the last great victory of his troops on Spanish soil. The astronomers, M. Madlar of Dorpat, M. 
D'Arrest of Copenhagen, and M. Goldsmidt of Paris, made it their head-quarters during the eclipse. The 
astronomer-royal, with M. Otto Struve of Pultowa, observed on the southern slope of the mountains, not 
far from Mii-anda on the Ebro. 

Old Castile occupies a narrow strip of the coast westward, but extends inland from it 
to the centre of the kingdom, and embraces the upper part of the course of the Douro, 
with the Sierra Guadarama which forms the water-shed between it and the basin of the 
Tagus. There are only a few places of present importance within its limits, but the names 
of many are prominent in the past history of the country, once splendid and populous, 
now reduced, retaining little beyond the memorials and traditions of former greatness. 



OLD CASTILE. 433 

Santandcr, a seaport, anil ono o£ tlie largest towns, contains a population of 20,000, and is a flourishing 
seat of conimeroo of modern date, exporting agricultiu'al produce from the Castiles, and engrossing the 
greater part of the trade with the Spanish West Indies. It stands on a magnificent bay, and is accessible at 
all times of tho tide to tlie largest vessels. A tobacco and cigar manufactory is one of the most extensive 
buildings, formerly a convent. Productive iron-mines are in the vicinity. 
A railway, tho highest in Europe, recently opened throughout, crosses tlie 
Cantabrian chain, and connects the port mth Madrid. It will contribute 
to tlie commercial advance of both, while tending to revive the fallen 
fortunes of Old Castile. Great difficulties had to be encountered in its 
construction by the engineer, Mr Vignolles, an Englishman, owing to the 
ruggedness of the intervening mountain barrier, and the height at which 
it could alone be passed, 3053 feet above the sea. Burgos, on the Arianzon, 
a tributary of the Douro, is ancient and decayed, yet has cheerful features 
in shaded promenades and pleasant gardens, witli a cathedral remarkable 
for the pirofuse decoration of the interior, with statues, pictures, bas- 
reliefs, and stained-glass windows. The town is associated witli the famous 
Don Rodrigo, better knoivn as the Cid, a corruption of the Arabic Said, 
' lord ' or ' master,' who distinguished himself against the Moors, and is the 
gTeat liero of Spanish ballads. His Castle of Bivar stood in the neighbour- 
hood, and his tomb is shewn in a convent whicli formed part of his 'estate. 
In one of the churches of Bui-gos he compelled the king, Alphonso VI., 
to swear that lie had taken no part in the death of his brother Sancho. 

Valladolkl, on the railway from the north coast to Madrid, for a 
time the capital of Spain, belongs to the class of its crippled cities, 
thougli still a considerable place. It is the seat of a university 
witli which English and Scotch colleges are afiUiated; abounds 
with deserted convents, some of wMch aflFord fine specimens of 
architecture; has a beautiful alameda, or public walk, by the 
little river Esgueva; possesses a few manufactures; and is 
associated witli the career of Columbus, as the scene of his 1 
death in 1506. Palencia, a station north- 
ward on the railway, is a striking old town, 
with a light, elegant cathedral, and pleasant 
environs. It has importance as a wool mart, 
producing also woollen fabrics. It was besieged 
by Edward the Black Prince during his rash 
adventure into Spain, and so bravely defended, 
particularly by the women, that they 
were autliorised to wear a golden 
band around tlieir hair, in acknow- 
ledgment of their courage. Medina- 
del Campo, the ' City of the Plain,' 
on the south-west of Yalladolid, was 
formerly large and prosperous, but 
has utterly fallen ; yet immense ruins 
around it in every direction attest 
its bygone greatness. Segovia, at 
the northern base of the Sierra 
Guadarama, noted for its sheep-pas- 
tiu-es, and once for its cloth-works, has also dwindled, though not so completely, and a remnant of the 
manufacture survives. Its prmcipal feature is a grand Eoman aqueduct (supposed to belong to the reign of 
Trajan) of 161 arches which spans the valley, and rises to the height of 100 feet above it ; but the town has 
also a cathedi-al, a mint, several hospitals, and a barracks. Za Granja, a small town on the slope of the 
mountains, a few miles distant, has the summer palace of the Spanish sovereigns adjoining, at the height of 
nearly 4000 feet above the sea. It occupies a beautiful recess, screened from the burning sun, and open to 
tlie refreshing breezes from the north, with a pine-clad mountain rising like a cone behind it. Within 
memory of the living, when the palace was unoccupied, owing to the political distractions of the country, 
the ivild boars from the woods freely roamed the gardens, and rubbed their tusks against the pillars of the 
porticoes. 

The AsTUEiAS and Galicla are -westward continuations of the north mountain region to 
the open and broad waters of the Atlantic. But in the last-named district, the coast-line 
tends gradually round to the south, and in that direction connects itself with the 

2b 




434 SPAIN. 

sea-board of Portugal. It includes the most northerly point of Spain, or Cape Ortegal, and 
the most westerly, or Cape Finisterre. The latter is a bluff headland of granite, stern and 
savage, projecting from an iron-hound coast, hut broken at intervals by bays and firths 
running far into the land, containing space and depth of water for the largest fleets. 
Though the interior country is almost everywhere rugged, the sides of the mountains are 
clothed with luxuriant woods, the vaUeys are abundantly fruitful, and streams with short 
courses are numerous, which serve to irrigate the soil, though not susceptible of navigation. 
The principal river, the Minho, flowing between high, precipitous, forest-clothed banks 
in the upper part of its course, forms in the lower the boundary from Portugal, 

Oviedo, the chief town of Asturias, is ahout nine miles from the coast, where Gijon forms its port, from 
which shipments are made of local produce. It has a cathedral, a imiversity attended by about 500 students, 
several other educational institutions, a theatre, eleven public fountains, and two aqueducts. When nearly 
all Spain was in the hands of the Moors, the Christian clergy found an asylum here. Corunna, a fortified 
seapoi-t, on the north Galician coast, occupies one side of a spacious bay, and contains 20,000 inhabitants, but 
has suffered in its commerce by the rise of Santander. A tobacco manufactory here employs upwards of 2000 
hands, chiefly women, and produces annually 300 tons of cigars. The town is of interest to Englislimen from 
the battle fought on the adjoining heights in 1809, in which the French were defeated by the troops under 
Sir Jolm Moore, who fell in the hour of victory. His tomb, marked by a chaste monument, is in the centre 
of an old battery, now a planted enclosure. JFerrol, on the opposite side of the bay, is one of the principal 
naval arsenals, with vast docks and basins of noble execution. They are of little present use, except to tell 
of the bygone maritime power of Spain, when armadas sailed from her ports, and war-galleons brought into 
them the wealth of Mexico and Peru. PonUvedra, on the west coast, surrounded with gxoves of fruit-trees, 
contains splendid convents and public edifices, but all in a state of great decay. Vigo, to the southward, is 
distinguished by one of the finest natural harbours in the world, protected by lofty and steep hUls on all sides 
except the west, the outlet to the Atlantic. In the middle of this channel rises a huge rocky island, which 
breaks the swell of the ocean, prevents the billows from poui-ing through it in their full violence, admits of 
the largest ships passing on either side, while the interior waters are deep, still, and lake-Uke. Santiago de 
Compostella, once the capital of Galicia, and still its largest town, witli a population of 29,000, occupies an 
inland site. It is famed for a venerable and majestic cathedral, the reputed resting-place of St James the 
Elder, the patron saint of Spain, and the subject of many a wild tale recorded in prose and verse. 
' When terrible wars had nigh wasted our force, 

AU bright 'midst the battle we saw thee on horse, 

Fierce scattering the hosts, whom their fary proclaims 

To be warriors of Islam victorious Saint James !' 



Tlie Galicians, commonly called GaUegos, are a robust and industrious race, accustomed to travel in search of 
employment. Many are found in Madrid acting as water-carriers and general porters. 



^%%^^ 




Cape Finisterre. 




ni. EAST AND SOUTH MARITIME EEGIONS. 



Old Divisions. 
Catalonia, . 



Valencia, 

MUBOIA, 

Granada, 



Bale^vrio Isles, 



New Provinces* 
Barcelona, . 
Gerona, 
Tarragona, . 
Lerida, 

Castellon de la Plana, 
Valencia, . . ^ 
Alicante, 
Murcia, 
Albaoete, 

Almeria, . . . 
Granada, , ^ 



Jaen, 
Cordova, 
SeviUe, . 
Huelva, 
Cadiz, . 
Palma, 



Principal Towns. 
Barcelona, Mataro, Sabadell, Manresa. 
Gerona, Kosas, Olot, Kgueras. 
Tarragona, Tortosa, Reus, VaUs. 
Lerida, Cardona, TJrgel. 
Castellon de la Plana, Peniscola, Vinarosa. 
Valencia, Alcira, San FeUppe, Miu-viedro. 
Alicante, Alcoy, Orilmela, Elche. 
MuTcia, Cartagena, Lorca. 
Albaoete, Chinclulla, HeUin, Almanza. 
Almeria, Huercalovera, Berja. 
Granada, Loja, MotriL 
Malaga, Antequera, Eonda. 
Jaen, Ubeda, Baeza. 
Cordova, Lucena, MontiUa, Cabra. 
Seville, Ecija, Osuna, Carmona. 
Huelva, Valverde, Palos. 
Cadiz, Xeres, San Lucar, Algesiraz. 
Palma, Port Mahon. 



Catalonia, a north-eastern district, extends from tlie Pyrenees along the coast of the 
Mediterranean to below the Ebro, embraces the lower course and mouth of the river, and is 
bordered westward by Aragon. The main route over the mountains from the French side, 
by the Col de Perthus, though less wildly picturesque than most of the other passes, 
abounds with striking scenery, in which steeps crowned with ruined strongholds are 



436 SPAIN. 

* 

prominent, and stone-pines clotliing the lower slopes. Pompey led the Eoman legions 
across it, and was soon afterwards followed by Cs3sar with his army. Both erected conmie- 
morative trophies, but no trace of them remains. A mountain stream, a stone bridge, two 
white posts on either side of the road, some wild-looking douaniers and then' tenements, 
mark the frontier. On descending the Spanish slope, cork-trees are everywhere abundant, 
and wide-spread plains are overlooked extending along the shores containing rice-grounds 
and varied cultivation, whUe the whistle of the railway from Barcelona is heard. This is 
destined eventually to meet the French Une on its advance from Perpignan, and will so 
far realise the object which invading armies attempted in vain to achieve, to which 
political ambition gave expression in the vain boast, ' The Pyrenees are no more.' 

Barcelona, the second city o£ the kingdom in population, 252,000, is seated on the Mediterranean, has been 
for ages a jilace o£ importance, and is at present distinguislied by extensive commerce and manufactures. 
It is in regular steam-communication with the other Spanish ports, the Balearic Islands, and Marseille. The 
site is a rich plain watered by many small streams, surrounded by swelling liills, with a delightful climate. 
From the port, the Eambla extends through the centre of the town, a beautiful street nearly a mile long, 
bordered with trees and seats, and lined on each side with the best shops, the principal hotels, and pubUc 
oiEoes. NaiTow tortuous thoroughfares radiate from it, occasionally opening upon small plazas with fountains, 
at which groups of peasants may be seen watering their mules, or carrying off the contents in elegant-shaped 
earthen vessels on their heads for domestic use. 'Woollen mantas are worn by men of the middle classes, 
striped with rich and brUUant colours, scarlet predomuiating. Ladies appear in dark silk dresses, occasionally 
with French bonnets, but Spanish eyes are not yet accustomed to hats for females. A few in the streets, 
worn by travelling-parties, have been viewed with mute astonishment. Beautiful lace is made in the 
surrounding villages in pieces, which are sewn together in the town establishments. Barcelona is the see 
of a bishop, possesses a university, eight colleges, several scientific institutions, and foui' public libraries, one 
of which is very rich in MSS., archives of the kingdom of Arragon. The town received its name from its 
founder, or restorer, HamUcar Barcas. Mataro, a seaport northward, with the inland to'vvns of Sabadcll, 
Manresa, and Lcrida, all on the railway from Barcelona to Saragossa, are prosperous manufacturing sites. 
Crowds travel the railway in summer as far as the Monistrol Station, intent upon a visit to the holy 
mountain, Monserrat, some impelled by curiosity, the majority on pilgrimage. Its singularly beautiful mass 
rises abruptly out of an undulating country, covered with pines and brushwood. It is remarkable for its 
Jagged peaks, to which the name refers, and also for its flora, the lower part being clothed with myrtle, 
arbutus, and boxwood, redolent with lavender, wild rosemary, and thyme. The ascent commands grand and 
extensive views. At the height of 3000 feet stands the far-famed and much-revered monastery, named 
after the mountain, now in ruins, except a part occupied by some Benedictine monks, who keep a school 
for children of the higher ranks, and the church. A black image of the Madonna, mth a splendid dress 
and wardrobe, is the grand attraction, visited daily by from 200 to 300 pilgrims in fine summer weather. 
Gerona, a fortified inland town, north-east of Barcelona, distinguished by its gallant resistance to the French 
in 1S09, is graced by a grand cathedral on the summit of its hill, approached by a flight of eighty-six steps, 
but is othenvise dreary and dilapidated. Tarragona and Tortosa, seaports in the southern part of the 
province, are of ancient date, with remains of the Eoman age in their vicinity. 

Valencia and Mubcia, two provinces in succession southerly, consist chiefly of a series 
of rich and extensive plains, which, from ample irrigation, being watered by the 
Guadalaviar, Xuoar, Segura, and other streams, are under a rotation of crops aU the year 
roimd. Oranges, olives, lemons, figs, grapes, and pomegranates are cultivated ; groves of 
date-palms adorn the surface ; and fields of maize, with rice-grounds, are numerous. But 
some of the most fruitful tracts are fever haunted, from the prevalence of malaria ; and 
hundreds of the inhabitants annu.ally faU victims to it. 

The city of Valencia is delightfully situated on the banks of the Guadalaviar, three miles above its entrance 
into a spacious bay, from the surface of which its aspect is quite oriental, owing to the number of the domed 
churches and campaniles. It is one of the finest and busiest places in Spain, contams a population of 145,000, 
possesses extensive silk and clotli manufactories, with printing establishments, and has the most frequented 
imiversity in the kingdom. Moorish walls remain, which are passed by eight massive gateways. The 
streets, narrow and winding, are smoothly paved and kept beautifully clean, two rare featiires in the economy 
of the towns. Some of the best examples of Juanes, the Valencian painter, are in the cathedral, from the 
bell-tower of which a fine view of the city and its envii'ons is obtained. An adjoining chapel, dedicated to 
Our Lady of the Unprotected, Nuestra Senora de los Desem parados, contains an' image of the Virgin blazing 
with jewels. In the Glorietta, an attractive pubKo garden, all the beauty and fashion of 'Valencia appear 
daily towards sunset. The markets are of special interest. Mules and donkeys decked out with worsted 



GRANADA. 437 

tassels and trappings of evciy hue, carrying panniers of golden fruit, form, with the attendant peasants, 
picturesque groups for the artist. Peniscola, Gasldhn, and Murviedro are northern seaports, the latter on the 
site of Saguntmn, a Eoman town, destroyed by Hannibal on his march through the coimtry. Alicante, on 
the south, has a striking appearance from the sea, being situated at the base of a high rock crowned by a 
citadel. It is in direct railway communication with Madrid, 2S0 miles distant, forms its port, and is increasing 
thereby in commercial importance. Palm-forests appear in connection with Elche, about eighteen miles 
inland. The date-palm is here cultivated for its fruit ; and is so profltable that the plantation is rapidly 
extendmg, already spread over an area of ten square miles. The trees are mostly set in rows around 
squares of ground aboiit a quarter of an acre each, in which corn, hicerne, and pomegranates are raised. Some 
are arranged in beautiful avenues, with a broad footpath between the rows, A portion of the produce is now 
exported to England and elsewhere as African dates. 

Murcia, an inland city, is seated on the Segura Kiver, and contains 109,000 inhabitants, a cathedral, 
episcopal palace, and three colleges, with establishments of the government for the preparation of saltpetre and 
gunpowder. Cartagena, or Carthagena, a principal naval arsenal, is situated on one of the most land-locked 
harbours of the Mediterranean, now comparatively deserted. The name originated with its Carthaginian 
founders, who called it New Carthage, but the offspring never bore any resemblance in extent and commerce 
to the mother-city. In the background of the town two remarkable round-topped hiUs rise from the plain, 
famous as the positions of Scipio and Asdrubal, at the head of Eoman and Carthaginian armies, during a 
sangtiinary battle. 

Geanada, the last of the Moorish kingdoms in the peninsula, and Andajlusia, in 
■wliicli it is now iacluded, form an extensive province on the south coast, which has 
towards its centre the projection occupied by the rock-fortress and town of Gibraltar, a 
colony of Great Britain. The interior, belonging principally to the basin, of the Guadal- 
c[uiver, has the Sierra Morena on its northern border, and the snow-covered peaks of 
the Sierra Nevada in the more maritime region. It is rich in minerals, varied vegetation, 
interesting sites, and historical associations, while containing several important cities of 
the present day. Andalusia is an Arabic softening of Vandalusia, the name given to 
the south of Spain upon its conquest by the Vandals. 

The city of Granada, with its Moorish towers, gateways, narrow streets, and wild-looking gypsies among 
the population, stands on the arrowy Darro, at its jimction with the XenU, and contains about 100,000 
inhabitants. The site is a plain renowned for its beauty and fertility, at the height of 2000 feet above the 
sea, bordered on the southern side by the snow-mountams, which are in full view at the distance of twenty 
miles, and contribute to the richness of the vegetation by the streams they originate. The cathedral, built 
on the site of an ancient mosque, has a chapel containing the splendid alabaster monuments of Ferdinand 
and Isabella, side by side, who wrested Granada from the Moors in 1492, and the equally beautiful 
monuments of their daughter Juana, and her husband Philip of Burgundy. The far-famed Alhambra, the 
palace of the Moorish sovereigns, a mile and a half from the city, is its great chai'm and point of interest, 
recently admirably repaired. Tliis congeries of buUdings, remarkable for interior decorations, is placed on a 
bluff rock, the ascent of which is through groves of oranges and poplars. The XeneraUfe, a kind of pleasure- 
house, is half a mile distant, in the midst of grounds furnished with streams, tanks, formtains, and avenues of 
ancient cypresses. Among the gypsies of Granada, who occupy a particular quarter, and are troublesome 
beggars, the women are distinguished by their shining coal-black hair, polished mahogany-tinted skins, and 
picturesque attire. Malaya, on the coast, highly commercial, with a population of 113,000, and a babny 
■winter chmate, is situated at the head of a bay, surrounded by a country producing wines and raisins, 
almonds and other fniits, in the exportation of which its trade principally consists. Vine-clad hills appear 
in the neighbourhood, with the farms of the peasantry, and the yards or floors on which the raisins are 
prepared. Tliese yards are small spaces surrounded by a wall a foot high, placed on a slope facing the sun. 
The inside is strewn mth sand, and divided into compai-tments by narrow footpaths, between which the 
bimches of grapes are laid to dry, after being previously allowed to wither a little, by having the stalk half 
cut through on the parent stem before being gathered. They require from ten to fourteen days to dry, and 
are then sent packed in boxes to the merchants in the town. Christmas is a time of high festivity at 
Malaga. Turkeys are the fare of aU families who can afford it, large flocks of which are driven in by the 
peasants with long bamboo-canes in their hands. The scene in the cathedral on Christmas-eve changes 
from the solemn to the ludicrous. After midnight mass has been celebrated, the organ peals forth, and 
successively imitates the sounds in the manger — an infant's cry, the cock's crow, the donkey's bray, and the 
ox's low. 

Seville, the chief city of Andalusia, and the tliii'd in Spain in population, 152,000, is seated on the left 
bank of the Guadalquiver, about 45 rmles above its mouth, 212 miles south-south-west of Madrid, and has 
steam navigation to the Atlantic. An iron bridge across the river leads to the suburb of Triano, chiefly 
occupied by gypsies and the lower classes. In this suburb the fotmders of the Inquisition fixed their first 
tribunal, in 1481. On the flat adjoining plain remains of a square platform may be traced, the Quemadero, 



438 SPAIN. 

or burning-place, scene of many a iragio auto-da-fe. Seville is the residence oi many old families of notles, 
gentry, and merchants, who appear in handsome equipages on fine evenings on the drive along the river. It 
contains a vast cathedral, in which are some of MnrUlo's best paintiogs, an inimense palace of the Moorish 
kini'S, a spacious arena for bull-fights, and the beautiful new residence of the Infanta, and her husband, the 
Duke de Montpensier. Its importance in popular esteem appears from the proverb, Quien no ha vistoa Sevilla 
no ha visto maravilla — (' He who has not seen Seville has not seen a wonder '). The chief trade is the export 
of oranges, and the manufactxire of tobacco. The latter, a govermnent monopoly, as elsewhere throughout 
Spain, is conducted in an establishment employing several thousand persons, and turns out an enormous 
quantity of cigars. There is also a government factory for maldng rifled cannon, fitted up ivith machinery 
imported from England. Cordova, 70 miles higher up the Guadalquiver, old and renowned, now decayed yet 
interesting, was once the capital of the Mohammedan dominions in Spain, the seat of a rival caUfate to 
those of Bagdad and Cairo. A fine Roman bridge crosses the river, and a Moorish mosque forms the 
cathedral, the interior of which is profusely decorated with coloured marbles, sculptured and gUt. The place 
was formerly celebrated foi the manufacture of a superior kmd of leather called Cordovan from the site, 
whence the JFiench coidonmei , and the English co} dwainei applied to the shoemaker 




Cr SK-?.iij_w; 



Cadiz. 



Cadiz, a fortified seaport, is seated upon a projection of the Isle da Leon, close to the coast of the Atlantic, 
between the mouth of the Guadalquiver and the Strait of Gibraltar. Though not so important since Spain 
lost her American colonies, there is still much life and bustle in the streets, considerable commerce in the 
export of wines, and a population of 71,000. It is one of the oldest towns in Europe, having been built by 
the Phcenicians, under the name of Gaddir, about 1100 B.C. — nearly a century before the time of David, 
king of Israel. Erom the Carthaginians, it passed into the hands of the Romans, who caUed it Sades, 
whence its modern name. Southward lies Cape Trafalgar, a bluif headland, not of any great height, the 
scene of Nelson's naval victory and death. Northward is the poi*t of Sa7i Lucar, from which Magellan 
sailed on the first voyage of circumnavigation ; and the little town of Palos, a more memorable 
spot, from which Columbus set out to discover transatlantic realms. From the latter may be seen the 
belfry of a convent in ruins rising above a clump of pines, before the porch of which, in the earlier part 
of his life, Columbus stood, faint and weary, to ask bread and water of the inmates. Xeres, tlrirty nules 



THE BALEARIC ISLANDS. 439 

inland from Cadiz, remarkably vrell built, is a principal depiit for the wines called sherries, from the name of 
the town, which is pronoimced Shares. The collars of the chief merchants are of immense extent, and have 
a constant stock of several thousands of pipes, arranged in rows like streets. The wines are of various 
quality and age, amounting in some instances to upwards of a century. Owing to the railways, lar^e 
quantities of wine are now brought down from the interior of the country to Xeres, to be turned into sherry 
for the English market, by the admixture of spirits, with other treatment. Ahjesiraz, a dilapidated Moorish 
town, mth a half-deserted port, is known from its position, which overlooks the Bay of Gibraltar from the 
western side. 

The Balbabio Islands, forming one of the modern provinces of the kingdom, lie off 
the east coast, and have regular steam communication -with Barcelona and Valencia. 
They consist of Majorca, centrally placed; Minorca, on the north-east; Ivica, on the south- 
west ; and Formentera, adjacent to it, with several others of insignificant extent. They 
are rich in olive and orange groves, produce various other fruits in abundance, and have a 
temperate and healthy climate. The inhabitants are cleanly in their habits, and favour- 
ably disposed towards the English, having been under the control of Great Britain in the 
last century. Many of them speak English, and it is stiU taught in several of the 
schools. 

Majorca, the largest island, about the size of the county of Wilts, has a hiUy surface, and is wholly 
overlooked from the northern side by the SiUa de Torillos, which rises to 5000 feet above the sea. Falma, 
the chief town, on a bay of the south coast, contains 40,000 inhabitants, has some silk and woollen 
manufactures, with a huge palace in the vicinity formerly occupied by the Inquisition. JBut Port Mahon, on 
the eastern side of Minorca, a much smaller place, is the residence of the military governor, possesses 
regular fortifications, and a splendid harbour. 

The Canary Islands, off the south-west coast of Marocco, are considered an integral portion of the 
monarchy, and form one of its modern provinces, making the total number forty-nine. In this volume they 
are noticed in connection with Africa, being among its insular appendages. 

The Spanish foreign possessions consist of Ceuta and its dependencies on the Barbary coast, to which 
criminals and political offenders are deported ; Cuba, Porto Eico, with a portion of Haiti, and two of the 
Vu-gin Isles, in the "West Indies ; part of the Philippine and the Ladrone Islands in Oceania. 

The original inhabitants of the peninsula are supposed to have been Celtic tribes from 
Gaul. But more than a thousand years before the Christian era its southern shores were 
known to the Phoenicians, who planted colonies upon them, and were followed at a later 
date by the Carthaginians. The latter overrun a considerable portion of the interior, but 
were mastered by the Eomans, who incorporated the whole country in their empire. Upon 
the fall of the imperial power, the Vandals, Suevi, and Visigoths successively appeared as 
conquerors within its hmits, founding various monarchies, till the Moors or Saracens came 
over from Africa in the early part of the eighth century, or the year 711. The new- 
comers drove the Goths to the northern mountains, took possession of the southern and 
central provinces, introduced the arts and^ sciences of Arabia, and remained more or less 
dominant through seven centuries, but were gradually weakened by civil wars, voluptuous 
indulgence, and the arms of their northern neighbours. At length, by the union of the 
two principal Christian kingdoms through the marriage of Eerdinand of Aragon with 
Isabella of Castile, a confederacy was formed too powerful to be resisted. The Moors 
were deprived of their last stronghold, Granada, in 1492, and were afterwards compelled 
by edict to quit the country. Ferdinand gave political unity to Spain, becoming its 
monarch from the Pyrenees to the Gibraltar Eock. He witnessed its external aggrandise- 
ment by the acquisition of transatlantic possessions through the discoveries of Columbus, 
and promoted religious intolerance internally by the establishment of the Inquisition. 
From the foundation of the kingdom to the present centmy, the infamous tribunal reigned 
in aU its terrors; and the form of government remained perfectly absolute, yet subservient 
to a host of monks and priests, who monopolised the wealth of the country without 
contributmg to its welfare. After various struggles and vicissitudes, in 1833 a constitution 
was adopted, which, subsequently modified, now vests the right of legislation in the 



440 SPAIN. 

sovereign and the Cortes, or national assembly, wMle the conTents have been suppressed, 
the Inquisition abolished, the property of the church confiscated, and the clergy made 
stipendiaries of the state. But the Eoman Catholic religion is stUl the only tolerated 
form of faith ; penalties are inflicted upon natives dissenting from it ; and foreign 
Protestant residents have with difficulty obtained the concession of the ordinary rites of 
sepulture. Pubhc instruction only exists to a very limited extent, but is advancing 
through the efforts of the government and voluntary associations ; and after a long period 
of depression, the general interests of the country are now in the ascending scale, a result 
to which the introduction of railways has contributed, though lagging far behind the 
majority of European states in the march of improvement. 

Spain contains a population of rather more than 15,000,000, only a small number in 
comparison with the extensiveness of its area. The people are very unequally distributed, 
chiefly found in the north, east, and south-east maritime regions, while a large proportion 
of the high central tract is as soUtary as the wilderness. Pour distinct families may 
be discriminated — ^the Spaniards proper, who form the main mass of the people; the 
Biscayans or Basques, previously noticed, on the western skirts of the Pyrenees ; some 
remnants of the Moors in the southern provinces ; and the Gypsies or Gitanos, in various 
localities, numbering about 40,000, who have fixed habitations and employments, though 
addicted to temporary wandering. The Jews, who once formed a considerable body, were 
banished the kingdom by Ferdinand of CastUe on reUgious grounds, and compelled to 
scatter themselves over Europe, many of whom finally settled at Constantinople, but a 
few have reappeared in the British colony of Gibraltar. 

The Spaniards jproper are a mixed race, descended from the original Celtic tribes, 
intermingled with ' Carthaginian, Eoman, Gothic, and Moorish blood. They differ 
therefore to some extent provincially ia dialect, appearance, temperament, and habits. 
The standard Spanish language is the tongue of Castile, spoken there in its pmity; but so 
widely known as to have become national, being now taught ia aU. the schools tlu'oughout 
the peninsula, while instruction in the provincial dialects is strictly prohibited by the 
central government. It is the idiom of the court and of literature, manifestly derived 
from the Latin, but with a considerable admixture of Gothic, and more especially of 
Arabic words. The sixteenth century, which produced Cervantes, the author of Don 
Quixote, and Lope de Vega, the dramatist, was the flourishing age of literature in Spain, 
after the golden era of Arabic learning. In Catalonia, Valencia, and the Balearic Isles 
the dialect of the lower classes corresponds somewhat to the language of the old 
troubadours in the south of Prance. In GaHcia, the popular speech occupies a middle 
place between its parent, the Spanish, and its offspring, the Portuguese. 

Great variety distinguishes the inhabitants of the peninsida in temperament and 
manners, with not a little discordance. The Castilians are characteristically proud and 
taciturn, formal in then' deportment, temperate in their diet, piquing themselves upon 
their high sense of honour. Those of fair complexion are deemed the purest Spaniards, 
being without the dark or Moorish tinge. They constitute the class called hidalgos, and 
are entitled to the appellation of ' Don,' with other privileges. The Asturians, 
Biscayans, and Catalans are of lively, social, fiery, and independent spuit, free and easy 
in their manners, placing themselves upon a perfect equality with the members of every 
company. A common labourer or mechanic, with a handkerchief around his brow, or 
hempen sandals on his feet, will ask a light for his cigar from the most fashionably 
dressed on the public promenade, as a matter of course. Until a recent date, the Catalans 
were notoriously given to smuggling and brigandage, accustomed to lie in wait for 
grandees and merchants of Barcelona, kidnapping them in order to exact a ransom. 



CHARACTERISTICS OP THE PEOPLE, 441 

Frag<ality and honest industry are features of the Galicians ; indolence and insincerity 
of the Estremadurans and Murcians ; wliile the Valencians and Andalusians are imagi- 
native, vain, and vivacious, careless though reduced to poverty, prone to plotting, and 
vindictive. But however differing in national character, the great body of the people are 
united by a variety of common tastes, and an appetite for the same amusements, Singing, 
music, and dancing are in favour with all classes, often conducted by the peasantry in 
shady sequestered spots, as an interlude amid the toils of the day, or a recreation at 
eventide when labour is over. The charming clim!ite admits of much indulgence of this 
kind out of doors. It has been said that if the bolero, a national dance, were to be struck 
up in any of the churches and courts of law, tho very clergy and judges could not refrain 
from joining in it. 

High and low, joung and old, male and female, are passionately attached to the bull- 
fight, a brutalising sport derived from the Eomans, and one of the dark blots upon the 
Spanish character. Every town of consequence has its arena for the so-called combat, in 
which the animal has no more chance with his numerous assailants than a rat turned out 
to be worried by a pack of dogs. Great effect is given to the spectacle by the gay and 
gorgeous dresses worn by the parties engaged, at which even the priests appear, though 
not, as formerly, in full canonicals, but in disguise. The suit of the matadors or killers is 
usually made of one colour, either crimson, pale sea-green, violet, or blue, according to 
taste, adorned with gold and silver braid, spangles and tassels. Sunday and Monday are 
the great bull-days. 





CHAPTEE II. 



OETUGAL, tlie most westerly portion of the European main- 
land, once of liigh rank among its states, now one of the least 
influential of its kingdoms, has a very limited area, not much 
exceeding that of Ireland, enclosed by Spain on the north and 
east, and by the Atlantic on the west and south. The inland 
frontier is defined by artificial lines and the larger rivers in 
parts of their courses, but chiefly by insignificant streams, 
according. to the indication of the national poet, Camoens in 
the Lusiad : 

' And scarce a name distinguishetli the brook. 
Though rival kingdoms press its verdant sides.' 

The country is about 360 mUes in length from north to south, 
but nowhere reaches 150 miles in breadth, while the area only 
slightly exceeds 35,000 square mUes. Its shores are historically celebrated as the starting- 
point of the expeditions which first explored the western coast of Africa, disclosed the 
maritime highway to Lidia, and effected the discovery of Brazil, which long remained a 
Portuguese colony. Among the prominent headlands, Cape Eoca, a well-known sea-mark 




PHYSICAL FEATURES OF THE COUNTRT. 443 

a little to the nortli of the mouth of the Tagtis, has the distinction of being the extremity 
of the continent of Europe to the westward ; while Cape St Vincent, a promontory in the 
south-west, has given the title of an English earldom, in honour of the victory of Sir 
John Jervis over the Spanish fleet in 1797, in its neighhourhood. Salt-marshes form 
part of the coast-lino, but it is generally bold and rocky, has few iiilets of consequence, 
and the harboiu-s formed by the estuaries of the rivers are all obstructed by dangerous 
bars at their moutlis. The general surface is agreeably diversified, and exliibits very 
strOving landscapes in many places, rich, too, with fruits, foliage, and flowers, thoun-h 
extensive tracts occur, both of liiH and plain, which have a very desolate appearance 
from the want of grass, the neglect of cultivation, and the presence of no other trees but 
the monotonous and melancholy-looking olive. 

Three chains of mountains cross the frontier from Spain, and follow a diverging course 
to the sea, occupying considerable spaces with their offsets. The most northerly of 
these, called the Sierra d'Estrella, 'starry mountain-range,' attains the greatest height, 
but probably nowhere exceeds the elevation of 7000 feet. In the maritime district it 
forms the hills of Torres Vedras, memorable in the campaigns of "Wellington, \vith the 
precipitous granite crags of Cintra, one of which is crowned by the convent of La Pena, 
' Our Lady of the Height,' now a royal abode, and terminates on the coast in Cape Roca. 
A central range forms the southern boundary of the basin of the Tagus, and meets the 
ocean at Cape Espichel. A southern chain, connected by offsets with the preceding, is a 
continuation westward of the Sierra Morena of Spain, and breasts the Atlantic at 
Cape St Vincent. Three principal rivers likewise enter the country from the sister- 
kingdom, the Tagus, Douro, and Guadiana, the two former passing to the west coast, and 
the latter flowing to a southern strand. On the north, the Minho forms part of the 
frontier from the Spanish province of Galicia, and has the chief part of its course beyond 
the border. The Mondego, the most considerable stream entirely Portuguese, drains 
a portion of the country immediately north of the Sierra d'Estrella ; and the Sadao, 
similarly native, traverses a southern district between the mountain-chain of the south 
coast and the Bay of Setubal. 

In its climate and botany Portugal corresponds generally to Spain, but has a greater 
rain-fall, especially in the lower part of the Mondego valley, and from thence south- 
ward to Mafra, where the showers in autumn rival for copiousness those which descend 
within the tropics. But through the greater part of the year the face of nature has 
everywhere a brown, sunburnt, and sombre appearance. Among the vegetable products, 
the vine, olive, orange, lemon, citron, aloe, and fig, with orchard fruits and water-melons, 
are found throughout the country ; the stone pine and cork oak are characteristic trees in 
many districts ; aromatic plants are numerous ; and in the extreme south the date-palm 
appears and flourishes. Sohtary dwellings of peasants, low and gloomy lika those in 
eastern lands, are often seen attended by a single fig-tree of huge size. Hedges of aloes 
commonly separate the vineyards, and fence the cultivated fields, sending up at intervals 
a tree-like stem, crowned with a flower. The vine is the prime object of industrial 
care, trained around poplars and oaks planted for the jsurpose, from the branches of 
which it hangs in graceful festoons, after the beautiful manner adopted by the ancients. 
It is also trellised at the height of ten or twelve feet from the ground, and forms 
delightful walks and arbours in the gardens of towns and villages, which offer a shady 
retreat during the heat of the day. But in the great wine-producing district, the plant is 
raised on terraces and carefully kept low, the branches being tied to stakes ; and it is 
likewise gro-\vn extensively without support, and with little care in rows in the fields, 
where it is left chiefly to the direction of nature. In this case, when loaded with fruit, 



44:4 rORTUGAL. 

much of it inevitatly lies upon the groiiad, and contracts a peculiar earthy taste. The 
principal -wine region is on the Upper Douro, and extends along both its banks 
upwards of forty mUes by a general breadth of twelve mUes, where the climate is 
cold in winter, but excessively hot ia summer. In the vintage season, which usually 
begins towards the close of September and lasts about a month, the fruit is cut by women 
and children of the neighbourhood, but Gallegos annually pour in from Spain, to the 
number of several thousands, by whom the grapes are trodden. They also migrate into 
the district at the period when labour is reqmred to turn uj) the soU around the vines. The 
olive is next to the vine in prominence, its od figuring in the daily fare of the people, 
and maize is the general crop for their bread. 

In point of mineral wealth Portugal ranks high, possessing stores of iron ore, copper, 
lead, tin, quicksilver, and antimony, with carboniferous strata ; but these elements of 
national prosperity are only turned to account to a very insignificant extent. In fact, in 
almost all the great branches of industry, whether mining, manufacturing, or agricultural, 
the country lags behind every other European state. To this result many causes have 
contributed, as the selfishness of the government, the pride of the upper classes, the 
ignorance of the people, the general misery consequent on repeated political convulsions, and 
the abundance in which productions are raised with little labour — fruits, wine, and garden 
vegetables — owing to the fertile soil and delicious chmate. In former ages, the nobihty 
were prohibited from engaging in commercial pursuits as degrading to their order — a rule 
observed wherever feudahsm was established. But in Portugal it was carried to such a 
ridiculous extreme, that persons of rank were not to reside longer than three days in any 
trading city or port, on pain of summary ejectment by officers of the law. Though a new 
race of nobles has now risen up, the offspring of the civil wars, who deal freely in the 
wine trade and monetary transactions, yet the representatives of the old stock keep aloof 
from such proceedings, and while the two classes mingle in society, they do not 
amalgamate. Both the upper and the middle ranks, divided into hostile political factions, 
on the side of constitutionalism and arbitrary power, have been too much absorbed with 
their respective party interests to attend to pubhc improvements, even if sufficiently well 
informed to apprehend their value. Hence the backward condition of the kingdom, almost 
everywhere stupidly surrendered to the rule of custom. Implements of husbandry remain 
of the rudest description ; drainage, manures, ordinary ploughs, the rotation of crops, and 
other appliances of modern agriculture, are wholly unknown ; more than half the land is 
uncultivated ; and most of the native vine-growers prefer to produce an inferior class of 
wines, when those of better quality might be obtained by attention to the art of culture 
in relation to the soil, the plant, and its position. 

TUl very recent years, Portugal was entirely ivithout tolerable means of internal 
communication, except for short distances in the neighbourhood of the two chief cities, 
Lisbon and Oporto. Several lines of railway now diverge from the capital, and are in 
process of extension. But in other parts of the country there are no high-roads,, or public 
conveyances of any kind ; and travellers can only move from place to place on mules or 
on horseback, or in sedan-chairs suspended between the animals. Canals being also 
unknown, heavy goods are conveyed in bullock-carts, and the lighter either on mules 
or the backs of GaUegos. Navigation by the rivers can scarcely be said to exist, 
except on the Douro, where, however, it is obstructed by rocks, sand-banks, and the 
rapid current ; and on the lower ooiu'se of the Tagus, which is ascended up to a little 
above Lisbon by the largest merchant-vessels and men-of-war. 

For administrative and electoral purposes Portugal, exclusive of its insular, African, 
and Asiatic possessions, is distributed into nineteen districts, but sis principal geographical 



ESTEEMADUEA — LISBON. 



445 



divisions or provinces liavc long been recognised, and are commonly referred to in 
familiar intercourse by natives as well as foreigners. 

Provinces. Chief Towns. 

Estremadura, Lisbon, Cintra, Ton-es Vedras, Sautarem, Setubal. 

Alemtejo, Evora, Elvas, Castello de Vide, Estremoz. 

Algarvo, Faro, Portimao, Lagos, Sagres. 

Bcira, Coimbra, Lamego, Viseu. 

Entrc Doiii-o e Minlio, . . . Oporto, Braga, Penafiel, Viana, 

Tras-os-Montes, .... Braganza, Chaves, Villareal. 
EsTREMADHBA, tile second largest province, is a maritime district extending nearly 200 
miles along the Atlantic. It embraces tlie lower part of the basin of the Tagus, and the 
country for some distance both north and south of its mouth, with the valleys of several 
affluents. The surface is in general finely diversified, in many parts extremely fertile, 
producing wine, oil, fruits, corn, and cork, while various flowering and fragrant plants, the 
cistus, rosemary, and myrtle, flourish on the uncultivated sandy tracts. Earthquake shocks 
of the slighter kind have often been exiserienced, and the whole of the coast region was 
specially convulsed by the terrible visitation of the last century which laid the capital in 
ruins. 

Lisbon (called by the Lusitaniaus, Olisipo or XJlisippo, and by the Moors Idshbuna or AsKbuna), the 
metropolis of the kingdom, is finely placed on hills lining the northern shore of the estuary of the Tagus, and 
in their intervening valleys, in latitude 38° 40' noi-th, longitude 9° 10' west. It contains a population of 
275,000, extends from two to three miles, or, including the subm-bs, about five miles, along the river, retreats 
about half the distance from its margin, and has a very striking appearance from its position, in which the 
Castle of St George, on the loftiest hill, is the conspicuous object. The stream, at its mouth, is not more 
than a mile in width, and has a bar at the entrance dangerous to be passed except under skilful pilotage. 
But above the city it is for some distance a magnificent expanse, and forms a harbour equally secure and 
spacious, capable of containing all the fleets of Europe. The newer portions of Lisbon, or those erected since 
the earthquake of 1755, consist of broad regular streets faced with good houses. Many residences of the 
nobility are huge, massive, and picturesque ; and the dwellings of the rich merchants are handsome. But 
there are no attractive public buildings, and the main part of the capital is a maze of narrow, dii-ty, winding 
tliorouglifares, crowded mth miserable habitations, where ' hut and palace shew like filthily.' Cats are as 
numerous in the streets as dogs in Constantinople, and do the work of public scavengers. Every house of 
any size has its little garden or grape-terrace, with the vines trained on trellis-work. "Wine and spirit shops 
abound ; likemse those of jewellers and money-changers ; and lotteiy-ofiices are very numerous. The manu- 
factures are unimportant, except jewellery, wares of the precious metals, and trinkets. The water-supply 
is brought by an aqueduct — the Alcantara — from the Cintra Hills, a distance of seventeen miles, wliich 
crosses a valley close to the city on lofty arches, and discharges its contents in a beautiful edifice called the 
Mother of the Waters. This was completed in 1743, and wiU bear comparison with the greatest Roman 
works of the kind. It remained uninjm-ed at the time of the great earthquake. The graves of Doddridge 
the divine, and Fielding the novelist, are in the English cemetery. In May 1853 the sod for the first 
railway in Portugal was cut by the queen, in the pre'sence of the king and court, with a silver spade, at a 
spot in the vicinity on the margin of the Tagus. Belem, near the mouth of the river, a kmd of fashionable 
suburb, where many opulent citizens reside, has a magnificent church in the mixed Gothic and Arabic styles, 
containing tombs of members of the royal family. It was erected by King Emanuel in 1499, in honour of 
the first voyage to India by Vasco di Garaa, and is said to occtipy the site of a humble chapel to which he 
repaired previous to his embarkation. Belem Castle, a massive tower on the margin of the river. Fort St 
Julian, and other defences, protect the seaward approach to the capital. 

The great earthquake of Lisbon, on the 1st of November 1755, occurred about half-past nine in the 
morning. Tliree shocks were felt in quick succession, accompanied by three refluxes and fluxes of the sea. 
The whole interval was reckoned at from five to seven mmutes. The king and royal family were at the time 
at Belem. The palace and public buildings fell with the first shock. At least 50,000 persons perished. The 
supposed point of greatest intensity was in the Atlantic, about 100 miles from shore. The ai-ea of concussion, 
or the space through which the shocks were propagated, formed an ellipse, the longer axis of which extended 
2000 miles, from the Canary Islands to Abo in Finland. The shorter axis stretched from the north-west of 
Ireland to the head of the Adriatic. Memorials of the earthquake, chiefly ruins of churches and convents, 
are still to be seen in Lisbon. 

Cintra, north-west of Lisbon, called the Portuguese Paradise, is celebrated for its beautiful scenes, 
comprising a town, palace, coimtry villas, crags, stream, shady groves, and Moorish ruin. Here, Aug. 22, 
1808, a convention was concluded between the French and English, by which the former agreed to evacuate 
Portugal. Mafra, further north, a large village, is distinguished by a palace, convent, and church, forming 



446 rORTUGAL. 

a single edifice, the iinest in tlie Idngdom, erected by King John V., containing the most extensive library in 
Portugal. The convent is 780 feet in length, 690 broad, contains in all 866 rooms, and 200 windows, with 
about as many doors, and it is said 10,000 men could be reviewed on its roof. This vast building, however, 
now exhibits an air of desolation. Tlie entrance is doorless ; the rain patters in through the broken windows ; 
suites of rooms are either vacant or very poorly furnished ; and piles of wood encumber the spacious courts. 
Torres Vedras, a small to^vn a few mUes distant, gives its name to the lieights fortified by 'Wellington in 
1810, where he successfully resisted the approach of the French, and saved the capital. Vimiera, the scene 
of his first victory in the peninsula, is a village in the neighbourhood. Setubal, a maritime town, in the 
country south of the Tagus, with 15,000 inhabitants, is a place of shipment for wines, fruit, and salt. 

Alemtejo, the most extensive division, is slightly washed by the Atlantic, hut has its 
principal extension along the Spanish frontier, and forms naturally a rich portion of the 
kingdom, hut is one of the least cultivated, aiid most sparely peopled. In ancient times 
it was styled the Sicily of Spain, and it figured as the granary of Portugal in the middle 
ages. A few ranges of hiUs are clothed with chestnuts and other trees; hut wood is 
generally scarce, and even shrubs, while plains covered with brown, heath, lavender, and 
other aromatic plants, are characteristic of the surface. In the valleys, the cork oak, the 
evergreen oak, and the stone pine luxiu'iate, the latter having the greatest prevalence. 
The Hve-stock, for which the province was once renowned — embracing swine, goats, and 
sheep, and to a less extent horned cattle, asses, and mules — now exist in very diminished 
numbers, owing more to the paucity of popidation than to any failure of the pasture- 
grounds. 

Evora, the chief town, very beautifully situated, about eighty miles east of Lisbon, is walled, entered by 
five gates, but could not resist a siege a single day. It is the see of an archbishop, has a cathedral founded 
in 1186, and a library of 50,000 volumes, with manufactures of hardware and leather, but possesses no present 
importance, though of interest as existing in the tune of the Komans, when it was called Ehora, retaining 
many monuments of their age. These include a temple of Diana, with beautiful Corintliian colimms, used 
till lately as a slaughter-house ; an aqueduct ; and a brick tower at its extremity, in very perfect preservation, 
decorated -with Ionic columns and pilasters. Ehas, the largest town, -with about 12,000 inhabitants, is 
reputed to be the strongest place m the wliole country, situated near the Spanish border, within a few miles 
of Badajoz, of which it may be considertd tlie military rival. It is perched on the top of a precipitous hill, 
surrounded by walls, a glacis, and covered-way, and further protected by foiTnidable forts on adjoining 
eminences. An immense Moorish aqueduct, consisting of four tiers of arches built upon one another, the 
whole rising to the height of 250 feet, conveys water from a source three miles distant. Arms and jewellery 
are made, but the chief trade is the smuggling of British goods across the frontier into Spain, from which 
considerable wealth is derived. It was in 1659 the scene of a famous battle between the Spanish and 
Portuguese, called the Lines of Elvas, in which the latter were victorious. Estremoz, also a stronghold in the 
neighbouring countiy, but of inferior rank, is the seat of an earthenware manufacture, continued from the 
Iloman times, the products of which preserve a purely classical design. Elegantly-shaped vessels, made of a 
porous clay, have the property of keeping water singularly cool, and are in use throughout the peninsula. 

Algarve, the smallest and most southerly district, was once an independent kingdom 
of the Moors, but much more extensive than its present limits, comprehending a portion 
of Spain beyond the Guadiana, which forms the frontier. The name is Arabic, and 
signifies ' a land lying to the west.' It ceased to be a separate state in the middle of the 
thirteenth century, but its old style is retained in the designation of the existing 
monarchy, the kingdom of Portugal and Algarve. Being specially maritime, the chmate 
is delightful, as the heat natural to the southerly position is mitigated by the cool sea- 
breezes. Pine fruits are raised, even dates and plantains ; fisheries are prosecuted, and 
salt is manufactm'ed. The spare population are reputed to be the best sailors and truest 
friends in the kmgdom. 

Faro, a small episcopal city and seaport, at the mouth of the Fermoso, is the centre of an active fishery, 
and exports anchovies, fresh and dried fi-uit, wme, cork, and sumach. Blind persons are very commonly met 
witli among the inhabitants, an afiliction said to be occasioned by the light sandy soil of the neighbourhood. 
Sagres, an unimportant place, is of interest from its site, near the headland of Cape St Vincent, and as the 
residence of the prince, Don Henrj', in the fifteenth century, the great promoter of discovery along the shores 
of Africa. 

Beira, a province on the Atlantic, embraces the country in its entire breadth, extending 



COniBEA BRAGANZA. 



447 



between the Tagus on the south and the Douro on the north, and includes centrally 
the whole basm of the Mondego. The surface is largely mountainous ; plains of sandy 
soil occur far from fertile ; but still an important supply of valuable produce is raised, 
with little labour and less skill, consistmg of corn, wine, oHve oil, flax, and various fruits. 
The culture of bees is also a prevailing industry, the honey and wax from wliich furnish 
many with then- principal means of subsistence. A part of the province, lying along the 
banlc of the Upper Douro, belongs to the port- wine district. There are no manufactmes of 
the shghtest consequence, but salt is made on the coast by the evaporation of the sea- 
water, and small quantities of iron, coal, and marble are wrought. 

Coimbra, an episcopal city, picturesquely built round a conical hiU rising abruptly from the right bank 
of the Mondego, is the largest place in the province, contains about 13,000 inhabitants, and is 110 miles 
uoi-th-north-east of Lisbon. It is the seat of a university, founded in 1537, the only one in the kingdom, 
■which has eighteen colleges, with a library, museum, and observatory. It was attended in 1853 by 970 
students, a large number of whom were Brazilians. The city was originally built by the Goths, from whom 
it passed into the hands of the Moors, and was finally taken in 10G4 by Fernando the Great, aided by the 
gallant Cid. On the erection of Portugal into an independent kingdom, Coimbra was made the capital, and 
continued such for two centuries and a half. The average rain-faU in this locality exceeds that of any other 
place in Europe. The scene of "WeUington's repulse of the French under Massena in 1810, at the village 
of Busaco, is about eighteen miles distant. 

The most northerly maritime province, Enteb Dotjeo e Minho, ' between Douro and 
Minlio,' has its position defined by the name. In proportion to its area it is the most 
populous portion of the country, the most fertile, and the best cultivated. It is also 
renowned for the beauty of its scenery, whence it has been caUed the Paradise of Portugal. 
A portion of the vale of the Lima is said to form the loveliest landscape in the world. 
Almost aU the varieties of the agricultural produ.ce are yielded within its l imi ts; live- 
stock and game abound ; and profitable fisheries are carried on along the shores and in 
the rivers. The Minho is celebrated for its fine salmon. 

02}orlo, on the north bank of the Douro, about two miles above its mouth, ranks next to Lisbon in popula- 
tion and commercial importance, but excels it in the extent and variety of its manufactures. It consists of 
weU -built streets of wliite- washed houses ; squares 
lined with trees, refreshed and adorned with 
fountains ; and is connected by a handsome sus- 
pension-bridge with a suburb on the opposite side 
of the stream. The inhabitants number 80,000, 
and include a larger proportion of enlightened 
and liberal Portuguese than the capital. Hats, silk 
and linen goods, pottery, roperies, and ship-build- 
ing are the prominent branches of manufacturing 
industry ; but the main trade and dependence of 
the city is the export of wine, white and red, 
cliiefly the latter, which has the name of port 
from that of the place, properly Porto. It is 
brought from the region of the Upper Douro, the 
great "wine country, in flat-bottomed boats con- 
taining from thirty to seventy pipes each, which 
are stowed away in immense vaults for exporta- 
tion. The vineyard proprietors and merchants 
are manufacturers rather than simply producers and exporters of wine, superadding to the juice of the grape 
a system of mixing and fortifying ivith spirit, which tends to produce an intoxicating rather than a pm-ely 
exliilarating beverage. Even after its arrival in the Thames, the wine is often made to keep company witli 
Masdieu, Benecario, Bed Sicilian, and Bed Cape before it enters the market with the pseudonym of port. 
Its consumption in this country is gradually lessening, and thereby manifests the more refined habits of the 
present age, and the altered style of our social customs. Brar/a, thirty-five miles north-east of Oporto, is a 
considerable town of 17,000 inhabitants, with manufactures of hats, jeweUery, cutlery, and firearms. It is 
the residence of the primate of Portugal, who has a palace here. Li the time of the Eomans it was called 
Braeara Augusta, and the ruins of a temple, an amphitheatre, and an aqueduct still remain. 

Tras-os-Montes, ' beyond the mountains,' interior to the preceding district, is so caUed 
in relation to the Sierra d'EstreUa range. It is the only principal division of the country 





San Joas de Toy, Opoito 



wHcli is entirely inland, and belongs on its soutliern border to tlie great region of tbe 
vine culture. Though the cradle of the existing royal family, this portion of the king- 
dom is very little known apart from its outskirts, being rarely entered by travellers, as 
there is scarcely a convenient route within its limits. But it is said to be replete with 
natural beauties of a high order, and abounds with wild animals, the boar, wolf, and wild 
cat, while birds of prey are numerous, with storks and herons. 

Braganza, a small ancient city, with two castles, and manufactures of silt and velvet, gives its name as a 
title to the reigning royal family, descended from John, Duke of Braganza, who was raised to the throne in 
16iO. Chaves, a fortified town, possesses hot sahne springs, with a temperature of 129° Fahrenheit, which 
were knoivn to the Eomans under the name of Aqum Flavice. 

The Azores, or Western Islands, situated iii the Atlantic Ocean, belong to Portugal, 
form an insular province, and are accounted a pai-t of Europe, as the nearest mainland, 
though about 800 miles distant from it. The group consists of San Miguel or St 
Michael, Terceira, Pico, San Jorgo, Plores, Payal, Santa Maria, Gracioso, and Corvo, con- 
taining an area of 700 square miles, and a i^opulation estimated at 240,000. The islands 
are of volcanic origin, and subject to violent earthquakes. The coasts are steep and 
rugged ; the surface is diversified with lofty mountauis and deep ravines ; the climate is 
temperate and healthy; and the soil almost everywhere extremely productive. The 
'peak' of Pico, the loftiest summit, rises to the height of 7613 feet above the sea. In 
the sixteenth century the meridian of Terceira, 29° 10' west, was adopted by the Spaniards 
and Portuguese as their starting-point for the reckoning of longitudes. Columbus, jtrevious 
to his gTcat voyage of discovery, visited the Azores, and was confirmed in his conviction 
that there must be land across the Atlantic within accessible distance, from the drift of 
strange objects to the shores, and plants which could not be identified with the productions 
of any known district. 

Angra, in the island of Terceii'a, is the seat of government, and possesses a military college, with various 
educational establishments and scientific and literary societies. But Ponta Delgada, in St Michael, is the 
commercial capital and the larger town, containing 16,000 inhabitants. 

The principal products of the Azores are wines, oranges and lemons, maize, coffee, sugar, and tobacco. 
Both Terceira and Fayal annually export a considerable quantity of oranges, but St Michael is the great 
mart, and suppUes the finest kinds. More than half the oranges imported into Great Britain come from 
the Azores, in exchange for textile fabrics and other manufactured articles. A single tree, on arriving at 
maturity, wiU produce annually, on an average, a crop of from 12,000 to 16,000 ; but growers have been 
known to pick as many as 26,000. The trees bloom in March and Ajiril ; the fruit is gathered for the London 
market as early as November ; and more than half the crop is shipped in that month and the following. 
But the natives never eat the produce till the end of Januai-y, by which time it possesses its full flavour. In 
1859 it was estimated that the island of St Michael produced 252,000,000 of oranges and 40,000,000 of lemons. 
The total value of the fruit exported from thence to England in the year mentioned amounted to £84,000. 
But the orange trade of the Azores has been for some years severely depressed, owing to the lowprices obtained 
in the foreign market. 

The Foreign Possessions of the monarchy consist of the Madeiras and Cape Verd Islands, on the north-west 
coast of Africa ; St Thomas and Pz-ince's Islands in the Gulf of Guinea ; the districts of Congo, Angola, and 
Benguela, on the western side of Southern Africa, with Mozambique on the eastern ; Goa, Diu, and Damaum, 
small stations in India ; Macao, in the neighbourhood of Canton in China ; and a few settlements in different 
parts of the Malay Archipelago. 

The kingdom dates from the year 1139, when Don Alphonso Henrique, after a signal 
overthrow of the Moors, was proclaimed by the army the first independent sovereign, 
under whose descendants the country attained its greatest political, commercial, and 
literary eminence. Brazil was occupied, the African coast was explored, the sea-route to 
India was traversed, and Camoens, the epic poet of the nation, flourished. The royal 
line failing in 1580, a short union with Spain followed, till a revolution placed the House 
of Braganza on the tlirone. The form of government, long absolute, is now constitutional, 
but with less power belonging to the crown than is usual with limited monarchies ; and 
from various causes, some of which were unavoidable, as the attacks of the French, the 



CHARACTEE OP THE TEOPLB, ETC. 



449 



loss of colonies, and the rise of other Eurojiean nations, the state has lapsed completely 
from its former consequence. Portugal, exclusive of its insular and foreign possessions, 
contained in 1863 a population of 3,693,000 ; hut including these possessions, a popula- 
tion calculated at 7,720,000. The people are of the same lineage as the Spaniards, and 
speak a dialect originally of the same language, but now exhibiting so many peculiarities 
as to bo more than dialectically distinct, including words, supposed to be derived from 
the vooabidary of Northern Africa, of which there are no traces in the Spanish. They 
are universally Eoman Catholics in religion, subject to a clergy who, though deprived of 
the secular power and vast estates they once possessed, are still influential with the 
masses. The moral character of the Portuguese has beea very \-infavourably represented, 
and perhaps not untruly as it respects the town-dweUers, But the rural classes eminently 
exemplify the vii'tue of patience as a redeeming quality for their shortcomings, They 
are intensely poor ; miserably clad, ill-housed, and -wretchedly fed ; rarely tasting animal 
food throughout the year ; toil hard bareheaded in the burning sim j yet are attached to 
their employers, and bear their burden with content and cheerfulness. 





CHAPTEE III. 



TALY, tlie seat of ancient, and the niotlier-ooimtry of modem, 
ciyilisation, embraces the central peninsula of Southern 
Europe, with part of the mass of the continent, and many 
islands, several of which are of considerable size, of great natural 
interest, and economic value. Its northern boundary is formed 
by France, Switzerland, and the Tyrol, where the frontier is 
strongly defined by the grand chain of the Alps, whUe on the 
'•*'^,J)west and south rolls the Mediterranean, with its great arm the 
Adriatic on the east. The peninsular i^ortion is a long projec- 
^;/^tion inclining from north-west to south-east, comparatively 
narrow, and bifurcating at the south extremity into two much 
smaller straggling projections, between which lies the Gulf of 
Taranto. This outline of the country corresponds to that of a high-heeled boot, with 
the toe advanced towards Sicily, and the heel pointed towards Turkey. The coast-line 
is but slightly indented, except in the south, where also the shores are the most elevated 




VOLCANIC MOUNTAINS. 



451 



and rocky. Both on the eastern and western sides large maritime tracts are low and 
insalubrious. The country, measuring from the Alps, has an extreme length of about 
700 miles, by a breadth of 300 miles in the north, or specially continental portion; 
but the average width of the peninsula is not more than 100 miles, which dwindles to 
20 miles in the so-called heel and toe. The islands include Corsica, a department of 
France, noticed in connection with that country ; Sardinia, Sicily, the Lipari Isles, Elba, 
and others of minor dimensions, are incorporated in the new Italian Kingdom ; and the 
Maltese group, a colony of Great Britain, described under the head of British European 
Possessions. Mainland and islands are comprised between latitude 35° 40' and 46" 30' 
north; between longitude 6° 30' and 18° 35' east; and contain a total area of 121,000 
square miles. 

The High Alps environ the entire north with a mountain-girdle, clad with everlasting 
snow, which has a steejjer inclination on the Italian than on the Swiss side of the chain. 
It presents to view from the plains of Piedmont the lofty summits of Mont Blanc, 
Monte Viso, Monte Eosa, the Matterhorn, and numerous others, strikes its roots into the 
interior to some extent, and originates a very varied landscape. But the Apennines form 
the characteristic liigliland system of the country. Starting from the extremity of the 
Maritime Alps, and winding round the Gulf of Genoa, the range traverses the whole 
peninsula to its southernmost point, somewhat centrally as its backbone, though mtli 
curvatures, which give it an entire length of not less than 700 miles. None of the 
summits reach the line of perpetual congelation, but the higher pomts are white with 
snow from October to June. The loftiest, Monte Corno, called also the Gran Sasso 
cVItaUa, or ' Great Eock of Italy,' attains the elevation of 9500 feet, and is a fine object 
from the plain of Eome. Limestone is the predominant formation, often passmg into 
marble, and granite appears in the south. About the latitude of Naples, the Apennines 
divide into two branches, one of which runs through the -eastern prolongation of the 
peninsula to its termination in Cape di Leuca, while the other extends through the 
western to Cape Spartivento. This last branch reappears ui Sicily, and forms its mountaiu 
system, where the volcanic cone of Etna rises to the snow-line, 10,874 feet above the 
Mediterranean, and is the highest point of Italy. Vesuvius, the t-\vin volcano, is an outlier 
of the continental chain, rising up from the surface of a fertUe plain, and overlooking 
the Bay of Naples. 

The extent of level country is very considerable, but invested with opposite features in 
the two principal tracts. In the north, between the Alps and the Apennines, is the 
plain of Piedmont and Lombardy, continued by that of Venetia to the Adriatic, having 
a length of 250 miles from east to west, by a breadth of 50 niUes, nearly a dead-level 
through a large portion of its area. "Watered by the Po and its numerous affluents from 
the mountains on either hand, this region is extremely fertile, highly cultivated, and 
thicldy peopled. On the other hand, along the Mediterranean, through Tuscany, and the 
Papal territory, a series of low districts extends for nearly 200 miles, varying in breadth 
from 12 to 40 mUes, the whole of which is unhealthy, and comparatively deserted through 
the summer months. The northernmost or Tuscan portion is called the Maremma ; the 
central, around Eome, the Campagna; and the southern, the Pontine Marshes. Dry 
pasture-lands in the latter intermingle with the marshy surface. A rank vegetation is 
luxuriantly produced; and hence malaria prevails, which renders even traveUing through 
the fever-haunted region unsafe, except in the winter season. There are a few fixed 
inhabitants whose appearance, comparable at the best to that of convalescents in the 
grounds of an hospital, betrays the insalubrity of the site. But as soon as the fierce heat 
is over, and the fresh autumn breezes begin to blow, removing the scourge, the peasantry 



452 ITALY. 

from the Alban Hills, and other bordering heigMs, come down to the low grounds with 
their flocks to pasture them till May renews the danger, lodging in temporary huts of 
straw and reeds. This district has been stamped with its fatal peculiarity in consequence 
of ages of neglect, for in ancient times it was thickly studded with Etruscan and Volscian 
towns. Euins of aqueducts, arches of demolished buildings, broken fountains, and masses 
of rubbish are scattered in every direction, the monuments of bygone life, where now the 
sounds and signs of human industry are few and far between. 

Italy is distinguished from the rest of the continent by a volcanic zone on its south- 
western side, which includes three active summits — Vesuvius on the mainland, Etna in 
Sicily, and Stromboli in the Lipari Islands ; the last of which has never been known to 
extinguish its torch, and is the great light-house of the adjoining Mediterranean. The 
activity of Etna has been noted the longest. Its earliest recorded eruption took place 
under Hiero, in the second year of the 75th Olympiad, or 476 B.C., and is mentioned in 
the Prometheus of JSsohylus, and the first Pythian Ode of Phidar. It reposed for several 
centuries in the middle ages, but has been in frequent and violent action in more modern 
times. On the last occasion, iu 1852, vast torrents of lava were ejected, one of which 
was two miles broad, with immense clouds of ash-gray dust, which covered the whole of 
the surrounding country. Vesuvius was not known to be active before the year 79 a.d., 
when the cities of Herculaneum and Pompeii were overwhelmed by its products, and only 
discovered ia the fijst half of the last century. From that period to the year 1138 eight 
eruptions are recorded ; none occurred afterwards till 1306 ; a pause followed of more than 
three centuries mth but one sHght outbreak; but siuce 1666 the volcano has only been 
at rest for very brief intervals. Dormant craters are numerous in connection with the 
lower slope of the Apennines as far north as Tuscany, several of which are now occupied 
by small lakes. The Eomans obtained their cement from the pozzuolana or volcanic earth 
of their neighbourhood. In excavating for it, as well as for materials to enlarge and 
beautify the city, the subterranean galleries were formed, which afterwards served as 
places of refuge for the early Christians during the persecutions, and were also used for 
the burial of their dead. Violent earthquakes occasionally disturb the southern region, 
and would doubtless be more frequent and severe but for the volcanic vents. 

Owing to the coniiguration of the country, only one river of considerable magnitude is 
formed, the Po, which iutersects the surface in the line of its greatest breadth, from the 
Cottian Alps to the Adriatic. It flows with but few windings of any importance, passes 
fifty cities and towns, and receives numerous affluents. The Ticiuo, Adda, and Miacio 
enter on the left bank ; the Tanaro, Trebbia, and Sechia on the right. The river has a 
powerful current, subject to sudden and frequent changes, which interfere with its naviga- 
tion. It brings down large quantities of sand and mud, which, by deposition, have formed 
an extensive delta, and very sensibly advanced the coast-line, during the historic period, 
on both sides of its mouth. In the age of Augustus, the town of Adria, from which the 
Adriatic has its name, was a seaport, and a station for the Eoman fleet, but is now fifteen 
miles from the nearest point of the shore ; and the city of Eavenna, wliich was once mari- 
time, is now a few miles inland. The sediment has also contributed to raise the bed of the 
river in the lower part of its course considerably above the level of the surrounding country, 
so that in the plain of Eerrara the surface of the water is thirty-five feet higher than the 
streets of the town, which are preserved from inundation by huge artificial embankments. 
Another important river, the Adige, descends from the Tyrol, and enters the Adriatic 
between the mouth of the Po and Venice, similarly charged with sediment. It has 
operated with the like effect, formed islets and sand-banks, on a group of which the former 
Queen of the Ocean, aptly described as a ' city risen from the sea,' is planted. In the 



LAKES. 453 

peninsula, owing to its narrowness, and the central position of the Apennines, the rivers 
have necessarily short courses, and are chiefly mountaia-streams, in several instances 
invested with classical interest. The largest are on the western side, the Arno, Ombrone, 
Tiber, and Volturno. To provide efficient water-communication for commerce, as weU. as 
to promote irrigation, the construction of canals was commenced in Italy much earlier 
than ia any other European country, dating from the beginning of the twelfth centmy. The 
great northern plain is overspread with a net-work of artificial channels, which have 
advanced the interests of agricidture, and are adapted for vessels of large burden. 

At the foot of the Alps the most extensive of the lakes are formed, Maggiore, Como, 
and Garda, famed for their picturesque beauty. The &st of these is partly Swiss ; the 
two latter are wholly Italian, except that the Lake of Garda touches the Tyrol at its north 
extremity. This is the largest expanse, extending thirty miles in length by ten in its 
greatest breadth ; it is bordered by grand Alpine spurs, between which He fertile valleys, 
scenes of vine cultivation. It has long had a bad reputation from being swept by violent 
winds, which, owing to the extensive surface, give it the appearance of a sea. On a 
projecting neck of land at the south end are Eoman ruins, which have been associated 
TOth the name of Catullus, as remains of the poet's country-house, an idea not at aU 
supported by their extent and traces of former magnificence. The Minoio is the outlet. 
Greater attractions belong to the Lake of Como, on the shores of which the younger Phny 
had a rural retreat, and refers to it in his letters. Though not without the wUder outUnes 
of bare mountain-tops, yet more characteristic of the scenery are steep hills and rocky 
headlands clothed with noble trees, lovely gardens, neat hamlets, tiny church-spires, 
scattered white dweUings, and many beautiful viUas. The lake discharges by the Adda. 
In the central part of the peninsula are the Lakes of Perugia and Fucino, with many of 
smaU. size occupying the craters of extinct volcanoes in the Eoman and ISTeapolitan 




Grotto of Puzzuole. 



454 • ITALY. 

territory. The Alban Lake, one of tlie latter class, about fourteen miles from Eome, is on 
tbe summit of a Mil or mountaia at a considerable elevation, and vies in the rich deep 
blue of its -waters with the colour of the Italian sky above. A medieval palace on its 
shores, the Castle Gondolfi, is one of the country-seats of the pope. 

With the exception of iron, the metals of Italy are few ; but other mineral produce 
is abundant, as marbles, alum, and salt, mth the valuable volcanic products, sulphur 
and boraoic acid. From Southern Italy, or the old Kingdom of the Two Sioihes, 
the markets of Europe have long received then: principal supply of sulphur, though a 
considerable and increasing quantity is now obtained from Iceland. The monopoly of 
this ai-ticle led to the application of the sohriquet, the 'brimstone king,' to a former 
sovereign apt to rely upon gunpowder as a means of government. It occurs in the 
district around iSTaples, but most plentifully in Sicily, where the sulphur-beds are in the 
tertiary strata, and occupy great part of the centre and south of the island. Many mines 
are worked by companies of EngUsh and other foreigners. Boracic acid is procured from 
a remarkable spot near Volterra, in Tuscany, where it was discovered in the latter part of 
the last century, which has since been the main source of supply to the European manu- 
facturers. Here a large extent of the surface is occupied with borax lagoons, apparently 
consistintT of an endless niunber of tiny volcanoes and springs, which are in a state of 
violent ebullition. The ground shakes beneath the foot, and steams in evidence of the 
fierv activity below. By subjecting the vapours to a pecuhar process, the acid is deposited 
in crystals. INIineral and warm springs are numerous throughout the volcanic zone ; and 
at certain spots noxious gases are generated, which prove fatal to animal life if long 
exposed to their influence. The most famous example is the Grotto del Cane, in the 
vicinity of Naples, and close to the Lago d'Agnano, the bed of which is the crater of an 
extinct volcano. The name refers to the dogs upon which experiments are chiefly tried 
to gratify the curious. 

Deep-blue cloudless skies, and a very transparent atmosphere, are characteristic of Italy. 
The cHmate differs owing to the range of the latitude, difference of position in relation to 
the mountains, and to the influence of the sea. But very hot summers and nuld winters 
are general • and insalubrity is confined to the malarious districts. Occasionally the 
summer heat is aggravated by the sirocco, or hot wind from Africa, wliich enfeebles and 
fevers the human frame, and blights the vegetation. This is specially felt in the southern 
locahties wliile an opposite evO. is experienced in the northern, that of the tramontana, or 
mountain-wind, which blows cold and piercingly from the direction of the Alps. The 
vine flourishes on the lower levels throughout the country; the oUve, orange, citron, 
lemon, pomegranate, myrtle, and other fruits and evergreens grow luxuriantly in the 
central and southern region ; a varied and briUiant flora distinguishes the sub-apennine 
valleys ; and in Sicily, in the extreme south, a tropical vegetation appears, in the sugar-cane, 
cotton-plant, and date-palm. On the higher grounds are oaks, chestnuts, beeches, and 
pines. ISTowhere is the Silver Eir seen to greater advantage, amply meriting the name, 
pulcliarrima, 'most beautiful,' apphed to it by the ancients. The classical -vvriters 
frequently refer to the uses made of the tree, for javelins and the masts of ships ; and the 
position in which it luxuriates, as in lines scattered through the pages of Virgil : 

' Whose breast exposed the long fir-spear transpierced.' 

' The fir about to brave the dangers of the sea.' 

' Hills clad with fir, to guard the haUowed bound, 
Kise in the majesty of darkness round.' 

The Stone Pine, a comparative dwarf in England, is also a fine object in Italian scenery, 
often associated with classic ruins, and frequently introduced into the landscapes of 



ITALIAN PEODUCTS. 



455 



Claude. It rises to a great lieiglit perfectly clear of brandies, mtlr a spreading head in 
the form of a parasol. The tree is prominent in the pine-forest of Eavenna, on the east 
coast, perhaps the most ancient woodland now in Italy, certainly the most interesting, being 
associated with the names of Dante, Boccaccio, and Byron. It supplied the old Eomans 
with timber for their fleets, and in more modem times furnished the Venetians mth masts 
for their war-galleys and argosies. The forest extends about twenty-five miles along the 
shore, covering a ilat sandy tract from one to three miles wide. It may be traversed over 
the turf through a vast succession of lovely avenues and glades. But the pine does not 
entu'ely monopolise the site, as noticed by Leigh Hunt : 

' Various the troos and passing foliage there, And ivy, with the suclde's streaky liglit — 

"Wild pear and oak, and dusky juniper, And still the pine, long haired, and dark, and tall, 

■With briony between in trails of white. In lordly right, predominant o'er all.' 

The produce of the cones yields a considerable annual revenue. In the more southern 
woods, the wolf, boar, and lynx are foimd, and are the principal wUd animals. The buffalo 
occurs domesticated, and also the camel. But the latter is limited to the plain of Pisa, 
whore a colony has been perpetuated from the time of the Crusades, originally introduced 
by the Knights Hospitallers. Noxious reptiles, as the scorpion and tarantula, are extremely 
numerous in the south. The birds include the vulture, ibis, flamingo, and pelican, with 
interesting examples of the smaller species, the blue thrush, the rose-coloured starling, the 
hoopoe, ortolan, and fig-eater. Shore fisheries yield the tunny, pilchard, and mackerel, 
with anchovies and sardines. The two latter are exported in immense quantities. 

The pohtical map of Italy, as arranged by the Congress of Vienna, recognised seven 
principal divisions, or the two kingdoms of Sardinia and E"aples, the States of the Church, 
the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, the Duchies of Parma and Modena, with Lombardy and Venice 
assigned to Austria. It has since 1859 been largely remodelled, partly by the arms of the 
French emperor and the Sardinian king, in part also by the daring enterprise of Garibaldi, 
and the determination of the people. The map now embraces three principal divisions : 
the Kingdom of Italy — a reduced Papal Territory — and Austrian Italy, limited to Venetia. 



■f^S^^H^r-^'-* 'ir. 




The Tarantula. 




Bardonntehe Mouth of the Mount Cenis Tunnel. 



I. KINGDOM OF ITALY. 



The newly-formed Italian Kingdom consists of the old Sardinian monarchy, with the 
exception of the principality of Nice and the duchy of Savoy ceded to France ; but is 
more largely composed of territories which comprehend nearly the whole of the penmsula, 
obtained partly by voluntary annexation, partly by force of arms. This aggrandisement 
of a state formerly of very limited extent dates from the early part of the year 1860, a 
period too recent to allow of authority being firmly established over the whole area, 
occupied as it is by many favourable to the fallen dynasties, and by not a few politically 
indifferent, but friendly to any agitation likely to enable them to subsist with impunity 
by rapine. For administrative purposes the kingdom is distributed into sixty provhices. 
These are referrible to niue principal districts, the names of which are given, as of long 
standing, and therefore familiar. Those of the provinces are taken generally from 
important cities and towns within their limits, the seats of the local government. 



PIEDMONT — TURIN. 457 

Cities and Towns. 
Piedmont, . • . Turin, Alessandria, Asti, Novara, Cuneo, Genoa, Port Maurice. 

Lombardy, . . . Milan, Pavia, Cremona, Brescia, Bergamo, Como, Sondrio. 
iEmilia, . . . Parma, Piacenza, Modena, Carrara, E,eggio, Bologna, Ferrara, Eavenna, Forli. 

Tlie Marclies, . . . Anoona, Asooli, Macerata, Urbino, Pesaro. 
Umbria, . . . Perugia. 

Tuscany, . . . Florence, Leghorn, Pisa, Sienna, Ai'ezzo, Lucca. 

NeajjoUtan Territory, Naples, Puzzuoli, Castellamare, Gaeta, Eeggio, Taranto, Foggia. 

Island of Sicily, . . Palermo, Messina, Catania, Marsala, Siragusa, GirgentL 
Island of Sardinia, . Cagliari, Sassari, Oristano. 

Tlio total area amounts to 98,000 square miles, equal to coiisideral)ly more than tkree- 
fourtlis of the whole country, containing a populatioti of nearly 22,000,000. The 
advantages of the constitutional form of government, adopted by Sardinia in 1848, are 
equally enjoyed by the incorporated states, where formerly religious freedom was unknown, 
and the Uberty of the subject was at the mercy of arbitrary power. The common 
parHament assembles at Turin, but the anticipation is indulged, that by the annexation of 
the Papal Territory its sessions will be transferred to Rome. 

Piedmont, a north-western section, lies on the Mediterranean, and consists chiefly of a 
beautifully-varied plain, weU Watered and fertile. The surface becomes nearly a dead- 
level on the eastern side, but rises gradually in other directions towards the Alps, which 
run in a grand semicircular chain around it, and throw oif spurs into the interior. Tliey 
comprise the Maritime^ Cottian, Graian, and Pennine ranges, with part of the Lepohtine, 
and form the boundary from France and Switzerland. The position of the country at 
their base originated the name, compounded oi jned, 'foot,' and viont, 'mountain.' The 
Po intersects it from west to east, descending from the slope of Monte Viso ; and receiving 
almost the whole drainage by numerous affluents into its channel. Fruits, wine, gTain, 
heinp^ flax, and silk are laised, and the olive is & principal object of culture. Eailways 
connect the leading towns with the capital, for one of which running between Turin and 
Susa, the great tunnel is in process through the range of Mont Cenis, which will 
complete the Kne of communication between Italy and France. When this work is 
finished, there will be unbroken railway transit from Calais to one of the southern ports 
of the Adriatic, which wiU probably render it a more eligible route for the Anglo- 
Indian mail than the one to Marseille, owing to the diminished length of the voyage to 
Alexandria. 

Turin (Ital. Torino), the capital, centrally situated on the north bank of the Po, in a very clianning 
locality, contains a pojmlation of 204,000. It is chiefly a brick-built city, distinguished by the nimiber of its 
churches, possesses a floxuishing university, with a library of 110,000 volumes, and many literary, artistic, 
and scientific institutions, which entitle it to rank as one of the principal seats of learning on the southern 
side of the Alps. Tlie sUk manufacture is the staple industry. In the Carignan Palace, fonnerly a royal 
residence, the Italian parliament meets. Tliis is a huge pile, with an unprepossessing exterior, but many 
of the rooms are veiy splendid. The one appropriated to the deputies, the scene of the triumphs of 
Cavour, is magnificent. The seats rise one above the other from a semicircular floor, in the centre of 
which are placed tables for the oSicial short-hand writers ; and on the extreme verge, with their faces to 
the house, behuid a long table, sit the ministers. Tlie press has a gallery at its service, placed in a 
convenient position ; the diplomatic corps and municipal authorities are provided for ; and there is separate 
acconunodation for ladies and a miscellaneous crowd of spectators. Cavour, returned for the first electoral 
college of Turin, early in 18i8, was first heard under the domed roof of this apartment, remonstrating 
against the folly of proceeding single-handed agamst Austria, which led to the fatal defeat of Novara in 
1819. The silvery summits of the Alps are finely seen from the capital. Three of the mountain valleys on 
the south-west are occupied by the Vaudois, a Protestant commmiity, on behalf of whose ancestors, under a 
barbarous persecution, Cromwell interfered, and MUton wrote the noble sonnet beginning — 
*Avenge, O Lord, thy slaughtered saints, whose honea 
Lie scattered on the Alpine mountains cold.' 
The Yaudois occupy a small town and a nmnber of scattered villages. Susa, at the foot of the Cottian Alps, 
and on the road across Mont Cenis, whore the railway from Turin in that direction now terminates, is tvrenty- 
five miles from the Italian end of the great tunnel, near the village of Bardonneche. This spot is at least 



458 ITALY. 

fourteen miles from the French end at Modane, following the route over the mountain, but the distance wiU 
be little more than seven miles through the shaft. Alessandria, eastward of Turin, a considerable manu- 
facturing town, has a strong modern citadel for its prominent object, was of great importance as a bulwark to 
Piedmont when it was immediately bordered by Austrian territory. The battle-field of Marengo, the scene of 
Napoleon's decisive victory in the year 1800, is a few miles distant. Asti, on the rail nearly midway between 
Turin and Alessandria, surrounded with a wine-producing district, boasts of the poet Alfieri as a native, bom 
about the middle of the last century. 





Genoa (Ital. Gcnova, Fr. Genes], on a gulf of the Mediterranean to which its name is given, is the 
principal port and naval arsenal, with strong fortifications and a spacious harbom-. Though fallen from its 
high estate in the middle ages, it still contains 128,000 inhabitants, has great shipping trade, and various 
manufactures of silk, velvets, damasks, with filigree-works in gold and silver gilt. The appearance of the 
city from the sea justifies the title bestowed upon it, La Superba. Hills rise up from the shore, the slopes 
of which are covered with churches, palaces, and houses, finely relieved by intermingling groves of oranges, 
pomegranate-trees, and vines. But the interior disappoints. The richly-decorated marble dwellings of the 
merchant-princes of bygone days are in narrow streets, only to be seen from without mth difficulty, while 
comparatively few belong to parties in possession of sufficient means to be their occupants. The majority 
are hotels, or public offices, or places of business, or devoted to still humbler uses, the lower rooms being let 
out to small shopkeepers, or tenants of the labouring class. Yet a passing visit to Genoa ^vill never fail to 
excite interest, the place where Columbus was born, the capital of a sovereign commercial republic for 
several centuries, the rival and at tunes the superior of Venice, the mother of colonies on the shores of 
the Black Sea and the Levant. It was taken by the French in 1797, and ceded to Sardinia by the Congress 
of Vienna in 1815. The city possesses a gi-and ancient cathedi-al, a university, several splendid theatres, 
aard is remarkable for the number and magnitude of its philanthropic foundations. The Genoese are expert 
mariners and shrewd commercialists, to be seen in all the important ports of the Mediterranean. 

LoMBARDT, entirely inland, extends from the Ehffitian Alps on the north to the banks 
of the Po on the south, between Piedmont on the west, and Austrian Italy on the east, 
■ where the frontier is defined generally by the line of the Minoio Eiver. The northern 
part of this district, at the base of the mountain-barrier, diversified by its offsets, is 
distinguished by splendid scenery, and contains the exquisitely lovely Lago di Como, and 
part of the Lago di Garda, scarcely less beautifd. The southern portion is a level plain 
renowned for its exuberant fertility and populousness. Pdch dairy produce is raised, 
especially the celebrated and misnamed Parmesan cheese, which is made iu the district 



MILAN — iEMILIA. 459 

between Milan, Pavia, and Lodi. The corn crops of the finest quality are abundant, and 
tlio white midberry is extensively cultivated for the silk-worm, to the number of at least 
17,000,000 trees. 

Milan (Ital. Milano), the principal city, ancient, populous, and highly attractive, is seated on a plain 
between the Ticino and Adda Rivers, and contains a population of 219,000, including the suburbs. It has a 
circiUar outline, is enclosed witli walls nearly eight miles in circuit, and entered by eleven gates, some of 
wliich are remarkable for massive proportions and architectural design, wliile invested mth interesting 
traditionaiy recollections. The streets are generally spacious, and the public buildings elegant, including 
palaces and churches rich in paintings. The white marble Duomo, or cathedral, which is profusely adorned 
on the exterior with statues, now in process of being multiplied to complete the original design, excites 
universal admiration. The opera-house, Delia Soala, opened in 1799, is said to be the finest in the world. 
Scientific bodies have large and valuable literary and art collections, as well as some private individuals. 
The academy has a library of 100,000 volumes ; the Ambrosian contains 60,000 ; and both have extensive 
stores of MSS. The schools of surgeiy and medicine, especially that of veterinary practice, and the 
Conservatory are celebrated ; so are the charitable and benevolent institutions, whose aggregate property is 
worth £7,000,000. The Corso, or chief street of Milan, is the rinivorsal fashionable promenade, and the 
famous arcade, or Galleria di Cristofers, with its brilliant shops and cafes, is also a favourite place of evening 
resort, and on accoxmt of its gay appearance has been called 'Little Paris.' The manufactures include 
weapons, arms, and ironwork of all descriptions; but MUan is chiefly distinguished as the seat of the 
trade between Northem Italy and Central Europe. It is favoiu'ably situated for this purpose, as the point 
to which the gi-eat routes across the Alps converge, by the Simplon, the St Gothaid, the Splugen, 
and the Stelvio, while now connected by railway with the leading Italian cities. The city has experienced 
many vicissitudes. It flom-ished under the Roman emperors, was successively plundered by the Huns and 
Goths, rose to distinction xmder the sway of Charlemagne, but was entirely desolated by a confederacy of 
adjoining powers in the middle of the twelfth csntuiy. It was speedily rebuilt, became the capital of an 
independent duchy, and after passing under various riders, was incorporated with Austria in 1815, and 
remained in impatient subjection till 1859, when it was entered by the allied French and Sardinian anny. 
The poet Virgil studied at Milan, and St Ambrose was long its bishop. 

Pavia, southward, on the Ticino, is a decayed place, though containing 30,000 inhabitants, and still the 
seat of a university, once celebrated, in whicli Volta and Spallanzani were professors. Its name is given to 
the battle fought in the neighbourhood in 1-525, wlien the French were defeated, and their king, Francis, was 
taken prisoner by tlie army of the Emperor Cliarles V. Lodi, on the Adda, forming a triangle with Milan 
and Pavia, now busy with its dairy produce, was the scene of Napoleon's terrible passage of the bridge, and 
decisive victory over the Austi-ians in 1796. Brescia, on the east of Milan, is a prosperous manufacturing 
town, v.itli 40,000 inhabit?«nts. It contains many Roman antiquities and interesting modern objects, as a 
tov,'n-hall entirely of marble of the richest description ; a noble cathedral, also of marble ; with churches 
and private galleries stored with many of the best works of tlie old masters. On the south-east, about 
twenty miles distant, is the small town of Solferino, the scene of the final victory obtained by the French 
and Sardinians in 1859, which led to the peace of Villafranca, and delivered Lombardy from the Austrians. 

Bergamo, north-east of MUan, in a delightful country, has extensive silk manufactures, and a pop<ilation of 
38,700. It was the birthplace of Bernardo Tasso, and Tirabosclii. An annual fair, held here in August for a 
fortnight, attracts a crowd of visitors from a distance, intent upon both business and pleasure. Its principal 
scene is a huge stone building which contains 609 shops, and is ranged round a court adorned witli 
fountains. Como, at the south-vrest extremity of its lake, the native place of the younger PUny, has 
18,000 inhabitants, engaged in silk and cloth mamitactures. The neighbouring counti-y is the home of a class 
of travelling pedlers, who go out into the world to make their fortune, visit Paris, London, and other 
cities, disposing of stucco figiu'es, bird-cages, barometers, and similar small-wares. They are often absent 
ten or twelve years, but many return with savings sufficient to buy a cottage and patch of land by the side 
of their native lake. According to Mr Laing, they are a very interesting class of shrewd observing men, well 
worth getting acquainted with, having seen various phases of life in different countries. 

^Emilia lies immediately southward of the Po, and embraces the country between the 
main ridge of the Aijennines and the Adriatic. It includes the old ducliies of Parma and 
Modena, with the northern part of the territory formerly under the Papal dominion, 
comprehending the legations of Bologna, Ferrara, Eavenna, and other adjoining districts, 
the affairs of which were once administered by Papal legates. The present name is 
derived from the Via Emilia, a great highway constructed by the Eomans, which 
passed through the region from Eimini on the coast to Piacenza on the Po, and had its 
designation transferred to the province during the Eoman period. This road was a 
continuation of the Via Flaminia, which ran between Eimini and Eome, and was the 
first regular route opened in the north of the peninsula. Along it civilisation travelled 



460 ITALY. 

towards the Alps, and readied the heart of Europe beyond them, when military power 
had cleared a passage across the barrier. 

Parma, the capital of the former duchy, is situated on a stream of the same name flowing northward to 
tlie Po, and contains a population of 47,000. It is of ancient date, having been established as a Roman colony 
183 B.C. The city has a handsome appearance, is the seat of a university, and possesses small but valuable 
collections of paintings and antiquities. The cathedral, a fine pUe of the eleventh centui-y, has its interior 
adorned with frescoes, the most important of which are on the cupola, by Correggio. Piacenza, with 39,000 
inliabitants, immediately adjoins the Po, on the right bank, and goes back also to the Roman period, when 
it was founded, 219 B.C., to serve as a protective position against the Gauls. Its principal square is one 
of the iinest in Italy. 

Modena, a former ducal capital, occupies a plain between the Po and the Apennines, possesses colleges of 
theology, law, medicine, &o., a botanic garden, cabinets of natural histoi-y, a library of 100,000 volumes, with 
many manuscripts. The campanile, or belfry, is one of the great towers of Italy, 315 feet high. The population 
numbers 55,000. Meggio, a few miles distant, was the birthplace of Aiiosto in 1474, and of Correggio in 1494, 
has a population of 50,000. Carrara, on the western side of the Apennines, near the Mediterranean shore, is 
famous for its quarries of statuaiy marble opened in the face of some lofty, picturesquely-shaped, woodless 
mountains. More than 1200 men are here constantly employed, and the supply seems inexhaustible. 

Bologna, the largest of the iEmilian cities, two miles in length by one in breadth, entered by twelve gates 
contains 109,000 inhabitants, and occupies a plain carpeted with the beautiful hemp-plant. Arched colonnades 
extend over the foot-pavements on both sides of the streets, which are convenient owing to the frequent 
rains, but have a very gloomy effect. The manufactures are considerable, comprising silks, glass, chemical 
preparations, and instruments. Bologna has more than seventy churches, many of which are rich in the 
master-pieces of Italian art. Its ancient university, founded m 1119, is remarkable for having had a few 
female professors of distinction. It has a library of 105,000 volumes, with 6000 manuscripts. The painters 
Guido, Domenichiuo, and the three Caracci were natives, as well as Galvani, the physician, whose name 
has acquired wide celebrity by a purely accidental discovery, in which originated the science of galvanism, 
bom in 1737. The present inhabitants are generally distinguished by their intelligence and independent 
spirit. Bologna (the Bononia of the ancients), after having given six popes to Home and nearly a 
hundred cardinals, instantly threw off the Papal yoke upon the mthdrawal of the Austrian troops in 1860. 
Ferrara, in the delta of the Po, a few miles from the main channel, is surromided by walls, and has a popu- 
lation of 25,000, scarcely one-tom-th of the number it possessed in the middle ages, when it was the seat of a 
splendid ducal court, and the most important commercial emporium in Italy. It now wears a very melan- 
choly aspect. Grass grows in the streets, while the palaces are deserted and crmnbling. But the churches 
are numerous, of striking arcliitecture, and rich in paintings. The university also retains celebrity as a school 
of medicme and jurisprudence ; and the public library of 80,000 volumes is of great interest from its missals 
and manuscripts. Among the latter are works in the handwriting of Ariosto and Tasso. Here Ai-iosto was 
buried, and Tasso was imprisoned. IDs prison is shewn in the hospital of St Anna, a room below the gromid- 
floor, lighted by a grated window from the yard, and inscribed with the names of distinguished visitors; those 
of Lord Byron and Lamartine among others. Ferrara was long the seat of the Dukes of Este,^rom whom 
the House of Brunsmck and the royal family of England derive then- direct descent. 

Ravenna, one of the famed liistorio sites, with a population of 57,000, is now about five miles from the sea, but 

was once washed by its waves, and was a piincipal station of the Roman fleet. The deposit of sediment brought 

down by the Po accounts for the change. By means of a canal alone is commimication maintained with the 

Adriatic. The emperors made the city their residence when Italy v/as threatened by the barbarians. It was 

afterwards the capital of the Lombard Kingdom, and the head of an independent district through the middle 

ages. Ravenna is now only of interest to the lovers of medieval art, remains of which are very nmnerous 

and striking ; and to pilgrims to poetic shrines, as the scene of the death of Dante. Banished from Florence, 

he accepted the hospitality of its feudal ruler, and spent the last years of his life in the city. The ' Poet Sire 

of Italy ' often wandered in the pine-forest before referred to. A particular part of it now bears the name 

of Vicolo cle Poeti, from a tradition that at the spot he loved to meditate. His sketch of the terrestrial 

paradise in the Pm-gatorio is drawn from the scenery on a sunny breezy mom, ' the sweet hours of prime,' 

when the birds * their several arts pursued among the trees,' while the leaves ' kept harmoruous mumiur 

with their notes.' Dante's mausoleum, a square edifice, is behind the Church of S. Francesco, and has had 

many a notable visitor. Chateaubriand knelt bareheaded at the door before he entered; Byron placed a 

copy of the poet's works upon the tomb ; and Alfieri prostrated liimseK, and embodied his emotions in one 

of his finest sonnets. Byron, who spent two years in Ravenna, has commemorated the wood, and the 

changes of the shore. ,»•,•,....,,. ,-. , 

" ' Sweet hour of twilight !— in tho solitudo 

Of the pine forest, and the silent shore, 
Which bounds Kavenna's immemorial wood, 

Kooted where once tho Adrian wave flowed o'er. 
To where the last Csesarian fortress stood, 

Evergreen forest ! ' 

Rimini, an episcopal city and seaport on the south, represents the ancient Arimiaum, and has an object 



THE MARCHES TUSCANY. 



4C1 
Population, 



of interest in the triumphal arch of Augustus, ivitli valuable silver-mines in its vicmity. 
33,000. 

The Marches, soutliward on tlio coast, form a small district extending to tlie nortliern 
border of tlio old kingdom of Kaples, and with Ui[BRL\., an inland province, on the 
opposite side of the Ajjennines, embracing the upper basin of the Tiber, were formerly 
included in the States of the Church. 

Ancona, a busy commercial town and fortified seaport, is one of tlie most important places on the Adriatic, 
about 130 miles south-east of Venice, and the same distance north-east of Kome. It possesses various 
manufactui'es, and contains 40,000 inhabitants, among whom are many Jews, Greeks, and Moslems. The 
town is built in the fonn of an amphitheatre on tlie slope of two hills risins from the shore. It has an 
excellent hai'bour formed by a breakwater on one 
side, and a fine pier on the other, 2000 feet in 
length, 100 feet in breadth, and 65 feet above the 
water, shewing a revolving light at the extremity. 
A triumphal arch of Trajan is one of the most 
admired Koman remains extant. Loretlo, a cele- 
brated shrine of the Virgin, is a few miles to the 
south, -with a magnificent church, once rich with 
offerings from crowds of devotees. Urbino is of 
interest as the bu-thplace of Eaphael, and as the 
spot where most of the beautiful specimens of 
painted pottery, called Majolica, were produced. 

Perugia, the chief town in the Umbrian province, 
with about 13,000 inhabitants, is seated on the left 
bank of the Tiber, ninety miles north of Eome. It 
is the se.at of a university, and possesses some silk 
manufactures. Diu-ing the Eoman period it was 
an important; city, long deJied the power of the 
Goths ; and in the neighbourhood some of the most 
interesting Etruscan antiquities have been round. 
The Lake of Perugia, the ancient Thrasimeims, is a 
few miles distant, on the shores of wMch Hannibal 
obtained his fainpus victory over the consul 
Flaminius, 217 B. c. 

Tuscany, fprjneily a, gi-and duchy, 
extends along the Mediterranean, and 
from thence inland to the Apennines. 
The mountains, receding from the shore, 
leave a spacious district intermediate, from '^'^^ "^ Valambrossa. 

seventy to eighty miles in its greatest ^width, through which the Arno, Ombrone, 
and some other streams travel to the sea. The more maritime portion of this 
tract is a plain, and belongs largely to the malarious region, called the Marenmia. 
It is however fertile, yields a variety of mineral substances, and the desolate expanses 
were in ancient times densely peopled, shewing that the cessation of industry for 
centuries in cultivating the soU, rather than any inevitable operation of nature, has 
provoked the brooding pestilence. A considerable proportion of hiUy sm-face borders the 
Apennines, and approaches the sea in the north, whoUy free from the enemy, where the 
scenery is beautiful, the people actively industrial, working quarries of marble, mines of 
copper, and prosecuting agricultural occupations. The oKve is extensively cultivated, 
and the best olive-oil is here produced from the fruit. The preparation of straw-plait, with 
the manufacture of straw-hats, is also a prevailing emplojrment. Tuscany corresponds 
in its general limits to the Etmria Proper of antiquity, which was held by twelve 
sovereign cantons, one of which cradled the Tarquins, so prominent in the early annals of 
Eome. The island of Elba, celebrated for having been the scene of l^apoleon's exile in 
1814, surrounded by a muaber of rocky islets, lies about five mUes off the coast. 




462 ITALY. 

Florenci (Ital. Fiorenza, now Fireiue), the capital of the former grand duchy, called la bella, ' the 
beautiful,* is delightfully situated in the garden-valley of tlie Arno, about 50 miles inland, and contains a 
population of 114,500. It occupies botli banks of the river, "whicli is crossed by four fine bridges, is 
surrounded by walls six miles in circuit, and commimicates by eight gates with thickly-peopled suburbs. 
The city is remarkable for tlie number of its castellated palaces of the middle ages, its gorgeous chiuxhcs, 
rich galleries of art, large libraries, and stores of valuable manuscript, which, v/ith the intelligence of the 
inhabitants, and the loveliness of the environs, attract many foreigners to it as a residence. Inscriptions 
in English on many sign-boards indicate their presence. The cathedral, founded in 1298, is a splendid 
edifice, the cupola of which was taken as a model for that of St Peter's at Eomo. It has in recent 
times put on a singular appearance; for while the exterior, under the control of civil authorities, 




Plorence. 

has been brilliantly illuminated in honour of the restored Italian nationality, the clergy, who command 
the interior, have kept it in utber darkness. The Cliurch of Santa Croce is of interest .is the 
Westminster Abbey of Florence, containing monuments of illustrious Florentines or Tuscans ; those of Dante, 
Galileo, Michael Angelo, and MaohiaveUi, among others. The Palazzo Pitti, recently the grand ducal resi- 
dence, possesses a superb gallery of paintings, and a library of 70,000 volumes. Silks, carpets, straw-hats, 
mosaic-work, porcelain, and jewellery are the principal manufactm-es. Below the city, by the side of the 
Arno, is the Casine, or Hyde Park of the fashionables ; a long narrow plantation of trees, where they assemble 
on simimer evenings to drive and ride. Florence, in the tliirteenth century, was a chief scene of the struggle 
between the rival factions of the Guclphs and the Ghibellines. It afterwards adopted a republican consti- 
tution, rose to great prosperity, and, though often distui-bed, popular institutions were maintained till 
August 8, 1530. The city was then taken by the imperialists, and the grand duchy of Tuscany constituted. 
Areszo, on the south-east, at the foot of the Apennines, of very ancient date, is now a decaj'ed town, but 
with many memorials of former importance, as extensive walls and numerous churches. It was one of the 
twelve Etruscan cities, and is remarkable for its long list of distinguished natives, which includes, among 
others, Mscenas, the patron of letters in the Augustan age, Pctrarcli, Aretino, Guide, Eedi, and Vasari. 
Michael Angelo was also bom in the immediate vicinity. Pistoja, on the north-west, small but highly industrial, 
produces firearms, cutlery, with general hardwares, and claims the invention and first manufacture of pistols. 



ISLAND OP ELBA. 



463 



Leghorn (Ital. Livomo), the principal seaport, Avitli 90,000 inhabitants, cmln-aocs all the foreign trade o£ 
Tuscany, and ranks as the greatest commercial emporium in Italy. A fine light-house stands prominently on 
an isolated rock in the sea. The town is well built, paved, and lighted, has spacious squares, regular streets, 
with wide footpaths on cither side, and is one of the most improvmg places on the continent. Ship-buildinc 
and the other industries of a groat port are carried on. Great numbers of visitors arrive in the summer season 
from Rome, Florence, Bologna, Sienna, and other in],and sites, to beneiit by the sea-breeze. The givave of Smollett 
is in tho English cemeteiy. Tuscan straw-plait, commonly called Leghorn, acquired the name from the place 
of expca't. Pisa, on tho Arno, a few miles above its mouth, once the head of a powerful commercial republic 
is now a comparatively decayed city, biit contains many noble edifices ; and its ancient university is still a 
principal centre of education. Population, 51,000. The remarkable object is the 'leaning tower,' a circular 
structui-e ISS feet high, which diverges iifteen feet from the perpendicular, but whether from accident or 
design is not known. Lucca, on the north of Pisa, in the valley of the SeccMo, is a pleasant and 
thriving town, vei-y agreeably situated, being encompassed by an amphitheatre of hills covered with 
olive gi-oves, in a highly-cultivated coimtry. The baths of Lucca, about fifteen miles distant, are in a valley 
of picturesque villages and villas, shaded by mountains covered with chestnut-trees, so steep and high that 
the sun appears two hours later in the morning, and is lost sight of two hours earlier in the evening, thus 
curtailing the length of the natural day, and checking the acoumiilation of heat. The mineral waters, 
the lovely sceneiy, and the coolness, render the place an agreeable summer residence, and a favourite 
resort, especially with the English, who have a handsome church. Population, 03,000. Sienna, thirty 
miles south of Florence, has lost the importance it once possessed, though still a considerable place, and the 
seat of a university, with many objects of interest. It was formerly the capital of an independent republic, 
had a celebrated school of painting to which its name is given. The citizens are celebrated for their pure 
Italian speech. 

The island of Elba, celebrated as the scene of Wapoleon's first banishment, separated from the mainland 
by the channel of Piombino, is eighteen miles long, but at one point only about three broad, owing to inlets 
on the opposite sides. The shores are rocky, and the interior is momitainous, the higher part of wliich is 
bare and sterile, but the lower gi-omids and valleys have the vine, olive, mulberiy, and other trees. Iron ore, 
of very rich quaUty, occm-s in profusion, and mines have been worked since the early part of the Eoman 
period. A hUl, 500 feet high, and two miles in circuit, consists ahnost entirely of ore. Porto Ferrajo, the 
chief town, is of small size, on the north coast. Tli" ^ ii^iid lias a total population of about 21,000. 





Gaeta, from the Soa. 

Tlie JSTeapolitan Pbovinces emTji-aoe part of the centre and the whole south of the 
peninsula. This region includes the highest points and wildest scenery of the Apennines, 
which, with their banditti, largely occupied the pencil of Salvator Eosa. Eecent political 
changes have rendered brigandage more common than ever, under the plea of serving the 
cause of the fallen dynasty. The country possesses great natural advantages, a fine climate, 
a soil overflowing almost spontaneously -mth. the choicest productions for the use of man. 
But the mass of the people are -wretched objects to observers from northerly latitudes, 
ill clad and LU housed, partly owing to maladministration under a long absolute government, 
and partly to their own indolence. With Httle labour a supply of vegetable and farinaceous 
food is seciu'ed — olives, wine, Indian corn, legumes, and fruit — to which small fish 
found in shoals along the shores is readUy added. Fuel is not needed except for pre- 
paring meals, where the sun furnishes the requisite warmth for personal oouifort j the 
same cause offers an excuse for indifference to clothing and house accommodation ; and 
th\is the very bounty of nature is turned into a curse by a population indisposed to 
industry, to whom it is the height of enjoyment to lounge and gossip in the thoroughfares, 
bask in the sunbeams, or slumber in the shade. The provinces contain many sites of 
great scenic beauty and classical interest, unique remains of ancient civilisation, found 
in the cities which have been exhumed from the load of volcanic ashes under which 
they were buried for centuries, Heroulaneum and Pompeii. With Sicily, the south- 
western portions form the earthquake region qf Itjily, visited by shocks of tremendous 
violence in the last century, commencing in 1783, when chasms were opened in the 
ground, streams were diverted into fresh channels, and aU buildings near the focus of 
disturbance were levelled, to the destruction of thousands of lives. 

Waples (Ital. NapoU), the largest of the Italian cities, containing a population of 447,000, is seated on the 
shore of a splendid bay of the Mediterranean, besprinkled ^Yith tomis, hamlets, and viUas, oUve and orange 
groves, orchards and vineyards, while mountains rise liigh in the clear blue sky, clothed with forests on their 



NAPLES. 465 

slopes, and carpeted Tvitli deep gx-een grass-fields at their base. The scenery has heen enthusiastically styled 
' a piece of heaven let down upon the earth.' In connection with the climate it originated the saying, Vedi 
Napoli c poi tiluori — ' See Naples, and tlien die.' The city rises in the form of an amphitheatre on the slope of 
a range of hiUs. It has no land-defences, and is but feebly protected to seaward by the Castle of St Elmo and 
two forts. Most of the houses are lofty and the streets narrow. The open spaces or squares are few, and not 
large, except in one or two instances ; and besides a miiltitude of churches, an immense palace, and a magnifi- 
cent theatre, the public buildings are not remarkable. But the National Museum, as it is now called, much 
improved in its arrangements since the recent political change, contains an unrivalled collection of vases, 
bronzes, gems, and other reKos of antiquity ; a picture gallery, fresco paintings, a library of 150,000 volumes, 
with papyri found in Hercnlaneum. The people with whom the principal streets are crowded, are the notice- 
able objects out of doors, but it is necessary to avoid contact with them. Scarcely a tithe of the number are 
intent npon any serious business, mostly belonging to the class of lazzaroni, mendicants, and pilferers. They 
are active with voice and gesture, assuming every variety of attitude, squatting on the ground, lounging at 
the doorways, or grouped at comers. Naples has been called a ' wonderful den of human animals — ^the 
St GUes's of Europe.' The principal industry is the production of silk goods and the fishery along-shore, 
with the making of macaroni and vermicelli for the daily fare of the populace. Capua, strongly fortified, 
on the north of Naples, covers the approach to it in that direction. 




Street of the Tombs, Pompeii. 

Across part of the bay, on the south-east, and three nules from the opposite shore, the graceful form of 
Vesuvius rises to the height of 3792 feet, seeming much nearer than it is through the transparent atmosphere. 
It is the first object to which the stranger directs his gaze. No other mountain has had so many eyes turned 
to it at the same time as tliis, for no other volcano has a city so vast in its neighbourhood. Vineyards clothe 
the lower slopes, wliich, -ivith the dwellings of the peasantry, are inifailingly renewed as often as they are ravaged 
by eruptions, yielding a delicious wine. The railway takes the visitor to the village of Portici, from which the 
ascent of Vesuvius is made. Half-way up, at the limit of the cultivated groimd, is the Hermitage, a house for 
refreshment, reached by mules and donkeys. The other half consists of lava, scoris;, and volcanic rubbish, 
which for months retams the heat after an explosion. At the seaward base of the mountain are the ill-fated 
cities of Henculaueum and Pompeii, partially uncovered and still partly buried, which have revealed more of 
the private life of the ancients than all other remains put together. Herculaneum was discovered in its volcanic 
tomb in 1711, by a peasant while deepening a well. It lies at the depth of from 70 to 120 feet below the surface, 
and has yielded a vast number of art treasures, now in the museum at Naples, while several of its buildings 
have been uncovered. The site of Pompeii was not identified till some time afterwards. It has been much 
more completely cleared of the superincumbent material. In 174S, the Amphitheatre was brought to light ; 
1763, the Gate of Hercules; 1764, Theatres and Temple of Isis; 1811, the House of Pansa; 1813, the Forum; 

2d 



466 ITALY. 

1818, the Temples of Mercury and Venus ; 1825, the House of the Tragic Poet ; 1826, the Street of Mercury ; 
1829, the Street of Fortune ; 1841, the Street of Merchants ; 1845, the Quadi-ivium ; and 1847, the House of 
Lucrezio. It is said that about 600 skeletons have been discovered in the r\iins, but records can hardly be 
found for half the number. The systematic excavations now in progress reveal almost daily new and 
important discoveries. 

Near the north-west extremity of the bay stands PuzzitoU, a small town, which represents Puteoli, the 
landing-place of St Paul, on his journey to Rome ; also Bala, the Brighton of the Roman nobility ; and Cu7na, 
inland, now consistmg of a few scattered farmhouses, with immense ruins covered with a wilderness of shrubs. 
At a short distance from the shore lies the island of Ischia, with mineral waters, rich fruits, and enchanting 
scenery, the seat of volcanic action in ancient and modern times, but not recently. Castellmnare, at the south- 
east angle of the bay, is a considerable manufactm-ing to^vn and port. The small isle of Capri is at the 
southern entrance of the bay, the scene of the giiilt and gloom of the Emperor Tiberius, remarkable for its 
Sappliire Grot, a cave by the sea, the roof and sides of which are of the deepest azure hue. 

Northward on the coast is Gaeta, an important stronghold, of ancient foundation, the Cajeta of the 
Romans, and of recent notoriety, as the refuge of Pope Pius IX. in 1848, when revolution drove him from his 
capital ; it was the last place held by the Neapolitan Bourbon dynasty in 1860. It occupies a far projecting 
promontory with a bold termination, connected by a low narrow isthmus with the mainland, overlooks a 
beautiful bay, has many remains of classical interest in the vicinity, is very strongly fortified, and contains 
about 14,000 inliabitants. The Tower of Orlando, on the highest point of the headland, a circular building, is 
said to have been erected as a mausoleum for a friend of the Roman Emperor Augustus. In the citadel the 
tomb of the Constable Bourbon, kUled at the capture of Rome, wliUe scaling the walls, in 1527, is shewn. 
The Roman town was the scene of Cicero's assassination, 43 B. 0. Fondi, a few iniles inland, near the Papal 
Territory, has only interest from its position on the Appian "Way, which forms the piincipal street, and the 
fniitful adjoining plain, which produced the celebrated Ciecuban wine of the classic age. On the coast 
southward of the Bay of Naples stands Salerno, connected with the caj^ital by railway, the seat of a 
university once famed for its school of medicine. It is a considerable commercial site, possesses silk-works, 
has rice-grounds in the neighbourhood, passed by the traveller on his way to the majestic ruins of 
Psestum. Population, 29,000. Reggio, on the continental side of the Strait of Messina, a larger town, 
with upwards of 30,000 inhabitants, represents ancient Rhegium, one of the most renowned of the Gra3co- 
Italian cities, the birthplace of many distinguished men, touched at by St Paul on his voyage to Rome. The 
Greek language was spoken here down to a late period of the middle ages. 

Taranto, between the projections of Southern Italy, on the shore of the gulf which bears its name, contains 
a population of 27,000, but has fallen completely from its historical consequence. Founded by emigrants 
from Sparta, seven centuries before the Christian era, it acquired immense wealth by commerce, maintained 
a large number of mercenary troops, and was nominally at the head of all the Greek colonies in the 
peninsula. GalUpoU, a much smaller town, of similar origin, on the eastern side of the ga\i, is finely 
situated on a steep insulated rock, connected by a bridge with the maudand, is rendered by nature and 
fortifications a very strong military position. It is remarkable for its cisterns excavated in the limestone 
rock, in which the olive oil of the province is deposited and clarified for exportation. 

On the Adriatic side of the country, Brindisi is the impoverished representative of Brundusium, so often 
mentioned in Roman history as the ordinary point of passage between Italy and Greece. Bari and Barleita 
are now the chief ports, both considerable places. Foggia, the largest inland town, with 34,000 inhabitants, 
in the fertile Aptdian plain, is well budt, and the centre of great trade in corn, cattle, wool, cheese, wine, oil, 
and capers. Aquila, the birthplace of Sallust, and Sidmona, of Ovid, the first named a commercial mart of 
consequence, are in the mountainous province of Abruzzo Ultra, within view of the highest and most rugged 
portion of the Apennines. Arpino, the native place of Cicero, Marius, and Agrippa, is a town of some size 
towards the Papal frontier, and contains monuments which go back to tlieir age. Nola, eastward of Naples, 
has its name historically noted as the scene of the death of the Emperor Augustus, and the spot where bells 
are said to have been first used in churches. 





Sicily, separated from the south-western part of the mainland by a narrow channel, is 
a large and lovely island, extending upwards of 160 miles from east to west on the 
northern side, and from thence contracting southward so as to assume the general form of 
a triangle. Its coast-line embraces many excellent harbours ; the interior is watered by 
numerous small rivers; and while the scenery is splendid and the soil fertile, the 
vegetation is luxuriant, and the climate favourable to the growth of tropical plants on the 
lowlands. A range of mountains of moderate elevation runs parallel to the northern 
shore, and diversifies the greater part of the surface with its offsets, but the eastern side 
is distinguished by the enormous volcanic cone of Etna, the great natural feature of the 
island. The mountain, now called Monte Gibello by the natives, ascends considerably 
above the range of vegetable life, and rises up from a base of more than eighty miles in 
circuit. It is completely isolated from the coast-chain by a valley, as well as from heights 
in other directions. The shores for many miles on either hand are formed of dark lava 
streams, which have descended its slopes, poured into the sea, and been suddenly cooled 
by it, which give to the strand a singular appearance, as if formed by the accumulation of 
millions of tons of coal. Around the base of the mountain, and ascending to some 
height, is a cultivated district, producing corn, wine, oil, fruit, and aromatic plants, 
studded with towns, villages, and farms. This is the Fertile region, above which lies a 
"Woody zone of considerable breadth, consisting of forests of oak, beech, chestnut, poplar, 
and pine, with interspersing pastures for flocks and herds. The uppermost region is a 
dreary desei-t plain, covered with black lava, scorise, ashes, ice, and snow, in the centre of 
which rises the crater-bearing cone. Etna may be ascended without any extraordinary 
difficulty. The travelling distance to the summit from Catania is about twenty-fom* miles. 
Sicily produces silk, the greater part of which is manufactured into ordinary sOk stuffs ; 
a small quantity of cotton is raised ; the coral, tunny, and other fisheries are extensively 
prosecuted ; the sulphur-mines are of great value ; and various minerals peculiar to 



468 ITALY. 

volcanic districts occur, as chiysolite, zeolite, selenite, alum, nitre, vitriol, mercury, and 
spicular iron. Tke Lipari Isles, about twelve in numl)er, are grouped off the north-east 
coast. 

Falernw, on the northern shore, 190 miles south by west of Naples, ranks with the principal cities of 
Europe in size and appearance, containing a population of 194,000. The streets are spacious, the squares 
numerous, the flat-roofed balconied houses and public biiildings handsome, and the sea-views beautiful, 
particularly the one from the Marina, a long promenade by the shore. It is the see of an archbishop, the 
seat of a university, possesses a botanic garden and an astronomical observatory from which Piazzi discovered 
the planet Ceres, so named after the tutelar goddess of SicUy. At Palermo the dreadful massacre of the 
Sicilian Vespers commenced in 1282, caused by an insult offered by a Frenchman to a lady, which ended in 
the entu-e destruction of his countrymen tlrroughout the island. Around the city stretches a spacious, 
fertile, and well-cultivated plain, called by the semi-oriental natives La Conm (fO)-o—' The Golden Shell,' 
bounded by mountains, remarkable for the aloes by the waysides, the stems of which start up to the height of 
twenty feet, and are as thick as a small tree. The swelling hills enclose the small town of Monreale, the 
'Koyal Mount,' about four miles distant, distinguished by one of the most splendid and costly painted 
churches in Europe. 

Messina, a busy seaport on the north-east coast, with 103,000 inhabitants, presents an equally fine appear- 
ance, having many good buildings, picturesque fortifications, and mountains in the background. It has one 
of the best harbours m Europe, forming a curve along whicli runs a noble quay two miles in length. The 
Strait of Messma, or the channel between Sicily and the mainland, is rather more than two milefe and ii 
quarter in width at the narrowest part. In the immediate neighbourhood of the city, about a quarter of a 
mile from the shore, and in the middle of a kind of bay, there is a spot of agitated water from seventy to 
ninety fathoms deep, circling in rapid eddies. This is the whirlpool of Charybdis, so much dreaded by the 
ancient mariners, apparently caused by the meeting of some local lateral currents with the main current 
which runs through the strait. SmaU-craft are occasionally endangered ; even large vessels of war may be 
turned round ; but no peril need be apprehended if proper caution is exercised. The rocks of ScyUa, the 
twin danger with Charybdis to the old navigators, are situated on the Italian side of the channel, a few miles 
northward of the whirlpool. They lie partly under water at the foot of the bold headland on which the 
Castle of ScyUa is buUt, a precipitous cliff, in places positively overhanging the sea. The two spots became 
proverbial for peril on either hand, or a choice of evUs, but they present no diifioulties to modern 
seamanship. 




Catania,, the third place in importance, with 63,000 inhabitants, is a seaport at the southern foot of Etna, 
with silk manufactures and a large export trade in corn, friiits, vrine, and snow from the mountain. The 
houses are built and the streets paved with lava. It has repeatedly suffered from earthquakes and eruptions 
of the volcano. In 1669 a lava stream reached the walls, which were pertinaciously lieightened and 
strengthened to stop its flow, but the fiery torrent poured over them at last, covered part of the city, and 
entered the sea. Marsala, towai'ds the west extremity of the island, is celebrated for the wine which bears 
its name, the export of which is very considerable. Population, 31,000. Bronte, a town at the western base 
of Mount Etna, about twenty-two miles north-north-west of Catania, possesses woollen and paper 
manuf actui'es, and produces oil, almonds, and v/ine ; but is chiefly interesting to us as the dukedom with 
which the Neapolitan government rewarded the services of Admiral Lord Nelson. 

Sicily, during the middle ages, was held successively by the Goths, the Moors, the Normans, the Prench, and 
the Spaniards. In ancient times, Greek colonists had at first the mastery, but were compelled to share it with 
Carthaginian settlers, tfll both eventually submitted to the power of the Romans. Of the old foundations, 
Syracuse, a city of five regions, occupying a triangle more than twelve miles in compass, on the shore of a 




Bronte. , 

noUe bay, had the precedonco in date, fame, and splendour ; the magmficent harbour remains, on the cast 
coast, to the south of Catania, but is used only by p, few coasting barks. The small fortified town of Sirar/u^a, 
with narrow and dirty streets, mean public buildings, stands on part of the ancient site, but the vestiges of 
pagan antiquity are few and unimportant. There are catacombs of the early Christian age, wide and lofty 
passages hewn in the rock, with deep arched recesses on each side, stuccoed and painted walls, some of which 
have had gates and locks. Ancient Syracuse was the birthplace of Archimedes, Theocritus, and Moschus; 
and for a tune the residence of Plato, Zeno, Simonides, and Cicero. On tire south-west coast, AgrigenUcm has 
been more f ortmiate, for its ruins, beside the insignificant modern town of Girgenti, are among the most magni- 
ficent of all classical monuments. Here are remains of the forum, circus, camps, aqueducts, and reservoir ; 
columns of a beautifully proportioned temple, called that of Juno, in the midst of carob and olive trees ; 
entire columns of another temple, named that of Concord, with the entablature and pediments of both fronts 
nearly complete ; and huge piles of ruins styled the Temple of the Giants, which vouch for the correctness of 
the description given of the shrine of Jupiter Olympius at the site, but which was wholly disbelieved till the 
vast mass of fallen fragments was discovered. This structure was the largest temple ever erected by the 
Greeks, at home or abroad. Its dimensions are ascertained from the remaining wrecks ; and the modern 
measurements prove the ancient assertion to be strictly true, that a man could hide himself in one of the 
flutings of tlie cohmms. Another spot, Enna, is rapturously spoken of by the classical writers, who describe 
it as an impregnable fastness, the seat of a stately temple of Ceres, a flowery meadow aroimd it, with a lake 
adjoining, as well as luxuriant woods and pasturages, where the odour of the violets was sufficiently strong 
to throw dogs off the scent. Milton seized upon its reported beauty as an emblem of the Garden of Eden. 

' That fair field 
Of Enna, where Proserpine gathering flowers. 
Herself a fairer flower, fay gloomy Dis 
Was gathered, which cost Ceres all that pain 
To seek her through the world.* 

Tliis place, of which other features are given, is identified with Castro Giovanni, a hill-town in the heart of 
the island. But the fastness, a ridge with precipitous sides, has no trees, flowers, or verdure ; the lake is a 
marsh four miles in circuit ; the temple has disappeared ; and a Saracenic castle in ruins crowns one of the 
heights. 

Tlie deep rocky valley of Ipsaca, on the south coast, westward of Cape Passaro, is perhaps the most 
anciently occupied site in Sicily, or in Europe, which stUl retains inhabitants. This valley has on one side a 
wall of perpendicular rock, which presents a prodigious number of small excavated chambers, arranged over 
each other in several stories, of ten or twelve feet each, the opposite side exhibiting the same appearance, but 
to a less extent. There are as many doors as chambers, all of the same size and worlanansliip, almost all of 



470 ITALY. 

the same form, and evidently designed for the same purpose. Each chamber forms a square with obtuse 
angles, eighteen feet long by six wide, and as many in height. The vaUey presents this appearance for the 
length of three miles, and was therefore once the seat of a numerous population. In some instances a second 
cliamber occurs behind the first ; and occasionally the upper communicate with the lower by round apertures, 
where doubtless temporary ladders were placed, serving instead of staircases. The dwellings were evidently 
constructed by a very rustic people, for not a straight line appears, nor a right angle, nor an arched roof, nor 
a smooth surface. The origin of this curious troglodytio city, now the abode of a few peasants, is involved in 
complete obscurity. 

Sardinia, somewhat exceeding Sicily in size, tut inferior in -wealth and importance, 
while much less known, ranks as the largest island in the Mediterranean, and measures 
about 160 miles from north to south, hy an average breadth of seventy miles. It lies to 
the soutli of Corsica, from which it is separated by the Strait of Bonifacio. The shores 
abound with spacious and beautiful bays ; the interior is extensively mountainous, 
especially ia the north ; but none of the summits equal the Corsican in height. Woods 
of chestnut, cork, ilex, and wild cherry, with an undergrowth of myrtle, arbutus, and 
brilliant flowers, densely clothe the sides of the hills, sheltering the wild-boar, deer, 
quails, partridges, and other game-birds. Along the southern and western coasts are 
plains, ill many parts highly cultivated, rich with viueyards, olive and orange groves, 
intersected with hedges entirely composed of cactus. But the lower grounds in these 
districts are marshy, and for months during the summer heats the exhalations are very 
fatal to strangers, and deleterious to the natives. Hence the old Eomans regarded the 
island with mingled feelings of satisfaction and dread. They profited by its fertility, and 
it became one of their granaries, while they shunned a sojourn for any length of time on 
its shores, deporting to them criminals and political foes. Sardinia possesses a spare 
population, generally uncultivated and prone to indolence, cunning and revengeful, but 
courteous and hospitable, with a number of outlaws in the mountain-fastnesses, either ban- 
dits, by birth, or offenders against the laws who have absconded from the pursuit of justice. 

Cagliari, the capital, is finely placed on a commanding hiU of the south coast, overlooldng a spacious bay, 
and contains a population of 30,900. It possesses a cathedral, many churches, a weU-attended imiversity, and 
several public scmmaries. Its narrow steep streets are scenes of great anunation by day, except for about 
two hours at noon, when every one retires to rest ; for the inhabitants commonly foUow their caUings before 
their own thresholds, carpenters, taUors, tinmen, shoemakers, and yoimg women spinning with spindle and 
distaff. The 1st of May is their grand holiday, the festival of St Efisio, tho patron saint, when gims fire, 
flags fly, bells ring, and the image of the saint, large as life, in full canonicals, is conducted to the place of his 
martyrdom, about fifteen miles distant, attended by a procession of priests and people. Sassari, the rival 
town, in the north division of the island, with a population of 25,000, has also a university, with considerable 
trade in tobacco and fruits. Oristano, on the west coast, exports corn, salt, and fish ; and has the remarkable 
orange-groves of Mills in its vicinity, several mUes in extent. ' Do not imagine,' says a visitor, ' a group of 
orange-trees here and there, the perfume of which comes and goes as yoii approach, and as you leave it ; 
but try to realise the idea of a wood — a veritable forest ! As far as the eye can reach under this bahny 
forest it meets with nothing but oranges. 

Sardinia was early colonised by the Phoenicians, Greeks, and Carthagiiuans. The Eomans wrested the 
mastery from the latter, and retained it tUl tho fall of the empire. In the middle ages, the rival republics of 
Genoa and Pisa contended for its possession, but referrmg their respective claims to the pope, he decided for 
neither, and attached it to the crown of Aragon, to be held as a fief of the papacy. In 1720 it passed from 
Spanish rule to that of the House of Savoy and Piedmont, and gave the title of King of Sardhiia to the 
reigning princes, till the monarchy merged in the new Kingd-om of Italy. 

The Sards betray their composite origin by dififerences of language, dress, and manners. Besides Italian, 
nearly pure Spanish is spoken in some districts, and a mixture of the two, interlarded with oriental foims of 
speech, in others. The festal fare of the people is unique. It consists of a huge wild-boar, inside the carcass 
of wliioh is placed a Irid, and within the kid a sucking-pig, with a quail or some other game-bird stiU more 
interior. The whole mass is roasted in a hole of the ground, lined well on all sides with branches of myrtle, 
between embers of charcoal above and below. The flavour imparted by the myrtle is said to be exquisite. 
Monuments of antiquity, called Noraghe, are profusely scattered over the surface of the island. These are 
stone towers of conical form, often placed on the summit of hills, in various states of preservation, but 
generally of prodigious strength. They are probably prehistoric, of unknown design, though considered by 
some to have been places of sepulture to the earlier colonists. 




Castle of St Aiigelo and St Peter's. ^ 

II. EOMAN OR PONTIFICAL TERRITOBY. 

The reduced domain of the Church lies on the western coast of Italy, hetween the 
Neapolitan and Tuscan provinces of the Italian Kingdom, but has only an inconsiderahle 
extension inland. The total area very slightly exceeds 4500 square miles, and would be 
immediately free from ecclesiastical rule by the suffrages of its inhabitants, were it not 
for the presence of a foreign soldiery. It is traversed by the lower course of the Tiber, and 
of its affluent the Teverone, consists of a plain studded here and there with low volcanic 
hUls, comprehending a large extent of dry pasture-ground, without trees or habitations, 
but thickly studded with shapeless remains of buildings. Though naturally fertUe, and 
once productive, yet under the joint iniiuence of neglect, social disorganisation, and 
malaria, the district has degenerated largely into a desert, one of the least-peopled portions of 
the peninsula, which the traveller would -sefrain from entering but for associations with the 
past, and the attractions of the Eternal City. In the extreme south are the Pontine Marshes, 
which extend about twenty-four miles along the coast, by six in breadth, formed by a 
number of streams which have no sufficient outlet, or descent adequate to carry off their 
waters. Attempts at the drainage have been often made, but not with much success, 
and the whole tract is highly insalubrious. The Pontifical Territory contains only a 
population of 690,000, aE of whom are impatient of their political condition, except 
clergy, mercenaries, and brigands. 

Borne (Ital. Boma), the mistress of the ancient world, the capital of Papal Christendom, and the proper 
metropolis of Italy, is situated on both banks of the Tiber, about sixteen miles above its mouth, in latitude 
41° 50' north, longitude 12° Sff east, and contains a population of 197,000. The river is narrow, but deep, rapid, 
and tui'bid ; and has the gi'eater part of the city on the left or east bank. Its densest portion extends over 
the old Campus Martius, and three of the renowned Seven HiUs, the other four, or the Palatine, Esquiline, 
Caslian, and Aventine Mounts, being comparatively deserted sites. The walls, which have a circuit of fifteen 
miles, include a large extent of ground consisting of public fields, gardens, and vineyards, interspersed with 
rtiins. The Corso, the prmcipal street, long and spacious, and a few other places, are scenes of bustle. But most 
of the thoroughfares are ivinding, narrow, dirty, and unpaved. Miserable dwellings often appear close beside 



472 ITALY. 

the finest palaces ; which, with the mouldering remains of bygone grandeur, render many parts of Home 
peculiarly sad and desolate. But highly picturesque are the ruins often rendered by intermingling groves of 
cypresses and pomegranates, overspreading fig-trees, while ivy twines around broken columns, clusters of rich 
grapes hang from imperial archways, and bowers of roses serve 

' To gild Destruction with a smile, and beautify Decay. 
On the right bank of the river are the Vatican, St Peter's, and the Castle of St Angelo. The former, 
the winter residence of the popes, is an immense pile of more than 4000 halls, chambers, and galleries, 
besides courts and gardens. It contains a celebrated library of 100,000 volumes, with 23,000 manuscripts, 
in almost all languages, and rich collections of ancient and modem art. In summer, the unhealthy 
season, the Papal residence is a palace on the ancient Quirinal Mount, or a country-seat among the 
hiUs. The Cathedral of St Peter's, adjoining the Vatican, is the largest of all temples dedicated to 
religion, and without a rival in its internal decorations, though considered by many inferior to St Paul's 
in outward appearance. But the distinction of being the metropolitan church belongs to that of St John 
Lateran, in which the popes are crowned, and of which they are the of&cial ministers. So numerous are 
the churches, that it has been boasted the pontiS' might say mass in a dilferent one every day in the year. 
But many are either constantly closed, or only ojiened once a year on a festival-day. About eighty palaces 
are enumerated. The Protestant burying-ground, on the southern side of the city, close to the walls and the 
pyramid of Caius Cestius, contains the graves of many English, who are always numerous as art students or 
winter residents, with other foreigners. The English church occupies a site adjacent, but outside the gate of 
San Paulo. Kome is the seat of a university, one of the oldest in Europe, founded in 1244, well attended, 
with an astronomical observatory of distinction attached to it. 




Ponte Lugano. 

The Campagna, for a wide space roimd Kome, consists of undulating prairies, green and fertile in the 
extreme. At a distance it appears to be a vast level surface, but this surface is fuU of sudden depres- 
sions, and it is traversed by numerous water-courses, as at Ponte Lugano on the Via Tiburtina. The 
monuments of imperial times, more or less ruined, include the Colosseiun or Flavian amphitheatre, 
commenced by Vespasian and completed by Titus; the column of Trajan, erected by the senate in 
honour of his Dacian victories; the arch of Titus, commemorating liis conquest of Judea; the arch of 
Septimius Severus, a memorial of Ms successes against the Parthians ; the baths of Diocletian, Titus, and 
CaracaUa ; the Pantheon, most beautiful of heathen fanes, converted into a Christian church ; and the arch 
of Constantine, raised upon the occasion of his becoming sole emperor of the west. The most remarkable of 
these, the Colosseum, near the centre of the ancient city, but beyond the range of the modern dwellings, is an 
oval bmlding, more than one-third of a mile in circuit, 157 feet in height, the remains of which form a 
gigantic monument of power and barbarity. A crucifix now occupies the centre, and extends its guardianship 
over the pile, whUe noble walls have been built to sustain the tottering portions of the fabric, tangled ivith 
grass and shrubs. It encloses an area of five acres, capable of containing 80,000 spectators of the cruel sports 
of the circus. ' Of all that Home includes it should be seen alone, and by moonlight. No other human 



ROME. 473 

monument speaks so strongly to the moral sense of man. The deep and lonely silence of the moonlight hour 
ivitliin its vivst walls is broken only by the cliirping of the solitary cricket in the grass of that arena which 
has resounded with the shrieks of human beings, the wUd yells of ferocious beasts tearing them, and the 
acclamations of 80,000 spectators rejoicing in the butchery.' This mighty fragment is immediately eastward 
of the Palatine, the most famous of the Seven Hills, site of the palaces of the Cassars, nearly the whole of 
which belongs by purchase to the Emperor of the l?rench, whose agents have made extensive excayations, and 
been rewarded by the discovery of many antiquities. 

Great interest belongs to subterranean Rome, or the Catacombs, wliich served as places of refuge and 
worship for the early Christians in tunes of persecution, and also of burial. They consist of gloomy under- 
ground galleries formed in quarrying materials to extend the ancient city, and also in obtainmg pozznolana 
for cement. These galleries tirrn and twist in the most capricious mamier, have a total extent of several 
miles, but can only now be very partially explored owing to obstructions from the falling in of the roofs and 
sides. The passages are generally about eight feet high and five wide. Three tiers of cells, used as graves, 
run along them on either hand ; and at certain intervals, several passages opening into one another form 
large vaidted chambers with a church-like appearance. The Catacombs, after remaining long neglected and 
almost forgotten, were re-opened in the fifteenth century, and examined by Bosio and other antiquaries. Their 
most interesting inscriptions, sepidchral tablets, bas-reliefs, and other monuments, are in the museums of 
Rome, and principally in the Galleria Lapidaria of the Vatican. 

Ostia, the port of ancient Rome, on the southern branch into which the Tiber divides at its mouth, is now 
comparatively deserted from the unhealthmess of the site. Terracina, on the southern border of the Pontine 
Marshes, is a small fishing toAvn scourged by malaria. Civita Yecchia, the principal port, forty miles north- 
west of the capital, connected witli it by railway, contams 10,000 inhabitants. It is of importance as the 
portal through which most travellers enter Southern Italy, regularly touched at by the steamers passing to 
and fro between Naples and Marseille, and the station of the French government packets communicatmg 
with the R'encir troops in Rome. Among the inland toAvns, somewhat larger, are Viterbo, an episcopal see, 
in the northern part of the province ; and Vellctri, in the southern, which represents the ancient Vehtrje 
where Augustus was born, 63 B.O. Tivoli, eighteen miles eastward of Rome, is delightfully seated in the 
valley of the Teverone, of interest from its picturesque cascade and classic ruins, comprising fine remains of 
the temple of Vesta, with those of the villas of Meo^nas and the Emperor Hadrian. 





Grand Canal, Venice. 



III. AUSTRIAN ITALY. 



Venetia, a province of the Aiistrian Empire, held by a precarious tenure, embraces a 
north-eastern section of the mainland, lying between the Tyrol and the Adriatic, and 
divided from the remainder of Italy by the lower course of the Po and the stream of the 
Mincio, one of its priacipal affluents. The territory thus enclosed has an area of 9500 
square miles, with a strikingly-contrasted superficial aspect. On the northern border rise 
the Alps, which throw spurs far into the interior, with deep and beautiful vaUeys between 
them ; but from thence to the sea and the river frontier, the country is a low and level 
plain, finely fertile and highly cultivated. Besides the bounding rivers, it is watered by 
the Adige, the Brenta, the Piave, and the Tagliamento, but, as in Lombardy, the inland 
water-communication is chiefly carried on by means of canals. The streams are generally 
rapid, loaded with sediment, which, by deposition in the course of ages, has advanced the 
shores in various places, or fringed them with low islands enclosing lagoons. The whole 
of the maritime district, with a considerable interior territory, formed the celebrated 
republic of Venice, which originated in the fifth century with refugees from the incursions 
of the terrible Attila, who fled for safety to the marshes and islets of the coast. It 
gradually rose in the middle ages to be the first maritime and commercial power in the 
world, acquired extensive foreign possessions, and was courted for its wealth and influence 
by all the leading states of Europe. But the chief-magistrate, or doge (a corruption of 
dux, ' duke '), at first popularly elected, became eventually the puppet of an oligarchy, 
arbitrary in then' measures, secret in their coimsels, guilty of every species of terrorism, 



VENICE. 475 

espionage, and bad government. After a long interval of deolino, tlie independence of 
the nominal republic was terminated by the arms of Kapoleon I., and upon bis overtbrow 
the territory was formally annexed to the Austrian possessions by the Congress of Vienna. 
For half a century, subject to a brief interruption, the proper natives have been treated by 
their foreign masters in much the same despotic manner as the powerful among their 
forefathers dealt with the humbler and defenceless classes of their countrymen. Venetia 
has a poijulation of 2,446,000. 

Venice, situated on the nortli-westem side of the Adriatic, containing a population of 118,000, is one of the 
most remarkable and interesting cities in the woi'ld. It occupies a cluster of seventy-two small low islands, 
in the niidst of a shallow lagoon, or salt-water lake, separated generally from the sea by a long narrow bar of 
firm sand, but commiuiicating ^vith it by 
passages through the barrier, tlio prin- 
cipal of which are guarded by strong 
fortifications. On the side of the main- 
land the lagoon is now crossed by an 
immense railway bridge, of more tlian 
200 arches, which links the city witii 
the continent, and renders the other 
wise pertinent description in one pomt 
inaccurate : 

* Tho sea is in the broad, the narrow streets, 

ICbbing and flowing; and tlie salt sca-^\eed 

Clings to the marble of her palaces. 

No track of men, no footsteps to and fio, 

Lead to her gates. The path lies o'er the sea, 

Invincible ; and from tho land wc went. 

As to a floating city — steering in. 

And gliding up her streets as in a dream ' 

In all other respects the poetical des- 
cription is accurate. The salt water 
penetrates every part of the strangely 
situated city. The channels separatmg 
the islets are now canals, crossed by a 
multitude of steep bridges, and answer 
the purpose of streets, while gondolas 
serve as substitutes for carriages and 
cabs. No natural land is visible, owmg 
to the close clustering of the buUdingo 
Hence it has been remarked that there 
might be natives whoUy unacquainted 
with meadows and cornfields, the laiL s 
song, and the varied scenes of rural Ufe 
There are indeed streets, properly so 
called, and every dweUmg may be 
reached on foot. But they are not 
wider than twelve feet from house to 
house, and mostly much narrower so 
that locomotion is chiefly carried on by 
water. The change of level in the 
water-streets from the ebb and flow is 
very regular, and amounts to a fall and 
rise of from two to three feet. Sprmg 
time is the most suitable season for a 
visit to Venice, when tliere are no 

stenches from the canals, or mosquitoes astir, as during the summer heats, and no bitterly cold winds from 
the snow-crowned Alps, which are common during the winter months. But a visit has at any period its 
disagreeables in the presence of artillory, foreign troops, and police spies. Among the citizens, the annual 
number of deaths has long largely exceeded that of the births, from the young and enterprising quitting tho 
place, whenever it has been practicable, to settle permanently beyond Austrian rule. An enormous taxation, 
and the risk of arrest for an incautious expression, are everywhere powerful motives to emigration. 
The great square of St Mark, the patron saint, in tho heart of tlie city, is the first spot to which the 




PI 1 h 



\r 1 f 



Fran, Venice. 



476 ITALY. 

stranger usually repairs, and to which he most frequently returns. The cathedral occupies one side, a 
singular but brilliant combination of the Gothic and Oriental styles, with a lofty detached Campanile or 
bell-tower, and the celebrated bronze horses obtained as plunder at the sack of Constantinople in the fourth 
Crusade. Over elaborately-ornamented pedestals in front of the church, three gonfalons of silk and gold 
once waved to the breeze, symbolising the triple domuiions of the old republic — Venice, Cyprus, and the 
Morea. The former palace of the doges, their actual residence down to the close of the sixteenth century, 
subsequently appropriated to offices of government, forms tlie east side of an adjoining oblong area. Portraits 
of them compose a long frieze round the hall of the grand council, with one space left blank, where that of 
Marino Falieri should have appeared, beheaded for treason in 1355. Angelo Participazio, the first doge, in 
809, was followed by seventy-one successors in the dignity down to October 1797, when Manin, who closed 
the long line of magnates, had to take the oath of allegiance to a foreign power. Behind the ducal palace, a 
bridge over a narrow canal connects it with the state prisons, across which criminals condemned to die were 
led to hear then* sentences read. Hence its name : 

' I stood in VeniOD on the Bridge of Sighs, 
A palace and a prison on each hand.' 
The city retains its arsenal and dockyard, surroimded by battlemented walls about two miles in circuit, in 
which 16,000 workmen were once employed upon the armaments of the republic. This place now tells a 
story of departed glory, being more of a storehouse and musetun than devoted to ship-building and launches. 
Tlie same tale is told by the aspect of many a palace, and the condition of many a long ennobled family. 

Padua, twenty-three miles west of Venice, connected with it by railway, is a fine ancient city of 53,500 
inhabitants, the seat of a miiversity possessing the oldest anatomical and botanic garden in Europe. Galileo 
was associated ivith it as professor of mathematics ; Tasso, Columbus, and Gustavus Adolphus as students. 
Passing Yioenza, on the north-west, a silk-manufacturing to^vn, of which the architect, PaUadio, was a native, 
the railway leads to Verona, which contains a population of 59,000, noted for its dyeing, sUk- works, beautiful 
situation, military importance, and historical interest. It stands upon both banks of the rapid Adige, 
subject to floods which are occasionally very destructive. The surrounding landscape is dotted with 
cypresses, villas, and old feudal castles, while the blue hills and moimtams of the Alps form the northern 
background, from which the breeze comes always fresh, and sometimes biting. The city is remarkable for 
its magnificent monuments of ancient days, consisting of Roman gateways, and a nearly perfect amphitheatre 
still used for horsemanship, fireworks, and otlier popular exhibitions. It has an enduring hold upon 
remembrance as the locality of Shakspeare's Borneo and Juliet. The celebrated quadrilateral, the strength 
of which induced Napoleon III., in 1859, to propose the peace of Villafranca, has Verona at the noi-th-east 
angle, Legnago at the south-east, Peschiera at the north-west, and Mantua at the south-west, all strongly 
fortified. The two former command the line of the Adige, and the two latter that of the Mincio. Mantua, 
the native xJaoe of Vii'gil, is surrounded with lakes and marshes which add considerably to the strength of 
its defensive works. It succumbed to the anns of the first Napoleon in 1796, but only in the prospect of 
famine, after a long and severe blockade. The place has under 30,000 inhabitants, and exhibits a decaying 
aspect, the grass growing m the streets at the outskirts. Chioggia, on an island in the lagoon of Venice, 
south of the city, is a fortified seaport with considerable commerce. Treviso, inland, on the north, surrounded 
■with elegant villas, and containing many handsome buildings, has varied manufactures of sUk, cloth, paper, 
and cutlery. Jlassano, on the north-west, seated on the Brenta, and enclosed with beautiful environs, 
produces the finer straw-hats, and has its name connected with the defeat of the Austrians by Napoleon in 
the campaign of 1796. Udine, close to the eastern frontier of Austrian Italy, is a flourishing industrial town, 
with good public buildings, and one of the most beautiful cemeteries in Europe. 

Italy contains a total population of rather more than 25,000,000, destined shortly in 
aU likelihood to form a single political body, hy the Papal and Austrian territories being 
wrested from their present rulers, and annexed to the Italian Kingdom. The people are 
a very mixed race, descended from aboriginal inhabitants and the foreigners who have at 
different times poured into the country as colonists and conquerors, Greeks, Gauls, Goths, 
Arabs, and others, moulded by time into general homogeneousness, corresponding in 
personal appearance, habits, tastes, and temperament. Their language, a branch of the 
Grseoo-Latin family, soft and uiusical, is based mainly upon the ancient Latin. It is 
distinguished by a great number of dialects, very widely differing from each other, caused 
by the different infusion of foreign elements in particular districts; long-standing political 
divisions, and varying interests. The Tuscan is considered to be the purest and most 
harmonious idiom. It is consequently the language of the educated classes, irrespective of 
locality, and has been for a long period the ordinary vehicle of literature. The list of 
the great painters includes Eaphael, Titian, Correggio, Caracoi, Guido, Paolo Veronese, 
Leonardo da Vinci, and Salvator Eosa ; of the sculptors, Michael Angelo and Canova ; 



GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS, 477 

of tlio poots, Dante, Petrarch, Ariosto, Tasso, Metastasio, and Alficri; of the natural 
philosophers, Galileo, Torricelli, Volta, and Galvani. 

The Eoman Catholic religion is almost universal. ITowhere are the churches so 
splendid, the ceremonies so pompous, and the clergy so numerous ; hut whatever reverence 
may he paid by the people to the rites of the church, its official ministers have not 
secured their good-will, hut are personally viewed with aversion. Except in Piedmont, 
and to a less extent in Lombardy and Tuscany, public education is neglected, and the 
popidar ignorance is deplorable. The Italians are generally a handsome and lively race, 
of quick apprehensions, marked by strong passions, enthusiasts in the fine arts, but 
regardless of moral restraints, of indolent temperament, especially in the south, where 
indifference to household conrforts has been grafted upon the bounty of nature. Many 
blemishes of the national character may be traced to the despotisms which so long 
prohibited the exercise of the understandittg on pubUo affairs^ and consigned high and 
low alike to political slavery, Wliether constitutionalism will remove the blots, and make 
the social and moral condition of society iiT some degree reflect the brightness of the 
skies and the beauty of the landscapes, is a problem for the future to solve. 




Wliit-Sunday Mie at Naples. 




Constantinople, from the Cemetery of Galata. 

CHAPTER IV. 

EUROPEAN TUEKBY. 

, ».^^^,.^„^^_,, ( HE Turkisli Empire is tlie only sovereign state in. Europe wHcli 
J I^^^Sh^^^I ^ professes Mohammedanism, and tlie only one wMch embraces 
^ ^ ATithin its limits an extensive area in each great division of the 

mainland in the Western Hemisphere. It iacludes a large 
portion of Southern Europe, of Western Asia, and of Northern 
Africa — countries -which are among the best situated, most 
beautiful, most naturally fertile, and historically renowned of 
the continents to which they belong. It is washed by the 
waters of seven seas, the Mediterranean, the Adriatic, the 
.^gean or Archipelago, the Sea of Marmora, the Black Sea, the Eed Sea, and a 
small part of the Persian Gulf. The empire has the name of Ottoman from its 
founder Othman or Osman, at the commencement of the fourteenth century; and 
the dominant race invariably style themselves after him Ottomans or , Osmanli, 
rejecting the name of Turks with disdaia as synonymous with barbarian. The first 
ruler, a shepherd, freebooter, and warrior, confirmed his power over the north-west of 
Asia Minor, and bequeathed his double-pointed sword to his successors, with which, as the 
recognised symbol of sovereignty, they have been girded on ascending the throne — a 
ceremony now performed iu the Mosque of Eyub at Constantiaople. Their sway became 
European as well as Asiatic under Amurath I., who captured Adrianople in 1361, and 




GEOGRAPHICAL CONFORMATION. 479 

made it liis capital. Under Solim I., in 1517, it became African likewise by the 
conquest of Egypt, to wliioli the next two sultans, Soliman the Magniiicent and Selim II., 
added Tunis and Tripoli. But aU the African territories, and some of the European, 
though acknowledgLag subordination to the imperial government, are very slightly 
connected with it, having affairs of ititernal economy completely under the control of 
native authorities ; and hence far more closely resemble separate states than provincial 
dependencies. 

Turkey in Europe consists of the greater part of its south-eastern peninsula, and an 
adjoining portion of the main mass of the continent, embraced between latitude 39° and 48° 
20' north, longitude 15° 40' and 30° east, with the large island of Candia, and several others 
of small dimensions. The Hungarian provinces of Austria and part of Eussia form 
the boundary on the north ; the Black Sea lies on the east ; the Archipelago and the 
kingdom of Greece are on the south; the Mediterranean, the Adriatic, and Austrian 
Dalmatia on the west. Witliin these limits, the greatest extent is east and west, about 
700 miles, between the mouths of the Danube and "Western Croatia ; the extreme 
distance north and south is nearly the same ; but the average length and breadth are 
considerably less, owing to the southerly contraction of the peninsula. The area of the 
country comprises rather more than 200,000 square mUes. On the west, the coast-line 
stretches from the Castle of St Stephens, below Cattaro, in Dalmatia, to the sandy 
promontory of La Punta, at the south entrance of the Gulf of Arta, of celebrity as the 
scene of the naval battle of Actium between Augustus and Mark Antony, 31 B.C., which 
secured to the former the dominion of the Eoman world. On the east, the maritime 
frontier extends from the northernmost mouth of the Danube to the Gulf of Volo, and 
makes a close approach to the shores of Asia at the channel of Constantinople, or the old 
Thracian Bosporus, and at the famous strait of the Dardanelles, the Hellespont of early 
times. Between the two straits is the Propontis of the ancients, a small, deep, and 
beautiful expanse of water, now called the Sea of Marmora, from an island of that name 
situated in it, celebrated for its marble. These narrow waters have been the scene of gTeat 
military and commercial movements, from a period long anterior to the Christian era to 
the present day. They were crossed by the armies of Darius and Xerxes intent upon the 
invasion of the west, and by that of Alexander contemplating the conquest of the east, 
while they were navigated by vessels freighted with corn for Athens. In the middle 
ages they were traversed by the merchant-galleys of Venice, Genoa, and Pisa, till 
the Turks estabhshed their dominion on both sides of the channel, and closed 
the entrance to the flags of the western nations. In our own time, their waves have 
borne one of the mightiest armaments ever collected, British, French, and Sardinian, 
despatched to preserve the Ottoman rule on the soil of Europe, to expel which, four 
centuries ago, conclaves were held and crusades projected — a striking, but not uncommon, 
instance of revolution in public policy. 

The interior of Turkey has for its principal superficial feature an extensive central nucleus 
of highlands and plateaus, under the meridian of 21 degrees, which culminate in the peak of 
Tshar-dagh, covered with snow nearly aU the year ; and form a kind of mountain-knot, 
from which various ranges diverge in different du-ection's. North-westward stretch the 
Dinaric Alps, which join the great Alpine system of Europe. Eastward, the chain of the 
Ballcan, ancient Hcemus, extends to the bold headland of Cape Emeneh, on the shore of 
the Black Sea. South-eastward, a loftier ridge, the Despoto-dagh, runs into the plains 
which border the north coasts of the Archipelago. Southward, the range of Pindus 
follows the direction of the peninsula into Greece, of which, the classical mountains, 
Olympus, Pehon, and Ossa are offsets on the Gulf of Salonica. These chains, to a 



480 



EUROPEAN TDRKEY. 




considerable extent, render communication between contiguous proviaces rare and difficult 
in a country where art has not been employed to soften the features of nature owing to 
the apathy of the present inhabitants ; and where the engineering works of its ancient 

masters — Greek and Eoman — ^have suffered 
largely from the ravages of war as well as 
from the dilapidations of time, with scarcely an 
effort to repair them. The only route across the 
Ballian to which much attention is paid, is on 
the line of communication between Constanti- 
nople and Vienna, which bears the name of 
Porta Trajani, in memory of the emperor who 
rendered the pass a practicable thoroughfare. A few of the Turkish 
mountains attain the elevation of from 9000 to near 10,000 feet, as 
Oljrmpus, the loftiest, 9754 feet ; but they are generally much below 
that altitude. The lowlands are chiefly maritime, and are not 
MOUTHS separately of any great estent, except on the north-east, where vast 
dIotIe. marshy levels lie on both sides of the Lower Danube. 
The Balkan Mountains, protecting the heart of the country, are of great importance as a 
line of military defence in the event of invasion from the north. They form an undulating 
range separating Eoumelia from Bulgaria ; and the waters which flovf to the Archipelago 
from those which fall into the Danube. Their height gradually diminishes from west to 
east. Towards the Black Sea it is inconsiderable, and here the fortified positions of 
Shumla and Varna close three of the passes. In the opposite direction it rarely exceeds 
4000 feet. Mount Merrikon, the culminating-point, rises 6395 feet, and does not lose 
its snow at the summit tUl the summer is somewhat advanced. The tops and sides of the 
chain are clothed with thick woods through almost the whole of its course, and it is only 
along the declivities of valleys and gorges that any extent of bare rock appears. A range 
of hilla along the base, intersected mth ravines, is also so densely covered with brushwood 
as to be scarcely penetrable. The difficulty of leading an invading army across these 
mountains is not owing to the height of the passes ; the forests are the chief obstacles, 
with the want of roads better than the rudest mule-paths. When the Eussians, imder 
Marshal Diebitsch, effected the passage in July 1829, pioneers were sent in advance to 
hew ways through the woods and jungle. The soldiers marched in caps, liaea trousers, 
and uniform. Each carried a knapsack containing provisions for ten days, and a change 
of linen. Baggage of every other kind was left behind. The Turks themselves rendered 
this operation successful, Varna having been surrendered by the treachery of the governor, 
while, as if bewUdered by its audacity, not a hand was lifted to oppose the passage of the 
enemy. Yet, under these favourable circumstances, it was with extreme difficulty, after 
the lapse of a month, that a remnant of the invaders staggered on to Adrianople; and had 
not then' commander carefully masked the condition of bis troops, and the infatuation of 
his opponents blinded them, they would only have accomplished the feat to become 
prisoners of war. The Eussian line of march was by the defiles parallel to the sea-coast 
from lowan Derwish to Misivria; which seems to have been the route taken, but inversely 
from south to north, by Darius. Alexander probably forced one of the westerly passes. 
He found the barbarians in arms to defend their mountains. They were strongly posted 
on the summit of a steep acclivity, guarded by precipices on each side. Their front was 
protected by a line of wagons which served as a rampart, and were also intended to be 
rolled down so as to break the phalanx as it advanced up the height. Btit anticipating 
this design, the general provided against it. On seeing the machines put in motion, the 



THE DANUBE. 



481 



phalanx opened its ranks, where the ground admitted of the operation, and where it was 
impracticable, the soldiers lay doivn under the shelter of their interlinked shields. Thus 
the vehicles either passed harmlessly through the spaces suddenly opened to admit them, or 
with httlo injury rolled over the bodies of the troops defended by a solid brazen canopy. 

The northern provinces are watered by the Danube, which receives many important 
tributaries from each, the Morava from Sorvia, the Isker from Bulgaria, the Aluta and 
Jalomnlitza from Wallachia, the Sereth and Pruth from Moldavia. This noble stream has 
long been navigated by rafts similar to those of the Ehine, and is now, by steamers, an 
important channel of communication between Turkey and the rest of Europe. It acquires 
great expansion at intervals, and is often split iuto several channels by numerous small 
islands, which, with the occurrence of sand-banks and rapids, render the navigation 
iatricate. Soon after reaching the Wallachian frontier, the river enters the Iron Gate, a 
defile bordered on both sides by steep and lofty cliffs, which contract its bed, and 
encumber it with rocks. The confined waters rush through the pass with great violence, 
and form a succession of rapids. Towards its termination, the aspect of the stream is 
remarkably different— as unpicturesque as possible. It flows through a vast flat of swampy 
ground, covered with bubushes, of which pelicans and other large birds, frogs and reptiles, 
are almost the only inhabitants, but is rife with mosquitoes in hot weather, and choked 
with immense accumulations of mud and sand. The course of the Danube is singularly 





Sulina Mouth of the Danube. 

tortuous tlirough the Turkish dominions. After a long curving sweep from west to east, 
it approaches to within forty mUes of Kustendij on the Black Sea, then makes a great 
bend to the north, turns again to the east, and adds nearly 200 miles to its length by this 
detour. It finally discharges by three priucipal channels — the northern, called Kiha; the 
central or the Sulina j and the southern or St George's. The two former are the most used 
by shipping, but both are much obstructed by sand-bars, and the temporary or permanent 
stranding of vessels on them is a common incident. Since the year 1858, under the 
auspices of a commission constituted in pursuance of the Treaty of Paris at the close of 

2 E 



482 



EUROPEAN TURKEY. 



the Eusso-Turkisli war, the Siilina mouth has been much improved. The peninsula 
formed by the great northern bend is the Dobrudsoha, a well-known swampy and 
pestilential tract, formerly crossed by an embankment, traces of which remain, under the 
name of Trajan's Wall. A railway now uitersects it, connectiug Techernavado on the 
Danube with the port of Kustendij, by means of which passengers are spared the most 
tedious part of the river navigation. Eivers are numerous in other parts of the country, 
but are not of important size, or of much navigable value. Some of classical interest are 
reduced to threads in the summer heat. The Maritza, ancient Hehriis; the Struma or 
Strtjmon, which anciently formed the boundary between Macedonia and Thrace; the Vardar or 
Axius, and the Salembria or Peneus, flow into the Archipelago ; and a considerable number 
with short courses descend from the mountaius westward into the Adriatic. The Lakes 
of Scutari, Ochrida, and Janina are spacious expanses in the highland region of Albania. 

Great diversity marks the climate, owing to the varying elevation and exposure of the 
surface. On the extensive plains of the Lower Danube the winters are intensely cold, 
and the summers correspondingly hot. The Eomans were astonished at the severity of the 
former season in this region. In the age of Augustus, the poet Ovid, banished from 
Eome by the edict of the emperor, and ordered to reside at Tomi, a colony near the 
mouth of the river, had some years' acquaintance with the spot, then on the confines of 
civilisation. Poetical epistles sent home to his friends are crowded with complaints of 
everything — the land, water, and sky — the air, the people, and especially the winter. 
' The snow lies deep ; and as it lies, neither sun nor rain can melt it. Boreas hardens it, and 
makes it enduj:e for ever. Hence, when the former ice has not yet melted, fresh succeeds, 
and in many a place it is wont to last for two years. I have seen the vast sea frozen 
with ice, and a slippery crust covered over the unmoved waters. To have seen it is not 
enough. I have trod upon the hardened ocean, and the surface of the water was under 
my feet, not wetted by it.' The thermometer now sometimes descends to 15 degrees below 
zero, and the sledge is used for travelling. But probably in former times the winter was 
in more violent antagonism to the summer than at present. Only the most northerly 
ports of the Black Sea are now annually ice-bound; but in 401 a. d., large tracts of it 
were strongly frozen, and when the weather broke up, such mountains of ice drifted by 
Constantinople that the inhabitants were terrified. In the reign of Constantino Coprony- 
mus also, people walked across the Bosporus on the ice, from the European to the 
Asiatic shore. Either of these events woi;ld now be quite a phenomenon. At Constan- 
tinople the mean annual temperature is lower than that of places in Italy and Spain at 
the same latitude ; and great changes are suddenly experienced from the shifting of the 
wind to opposite quarters, north and south. But in all the inland districts south of the 
Balkan, except at high elevations, and on the shores both of the Archipelago and Adriatic, 
the climate is delightful, and the vegetation has a southern luxuriance. 

The northern provuices have extensive woodlands : whole forests of apple, 
pear, cherry, and apricot trees, with the oak, beech, lime, and ash. South of the moun- 
tains, these trees are confined to their slopes, wliile the lowlands are clothed mth the 
almond, walnut, chestnut, maple, and mulberry, cypresses, and sycamores of enormous 
dimensions, besides the myrtle, laurel, box, and other evergreens. In spring the siu'face 
is gay with flowers, among which the narcissus, violet, and hyacinth appear in profusion, 
with gardens of roses, jasmine, and wild lilac. In the extreme south the olive becomes 
the most common fruit-tree, while the orange and fig are abundant. The vine is grown 
generally, but the grapes raised on the banks of the Danube are far inferior to those 
gro^vn on the coasts of the Archipelago. In Bosnia the plum takes its place, and a 
favourite beverage, slivovitza, is made from its juice. Melons, cucumbers, peas, beans, 



ROUJIELIA — THE BOSPORUS. 



483 



and cabbages, whioli form a principal part of the ordinary food of the Turks, are raised in 
great quantities ; but some of our common vegetables are scarcely known, and the potato 
lias a very restricted cultivation. The grain crops — maize, wheat, rye, barley, and millet — 
are sufficiently abundant, not only for the home demand, but for exportation, and ten 
times the produce might be gained by skilful husbandry. Eoumelia is one great garden, 
in which, however, the weeds contend with the fruits of the earth, for the mastery. Eice 
is thrown in the southern provinces, where there are marshy tracts of limited extent ; but 
the supply being insufficient for home consumption, tliis is the ordy grain which is 
imported. Tobacco, flax, hemp, cotton, and silk are other products of the soil. Both 
agricultm'e and horticulture are everywhere in a very backward state, the implements 
being of the rudest description, whUe the long unsettled state of society has so far 
checked industrial efforts, that a vast proportion of the siuface is not brought under any 
kmd of cultivation. Herds of oxen, flocks of sheep and goats, with bees producing large 
quantities of wax and honey, constitute the chief wealth of the inhabitants in "WaUaohia 
and Moldavia ; and, to a less extent, that of the moimtaineers in Albania and Bosnia. 

For purposes of internal government the country is divided into eyalets or provinces, 
which are subdivided into districts of smaller dimensions. But Turkey is best known by 
old geographical divisions, those of EoumeHa, Thessaly, and Albania; Montenegro, 
Bosnia, Herzegovina, and Croatia ; Servia, WaUaohia, Moldavia, and Bulgaria. 

Cities and Towns. 
Constantinople, Adrianople, Gallipoli, Cavalla, Salonild. 
Larissa, Trikhala. 
Janina, Scutari, Durazzo. 
Cettigne. 

Eosna-Serai, Travnik, Novi-Bazar. 
Mostar. 

Belgrade, Kragojevatz, Nissa. 
Bukharest, Gim-gevo, IbraU, Krajova. 
Jassy, Galatz, Ismail. 
Sophia, Shumla, Varna, Widdiu, Silistria. 

Eoumelia comprises the country between the Balkan Mountains on the north and the 
Archipelago on the south, and corresponds ia its limits to ancient Thrace and Macedonia. 
It contains the capital, and is the only province in which the Turks are found in large 
compact bodies. The points of natural interest are the shores, particularly those of the 
two narrow straits, the Bosporus and the Dardanelles, where the European portion of 
the empire closely approaches the Asiatic part of the territory. 

The Bosporus connects the Black Se^ and the Sea of Marmora. It extends about 
eighteen miles, between receding and advancing shores, wliich form seven bays, with 
corresponding promontories opposite, and cause the breadth to vary from rather less than 
half a mile to two miles. This fine natural canal is bounded by ranges of undulating 
hiUs, crossed at intervals by sloping valleys of delicious verdure, clothed with oriental 
trees and flowering plants. Being the resort of the wealthy classes from the capital, the 
sides of the hills are thickly studded with their residences, surrounded with gardens and 
plantations, in which the orange, plantain, vine, and fig-tree are intermixed with flowers 
of every hue. On the shores of the Bay of Buyukdere, which lie open to the fresh and 
cooling breezes of the Black Sea, are the summer palaces of the British, French, and 
Eussian ambassadors, mth the Giant's Moimtain, the highest hiU on the channel, nearly 
opposite on the Asiatic side. In the midst of these charming retreats, castellated ruins 
occur here and there, which tell of the struggles and vicissitudes of the past, and give 
picturesqueness to the beautiful landscape. Nearly midway, at the narrowest part of the 
strait, are the Castles of Europe and Asia, so called in relation to the continents on which 



Divisions. 
Ronmelia or Eumili, 
Thessaly, 
Albania, 
Montenegro, 
Bosnia, 

Herzegovina and Croatia, 
Servia, 
"WaUaohia, 
Moldavia, 
Bulgaria, 4. 



4b4: EUROPEAN TURItEY. 

they stand and also styled tlie Castles of Eoumelia 
and Anatolia, in allusion to the provinces in 'wMch 
they are situated. The fortifications were erected to 
secure a point constituted by nature the high-road for 
hotli continents, where Darius made his bridge of 
boats when he marched against the Scythians, and 
the Ottoman armies crossed in like manner prior to 
the fall of Constantinople. During the rule of the 
Janissaries, the Castle of Europe was the prison to 
which refractory members of that body were com 
mitted. An embrasure on the lower rampart is stJI 
filled by the large gun, which was fired on the 
execution of great criminals, to announce the event 
to the sultan in the capital. The Castle of A-^ia 
was the prison of the Bostanjis, or guards of the 
palace, who were immured or executed -within its 
walls according to the nature of their offences 
The term Bosporus signifies the ' passage of the ox ' 
— Ox-ford. 

The channel of the Dardanelles connects the Sea 
of Marmora with the Archipelago, and has its name 
primarily from the city of Dardanus, on the Asiatic 
side. Two forts are at the southern entrance, one m 
Europe and the other in Asia, called the ISTew 
Castles ; two more, or the Old Castles, are similarly 
situated about midway tlirough the strait; and 
between their sites are strong modern fortifications 
mounting guns of immense calibre. The stint 
extends about forty miles in length, by a breadth 
varying from four miles to less than one ; and his 
always a strong cui'rent running through it from 
the Sea of Marmora. Close to the Old Castle on 
the European side is the barrow of Hecuba, where 
the Athenians elected a tiophy after then victoiy 
towaids the end of the Peloponnesian war A 





Bospoiu , with Plan of Constantmopli 




Ph g 






CONSTANTINOPLE. 485 

little to the nortli, tlie site of- Sestos is usually placed, to which, according to the legend, 
young Leandcr nightly swam from Ahydos, on the opposite shore, to visit Hero. The 
breadth of the channel is at this point a mile and a half. Lord Byron performed 
one part of the exploit, after heiiig an hour and ten mmutes in the water, but did not 
attempt the other part, that of swimming back agaui. Near the northern extremity of 
the strait, the Turks effected their first passage into Europe, about a century before the 
faU of Constantinople. Soliman, the eldest son of the second sultan, having been 
appoiartod governor of the province on the opposite Asiatic shore, visited the spot where 
the populous and wealthy maritime city of Cyzious had ilourished. Its broken columns 
and marble edifices in ruins, scattered over the turf, filled him with awe and admiration. 
He loved to wander on the beach, lost in reverie, amid the remains of what seemed 
wondrous palaces built by the genii of the air. One evening, as he sat wrapped in con- 
templation, he beheld the pillars and porticoes of the desolate temples of Jupiter, Pro- 
serpine, and Cybele reflected by the light of the moon in the tranquil waters, wlule a few 
fleecy vapours hung over the waves. It seemed to him as if the city were emerging from 
the deep, restored to former beauty, girdled with the white sails of its ancient fleet. The 
mvu-muring waves and whispering winds broke upon his ear as mysterious voices from 
invisible beings, wliile the moon appeared to unite with her beams the opposite coasts of 
Asia and Em-ope. Immediately the purpose was formed to have both sides of the strait 
blended in his own inheritance. With a chosen band, on the following night, he crossed 
the channel on a raft, and seized the Castle of Tzympe, now Chini, near GaUipoli. In 
memory of the landing, a rocky strand or mole still bears the name of the Victor's 
Harbour ; and at a little distance, a hill crowned with a scanty ruin is said to be the spot 
where the Turkish standard was iirst planted on the shore. 

Constantinople, the capital o£ the empire, in latitude 41" north, longitude 28° 55' east, commemorates by its 
name the foimder, Constantine the Great, the first Christian emperor of the Eoman world, who commenced 
the city on the site of Byzantium, 328 A.D. It fell into the hands of the Turks in 1453, and is invariably 
called by them Stamboul. No situation can be finer, washed on three sides by gleaming waters, the shores 
of which arc hilly, studded with kiosks, and clothed mth the freshest verdure. The city extends over the 
seven hills and intervening valleys of a triangular-shaped area, at the junction of the Bosporus with the Sea 
of Marmora. An arm of the strait, called the Golden Horn, from its beauty and curving outline, which runs 
inland nearly five niUes, forms the harbour. It has depth of water sufficient for the largest men-of-war, close 
inshore, and space for a thousand saU. The harbour separates the city from the subm-b of Galata, the prin- 
cipal seat of commerce, and from that of Pera, which is mainly a continuation of it, the head-quarters of 
diplomacy, where the ambassadors and consuls reside. Across the Bosporus is the Asiatic suburb of Scutari, 
the great rendezvous of caravans bound for inland Asia. Triple walls, rising one above the other, now largely 
dilapidated, enclose the city proper. Seven gates lead into it from the Sea of Marmora ; seven from the 
Golden Horn ; and six from the land. One of the latter, the Top Kapoussi, or Cannon Gate, formerly bore 
the name of St Eomanus, and marks the spot where the last of the Palsiologi fell in the defence of his 
capital, and where his conqueror, Mohammed I., entered. 

Though in itself a confused mass of narrow, winding, dirty streets and wooden houses, the appearance of 
Constantinople at a distance is singularly imposing, as the principal mosques crown the summits of the seven 
hUls; while the surrounding scenery is heautifulin the extreme. Erom the Seraskier's Tower in the city, or 
the Tower of Galata, or the heights above Scutari, the eye overlooks a fanciful mixture of domes, minarets, 
and cypress groves ; glittering mosques, ruined aqueducts, and solemn cemeteries ; gi'aceful slopes and castled 
crags ; -with the windings of the blue and brilliant sea, over which thousands of boats are gUding ; while 
eastward, the grand panorama is bounded by the hiUs of Mysia and Bithynia, amid which, and above all, 
rises the lofty head of the snow-crowned Olympus. The principal mosque, that of St Sophia, occupies the 
summit of the first of the seven liUls reckoning from the Bosporus, and adjoins the SeragUo. It was origin- 
ally a Christian church, founded by the Emperor Constantine ; re-erected in its present form in the reign of 
Justinian, and has preserved its principal features unaltered during thirteen centuries. It is a huge square 
building, surmounted with cupolas and a very flat dome, with a beautiful minaret at each of the four comers, 
added by the Turks, along with some highly-gilded crescents. The interior of the dome is inscribed with the 
text from the Koran in Arabic characters, ' God is the Light of the Heavens and the Earth.' During the 
nights of the sacred month Eamazan, this verse is illuminated by a sea of rays from some thousands of 
lamps. The flooring of the church is of waved marble, in imitation of the rolling of the sea. The interior 



486 



EDEOPEAN TUEKET. 



is covered with the richest Tiirkey and Persian carpets, and along the walls are recesses with white curtain 
screens, where the devout Turk can retire for prayer; while scattered here and there are small raised 
pulpits, where learned doctors expound the Koran. Six other mosques are dignified -n-ith the style of 
imperial. That of Sultan Achmet I. may he regarded as the Mohammedan cathedral of the city, for to it 
the sultans generally repair on the great festivals, with the officers of state. The Seraglio, or old imperial 
palace, a group of structures directly overlooking the Bosporus, huilt at different times by successive 
rulers, was almost completely destroyed by fire in 1863. Its principal entrance, the Gate, where public 
business was formerly transacted, according to usage with the orientals, originated the name of the Sublime 
Porte, distinctive of the Turkish court. A new palace, similarly situated, erected by the late sultan, Abdul 
Medjid, is remarkable for being in the modem classical style, but not without blendings of oriental features. 

Fountains are very numerous in the city, sometimes highly ornamental, often inscribed with a verse from 
the Koran. Baths abound for persons of all classes, with klians or inns for the reception of strangers, homely 
buildings suited to theii- purpose ; and of coffee-houses there is no lack. Manufactures are chiefly limited to 
morocco leather, saddlery, shoes, and meerschaums. Trade is carried on in long covered streets of shops, or 
bazaars, each of which is appropriated to some particular merchandise. These are the principal scenes of 
life and bustle, along vnth the harbour, which presents a very animated spectacle, crowded with ships, 
steamers, and caiques, or wherries which ply for hire. The latter are the ordinary passage-boats of Constan- 
tinople, as the gondolas are of Venice. Of these there are said to be not less than 80,000 on the waters in and 
around the city. They are of extremely light construction, built of thin planks of wahiut-wood, polished, 
carved, and in parts gilt. Skimming the siu-face of the water, they are easUy propelled with wonderful 
rapidity. The oars have a large bulb or swelling near the handle, the weight of which assists the rower in 
raising them. Passengers do not sit on cross-benches, but at the bottom upon cushions or carpets. The 
state-caique, in which the sultan is conveyed to the mosques, is gilt and painted with gaudy colours, 
and has the figure of a large peacock at the prow. Here sits the sword-bearer ; while in the stern, beneath a 
splendid canopy, is the magnate, with his body-guard behind him. The barge is propelled at a very swift 
rate by twenty-six caijees, or boatmen, in picturesque dresses, pxilling a stroke of thirty seconds' interval. 
Every Friday, the Mohammedan Sabbath, the sultan attends the namaz, or noontide prayer, at one of the 
mosques, with the ministers of state and the great officers of the household. This is a religious duty imposed 
upon the sovereign for the time being, from which under no pretence, except that of dangerous illness, can he 
be exempt. About ten o'clock the particular mosque to be visited becomes kno^vn ; and the road from the 
water-side is crowded by numbers of the faithful, and of foreigners in the city. The show by water, amid 
military music and the fire of artillery, is very imposing. Not less so is the spectacle by land, as the chief of 
Islamism and Ms grandees proceed slowly on richly-caparisoned steeds led by attendants, while the multitude 
maintain the most perfect silence. But perhaps the most delightful hours of the sojourner are those devoted 
to gliding up the winding haven, and visiting the Valley of Sweet Waters, which is only a short walk from 
its further end. This is a quiet and shady glen, with deep green grass and stately trees, much resorted to by 
pleasure-pai-ties in the smnmer season, and occasionally the retreat of the sultan, who has here a kiosk. A 
stream flows through it in a canal Uncd with marble, the work of Achmet III., who also laid out the grounds. 
An enormous plane-tree rises in the centre of the valley, the ti-unk of which is 47 yards in circumference, 
while the branches afi'ord a shade for 130 yards around it. 

Among the European capitals, Constantinople ranks after London and Paris in the number of its inhabit- 
ants. Though not known with certainty, the population is probably not less than 700,000, including that of 
all the suburbs. After the Turks, the most numerous body are the Armenians, next the Jews, then the 
Greeks, with a very motley assemblage of lonians, Germans, Italians, Maltese, Austrians, French, 
Eussians, British, and Americans. What Lady Mary Wortley Montagu wrote at the spot more than a 
centiuy ago is true of it at present. ' I live in a place,' said she, ' that very well resembles the Tower of 
Babel. In Pera they speak Tiu'kish, Greek, Hebrew, Armenian, Arabic, Persian, Russian, Slavonian, 
Wallachian, German, Dutch, Italian, French, Hungarian, English ; and what is worse, there are ten of these 
languages spoken in my own family.' The Turks are chiefly found in the city, though they are numerous also 
in the suburbs. The Armenians, Jews, and Greeks occupy distinct quarters in the capital, wliHe diffused to 
some extent through it, and forming a considerable element without the walls. The Turks have their news- 
papers, of which the Jerideh ffaimdas, the Kecord of News, is the most important, conducted by an English- 
man. The Armenians have likemse their weekly chronicle, the Mejmooai Sawadas, the Collection of News. 
There is for the English the Levant Herald, and for the French the Journal de Comtantinople. 

However intermmgled in life, each of the principal nations has a separate resting-place in death ; and 
very extensive, beautiful, and picturesque sites are the cemeteries. The Turks plant the evergreen 
cypress, Cupressus sempervU-ens, near every new grave, and do not allow it to be employed for 
the same purpose by the other races. They adopted the practice from the conquered Greeks, wiio 
derived it from their ancestors, by whom the tree was considered an emblem of immortality, on 
accomit of its reputed longevity, and the durability of the wood. Their cemeteries have become in some 
instances extensive forest-like tracts, owing to the invariable usage of opening a new grave for every 
fresh corpse. The common memorials are trimoated pUlars, surmounted with sculptured representations 
of the turban or of the fez to distinguish the men ; and inscriptions in Arabic letters, generally richly 
gilt, setting forth the name, titles, and merits of the deceased. The most important burial-groimds on the 



ADEI.VNOPLE — GALLIPOLI. 



487 



33iiropean side of the Bosporus are near Pera and at Byub, close to the upper extremity of the harbour. 
But the groat home of the dead is on the Asiatic shore, in the immediate vicinity of Scutari, where a 
magnificent forest slants towards the sea, and stretches away inland for miles, the cypresses of which have 
grown to an extraordinary size, wliile multitudes are still in their infancy. It is divided into various 
l?ai"ts by alleys running tlirough it, wliich present at almost eveiy turn picturesque views of land and water. 
Groat numbers of turtle-doves frequent these wooded abodes of departed generations, and hold a joint sway in 
them witli owls and bats. This vast necropolis has been vividly described by the autlior of Anastasius. The 
Constantinopolitan Turks have a predilection for interment on the Asiatic shore, as the soil that was their 
fathers previous to the European conquest ; the country of the Prophet, and of the cities deemed specially 
sacred by all true believers, Mecca, Medina, Jerusalem, and Damascus ; and owing also to a presentiment 
that they are doomed one day to be driven out of Europe, when they will have secured their bones from 
distui'bance by tlie hands of tlie infidels if buried across the water. 

AdrianopU, the capital of European Turkey from 1366 to 1453, north-west of Constantinople, ranks after it 
ill extent and consequence, containing about 140,000 inhabitants. The name commemorates its founder, the 
Eoman Emperor Hadrian. It stands on a beautiful plain, watered by the Maritza, and celebrated for its 
plantations of roses, from which a considerable quantity of attar of roses is made. Tlie city is a collection of 
wooden houses and narrow streets, the latter darkened by projections from the opposite dwellings, and the 
whole besprinkled with mosques, baths, khans, bazaars, and gardens. Among the bazaars, that of Ali Pasha is 
remarkable for its size, being 300 yards long, built of alternate red and white bricks, and devoted to tlie sale of 
the more costly commodities, as shawls, muslins, and jewellery. Among the forty mosques, that of Sultan Selim 
is pre-eminent, one of tlie largest and most beautiful edifices of Mohammedanism, a monument of its fomider's 
partiality for the city. It has four lofty fluted minarets of very elegant construction, ascended by spiral 
staircases, 1000 windows, and an exterior court paved with large slabs of white marble. Long after 
Adrianople ceased to be the capital, several of the sultans made it their residence, as Mohammed IV., 
Mustapha II., and Achmet III., a preference which so exasperated tlie Janissaries, that it was ono 
considerable cause of the rebellions which led to their suppression. There are several towns of considerable 
size in this part of the country, but without any features of special interest, except a few on the coast which 




Gallipoli. 

are historical sites. Gallipoli, a port near the northern extremity of the Dardanelles, the Callipolis of 
ancient geography, is 130 miles west-south-west of Constantinople, and has a shipping trade in corn, v/ine, 
and oil, with manufactures of morocco leather. The town was the iirst European conquest of the Ottomans, 
and here, during the late Crimean war, the British and French troops first encamped on Turkish soiL In the 
town and neighbourhood are seen many remains of ancient sculpture and architecture, the most noteworthy 
of wliich are the magazine and cellars built by Justinian. Cavalla, a small port on the north coast of the 
Ai'chipelago, is the ancient Neapolis, the landing-place of St Paul on his voyage to Macedonia. Here Mohammed 
Ali was bom, who, after being engaged in its shipping trade, the export of cotton and tobacco, rose to be Pasha 



488 EUEOPEAN TURKEY. 

of Egypt, and acqmi'ed such power that the intervention of tlie Western Powers was necessary to prevent him 
from subverting the Turlcish empire. Ten mUes inland is the plain which witnessed the memorable defeat of 
Brutus and Cassius by Augustus and Mark Antony, 42 B.C. A wretched village and a few ruins hero 
represent Philippi, a city founded by PhUip of Macedon, the scene of the Apostle's imprisonment, and the 
first place in Europe where Christianity was proclaimed. Saloniki, at the head of the gulf of that name, 
represents Thessalonica, associated with his hfe and labours ; and now ranks after Adrianople in the number 
of its population, 70,000, and is next to Constantinople in the extent of its commerce. Monuments go back to 
primitive Christian times, and to the prior age of Greek and Roman heathenism. It has an imposing 
appearance from the sea, moscines, minarets, and domes rise xip from the shore, tier above tier, to the summit 
of a hill, capped by a strongly-built citadel. Nearly half the population are Jews, who have a large 
scholastic establishment, numbering 1000 pupils. Greeks also are numerous. Previous to the Turkish 
capture of the city under Amurath II. many of the inhabitants left it, and, anticipating the permanent 
conquest of the country, they settled themselves in other lands. Among these refugees was the celebrated 
Theodore Gaza, who repaired to Italy, rapidly acquired the Latin language, became rector of the university 
of Perrara, and contributed to the revival of letters in Western Em-ope. 

A very remarkable region bounds the Gulf of Saloniki on the eastern side. This is a peninsula projecting 
into the Archipelago, wliich forms three minor peninsulas at its termination, advancing like a trident into the 
sea. The easternmost prong is of great interest, as the Hagion Oros, or Holy Mountain of the Greeks, the 
Monte Santo of the ItaUans, otherwise Mount Athos, the denomination, properly speaking, only of the high 
peak at the extremity. This minor peninsula is about forty miles in length, and on an average four mUes in 
breadth. It is connected with the larger by a low narrow isthmus, through which Xerxes cut a canal for his 
fleet, to save some tedious and dangerous navigation, a few traces of which are still distinctly visible. Prom 
the isthmus the ground rises in undulations, until it forms a steep central ridge, which rmis like a backbone 
through the entire tract. Towards the southern end it attains an elevation of about 4000 feet, and then, 
after a slight depression, suddenly throws up the vast conical peak of Mount Athos, 6400 feet high, 
the base of which is washed on three sides by the sea. Lateral valleys and deep gorges run down from the 
central ridge to the coast, with magnificent vegetation clothing their slopes. Above are forests of beech and 
chestnut; below are oaks and plane-trees, with the oUve, Cyprus, and arbutus, upon which luxui'iant 
creepers have fastened, and hang in festoons from their branches. ' The peak itself,' says a recent visitor, ' is, 
from its height and solitary position, its conical form and delicate colour, a most impressive mountain. It 
rises several thousand feet above the region of firs in a steep mass of white marble, wliich, from exposure to 
the atmosphere, assumes a faint tender tint of gray, of the strange beauty of which some idea may be formed 
by those who have seen the dolomite peaks of the Tyrol. I have seen its pyramidal outline from the plains 
of Troy, nearly 100 miles off, towering up from the horizon, like a vast spirit of the waters, when the rest of 
the peninsula was concealed below. So great is the distance that it is only visible at sunset, when the faintness 
of the Ught allows it to appear. Prom its isolated position, it is a centre of attraction to the storms in the 
north of the iEgean; in consequence of which the Greek sailors have so great a dread of rounding it in winter, 
that it would be no unreasonable speculation for an enterprising government to renew the work of Xerxes.' 
Mount Athos was one of the stations of the fire-beacons which carried Agamemnon's telegram to 
Clytemnestra. The architect Dinocrates proposed to carve the huge peak into a statue of Alexander. Pliny 
reported that when the sun is going do'ivn, the shadow of the mountain stretched as far as Myrrhina 
in Lemnos ; and the island of Skiathos is stated to derive its name from the fact that at the simimer solstice, 
at sunrise, the shadow is projected to it over the intervening sea. 

Prom a remote period this singular peninsula has been occupied by a large number of Greek monks, who 
discreetly came to terms with the siUtans, prior to the conquest of Constantinople, and have ever since been 
tolerated in the exclusive possession of the territory, on payment of a tax (£4000 per aimum), which a Turkish 
officer, the only Mohammedan witliin its boimds, collects. There are twenty monasteries, most of which have 
fine sea-views, and have far more the appearance of feudal strongholds than religious houses. They have libraries 
stored with manuscripts, abandoned to dust and neglect, from which hopes have been entertained, but have not 
yet been realised, of the recovery of literai-y treasures supposed to be lost. In the middle ages Mount Athos 
was the centre of Greek learmng, and of Byzantine art. The monks, who follow the rule of Basilius, number 
about 8000. The general interests of the communities are governed by a representative body, with an annually 
elected president at its head, who has the style during his term of oflSce of the ' First Man of Athos.' No 
woman is allowed on any account to step into the district ; and the restriction is extended to female creatures 
of every kind. Not a hen, cow, sow, mare, or she-cat is tolerated ; but all the monasteries have huge tom- 
cats, procured of course from the outlying world. Visitors who pass the night in the dormitories have 
unquestionable evidence of the fact that certain insects defy the prohibition, breed and multiply in alarming 
numbers to the distm'bance of all rest. The communities are kept up by the admission of members from 
without, and as some of these have entered the peninsula in very early life, and have never quitted it, the 
image of womankind has faded completely from recollection. Mr Bowen, in 1850, was gravely asked by one 
of the fraternity : ' What sort of human creatures are women ? ' It was elicited from the inquirer that he 
had seen only his mother, and had forgotten even her appearance, as he had been placed when four years old 
under the care of an uncle in one of the monasteries, and had not since mingled with the outer world, a 
period of twenty-four years. The monks never eat meat, but subsist on fish, friiit, and vegetables. They are 



THESSALY — LARISSA. 489 

engaged in agriculture, gardening, and the care of bees ; and a considerable trade is carried on in amulets, 
images, crucifixes, and small articles of furniture, all of their own manufacture. These are also the pursuits 
of a fluctuatijig body of seculars, who seldom amount to less than 3000. They form the population of Karyces, 
or ' The Hazels,' the only vUlage in the district, centrally situated in the midst of gardens and vineyards, and 
certainly the only place in the world with the resemblance of a town where no marriage is celebrated, 
no birth occurs, the inhabitants being all bachelors. Here resides the Turkish officer who collects 
tlio annual tribute for the government, but even he is not allowed to have his wife with him. Once a year, 
on the festival of the Transfiguration, some of the monks go up Mount Athos, and celebrate mass at tlie 
SHumiit. The peak rises to so sharp a point as only to have room for a little chapel on one side, from which 
the crags descend in tremendous precipices, and for a small platform on the other, a few feet wide, from 
which again the cliffs fall away rapidly. 

Thessaly, on tlie western side of the Archipelago, is a spacious and hisuriant basin- 
shaped plain surrounded mth grand highland barriers. On the north rise the Cambunian 
Mountains, on the west is the chain of Pindus, on the south are the ridges of Othrys and 
CEta, on the east lies the sea, -with the bold forms of Pelion and Ossa. At the north-east 
corner, the encircling heights are broken by the Vale of Tempe, which affords the only 
road from the plain northwards, which does not lead over a mountain-pass. This spot, so 
renowned for its beauty, is not a valley but a defile, separating the masses of Olympus and 
Ossa, through wliich the Salembria or Peneus flows to the Archipelago. It is about five 
miles long, lined on both sides with towering precipitous cliffs, which alternately advance 
and retreat, and leave only room for a narrow passage on the right bank of the stream, in 
the formation of which the rocks at various points have been cut away. The scenery has 
recalled the remembrance of KiUiecrankie in Scotland and Dovedale in Derbyshire, but is 
upon a much grander scale. Ledges of the chflfs are covered with wood, and wherever 
space is afforded by the water-side, ivy-clad planes, oaks, and other forest^trees appear, of 
very remarkable size, which throw their branches over the river, and at intervals almost 
hide it from view. Mount Olympus, famous in antiquity as the fabled habitation of the 
gods, where Jupiter sat shrouded in mists and clouds from the eyes of mortals, rises to 
the height of 9754 feet. Fine woods of chestnut, beech, oak, and plane clothe the lower 
slopes, and dark forests of pines the upper. The brow is bare, and scarcely ever entirely 
free from snow. . Once a year, on St John's Day, the 24th of June, some Greek priests 
from the neighbourhood go up to a small chapel near the highest point to perform mass. 

Larissa (Turk. YeniUcliir), the chief town of Tliessaly, is delightfully situated towards the centre of 
the plain, environed with groves of oranges, lemons, citrons, and pomegranates, from which ai-ise the 
slender and dazzUngly wliite minarets of numerous mosques. It carries on an important transit-trade, ivitli 
manufactures of sUk and cotton goods, and Tm-key-red dye-ivorks. Population, 23,000. Twenty miles to the 
south, Fcrsala, a small place, represents Pharsalus, where Pompey was overthrown by C^sar, 48 B. c, and 
did not rein in his steed in fleeing fi-om the battle-field imtil he gained the Vale of Tempe. The Thessalian 
plain is stUl as celebrated for its breed of horses"as when Alexander the Great received liis famous charger, 
Bucephalus, from its pastures. 

Eemarkable monasteries, at Meteora, occupy a high lying valley on the eastern slope of the range of 
Pmdus. Here a number of isolated rocks occur, which have a character perfectly imique to the eye, as if 
formed by the art of man, rather than by the more varied and irregular operations of nature. Some are 
quite conical in shape ; others are single pillars of great height and very small diameter ; others are nearly 
rhomboidal, and actually incline over their base ; not a few are perfect oblongs, with perpendicular sides and 
level summits. They rise from the midst of splendid vegetation, wliich also partly fills up the intervals 
between them. Thek elevation varies from 200 to 300 feet. It is on the tops of these pinnacles and towers, 
wliich seem unapproachable by the foot of man, that the religious houses are placed ; and in some instances 
they so entirely cover them, that the precipices descend from every side of the buildings into the deep wooded 
hoUows below. The only mode of gaining access to these aerial dwellings is either by nets in which the 
visitor is drawn up from above, or by ladders of wood and rope, made in separate joints, and let down over 
the face of the cliff. Mr Bowen preferred the former method, the least hazardous, though not without its 
trial to the nerves. ' I fired off a pistol,' he writes, ' to attract the attention of the monks, when long before 
the echo, reverberated by the cliffs around, had died away over Pindus, two or three cowled heads were 
thrust out from imder the covered platform projecting from the summit of the rock, and which resembles 
the shed on the top story of a lofty London warehouse. The rope, too, is worked ia a similar way, by a pulley 
and windlass. After reconnoitring us for a moment, and seeing that we were not strong enough to carry 



490 



EUROPEAN TURKEY. 



their monastery ty a coup ds main, the monks threw down what seemed to ba a strong cabbage-net, lower- 
ing at the same time a thick rope, with an iron liook at its end. My guide spread the nst on the ground, and 
I seated myself in it cross-legged. He then gathered the meshes together over my head, and hung them on 
the hook. The monks above then worked their windlass, and in about three minutes and a half I reached 
the summit, a distance of between 200 and 300 feet, swinging to and fro in the breeze, and turning like a 
joint of meat before a slow fire.' These remarkable rooks appear to have been known to the ancients, but 
are supposed to have undergone a considerable change in their size and form within a comparatively recent 
period. Formerly, twenty-four of the strangely-situated monastic dwellings were numbered, but not half 
of them exist at present, and only about four or five are inhabited. These are destined to perish in the lapse 
of time, as the rooks on which they are built are composed of a loose conglomerate, extremely liable to 
dilapidation and decay. 

The province of Albania, on the coast of the Adriatic, answers to the meaning of its 
name, ' mountain-region,' being traversed by a hold chain from north to south, intersected 
with gorges of extraordinary grandeur, sometimes gloomy and terrible. Gibbon wrote of 
this district as ' a country within sight of Italy less known than the interior of America.' 
But since liis day it has been amply illustrated by the descriptive traveller, the classical 
antiquarian, the landscape painter, and the poet. Agriculture is not much prosecuted 
in spite of the excellence both of the climate and the soil, but herds of cattle and sheep 
are numerous, and the olive and mulberry are common. The inhabitants, mostly 
descended from the ancient lUyrians, mixed with Greeks and Slaves, are as rude as 
their native hills ; of frank bearing, but of haughty, excitable, and vindictive tempera- 
ment ; with a picturesque costume. They are commonly called Arnauts, but they call 
themselves Skypetars, and generally profess Mohammedanism, but have never been 
scrupulous in the observance of its precepts, while they have ever been turbulent subjects 
of the sultan. 

Janina, in the south, once a largo and flourishing city, seated on the shore of a spacious mountain-lake 
of the same name, recalls to tiio memory of many European visitors the famous rebel governor Ali Pasha, 
at the commencement of the century, who made it liis capital and stronghold. Commerce and popula- 
tion have both greatly declined. It has numerous mosques and Greek churches, and manufactures gold- 
brocade, gold-lace, morocco leatlicr, and sUk and cotton goods. The temple and grove of Dodona, the most 
famous oracle of antiquity, destroyed before the Christian era, stood at the south extremity of the lake. 
Scutari, in the north, is at present tlie prmcipal towm, and has considerable manufactures of firearms and 
cotton goods. Jkj'oso, a small fortified port on a rocky peninsula, is of interest as the Dyrrachiiun of the 
Romans, where Pompey was beleaguered by Cajsar, and where passengers ordinarily landed from Brundusium, 
in Italy, on their way to Greece. Brundusium and Dyrraohimn have been appositely styled the Dover and 
Calais of antiquity. 

A small but remarkable territory lies immediately on the north, with the Italian name 
of Montenegro, but called Kara-tagh by the Turks, and Tzernagora by the natives. The 
tlu'ee terms have the same meaning, ' black mountain,' alluding to the dark pine-forests 
which once almost entirely clothed the surface, some traces of which remain. It is only 
about sixty miles in length, by rather more than thirty in breadth, and corresponds in its 
area to that of our county of Westmoreland. The population does not exceed 100,000, 
all Slavonians, and members of the Greek Church. Yet such is the difficult nature of 
the country, that this small community, scarcely affording 20,000 men capable of bearing 
arms, successfully maintained its independence down to the present period. Only 
under the reigning sultan has the aclinowledgment of allegiance been enforced by a 
powerful Turkish army. The surface presents a succession of wild limestone ridges, 
occasionally diversified with lofty peaks, but resembling in most parts a sea of enormous 
waves turned into stone. Its rugged aspect may be inferred from the traditions 
of the people, who say that ' when God was in the act of distributing stones over the 
earth, the bag that held them burst and let them all fall upon Montenegro.' There are 
fissures in the rooks like those of a glacier, which no horse could pass over without 
breaking its legs. Trees and bushes grow among the crags, and afford shelter for the 
inhabitants against an invading foe. 



MONTENEGRO — BOSNIA. 



491 



Tho government is vested in lieroditary chieftains of the family of Petrovioh, who take the title of Vladika, 
a 'prinoo' or 'ruler,' and are assisted by a council of elders. This dignity, instead of descending from father 
to son, lias generally gone from uncle to nephew, in consequence of the prince being usually also tho metro- 
politan bishop, and therefore incapable of contracting marriage. But in 1851, when a new chief succeeded, 
ho refused to take holy orders, and tlie bishopric was conferred upon another member of the family. Except 
in times of public peril, tlie people have little respect for authority, but do that wliich is right in their own 
eyes, and are specially prompt to redress injuries with the strong hand. It is deemed imperative upon the 
eldest son to avenge tho murder or violent death of a father. If of tender years, he is trained to consider 
himself the minister of retribution, to be executed on reacliing maturity. The Montenegrins are a tall, good- 
looking race, excellent marksmen, and brave to excess. In cases of emergency, even the cripples are carried 
on the backs of women, and lodged behind bits of rock where they can load and discharge their guns. War 
is waged ■with most revolting ferocity, the heads of slain and wounded enemies being invariably cut off, and 
exhibited as tropliies. Cetticme, or CeUinjc, the residence of the Vladika, is a mountain village, a few miles to 




the south-east of the Austrian port of Cattaro. Sh' Gardiner Wilkinson here counted upon a tower the heads of 
twenty Turks fixed iipon stakes round the parapet. Below, scattered upon the rock, were the fragments of other 
slculls which had fallen to pieces — ' a strange spectacle in a Christian country, in Europe, and in the imme- 
diate vicinity of a convent and a bishop's jjalace.' 

Bosnia, witli that part of Croatia which belongs to Turkey, and the Herzegovina, a 
district so called from the title of its ancient princes, Herzog, ' dnke,' forms an eyalet of 
the emphe, and is its most north-westerly section. It is largely traversed by more or less 
elevated ranges of the Dinaric Alps, and iahabited by a rude population, who, though 
Slavonians, profess Mohammedanism to the extent of about one-haK their number. 
Like the Albanians, they adopted the religion of their conquerors from political motives, 
to preserve their social importance ; and, like them, they have not been dutiful subjects 
either of tho Sultan or the Prophet. Their women are less secluded than is common 
under the Moslem law, and have long enjoyed the liberty of appearing in public very 
slightly veiled. Still, while allowing themselves every licence that is convenient, the 
Mohammedan Bosniaks are much more intolerant to others than the Turks themselves ; 
and have fiercely opposed the project of the government to pu.t all subjects upon an equal 



492 EUROPEAN TDRKET. 

footing irrespective of race and reKgion. It was in quelling an insurrection in tliis 
district, in 1851, caused by the reforming policy of the authorities, that Omar Pasha first 
obtained prominence. 

Boma-Serai, the capital, nearly 500 miles nortli-west of Constantinople, and 122 south of Belgrade, stands 
on both sides of the Migliazza, an afduent of the Bosna, and contains 70,000 inhabitants, engaged in trade and 
various manufactures. Four handsome stone bridges cross the stream. A vast number of iine trees mingle with 
the houses, and give that garden-like aspect to the tovm which has caused it to be styled the Damascus of the 
Korth. Not less than 122 mosques, with their gilded domes and minarets, f ui-ther orientalise the view which the 
eye commands from the lofty rook of the old castle. This building, now in ruins, was erected by the Hungarians 
prior to the Turkish conquest. Important iron-mines and mineral baths are in the neighbourhood. Travnik, 
a small town on the north-west, is the head-quarters of the military and the usual residence of the pasha, as 
the most central and advantageous position m the whole province. It is approached by a pretty glen, stands 
on a rapid stream, from which the high rock of the citadel rises up boldly, and possesses the gaudy tomb of 
Djelaludin Pasha, who, being defeated by the anti-reforming Mussulmans, destroyed himself by poison. An 
instance of suicide has rarely occm-red in the past history of Turkey, and is very imusual in Mohammedan 
society anywhere. 

The principality of Seevia, nearly independent, lies along the south bank of the 
Danube, and embraces almost the whole basin of the Morava, one of its principal affluents. 
The surface has fine upland scenery, and presents a glorious panorama from the highest 
peak of the Kopaunik, being overlooked in nearly its whole extent from Bosnia to 
Bulgaria, from Roumeha to Hungary. There is also great sylvan beauty, even where 
habitations and enclosures are entirely wanting, the country looking like a garden in one 
place, a trim lawn and park in another. The people, Servians or Serbs, form one of the 
many branches of the Slavonic family, and have preserved then- nationahty in its full 
integrity. Mostly peasants, they occupy villages in the gorges of the mountains, or in 
the depths of the woods ; rear their own dwellings, manufacture their own implements, 
and draw from the land the food they require, voluntarily assisting each other in getting 
in the grain as soon as it is ready, without fee or reward. The co m mon fruit-tree is the 
plum, from which a kind of brandy, slivovitza, the ordinary beverage of the country, is 
made. .Almost every village has a large plantation in its vicinity. Vast numbers of 
swine are reared, which fatten to an enormous size in the woods, and are sent to the 
markets of Pesth and Vienna. The people possess an extensive collection of popular 
songs, and a native literature of high class has been created in the present centitty. 

After being an independent kingdom, the Turks obtained the mastery of Servia, under Amurath I, by the 
battle of Kossova, in 1363. But many of the people took refuge in the more difficult highlands, where they 
became freebooters, rather than submit to the foreign yoke. A race of outlaws was thus perpetuated by them 
under the name of haiducti, who successfully defied the whole power of the government to root them out of 
their retreats. They infested the roads and passes, levied contributions upon travellers of the dominant 
class, and found shelter in the cabios of the peasantry, with whom they were connected by the ties of a common 
descent and religion, during the severity of winter. One of this number, soon after the commencement 
of the present centuiy, George Petrowitsoh, commoidy called Kara, or Black George, by the Turks, put 
himseK at the head of a national party against them ; and though temporarily overcome in the struggle tor 
liberty, the object was eventually gained. In 1830 the country was constituted a prmcipality, electmg its 
own ruler and managing its internal affairs, but acknowledging the supremacy of the sultan by a smaU 
annual tribute, and submittmg external relations to his control. Alexander, son of Kara George, reignod as 
third prince from 1842 to 1858. Eragojevatz, a small central to mi, is the principal seat of the govermneut. 
The Turks retain the right of garrisoning some frontier places, and are in force at Belgrade, on account of 
the strategic importance of the site, at the confluence of the Save with the Danube, the most advanced post 
of the Mohammedan power m the direction of the heart of Europe. Tliis city, of historic celebrity as tha 
scene of many a bloody struggle between the soldiers of the Cross and the Crescent, though now decayed, 
stm contams a population of 30,000. It has Servian and Turkish quarters, the former sloping down to the 
Save, and the latter to the Danube, with a strong fortress jutting out exactly at the point of conauence of 
the rivers, of which a pasha is the commandant, who represents the suzerainty of the Poi-te. A singular- 
looking street, the Lange Gasse, composed of dilapidated houses of ornamental architecture, commemorates 
the Austrian occupation of twenty-two years at the beginning of the last centuiy. Most of the tm-baned 
race lingering in the town are poor, and follow humble occupations— wood-splitting, water-carrying, porterage 
on the quay, and boating on the river. They are also, with few exceptions, the barbers, and have that 



MOLDA-WiUjLACmAN PROVINCES. 



493 



superior dexterity which distinguishes the craft in the east. Belgrade has its name from the Slavonic Uclo, 
'white,' and grad or prod, a 'fort' or 'town;' but the Turts call it Darol-Jihad, the 'House of the Holy 
War,' in allusion to their repeated contests for its possession with the powers of Christendom. It has suffered 
from tlio extension of steam navigation on the Danube ; for mstead of being the stopping-place as formerly, 
proceeding overland to Constantinople, they go on by the great river and the Black Sea to the capital. 

Tho two provinces of Wallachia and Moldavia, frequently called the Danubian 
Principalities, situated north, of the Danube, are enclosed in other directions by the 
Austrian and Russian dominions ; and, like tho preceding district, are little more than 
nominally subject to the Porte. They contribute a large number of tributaries to the 
frontier river, the Shyl, Aluta, Argish, Jalomnitza, Sereth, and Pruth, the last of which 
forms part of the boundary between Moldavia and the Eussian province of Bessarabia. 
While iutruded upon by the Carpathian Mountains on the side of Austria, they are 
chiefly great levels, including forests and pasture-lands, are abundantly fertile, and are 
capable of becoming one of the principal granaries of Europe. These provinces are identical 
in their inhabitants, language, and unfortunate history. The peasantry, who compose the 




bulk of the people, call themselves Eoumani or Eomans, stylo their native country Tsara 
Boiimaneska, ' Eoman Land.' They are a Greco-Latin race, descended from the ancient 
Daoians and the Eoman colonists who settled in the region upon its conc^uest by the 
Emperor Trajan. Tlieii- language is derived from the Latin to the extent of more than 
half its words. The tenitorial proprietors, boyars or nobles, are of Slavonic origin, and 
obtained possession as conquerors. Gypsies, who travel as musicians, and, are in constant 
attendance at all the fairs, are very numerous. The established religion is that of 
the Greek Chiu-ch, but all forms of Christianity are tolerated, and their professors 
enjoy equal political rights. Monasteries are excessively numerous, and an immense 
amount of property is in the hands of the priesthood, which at present (1864) the 
government of Prince Couza is endeavoiu-ing to have secularised. The fate of these fine 
provinces has been wietched in the extreme, owing to their occupation by large Eussian 



494 



EUROPEAN TDEEEY. 



armies during the frequent wars with Turkey. They are now politically united under 
the name of Eumania, have a native prince and a representative assembly, in which the 
great landholders have the complete ascendency ; though the unsettled condition of the 
principalities, and the slow but ceaseless spread of liberal opinions, render it doubtful 
how long they will be able to coerce the mass of the people. Wliile perfectly indej)endent 
in affau-s of internal administration, the Sultan is recognised as the lord-paramount. 

Bulcharest, the capital of "Wallachia and of the united provinces, ahout forty mOes north of the Danube, 
contains a population of 60,000. The name, signifying ' city of enjoyment,' alludes to the agreeable environs ; 
but the place is said to be one of the most dissolute in Europe ; all classes being inveterate gamblers. It 
covers an immense area, owing to the houses straggling, and having large gardens interspersed among them. 
The trees, many-coloured roofs, witli the towers and domes of more than sixty churches, render the distant 
view extremely pleasing. It is, however, mainly a collection of wooden tenements and mud hovels, divided 
by irregular and Hi-paved streets, with very few dwellings of the better class, and scarcely a public building 
of importance except the churches. The commerce is extensive in the export of timber, grain, wool, salt, wax, 
and other raw produce, for wliich manufactures are received, chiefly from Germany. In 1812 the treaty by 
which Turkey ceded the province of Bessarabia to Eussia was signed at Bukharest. Giurgevo, its port, a 
trading town on the Danube, opposite Rustchuk, is one of the principal steam-boat stations on the "Wallachian 
side of tile river. It was origmally a Genoese mercantile settlement, called St George, whence the present 
name. Annually, on St Peter's Day, a great fair is held in the neighbourhood, upon a vast barren plain. 




Ciuigevo opposite Pustcliuk. 

without verdure or shade. Coarse cloths, furs, and other articles of attii'e, with all descriptions of food, are 
the chief commodities with which the stalls are furnished, but pleasure is quite as much the object in view as 
business. This gathermg presents a very wild scene, strikingly illustrative of the varieties of costume and 
habits among the inhabitants of the Danubian provinces. "Whole towns and villages pour in their thousands 
to mix with gypsy musicians and mountebanks in rude hilarity. At Giurgevo the Russians were defeated by 
the Turks during the late war, in 1854, as also at Oltenitza, lower down the river, in the previous year. 
Ibrail or Brahilow^ the chief sliipping port for the native produce, is a fortified Danubian town towards the 
Moldavian frontier. Krajova, near the Sliyl, in the opposite part of the province, is a handsome town, 
containing many residences of the boyars, and is commercial likewise, with an active trade in salt. It is 
considered the capital of Western or Little "Wallachia. 

Jassy, the Moldavian capital, a few miles from the Pruth and the Bessarabian frontier, is picturesquely 
seated on a steep slope of the Kopoberg Mountains, and presents an agreeable appearance to the approach- 
ing traveller, with its white houses in the midst of gardens, shining spires, and high buildings with green 
roofs. The churches are numerous. A few residences of the rich boyars are mansions, but the most wretched 
huts are to be seen in their immediate vicinity. Tlie population is 70,000, nearly one-half of whom are 
Jews, who are the money-changers, brokers, and business-people, with all sorts of English and German 
hardwares, wooUen goods, and stuffs in their shops. Large dealings take place in the agricultm'al produce of 



MOLDA-WALLACHIAN PROVINCES BULGARIA. 



495 



the province. Galaiz, the only port, of great commercial consequence, is situated on the Danube, about 
midway between the disoliarge into it of the Pz-uth and the Sereth. These streams bring down the grain 
from tlie interior, chiefly wheat, in the export of whicli a fleet of foreign merchantmen is employed. Nearly 
the whole business is in the hands of Greeks, who are generally under the protection of Greek, Russian, 
Austrian, or English passports. The place has no attractions, besides being very unhealthy through the 
summer months, owing to e.\halations from the adjoining marshes. Com speculations offer the only induce- 
ment to a residence. By a simple arrangement ships are loaded and cleared while yet in quarantine. For 
half a mile in front of one portion of the town a brick waU separates it from the river. This is pierced by a 
number of holes tlu-ough which the grain is thrown by means of spouts, and received in bags held by 
quarantine porters, who carry their loads through the shallows of the river to the vessels. Ismail, a 
fortified town, on the northern or Kilia mouth of the Danube, is of tragic notoriety, from its capture by 
the Russians under Suwarrow, in 1790, who mercilessly put the garrison to the sword, with many of the 
inhabitants, not sparing even the women and children. This cruelty procured for him the name of Muley 
Ismail, in allusion to the Emperor of Marocco so called, one of the most sanguinary monsters that ever 
existed. The town reverted to Turkey by the treaty of Paris in 1856, along with an adjoining portion of 
Bessarabia north of the Danube and east of the Pruth. Russia was thereby excluded from all command of 
the Danube. 

Considering their fine natui'al advantages, in possession of a vast extent of fertile soil and ample river 
irrigation, few parts of Europe are in such a backward condition as the Molda-WaUaohian provinces. This is 
the joint effect of frequent occupation by foreign armies, a long period of political insecurity, and exclusive 
attention to the interests of their class by the landholders. The roads are everywhere bad- Travelling is 
performed in the rudest manner, and is almost impracticable in unfavourable weather. The peasantry are 
hardy, inured to the most opposite extremes of temperature, but are in a very low social condition. In some 
parts they are semi-subterranean in their dwellings, living in holes scooped out of the ground, roofed over 
with branches of trees and earth. The existence of such villages is chiefly indicated to the traveller by the 
smoke rising from them. 



y'*w 




Guard-House in a Pass of the Balkan. 

BuLGABiA, an integral portion of the empire, representing the ancient Mcesia Inferior, 
extends from the Servian frontier to the Black Sea, between the southern bank of the 



496 



EUROPEAN TURKEY. 



Dami'be and tlie range of tLe Balkan. The surface descends from the mountains hy a 
succession of terraces, and assumes the character of a plaiu towards both the river and the 
sea. The majority of the population are of Tartar origui, analogous to that of the Turks. 
They migrated originally from the hanks of the Volga, but have completely lost their 
nationality, and become Slavonised in customs, language, and religion, except that a 
number have recently abandoned Greek for Latin Christianity. 

Sophia, the capital, in the western part of the province, is a handsome town of 30,000 inhabitants, 
envii'oned with the northern declivities of the Balkan. It has manufactures of silis, woollens, leather, and 
tobacco ; is well supplied with luxurious hot baths ; and contains numerous khans, being nearly midway on 
the great route between Belgrade and Constantinople. Tlie whole distance, 627 miles, was accomplished 
with post-horses in 1842, by Mr Layard, in the extraordinarily short space of five days, to the great admiration 
of the Turks, as the ordinary government couriers occupied seven in the journey. Traffic along this 
thoroughfare has since been extensively diminished by the Danubian steamers. Shumla, on the eastern side 
of the province, occupies an important strategic position, at the head of the vaBey which debouches into the 
Bay of Varna, and at the northern opening of the great pass tlirough the Balkan, leading from Silistria or 
Rustchuk to Constantinople. It is therefore very strongly fortified, and has more than once arrested the 
progress of the Russians. Hence the Turks call it Ghazi or ' victorious ' Shumla. The town is placed at the 
base of heights beautifully clothed with wood, and is the seat of flourishing manufactures in metals. Vai-na, 
the principal Turkish port on the Black Sea, is also a fortified town, the rendezvous of the Auglo-Prench 
armies in 1854, from which they sailed on the memorable expedition to Sebastopoh One of the great 
contests between Christian and Moslem took place in its neighbourhood in 1444, when the Turks, tinder 
Amurath 11., signally defeated a large army of the Hungarians, led by their king, Ladislaus, who fell in the 
action. Widdin, Bustchuk, and Silistria, commercial places and strong fortresses on the Danube, guard the 
line of the river, and are often mentioned in the history of the wars with Russia. 

The islands belonging to European Turkey consist of Thaso, Samothraki, Imbros, Leuinos, 
and a few others, situated in the northern part of the Ai'chipelago, forming a separate 
province ; and of Candia, mth some bordering islets, at its entrance on the south, to 
which similar provincial distinctness belongs. The last-named island is the only one of 
important magnitude, as ■will be seen in the accompanying sketch-map of the 




MEDITERBANEAN 
SEA 



Mediterranean basin. Candle (the ancient Crete, called by the Turks Kiri'd), extends 
about 160 miles east and west, but is narrow tln-oughout, and contracted in places to less 
than ten miles in breadth. It is traversed by a chain of high mountains, one of which, 



POPULATION OP TURKEY. 497 

Mount Ida (now called Upsilorites), near the centre, rises to 7600 feet above the sea, and 
is mythologically associated with Jupiter as the scene in which he passed his youth. 
The soil is fertile ; springs are very numerous for its irrigation ; and a considerable 
quantity of grain and fruits of various kinds is raised, with oUvo oil, wax, and honey. 
During the present century, o^viiig to civil distractions, the population has greatly decreased, 
and does not now number more than 150,000, most of whom are Greeks. In the 
rural districts many of the Greeks are Mohammedans, their ancestors having embraced 
the creed of the conquerors in order to secure the temporal advantages connected with it. 

The town of Candia, the capital, contains about 12,000 inhabitants, and has fortifications raised by the 
Venetians. It is situated on the north coast, along with Retiino and Canea, the only other places above the 
rank of villages. Interesting sites are on the south coast, where the harbour of Lutro and that of 
Kalos Limenas correspond to the JPhmice and the Pair Havens of St Paul's voyage in the Mediterranean. 
The island came into the possession of the Venetians in 1204, and was held through four centuries and a haK. 
It was finally wrested from them by the capture of the capital in 1669, after the garrison had endured with 
heroic firmness a close blockade of two years and six months. The siege was conducted in person by 
Almied Kuprili, the greatest of all the Turkish grand-viziers. But the whole war lasted over a period of 
twenty-four years. A short tune before its commencement, Cyril Lucar, a native, who had risen to the 
patriarchate of Constantinople, presented the Codex Alexandrinus to Charles I. of England, through the 
medium of the British ambassador. This is now one of the rarities in the library of the British Museum. 

Mount Ida is a mass of gray limestone, scantily clothed with shrubs, and has a hill at its base in which are 
some curious excavations. They appear to correspond to the labyrinth for which ancient Crete was famed, 
often referred to by the classical writers, as by Virgil in the ^neid : 

' Ab the Cretan labyrinth of old. 

With wand'ring ways, and many a winding fold, 

Involved the weary feet without redress, 

In a round error which denied recess.* 

The escavatlons consist of a number of chambers, connected by low, narrow, and winding passages, which 
extend fully three-quarters of a mile, but formerly much further, many passages being now closed up by the 
falling in of the rock. Toumefort, who explored the place, found the entrance so low as not to be passable 
without stooping. Proceeding onward with torches, a 'thousand twistings, twinings, sinuosities, and 
turn-again lanes' appeared, defying the efforts of the traveller to penetrate to the further end, or, 
having done so, to find his way back without some precautions being observed. The method adopted was 
to scatter straw along the gi'ound, and attach numbered scrolls to every difiicult turning. Numerous 
inscriptions in the interior with dates shewed that the labyrinth had been often threaded, one of 
which, in Italian, commemorated a Venetian visitor — ' Here was the vahant Signer John de Como, captain 
of foot, 1526.' 

The population of Turkey, though not known with any pretensions to exactness, 
is' commonly stated at 15,500,000. But even this number, considered by some 
authorities as far too high, gives only a small proportion of inhabitants to the area of the 
country, many parts of which ate soUtudes, though bearing traces of great natural 
fertility. The nationalities of Slavonic origin, speaking various dialects, found in Servia, 
Bulgaria, Bosnia, Croatia, the Herzegovina, and Montenegro, form the largest body of 
the people. The Molda-WaHachians rank next ; and Greeks are numerous on the shores 
of the Bosporus, the Archipelago, and in the islands. These races compose the greater 
part of the Christian subjects, who were crueUy oppressed in past times, and who 
are not yet free from heavy grievances in the provinces still under direct Turkish 
rule. They are mostly members of the Greek Church, in connection with the great see 
of Constantinople, the bishops of which rose to pre-eminence in the oriental world by 
favour of the early Greek emperors; assumed the style of patriarchs; took precedence 
of the older dignitaries of Antioch and Alexandria; disputed the pretensions of the 
Eoman pontiffs to superiority ; and, finally, renounced communion with them, consti- 
tuting themselves the independent spiritual heads of Eastern Christendom. The Greek 
Church differs from the Latin in a multitude of particulars, doctrinal and ritual, yet they 
are chiefly of a very trifling nature; while it maintains as strongly, complete submission on 
the part of the laity to the priesthood. The papas or priests are very commonly illiterate 
2f 



498 EUROPEAN TURKEY. 

men, raised from the inferior ranks of life, who secure blind devotion from the ignorant 
masses, hut often contribute to infidelity among the intelligent. Though persecution on 
rehgious grounds is prohibited, and impartial toleration is allowed to aU classes, yet the 
government is too weak to restrain provincial officials, and secure obedience to its decrees 
at a distance from the capital. Hence insults and outrages are not uncommon, offered by 
a bigoted and fanatical Mohammedan party, of the old school, to their neighbours of a 
different faith. Only a small portion of the population consists of the dominant race, 
the Turks or Osmanli, who are probably over-estimated at 2,000,000, and are said to 
be decreasing in numbers. They live in and around Constantinople, are scattered 
generally tlu'ough Eoumelia, and are found to a less extent in most of the other 
towns, either as stated residents, or forming the garrisons. Their ascendency is main- 
tained entirely by military means, along with the jealousies of the leading European 
cabinets, who consider the integrity of the Turkish Empire essential to preserve the 
balance of power. 

The Turks belong to the great family of nations thinly spread over the plains and 
table-lands of Central and Western Asia, known by a variety of names, but often compre- 
hended under the general appellation of Tartars, pastoral in their occupations, and nomadic 
in their mode of life. They now differ in personal liaeaments from the more eastern tribes 
of the same stock, and correspond to the Eiu-opean type, as the consequence of change of 
cu'cumstances, settled habits, and marriage alliances with females from the Caucasus. 
Their language is identical with the Arabic in its alphabet, but has a few additional 
letters ; and the vocabulary is interlarded with many foreign words. It is easy to speak, 
but difficult to read, the vowels being generally omitted in writing and printing, while no 
marks of punctuation are observed. The national costume is loose and flowing. That of 
the women differs but little from that of the men, with the exception of the white veil 
worn by the former in public, and the turban of the latter. But among the higher 
classes in the capital, the turban has been largely discarded for the round fez-cap, and 
tight-fitting clothes have been substituted for flowing robes. The houses are uniformly 
low, built of wood and sun-dried bricks, often painted over on the outside, with little 
furniture in the interiors, as chairs, tables, and bedsteads are alike dispensed with. Eice, 
fruits, coffee, and sherbet are the principal articles of food ; baths and coffee-houses are the 
chief places of recreation ; chess and draughts are the popular games ; smoking is the 
imiversal habit. The Turks have a respectable literature, consisting of translated and 
original, poetical and historical, compositions, in manuscript and print. But letters are 
only cultivated to a limited extent, chiefly by the class intended for government employ- 
ment, or for the purpose of expounding the Koran ; and the general ignorance in high- 
life is profound in relation to topics of ordinary knowledge with the humblest grades 
among the "Western nations. In religion, they are aH Mohammedans, faithful to their 
creed, and attentive to the prescribed ritual of fasts, ablutions, and quintuple daUy 
prayers. WhUe allowed four wives by the law of the Prophet, this licence is now 
almost entirely restricted to the palaces of the rich and great. The form of govern- 
ment is an hereditary despotism, based upon the Koran, but somewhat modified in 
recent times as the consequence of political emergencies, and the representations of 
foreign powers. 

The immediate ancestors of the European Turks appeared about the middle of the thirteenth century, as 
adventurers from the further east in Asia Minor, in search of a territory, under their chieftain Ei-toghruL He 
obtained possession of the rich plains around Shughut, called the ' Country of Pasture,' and of the Black 
Mountains on the borders of Phrygia and Bithynia. The former was for his winter abode, and the latter for 
his summer encampment. In this district, his son Othman or Osman was nurtured, who became the founder 
of a dynasty and an empire, enlarged his dominion by entering the territory held by the Greek emperors of 



TURKISH CHAEACTERISTICS. 499 

Constantinople, but confined liimself to the soil of Asia. He began the invasion of Nicomedia, July 27, 1299, 
and from this era his reign is dated, with the commencement of the Ottoman power. EdAvard I. then sat 
upon tlie throne of England. The third sovereign or sultan, Amiirath I., established himself in Europe by 
tlio capture of Adrianople in 1361. 

Tlie Turks have remarkably preserved their oriental characteristics dui'ing the five centuries of their 
intercourse with Western nations. Most of their usages are in direct opposition to our own. Some of the 
more prominent are quoted from the pages of Mr XJrquhart. Shaving the head is with thoni a custom ; with 
us a punisliment. "We take off our gloves before the sovereign ; they cover the hands with their sleeves. We 
enter an apartment with the head uncovered ; they enter with the feet bare. With us the women commonly 
appear in gay colours, and the men in sombre ; with them it is exactly the reverse. In our rooms the roof 
is white, and the walls are coloured ; in theirs the walls are white, and the ceiling coloured. Amongst us, 
masters require a character with their servants ; in Turkey, servants inquire into the character of masters. 
In our fashionable circles, dancing is considered an accomplishment ; they deem it a disgraceful employ- 
ment. An Englishman will be astonished at what he calls the absence of public credit in Turkey ; the 
Tiu'k will be amazed at our public debt. The Englishman will esteem the Turk imhappy because he has no 
public amusements ; the Turk will reckon the man miserable who wants amusements from home. But 
polygamy, and the seclusion of women, are the most important distinctions between Eastern and Western 
customs. 

The first press for printing in Turkish was established at Constantinople under Aohmet III., in 1728. The 
project encountered strong opposition, as thousands of scriveners gained their subsistence by copying 
manuscripts. It was finally arranged that the Koran and theological works should still circulate only in 
manuscript, and printing be allowed for other books. In the first twenty-eight years, ending with 1756, the 
press produced eighteen works, and a total number of 16,500 copies. Through the next twenty-seven years 
it was entirely inactive, but was re-established in 1783 by Sultan Abdul Hamid, with new and better types. 
Though progress since has been very slow, yet the Turkish press has had a marked effect iipon penmanship. 
The beautiful specimens for which the caligraphists were celebrated have almost wholly disappeared, but the 
handwriting has gained in distinctness by losing in ornament. During the present century, Mahmoud II. 
patronised the press, specially with the circulation of translated works on military science in view. In his 
reign, 1832, the first Turkish newspaper appeared, the Ottoman Moniteur. There are now several ; and 
though not a reading people, the Turks now repair to the coffee-houses, many of which are also barbers' shops, 
to have the latest intelligence reported to them from the journals. 

In common with all Mohammedans, the Turks compute from the time of the Hegira, or the flight of the 
Prophet from Mecca, on Friday, the 16th of July 622 a.d. Their year consists of twelve lunar months, and 
is therefore shorter than our own. Tliey observe with the utmost strictness the month of Eamazan 
as a prescribed annual fast and festival, during which, from sunrise to sunset, no one eats, drinks, or smokes. 
The obligation is imposed upon all but children and invalids. Owing to the lunar reckoning, the sacred month 
runs through eveiy season in the course of thirty-three years ; and when it occurs in full summer, the 
labouring-classes suffer extremely from exhaustion and thirst, for not even a draught of water is taken. ' I 
have seen,' says one, ' the boatmen lean on their oars almost fainting ; but I never saw, never met Avith any 
one who professed to have seen, an instance in which they yielded to the temptation of violating the fast.' 
But at the sunset hour, a moment anxiously expected and generally announced by the firing of cannon, all 
classes make up for abstemiousness through the day by revelry through the night. The streets are crowded 
and the coffee-houses thronged. The mosques are open and the minarets illuminated. Attached as 
functionaries to the principal mosques, are Imaums, Sheikhs, and Kiatibs, who are the Friday preachers ; the 
Muezzims, or those who call to prayer ; the Dewr Khuran, readers of the Koran ; the Naat-shuran, singers of 
hymns ; the Eewab, door-keepers ; and other inferior officers. The small mosques are called Mesjid, places 
of prayer, from which, indeed, the word mosque is derived. In daily Ufe the verbiage of the Turks has a 
strong religious tinge. The ordinary affirmation is Inshallah, ' Please God,' and the negative, StafariUah, 
' God forbid.' Astonishment is expressed by Allah keriin ! ' God is great and merciful ! ' and gratitude by 
Shukur Allah, 'M.&y God reward you,' or Ev Allah, 'Praise be to God,' or Allah-raz olsun, 'May God 
receive you.' 

The highest title of the sultan is that of Padishah, father of sovereigns, or king of kings. He is also 
styled Vicar of God ; Successor of the Prophet ; Pontiff of Mussulmans, or Commander of the Faithful ; Eef uge 
of the World ; Shadow of God ; and Unkiar, the man-slayer, or blood-drinker. The last epithet alludes to 
the right once possessed of putting to death fourteen persons daily, without cause being assigned for the 
execution, in accordance with that unlimited power over the lives of their subjects which almost all oriental 
potentates have claimed. A site on the Asiatic side of the Bosporus, scene of a famous treaty with Eussia 
in the year 1833, has the name of Unkiar Skelessi, literally, ' the man-slayer's or blood-drinker's stairs.' 
This prerogative, if ever exercised, was renounced in 1839 by a hatti sherif, ' exalted writing,' as all edicts 
which have the imperial signature are called. The Salic Law f uUy regulates the succession to the throne, for 
the daughters of the sultan can transmit no right to it to their male offspring. A cabinet council conducts 
the executive government, to which the name of the divan is given, as the meetings were originally held in a 
room of the Seraglio, with no other furniture in it but a divan or bench, placed against the sides, covered 



500 



EDBOPEAN TURKEY. 



with cushions. Its most irapoi'tant members are the Grand Vizier, ' burden-hearer,' the prime-minister ; the 
Seraskier, minister of war, and commander-in-chief of the army ; the Capitan Pasha, or high-admiral ; the 
Kharidohijie-Naziri, minister of foreign affairs, formerly called the Eeis Effendi ; and the Mustechar, who 
acts as an adviser of the gi-and-vizier, and has the management of the home department. 

The views expressed respecting tlie moral character of the Turks were once miiformly 
to theh" disadvantage, and scarcely allowed them the possession of a single virtue. But a 
more intimate acquaintance, the growth of the present century, has tended favourably to 
modify the general judgTuent ; and perhaps their o^vn fallen political fortunes has contri- 
buted to this result, by depriving them of the opportunity and the means to indulge in 
the fiery intolerance and licentious excesses of their conquering forefathers. They are 
imdoubtedly a proud, sensual, phlegmatic, and indolent race, yet capable of vigorous 
exertion in great emergencies ; and when tried by the events of the battle-field or the 
siege, they are not found wanting in bravery. Though not easUy provoked to anger, 
owing to an apathetic temperament, yet when once thoroughly roused, their passions are 
furious and resentments deadly. On the 'other hand, temperance must be ascribed to 
them, both as it respects food and drink, the salutary effect of which is seen in a healthy, 
robust, and manly appearance. Travellers have frequently had occasion to remark upon 
their hospitahty, honesty, and truthfulness; and humanity to animals is -a graceful 
characteristic. The beasts of burden, horses and camels, are Hghtly laden, and kindly 
treated, being very rarely urged by any instrument of punishment. Those who have the 
means will buy captive birds of the bird-catchers for the mere pleasure of setting them at 
liberty ; and purchase scraps from the jiguerjis, vendors of cats' and dogs' meat, in order 
to feed the animals in the streets. Great reciprocal affection subsists between mothers 
and children in families, tender in the one, respectful in the other, constant and indis- 
soluble in both. These are some of the traits of character displayed by the followers of 
Mohammed, not as the exceptions, but prevalent, which may be commended to the notice 
and imitation of Christian nations. 




"Wallachian Travelling. 





CHAPTEK V. 



EEECE, the nanie given by the Eomans to the country called 
by its ancient inhabitants Hellas, is one of the youngest, smallest, 
and least important of the states of Europe, but has a name of the 
highest renown in history, as the ancient seat of freedom, of 
art, and of civilisation ia general, and as possessing a copious 
and brilliant literature, at a period when the remaiader of 
Europe was occupied chiefly by barbarian tribes. Splendid 
scenery, a transparent atmosphere, and the brightest of skies 
render the region emtaently attractive. Fiae remains of temples, 
many scenes of patriotic struggles, and the memory of illustrious men associated with 
the soil ia past ages — poets, historians, orators, philosophers, and artists — combine to 
invest it with peculiar interest, though unfortunately, in spite of some social and political 
advance, the contrast between the spirit of the present population and that of their 
ancestry justifies the expression of the sentiment, ''Tis Greece, but living Greece no 
more.' The modern kingdom, constituted in the year 1832, does not, however, exactly 
correspond in its dimensions to ancient Hellas. It embraces the south extremity of the 
peninsula occupied by Turkey through the greater part of its extent, and is washed by 
the ^gean Sea on the east, and by the Ionian on the west. It comprises also a multitude 
of islands closely adjoining the shores; but the total area very slightly exceeds 16,000 
square miles, equal to rather more than the half of Scotland. The northern boundary is 
an artificial line drawn from the Gulf of Arta, on the western coast, to the Gulf of Volo, 



502 GREECE. 

on. the eastern. Prom this frontier the mainland stretches to Cape Matapan, the extreme 
south point, a distance of not more than 200 miles. The greatest hreadth falls far 
short of this measurement, while the contractions are numerous and considerable from 
deeply-penetrating hays and gulfs. In fact, they give to Greece a coast-hne more extensive 
in proportion to the size of the country, than that of any other portion of the continent. 
These far-winding iiilets of azure sea, with bold headlands at their mouths, sometimes 
column-crowned, and the many islets, render the shores indescribably beautiful. 

The mainland consists of two principal portions, northern and southern, which are 
very nearly detached by the close approach of the Gulf of Lepanto from the west to that 
of ^Egina from the east. Between these arms of opposite seas there is only a tract which 
narrows to three miles in width, forming the Isthmus of Corinth. On this neck of land 
stood ia ancient times a famous temple of Neptune ; and here was celebrated in his 
honom' one of the four great national festivals of the Greeks, which obtained the name of 
the Isthmian. Games from the site. The country north of the isthmus corresponds to 
HeUas Proper, and that on the south to the ancient Peloponnesus. 

Though so small a country, Greece exhibits aU the varied features of a natural 
landscape, with the exception of important rivers. There are commanding mountains, 
noble promontories, and grand defiles, along with gentle hills, fertile plains, and numerous 
basin-shaped valleys completely enclosed. In these circular hollows small lakes are 
formed, which increase in volume with the rains of autumn and winter, and diminish 
under the heat of summer, or degenerate into marshes, and give rise to malaria and 
disease. Lake Topolias, the largest example, has a length of sixteen mUes by a breadth 
of eight in winter, but is partly converted in summer, into an extensive reed-grown 
swamp. The chain of Pindus reaches the northern frontier from Turkey, where it sends 
off a branch to the east, the extremity of which, forms, with the adjoining sea, the famous 
Pass of Thermopylae. The main range ramifies southward in various directions through 
the country, marked by summits well known by name to the classical student, as Mount 
Elatea, the ancient Cithceron, rising to the height of 4156 feet; Zagora, or Helicon, 4500; 
Lyakura, or Parnassus, 8068 ; and Guiona, or Axiivs, 8620 feet, the culminating-point 
of Greece. A branch passes through the Isthmus of Corinth, and then divides into three 
short ridges, the central one of which terminates at the southern extremity in Cape 
Matapan. It rises in Mount St Ehas, or Taygetus, to 7900 feet. The mountains, and 
indeed nearly the whole country, are chiefly of limestone. It frequently assumes the 
form of marble of the finest quality, and of various colours, which the ancients extensively 
quarried for buildings and statuary. Ifo volcanic rocks are found on the mainland, but 
considerable masses occur in some of the islands, one of which, Santorin, is still a centre 
of volcanic action. Coal, sulphur, porcelain clay, salt, iron, and argentiferous lead, with 
some traces of gold, are noticed among the minerals, but the extent and value of these 
resources have not been developed. Mineral springs, cold and warm, some sulphureous, 
others saline, are extremely numerous. Those caves and fissures emitting mephitic 
vapours also abound, which fired the imagination of the old native poets, and intoxicated 
the priests and priestesses who uttered the divine oracles. The most important of the 
streams, the Aspropotamo, or Achelous, watering the western side of Northern Greece, rises 
beyond the frontier, and discharges in the Ionian Sea, at the mouth of the Gulf of 
Lepanto. The HeUada, or 8perchius, and the Gavrios, or Cephissus, traverse the eastern 
side of the country. In the southerly division are the Vasilipotamo, or Eurotas, flowing 
through the plain of Sparta; and the Eoufia, or Alpheus, by the banks of which the 
great Olympic games were held. 

Though none of the mountains rise to the line of perpetual snow, yet it lingers on tho 



PRODUCTS OF THE COUNTRY. 503 

loftier summits till the summer is far advanced, and speedily returns to them again. 
Hence very distinctly-marked zones of vegetation are observed within a limited range, 
occupying the country ascendingly, from the vine and olive of the plains and valleys 
to the beech and pine of the grand elevations. The olive grows wUd in all parts of 
Greece, as when it sheltered ' Plato's retirement,' and formed the grove of the Academy, 
Under cultivation, it yields excellent fruit, which the inhabitants preserve in various ways 
as a staple article of food. The mulberry-tree is raised for the sUk-worm ; oranges, 
citrons, lemons, pomegranates, almonds, and other fruits are largely produced ; the figs of 
Attica are still, as aforetime, celebrated for their quality ; and Mount Hymettus, 
in the neighbourhood of Athens, vindicates its ancient fame for aromatic plants, bees, 
and honey. In parts of the mainland and some of the Ionian Islands, the dwarf-grape or 
currant is the prime object of culture, extensively exported in the dried state to England 
as an ingredient in well-known Christmas fare. The vine grows luxuriantly, and is 
cultivated in the island of Santorin for wines saleable in foreign countries, owing to the 
volcanic soU being specially favourable to it. Various kinds are prepared for the markets 
of Turkey and Eussia, as the ' wine of Bacchus,' with the taste of nectar and the colour 
of liquid gold, and the colourless ' wine of night.' The latter has obtained its name from 
the fact of the vintage taking place during the night, and from the grapes being inten- 
tionally hidden under the leaves of the vine, instead of being exposed to the influence of 
the sun, by which means they produce colourless wine. With the exceiDtion of a few 
spots, the entu-e island is now a vineyard, under the management of a company of 
experienced French wine-growers. 

The summer temperature is extremely high, but owing to the essentially maritime 
constitution of the country, the sea-breezes have extensive prevalence, and greatly modify 
the heat. Occasionally the ' black sirocco,' as it is called, is a disagreeable visitor. This 
is a hot southerly wind which shrivels the vegetation and oppresses the animal system, as 
in the days of yore, when it was described as 

' Auster's sultry breath, 
Pregnant witli plagues, and shedding seeds ot death.' 

But the west wind — light, genial, and sometimes humid — ^has a remarkably reviving 
effect upon floral nature, and was hence styled zepliyrus by the ancients, the ' bringer of 
life,' who ascribed to it the production of flowers and fruits. Earn is, however, rare in 
summer, and clouds are not much more common. Abundant showers fall during the 
short winter upon the plains, while frost and snow are chiefly restricted to the higher 
uplands. Generally, the climate is highly agreeable to the senses, the sky bright, and the 
atmosphere transparent. To the genial temperature, which allows the inhabitants to pass 
much of their time in the open air, with the great beauty of nature, modern writers refer, 
in order to account in part for the defective domestic architecture of the old Greeks, the 
badness of their streets, and the meanness of their houses, even of those belonging to the 
most wealthy and noble. In Athens, the people worshipped, legislated, witnessed dramatic 
representations, and listened to their orators, with no covering over their heads but the 
naked sky. Sunset adorns the horizon with the most varied and gorgeous hues, which 
are painted upon the objects below, and render the landscapes indescribably glorious. 
Dean Stanley speaks of the transparent clearness, the brOliant colouring of an Athenian 
sky ; of the flood of fire with which the marble columns, the mountains, and the sea are 
aU bathed and penetrated by the illumination of an Athenian sunset ; of the violet hue 
which Hymettus assumes, in contrast with the glowing furnace of the rock of Lycabettus, 
and the rosy pyramid of Pentelicus. 

Modem Greece is distributed into ten nomes or provinces, which are subdivided into 



504 



forty-nine eparcMes or prefectures, and these again are parcelled out into cantons. This 
arrangement dates from the year 1852 ; hut an additional province wUl he constituted 
of the Ionian Islands, of which Great Britain has recently resigned the protectorate. 



Northern Greece, 
or Hellas, 



Southern Greece, \ 
or the Morea, j 



Insular Greece, » 
or the Archipelago, j 



Provinces. 

Acarnania and ^tolia, 

Phthiotis and Phocis, 
Attica and Bceotia, 

Argolis and Corinthia, 

Achaia and Elis, 
Arcadia, . 
Messenia, . 
Laoonia, . 

Euhoea, 

Cyclades, 
Ionian Islands, . 



Principal Towns. 

Vrachori, Missolonghi, Vonitza, Lepanto. 

Lamia, Salona, Kastri. 

Athens, Piraeus, Livadia, Thiva or Thehes. 

Napoli di Eomania, Argos, Corinth. 

Patras, Kalavrita. 
Tripolitza, Megalopolis. 
Calamata, Navarino, Modon. 
Sparta, Mistra, Napoli di Malvasia. 

Chalcis or Negropont, Kaiysto. 

Syra, Andros, Naxia, Hydra, Spezzia. 
Corfu, Zante. 



Northern Greece, hordering upon Turkey, comprehends the territories occupied hy 

the ancient states, Attica, Mffigaris, Acarnania, .lEtoIia, Doris, Locris, Phocis, and Boeotia. 

Athens, the capital of the kingdom, on its eastern side, in latitude 37° 58' north, longitude 23° 46' east, is 

seated on a plain bounded by lulls, watered by the Cephissus and Ilissus, small streams which flow to the 

Gulf of Mgma,, about five miles distant, but are quite exhausted during the heat and drought of summer. 

Their banks are now treeless, and recall anything but the scene described by Plato in his dialogue of PliEedrus 

with Socrates, as they sat under the high and spreading plantain, and enjoyed the fragrance of the agnus- 

cactus which then flourished in the channels. The plain itself is broken up by a series of abrupt Umestone 

masses. The present city is almost wholly modern, and has a population of about 41,300. It contains a 

cathedral in the Byzantine style ; a large royal palace, tasteless and heavy, built of the marble of Peutelicus 

for the recently dethroned sovereign ; a imiversity of respectable appearance, and attended by upwards of 

500 students, several gymnasia and charitable foundations, but is otherwise a place of narrow streets and 

mean-looking houses. All the celebrity of Athens is derived from the hoary past, when it was 

' The eye of Greece, mother of arts 

And eloquence,' 

and all interest centres in its historic sites, and extant remnants of classical antiquity. Foremost among the 
latter is the Acropolis or citadel, built upon a rock abruptly rising out of the plain, which comprises within 
its enclosure the shattered white marble skeleton of the Parthenon, a temple dedicated to Minerva, the 
tutelary goddess of the ancient city. This building, upon the liighest part of the hill, was erected under the 
administration of Pericles, and completed in 438 B.o. It was of the Doric order, of the purest kind, adorned 
witlain and without with exquisite sculptures, executed under the direction of Phidias by various artists. 
After becoming a Christian church, it was despoiled by Alaric the Goth, and subsequently converted into a 
mosque by the Turks, but remained tolerably entire down to the year 1687, when, during a siege by the 
Venetians, the gi-eater part was reduced to a heap of ruins. Since that date wealthy antiquaries have 

largely carried away 

* What Goth, and Turk, and Time had spared.' 

Many of the finest sculptures were removed to England by Lord Elgin in the early part of the present 
century, and now form the Elgin marbles in the British Museum. Immediately to the west of the Acropolis, 
separated from it by a narrow vaUey, is the Areopagus or Mar's Hill, another rocky height, of great interest 
in the annals of Christianity, as the spot on which the apostle Paul delivered his memorable address to the 
Athenians. It was also the place of meeting of the Areopagite judges, renowned for the integrity of their 
decisions. They sat in the open air. The judgment-seat remains, a bench of stones excavated out of the 
rock, with steps leading up to it, and there are two rude blocks supposed to have been assigned, the one to 
the accuser, the other to the criminal. The Pnyx, where the popular assemblies were held, is an adjoining 
hill, marked by a solid rectangular block, from which the oratoi's appealed to the multitude. The traveller 
ascending it may with certainty say that he is standing where stood Demosthenes, Pericles, Themistocles, 
Aristides, and Solon. The temple of Theseus, a little older than the Parthenon, once used as a church, is the 
best preserved of all the ancient buildings, and is now occupied as the national museum. Over the plain 
still tower sixteen majestic columns of the temple of Jupiter Olympus, once one of the most magnificent 
structures in the world, begun by Pisistratus, 530 B.C., but only completed by Hadrian, 145 A.D. 

The foundation of Athens is ascribed, in Greek legend, to Ceorops, a chieftain of the Pelasgio race, 1550 B.C. 
The city was burned by Xerxes, rebuilt by Themistocles, adorned by Pericles, and is supposed to have 



CELEBBATED SITES. 505 

contained 120,000 inliabitants at the close of the Peloponnesian war. It suffered severely during a siege by 
the Romans, but was partly rebuilt and embellished by Hadrian. Ravaged by the Goths, it gradually sunk 
into obscurity, and remained an almost deserted place through the greater part of the middle ages. Among 
tlie illustrious men of antiquity in the list of natives, the names of Socrates, Plato, Phidias, Pericles, 
and Alcibiades occur. 

The Pirams, or port of Athens, is five miles to the south-west, on the Gulf of JSgina. It was formerly con- 
nected with tho city by long walls bmlt of stones of enormous size, sixty feet high, and broad enough at the 
top for two wagons to pass abreast. These have long since disappeared, though some vestiges may be traced. 
A good macadamised road now runs between the frivo, shaded by groves of olives. In modern times the place 
has been named Porto Draco, or Porto Leone, from the colossal lions of marble transported to Venice in 
1687, and erected near the arsenal. The modern tov/n of about 6430 inhabitants is entirely new, and has in 
its neighboiu'hood remains of the tomb of Themistocles, overlooking ancient Salamis, a small island close 
iiishore, the scene of his glory in the naval triiunph over the Persians, 480 B.O. Solon and Euripides were 
natives of the island. On the adjacent mainland, beautifully situated, is Lepsina, now a small village, repre- 
senting the ancient Eleusis, which gave its name to the great festival held in honour of Ceres — known 
as the Eleusinian Mysteries — the most famous of all the religious ceremonies of the Greeks. Further to the 
west is Macjara, similarly reduced, once the mother of colonies, in possession of a powerful fleet, and the 
seat of a celebrated school of philosophy. The plain of Marathon, scene of the battle in which the Athenians 
under Miltiades signally defeated the Persians, 490 B.C., is about twenty-five miles north-east of Athens, close 
to the sea, and partly under cultivation. A mound of earth rises in the centre which the conquerors piled 
over the remains of their coimtrymen who fell in the engagement. The Attic peninsula terminates to 
seaward with the promontory of Sunium, on which stood a splendid temple, some columns of which still 
exist, and have given to the headland its present name. Cape Colonna. 

Thebes, the capital of Boeotia in the classic age, the birthplace of Pindar and Epaminondas, survives only as 
a wretched hamlet under the name of Thiva. Livadia, ancient Lehadcia, with 5000 inhabitants, is now the 
chief town of the district. Here are the famous oracular cave of Trophonius, and the fountains of Lethe 
and Mnemosyne. The Pass of Thermopyte, in which Leonidas and his band of Spartans perished while resist- 
ing the Persian host, 489 B.O., leads from Boeotia into Thessaly, between Mount CEta on one side and the 
sea on the other. It is about five miles long and a hundred yards wide, chiefly occupied by a morass through 
which runs a narrow paved causeway. The name refers to some copious hot springs, thermm, in the defile. 
Though called the * Gates of Greece,' the pass has never opposed an effectual barrier to an invading army, 
owing to the existence of practicable routes across the mountains. 

"Within the limits of Phocis, the poor village of Kastri, at the base of Mount Parnassus, is all that remains 
of Delphi, a wealthy city in the time of Homer, distinguished by the temple and oracle of Apollo, and by the 
Castalian spring, which was accounted the som'ce of poetic inspiration. The mountain rises in vast precipices 
immediately behind the humble cottages, and the fountain flows at a short distance from the village. It is 
' ornamented with pendant ivy, moss, brambles, and flowering shrubs, and is overshadowed by a large fig- 
tree, the roots of which have penetrated the fissures of the rock, while its wide-spreading branches throw a 
cool and refreshing gloom over this most interesting spot. In front of the spring, a majestic plane-tree nearly 
defends it from the rays of the sim, which shines on it only a few hours in the day.' The copious spring 
forms a veiy picturesque brook, which passes through a rocky glen, fringed with olive and mulberiy trees, 
and joins the little river Pleistus. Dr E. D. Clarke ascended Parnassus, and found all its higher region bleak 
in the extreme, and destitute of herbage, with the exception of a few rare plants. He was enraptured with 
the view from the summit. ' The Gulf of Corinth had long looked like an ordinary lake, and it was now 
reduced to a pond. Towards the north, beyond aU the plain of Thessaly, appeared Olympus with its many 
tops, clad in shining snow, and expanding its vast breadth distinctly to the view. The other momxtains of 
Greece, like the surface of the ocean in a rolling calm, rose in vast heaps ; but the eye ranged over every one 
of them. Helicon was one of these, and it is certainly inferior in height to Parnassus. "We looked down 
upon Achaia, Argolis, Elis, and Arcadia as upon a model' 

The smaU fortified seaports of Mcsolonghi and Lepanto are in the western part of Northern Greece. The 
former acquired notoriety from its sieges during the war of independence, and as the scene of Lord Byron's 
death in 1821 The latter gives its name to the gulf it adjoins, also called the Gulf of Corinth ; and to the 
great naval battle fought on the contiguous waters, in which the Turks were defeated by Don John of 
Austria in 1572, and their navy for a time annihilated. 

Southern Greece, or the ancient Peloponnesus, lias been called in modern times tl^o 
Morea, a term derived from tlie Greek word for the ' mnlberry-tree.' It was applied to 
the district either owing to the common occurrence of the tree withia its bounds, or to 
some fancied resemblance in its shape to that of the mulberry-leaf. In this division of 
the kingdom, the ancient states of Achaia, Elis, Messenia, Laconia, Aigolis, and Aicadia 
were situated. Broken by numerous bays and projections, its coast-line was deemed 
difiicult and dangerous in the inexperienced navigation of early times. Cape Matapan, 



506 GBEECE. 

the south extremity, was reckoned one of the entrances into the infernal regions ; and of 
a south-eastern headland, the proverb was current, ' Before the mariner doubles Cape Mala, 
he should forget all he holds dearest in the world.' 

Napoli di Romania, or Nauplia, is seated on the cast coast, at the head of a gulf to which its name 
is given. It contains about 10,000 inhabitants, and was for a short time the capital of the new kingdom, 
prior to the selection of Athens. A fortress erected by the Venetians on the top of a precipitous rock, 
700 feet above the sea, is deemed impregnable, and has been called the Gibraltar of Greece. Patras, on the 




Patras. 

north-v/est, at the entrance of the Gulf of Lepanto, is the largest town, containing a population of 20,000. 
It is also a fortified seaport, and the principal seat of the foreign trade, from which large quantities of 
currants of the best quality are annually shipped. Navarino, a sniaU port on the south-west, is memorable 
for the battle fought on its waters in 1827, when the Turkish and Egyptian fleets were destroyed by the 
combined British, French, and Russian squadrons. Argos, built on the site of the ancient city of the same 
name, is a thriving town of 11,000 inhabitants. In the vicinity cotton, vines, and rice are gro^vn. Mycene — 
once famous and great — is now a mere city of ruins near the village of Kxabata. Sxmrta has been restored 
in part from the same desolation, having been rebuilt. Corinth, ' the city of the two seas,' as both Horace 
and Ovid style it, on the isthmus between the .fflgean and Ionian basins, exists as a small to'ivn of 2000 
inhabitants with some remains of its ancient magnificence. The principal relic consists of seven fluted 
columns of the Doric order, with a part of the architrave still resting upon five of them, where the stork 
loves to build its rude nest. These columns are generally shewn in all engravings of modem Corinth. 

Insular Greece, or the Aichipelago, on the eastern side of the mainland, embraces the 
island of Euboea, the group of the Cyclades, and a portion of the Sporades. The recently- 
cpnexed Ionian series extends along the south and west coasts. These islets have a very 
varying character. Some are scorched and sterile volcanic masses, presenting nothing to 
the eye at a distance but verdureless acclivities, with scarcely a single tree to break the 
uniform barrenness ; and it is only iu nooks and corners, in deep deUs and shaded 
retreats, that the ground has its grassy slopes and leafy copses. But others exhibit the 
soft yet grand features common to districts which have a rocky skeleton clothed with 
fertUe soU ; and no contrast can well be conceived more strilting than that presented by 



GREEK ISLANDS. 507 

dark groups of tall and tufted cypresses, with the pale quivering foliage of luxuriant olive- 
groves, the white Uniestone-chffs, and the blue sea gloriously lighted by an unclouded 
sun. With nature's attractive scenes there are often blended remains of once stately 
temples erected in honour of long dethroned gods and goddesses, imposing, or picturesque, 
or effective by their very insignificance in contrast with their past grandeur, while 
historical and poetic associations of the highest interest cling to many a cove and 
headland. Edbcba, formerly called Negropont, a -name bestowed by the Venetians, who 
were its masters from the year 1204 tiU. they were dispossessed by the Turks in 1470, is 
the largest island in the iEgean Sea, remarkable for its length and scanty breadth. At 
one point, towards the centre, it so closely approaches the mainland as to admit of a 
bridge being thrown across the intervening channel. The pastures of the island are 
excellent, and the declivities of the mountains are covered with forests of fir. The chief 
products are cotton, oil, wine, wheat, fruit, and honey, and the inhabitants are engaged 
chiefly in the breeding of cattle. The Cyclades, of which there are twenty of some size, 
form a cluster on the south, and were so called from the legend of their circling around 
Delos when that island was rendered stationary by the birth of Diana and Apollo. Three 
of the number are naturally remarkable — Santorin, an active volcanic centre; Pares, yielding 
the fine white marble of the statuary ; and Antiparos, celebrated for its grotto in the 
limestone rock. , The Spobades, or ' scattered ' islands, were so styled from their irregular 
distribution. Only a few of them now belong to the kingdom of Greece. 

Egripo^ the chief town of Eubcea, is a maritime place now of but little note, situated on the narrowest part 
of the channel, between the island and the continent. But it represents the Chalcis of the ancients, where 
Aristotle ended his days, 322 B. c, and the birthplace of the orators Isseus and Lycophron. The city became 
the mother of numerous colonies — that of Cumce, in Italy, among others — and was of military importance 
from completely commanding the navigation of the strait. 

Syra or Hermopolis, on the island of that name, with about 35,000 inhabitants, is the capital of the 
Cyclades, a busy and prosperous port, with a harbour generally crowded with vessels, and piles of merchandise 
lying on the quays. It is the great commercial entrepot of the Archipelago, a principal station of the 
Mediterranean steamers going to and from Constantinople, the see of a Greek bishop, and the residence of 
various consuls. The town is built upon the shore, and ascends from thence to the summit of a steep conical 
hill situated between two high mountains. Its white houses i^resent an imposing effect from the blue sea. 
The island, about ten miles in length by five in breadth, has an inhospitable aspect, consisting almost entirely 
of bold highlands bare of vegetation. But upon being explored, fertile tracts are met with in narrow valleys, 
in which the vine grows luxuriantly. 

Among the other members of the group, I^axos is the largest and most beautifuL The central Delos, once 
the most famous, is one of the smallest and most desolate, possessing scarcely a vestige of the temple which 
attracted pilgrims from all parts of Greece. Tinos is celebrated for producing the best Malvasian or Malmsey 
wine, which derives its name from the town of Napoli de Malvasia, on the east coast of the Morea. Pares, 
and its neighbour Antiparos, are almost wlioUy^pomposed of marble. The grotto or cavern, in the latter 
island, often visited by travellers, is entered on the side of a hill, about two miles inland. It consists of a 
series of passages and descents leading to a wonderful subterranean apartment, called the ' Great Hall,' 120 
yards long, 113 broad, and 60 feet high. The sides and roof of this natural chamber are covered with 
immense incrustations of calcareous matter, beautifully white. They depend from the ceiling ten or twelve 
feet, as thick as a man's waist, with innmnerable festoons of the same substance occupying the intervening 
spaces. They rise up from the floor with the appearance of broken columns, or the stumps of trees. One 
remarkably fine mass, termed the 'Altar,' is twenty feet in diameter and twenty-four feet liigh. TMs 
cavern, which was known to the ancient Greeks, seems to have been forgotten till the seventeenth century, 
when it was revived by the Marquis de ISTointel, the French ambassador to the Porte. He passed the three 
Cliristmas holidays in it, in 1673, on his journey to Constantinople, accompanied by a train of domestics, 
merchants, and natives, who were anxious to explore it. The place was illuminated by 100 large wax-torches 
and 400 lamps ; and high-mass was celebrated by the chaplains of the embassy at midnight. 

Hydra, a town and port of modern date, is on an island of the name, one of the Sporades, a short distance 
from the east coast of the Morea. It became a highly-prosperous place during the war of independence, 
owing to the public spirit displayed by its inhabitants in the cause of national freedom, which attracted a 
concourse of patriots and refugees from all parts of the country. Though greatly injured by the rise of other 
seats of commerce more conveniently situated, it carries on an active trade, contains about 12,000 inhabitants, 
and is one of the most agreeable towns of the kingdom. 



508 GREECE. 

The diain of islands known hj the collective term Ionian, extending from the south 
extremity of the Greek peninsula along its western coast to that of Albania, consists of 
seven principal members — Corfu and Paso, northern ; Santa Maura, Thiaki, Cephalonia, 
and Zante, central ; and Cerigo, southern. There are upwards of thirty subordinate islets 
in the series, some only of which are inhabited. All are near the mainland, and belong 
to the same great calcareous formation which prevails over Greece. Scarcely a parallel 
instance can be found of tracts so utterly insignificant in size, having a place of such long- 
standing on the page of history in association with so many stirring events and memorable 
names ; the Peloponnesian wars and the battles of Actium and Lepanto ; "Ulysses and 
Alcinous in classic legend ; Herodotus on his travels ; Aristotle and Demosthenes in 
banishment ; Cicero and Cato in flight ; Antony and Cleopatra in marriage and defeat ; 
Augustus in victory ; Agrippina in widowhood ; Eobert Guiscard, the Norman viking, 
in his roving ; Eichard Coeur de Lion on his way from Palestine to an Austrian prison ; 
Ali Pasha; and Lord Byron. Olives, vines, and the dwarf-grape or currant are the 
priacipal objects of cultivation. Earthquakes are of very frequent occin?rence, especially 
in Zante and Santa Maura, and are occasionally destructive. Besides Greeks, who form 
the majority of the people, there are Italians, Maltese, Jews, and other aliens. For four 
centuries the islands were held by the Venetians, or down to the year 1797, when that 
republic succumbed to the arms of Kapoleon. They have since been French, Eussian, 
Turkish, and British ; and were formally placed under the protectorate of Great Britain 
in 1815, but with power to regulate their internal organisation by a local legislature. 
This arrangement terminated in 1863 by a voluntary but conditional cession to the Greek 
kingdom. 

The island of Coefu, the most northerly and important, opposite the coast of AJhania, was considered hy 
the ancients as identical with the Homeric insular kingdom of Alcinous. Nearly twenty-sis centuries may 
he assigned to its authentic history, or from the year 734 E. c, when it was colonised by the Corinthians, and 
knoivn for ages afterwards under the name of Corcyra. Corfu, the capital, on the eastern side, is built on 
the slope of an irregular promontory, with a semicii'cular bay on either hand, and contains a motley 
population variously estunated at from 15,900 to 25,000, It has little interest apart from the splendid 
situation, and an odd grouping of different styles, arcades and piazzas erected in the Venetian times, old 
bastions bearing the winged lion of St Mark, the university founded by Lord Guilford in 1824, the govern- 
ment house buUt by the English of white Malta stone, and the Church of St Spiridion, the patron saint. The 
assimied body of the saint, ' a neat black mummy,' without eyes and nose, is paraded through the principal 
streets three tunes a year for the benefit of the sick, and is held in the highest veneration. 

The little islet of Paxo (ancient Paxus), is of interest as the scene of the wild old legend, related by 
Plutarch, that about the time of our Lord's Passion voices were heard in the night by seafarers, announcing 
that the gi'eat god Pan was dead, whereupon piteous outcries and dreadful shrieks were heard in all 
directions. Milton alludes to the legend in the luies : 

' The lonely mountains o'er, 
And the resounding shore, 
A voice of weeping heard and loud lament.' 
Santa Mauea (anciently Leucadia, in allusion to its splendidly white cliffs) has a south-westerly promontory 
traditionally connected with the tale of Sappho and other despau-ing swains leaping into the sea to get rid 
of their sorrows. The headland is hence locally called Sappho's or the Lover's Leap. Cephalomia (ancient 
Gephallenia), is distinguished by the Black Mountain, rising 4500 feet above the sea, and clothed with a 
forest of dark pines, now crippled by accidental fires and conflagrations kindled by the factious inhabitants. 
Eobert Guiscard ended liis career in the island, and left his name attached to its north extremity, which is 
retained under the Italianised form of Cape Viscardo. Thiaki is the renowned Ithaca of Homer, and the 
paternal kingdom of Ulysses. Its natives are as familiar with the classic as with the modem name. A 
perennial spring represents the fountain of Arethusa. Consisting of a mountainous mass intersected by 
narrow ravines, and containing scarcely a hundred yards of continuous level ground, the little territory 
exactly answers to the description in the Odyssey : 

* Our meagre land allows 

Thin herbage for the mountain goat to brouse. 

Bat neither mead nor plain supplies, to feed 

The sprightly courser, or indulge his speed.' 
Zante (ancient Zadnthns), is famed for the profusion of its aromatic plants, the fragrance of which in 



IONIAN ISLANDS. 509 

spring-time, with that of tlie flowering vineyards, is carried far out to sea on the wings of the wind. On 
the ed^o of a marshy valley, near tlie shore of a bay, away from hiunan habitations, there are still the pitch 
springs, much as tliey were when Herodotus visited and described the spot. From its exquisite beauty 
and extreme fertility, praised by Tlieocritus, the island has long been proverbially styled the ' flower of the 

Levant.' 

' Zante I Zante ! fior di Levanti.* 

The town of Zante, on the coast, with 20,000 inhabitants, contains many large handsome houses, built in 
the old Venetian style, which bespeak the occupiers to be men of substance. Ceeigo, the most southerly 
island, the ancient Cythera, cradle of the Syrian goddess Aphrodite, abounds with natural caverns, and 
produces honey of fine quality. 

After tlie fall of tlie Eoman Empire with, 'vvliicli Greece was incorporated, the country 
underwent a succession of changes, and suffered grievously from the invasion of 
Slavonian, Albanian, and other barbarous hordes. In the thirteenth century the 
Venetians became the predominant power witliin its limits ; they were followed by the 
Turks in the fifteenth, under whose rule the people had to endure every kind of hardship 
wliich avarice could suggest and brutality inflict. Insurrections took place, but they were 
abortive. In 1820 a general war for independence broke out, which the intervention of 
Clu'istian Europe rendered successful ia 1829, when Greece was recognised as a free state. 
It became a kingdom in 1832 by the accession to the throne of a Bavarian prince, Otho I., 
who was deposed by a revolution in 1863, and succeeded by the Danish Prince George I., 
who bears the title of 'King of the Hellenes.' Violence and factiousness have unhappily 
been promiaent iu the conduct of the people, or their political leaders, since the date 
of independence, but not without provocation from the selfish policy and contemptible 
incapacity of the government. 

The enth'e population, continental and insular, is estimated at 1,340,000, consisting for 
the most part of Greeks, though there are a considerable number of Arnauts or Albanians, 
and some descendants in the islands of the Latiu invaders of the middle ages. The 
language; of the Greeks proper bears a very close resemblance to the classical Greek, but is 
called the Eomaic, owing to the people having acquired the name of Eomans, while 
included in the Koman Empire. They style themselves Hellenes, proud of their ancestry, 
as if of pure descent from the old inhabitants of the country ; and the Mainotes, who 
occupy the mountain-range of Taygetus, in the Morea, bold and independent, boast of 
being true sons of the ancient Spartans. But the mass of the people, especially of the 
continentals, are the offspring of a mixture of Hellenic with Slavonic and Latin blood. 
It is in the islands, especially in those of, the smaller class, but little exposed to the 
ingress of foreigners, that the purest representatives of the old stock exist, and the closest 
approach is made by the moderns in personal appearance to the style and physiognomy of 
the ancient race. Still, an example of beauty in strict accordance with the classical 
model, which bordered on ideal perfection, in projiortion, symmetry, and harmony of 
features, is now rarely met with. The forehead rises less perpendicularly ; the cheek has 
a shght angularity ; and between the eyebrows, which, in the beauty of antiquity, nearly 
met, there is a perceptible space. But the eyes, large, liquid, and dark; the small mouth, 
not s milin g, but suggestive of smiles ; and that exquisite oval outline, observable in the 
visages of the ancient statues, stOl belong to the race, where there has been little 
admixture of foreign blood. 

It is also ui insular Greece that we are left most alone with antiquity, as to manners 
and customs, and can best realise the days of Hesiod and Homer. Domestic habits have 
in many respects undergone little change among the peasantry ; agricultural implements 
are much the same ; salted olives, coarse bread, and a few common vegetables are now, as 
they were then, the ordinary fare ; and superstitions survive which go back to the age 
when Zeus, or Jupiter, was reverenced as the Thunderer. The national dance, called the 



510 GREECE. 

Eomaika, is a relio of the Pyirliic dance of antiquity, as appiears from its general corre- 
spondence to tlie descriptions of the classical writers, and to representations on marbles 
and vases. In an olive-grove on the summit of a hill near the town of Corfu, the 
peasantry assemble on Ascension Day attired in their picturesque attire, and this dance is 
a prime feature of the festival. 

But whether insular or continental dwellers, the moral and intellectual character of the 
people ill accords with their personal beauty, the historic renown of the race, or the 
natural loveliness of the country. At the commencement of their struggle with the 
Turks, the nations of Western Europe simply considered them as the children of an 
niustrious ancestry, forming a part of Christendom, entitled to sympathy from having 
been abominably oppressed for upwards of three centuries by a Mohammedan government. 

The inhabitants of the coast towns and of the islands are actively commercial, but 
notoriously addicted to sharp practices, rarely making a bargain "\vithout an effort to over- 
reach those with whom they deal. They are also expert seamen, but prone to be piratical, 
and to act the part of wreckers as opportunity offers. In the inland districts, agricultural 
and pastoral pursuits are followed, but the mountaineers are averse to industrial pursuits, 
impatient of subordination, and apt to be predatory. The women excel in embroidery, 
lU^e their ancestors, and in the art of dyeing in bright colours. In general, the Greeks are 
a race of quick perceptions ; in gesture vivacious, intensely voluble, and ever prone to 
gossip. They are temperate both in eating and dritiking, fond of water as a beverage, and 
critical respecting its taste and coolness. This last propensity, the indulgence of which is 
rarely restrained by any urgency of business, gave rise to the lines by Leigh Hunt : 

' A merchant, while sailing from Greece to Trieste, 
Grew vexed with the crew, and avowedly testy, 
Because, as he said, being lazy and Greeks, 
They were always for putting in harbours and creeks ; 
And instead of conveying him quick with his lading. 
As any men would who had due sense of trading, 
Could never come near a green isle with a spring, 
But smack ! they went to it like bu-ds on the wing.' 




Syra. 




CoxDenliagen. 



SECTION IV -NORTHERN AND EASTERN EUROPE. 

CHAPTER I. 

DENMARK — HOLSTEIN-LAUENBUEG.* 

ENMAEK, or more properly, Dane-mark, one of the oldest 
states of Europe, consists of a peninsula projecting from the 
north-west oT Gei-many, with an aroHpelago adjoining on the 
eastern side, and is thus in part an insular as weU as a 
continental territory. The peninsula is the Cimhrica 
Chersonesus of the ancients, so called from its earliest known 
inhabitants, the Cymri, who made themselves formidable to 
the Eomans prior to the Christian era. It is one of the few 
formations of the kind directed towards the north, for almost 
aU important examples of the peninsular arrangement foUow 
a southerly course. The Elbe forms the boundary of the cotmtry on the south; the 
North Sea on the west; its arm, the Skager-rack, on the north; and the maritime 
continuations, the Cattegat, the Sound, and the Baltic, on the east. Erom south to north, 
the mainland extends upwards of 300 miles ; but from east to west, the distance is never 
more than one-third of that measure, and generally less, contracting to one-tenth, or about 

* The description here given of Denmark refers to that Idngdoin as it stood prior to the war with Germany. 




512 DENMARK. 

thirty miles. The area, including the archipelago, comprises very nearly 21,000 square 
miles, an extent somewhat less than three times that of the principality of Wales. The 
main divisions of the kingdom are from north to south as follows : 

Provinces. Principal Towns. 

Denmark Proner i J'^tl^'^'l; Aarhuus, Aalborg, Viborg, Eanders, Silkeborg. 

j The Arcliipelago, . . . Copenhagen, Elsinore, Eoskilde, Odense. 

Duchy of Slesvig Slesvig, Hensburg, Haderslev. 

Duchy of Holstein, Gliiokstadt, Eendsbui'g, Kiel, Altona. 

Duchy of Lauenburg, Lauenburg. 

The province of Jutland embraces the northern and larger part of the peninsula, and 
is, vpith the Archipelago, an integral portion of the monarchy. That of Slesvig, semi- 
Germanic in its population, properly belongs to Denmark, but has been vprested from 
it by war, and its political fate is in abeyance. The two other duchies form a single 
state belonging to the Germanic Confederation, which gives to whoever holds the 
sovereignty of it, as Duke of Holstein-Lauenburg, a seat and three votes in the Diet. 
The Faroe Islands, Iceland, part of Greenland, and three of the West India Islands 
are Danish possessions. 

The continental portion of the kingdom has a very irregular outUne, owing to its being 
indented by a succession of far-penetrating inlets of the sea. The largest of these, the 
Liim Fiord, underwent a remarkable change in the month of February 1825. This is an 
arm of the Cattegat, narrow at the commencement, which becomes a winding expanse 
of considerable breadth as it proceeds inland. It encloses several islands, and formerly 
terminated within a short distance of the opposite coast. But at the time mentioned, 
during a storm of terrible violence, the North Sea cut through the intervening isthmus, 
and thus converted the inlet into a strait intersecting the peninsula. This channel was 
gradually deepened by the ingress of the sea in tempests, till it became navigable for 
vessels of small burden. The first passed through it in the year 1834. As many as 1710 
vessels, inward and outward bound, used the route in the year 1856, when there was a 
clear depth of eight feet of water. It has since been reduced to four feet, and the channel 
appears to be closing altogether, but wiU probably be re-opened under the same juncture 
of circumstances, as both processes seem to have been repeated in the lapse of ages. It 
is said that upon the irruption of the real salt water, the herrings so preferred it to the 
brackish water of the fiord, that they went out in a body into the open sea, and have not 
since returned to the nets of the fishermen. These inlets give a very extensive coast-Hne 
to the peninsula, but it is largely unavailable for maritime purposes, and eminently 
dangerous. There is scarcely a good harbour along the whole of the west coast of 
Jutland, while shallows occur everywhere off shore. From the sandy hillocks which 
form the sea-board, shifting with the wind, and sometimes spreading a mantle of 
desolation over cultivated tracts, seldom is there a ship to be seen, except it be one 
drifting to destruction, or the masts of vessels which mark the spots where the hulls are 
buried in the sands. Incongruous articles are often met ^vith among the fixtures of 
humble cabins. A recent traveller mentions finding in one an English patent-stove 
obtained from the wreck of the Polyphemus, an oil painting of some English ruined abbey 
procured from the stranded North Sea steamer, and splendid shutters, carved and gilt, 
from a hapless Eussian brig. 

The interior of the country is a gently undulating lowland, part of the great plain of 
Europe. Himmelbjerg, the highest hiU, rises only to 550 feet. Small sheets of water are 
numerous, connected by a continuous stream, like birds' eggs strung upon a tliread ; but 
owing to every portion of the surface being slightly inclined, and within a very moderate 
distance of the sea, there are no large rivers. The most important, the Eyder, divides 



NATUEAL PRODUCTS. 



513 



Slesvig from Holstein, and is navigable for some distance from tlie ISTortli Sea. This 
stream was considered the northern limit of the empire of the Franks in the time of 
Charlemagne, as of the German Empire in later days. But Holstein participates in the 
commercial advantages oifered by the frontier river Elbe. At no very distant date the 
peninsula was extensively clothed with forests, even where now there are sandy heaths ; 
and in various parts fine woods of pine, oat, and beech remain, chiefly of the latter. 
Imbedded beneath the existing beech-trees have been found, first, trunks of oak, next of 
pines j and in these last, flint weapons and other implements of stone have been 
discovered. They are supposed to have belonged to a people who had no knowledge of 
metals, and inhabited the country prior to the Celtic and Germanic races, by whom they 
were expelled or destroyed. Peat lies under the pines, in which no indications of human 
life appear. The woods once sheltered the eUi, wild ox, wild boar, and wolf. In 1694, 
Christian V. is said to have killed sixteen wild boars in one day's chase ; but the animal 
is now quite extinct. "Wolves were common in the middle of the last century, and 
lingered to the commencement of the present. The last of the race was destroyed in 
the year 1811. The fox, squirrel, marten, and pole-cat exist in great numbers; and the 
weasel enjoys himself among the poultry with impunity, being protected, not out of 
affection, but from fear. The peasant will take off his hat when he meets Mm on the 
road, and civilly say, ' Good-morrow,' believing that ill-luck would foUow any offence 
offered to the animal. The otter abounds in the lakes and streams ; salmon are so 
plentiful that by law in some towns no servant can be fed with the fish more than once a 
week ; aquatic birds in vast flights visit the fiords and marshes, captured for their 
feathers ; the black stork fishes in the waters, and, unlike his white-plumed congener, 
builds in the woods ; plovers and black game are numerous on the moors. 

The northern province, Jutland, is the least fertile district, and the most monotonous 
in its aspect. StiU, in the widely-extended plains, the stranger marks %nth interest the 
irregular intermingling of patches of cultivation with tracts of heath, of black soil with 
white sand, and the endless tumuli defijied on the horizon — ^the burial-mounds of bygone 
generations — -which have enriched the cabinets and museums of the capital -with curious 
memorials of ancient , life. The people are principally engaged in seafaring and 
agriculture, with a little weaving of coarse linen and woollen articles for their own 
consumption. The towns are aU small, but mostly of ancient date, and quaint primitive 
appearance. 

Aarhuus, on the east coast, with pleasant enclosing woods, contains a population of 11,000, possesses a 
cathedral, and an interesting Fme Kii-ke. An epitaph in the former records the death of a Norwegian at 
the age of 146, who lived through seven differenf^eigns. Aalhorg, on the flat hank of the Liun Fiord, 
rather smaller but better regulated, consists of old houses in narrow streets, and was one of the first 
places in Denmark lighted with gas. The name, ' eel-town,' is now a misnomer, the eels having shifted their 
quarters, or been used up ; and its herring-fishery has ceased, owing to the shoals quitting the waters. But 
the trade in grain is considerable, and a new small harboiu' has been constructed. In one of the antique 
gabled houses died King Jolin in 1513, who changed the royal style from that of ' Tour high-born Grace ' to 
' Your Majesty.' He had been betrothed to a daughter of Edward IV. of England, but she died at Greenwich 
previous to the marriage. Viborg, in the interior, dates from the times of paganism. Its public garden 
contains the stone on which Hans Tausen, the Danish Luther, proclaimed the Eeformation. It bears the 
name of Tausensminde, and has the inscription : ' Upon this stone, in 152S, Hans Tausen first preached in 
Viborg, Luther's doctrine.' A scene sketched by Marryat at Viborg is to be seen in most Danish towns : ' I 
observe the weavers sit at theu' open windows, busily engaged at their looms : look in at that man, his house 
shaded by two clipped limes ; how neat and tidy aU appears about him ! Look at his two bas-reUefs in 
biscuit — one of the present king; the other by Thorwaldsen, the Genius of the Year. Observe, too, his 
flowers — his oleanders, his carnations — how carefully cultivated ! and, above all, his own healthy, well-fed 
appearance, and Ms thi'iving family. He sings as he throws his shuttle at his wooL' Banders, on the Guden 
stream, wliich flows into a long narrow eastern fiord, pleasant and prosperous, imports deals from Norway 
and Sweden, retm-ning agricultural produce. Silkeborg, the youngest town in the Danish dominions, is in 
the upper part of the basm of this stream, on a site which, twenty years ago, was a waste. It has not yet 

2g 



514 DENMARK. 

been marked on maps. About tlie period named, an eminently successful paper-manufacturer, Mr Drewsen, 
established works at the spot, and gained for his paper the great prize at the London and Paris Exhibitions, 
owing to its superior glazing, effected by a machine of his own inrention. 

The north extremity of the province is formed by the Skaw, a long, narrow, curving promontory of sand, 
the site of the village of Skagen, and of a light-house. 

The Duchies, on the south of Jutland, have agreeable features, without any pretensions 
to the striking or the picturesque. They are interspersed with beech-woods, which are 
trimmed by the lopping off of the lower branches, and kept clear of underwood, thus pro- 
viding for a thick canopy of foliage above and a free choulation of air below. Their 
appearance in spring is eminently beautiful, being carpeted with moss and ^vild-flowers, 
among which the lily of the vaUey, hepatica, and Solomon's-seal are prominent. The open 
country presents a succession of well- watered, luxuriant meadows, divided into farms, upon 
which herds of horses and oxen are reared for export, and vast quantities of dairy pro- 
duce, weU known in the London market. The homesteads, scrupulously clean, are models 
of concentration, and ornamental likewise, being built of brick and timber in panels, the 
bricks arranged in pattern, the wood painted and varnished. Tliis description applies to 
the territories of Holstein and Slesvig, that of Lauenburg being a sandy waste. 

Sksvig, the old capital of the duchy of that name, lying at the head of a river-like inlet on the east coast, 
has 13,000 inhabitants, but is in a decaying condition, owing to the silting up of the harbour. It contains 
the palace of Gottorp, the residence of the ancient dukes, now used as a barrack, and a cathedral remark- 
able for its unprepossessing exterior, while a crowd of really beautiful objects are within. Among these the 
black and white marble tomb of Frederic, and an altar-piece reputed to be one of the richest specimens of 
carvings in existence — the work of a pupil of Albert Diirer — are conspicuous. Flensburff, at the upper 
extremity of another fiord, generally deep and mde, has become much more important, having greater 
commercial facilities, as large vessels can come up to its quays. It is a clean, thriving, cheerful town of 
nearly 20,000 inhabitants. Between the two, the railway crosses the Ihie of the Danewirke, an earth-work 
formed of an old wall, stones and rubbish formerly crowned with towers, constructed in early days for 
defensive purposes. It was recently stormed by the Prussian and Austrian troops, and is now in process 
of demolition. Hadershben, a port further north for smaller vessels, is the cradle of the late Danish 
dynasty ; its founder. Count Christian of Oldenburg born here, having been elevated to the throne of Denmark 
in 144S. 

Gluclcstadt, the capital of Holstein, neat and regularly built, is on the Elbe below Hamburg, and possesses a 
high school, a naval seminary, and a safe port connected with the whale-fishery. It successfully withstood 
three sieges dm-ing the Thirty Years' "War, but the fortifications were demolished in 1815. Bendslmrg 
possesses a large arsenal. Kiel, more important, with 17,500 inhabitants, has an excellent harbour enclosed 
with finely-wooded and pleasing shores, connected with a magnificent bay of the Baltic. The most ancient 
of its churches, St Nicholai, dates from the 13th century. The castle has a good sculpture-gallery. It is the 
seat of a university of repute (founded in 1665), possessing a library of 80,000 volumes, which may not only 
be read on the spot, but are lent out, three volumes at a time, to parties properly recommended. Professors, 
students, and townsmen are intensely Germanic in their sympathies ; and hence the institution is not in 
favour with the Danes, who have a proverb to the effect, that ' to lie is a science, as the devil said when he 
frequented the university of Kiel.' Charming environs attract inland visitors in summer intent on recreation 
and sea-bathing. The town has greatly advanced since a railway connected it with Altona, and from thence 
with Germany, Belgium, and France. It has manufactures of tobacco, oil-colours, stigar, machinery, and 
ironmongery. Altona, the largest and most commercial provincial town, with a population of 45,000, close to 
Hambm-g, has the appearance of being a subui-b of its huge neighbour, rather than a distinct place, for they 
are connected by lines of dwellings. A gateway, with a sentinel, and the Danish coat of arms, recently 
formed the chief distinction between the two. In allusion to its contiguity and mercantile prosperity the 
Hamburgers give the name the form of All-zu-nah, 'AH too near.' Its great manufacture is tobacco— one 
factory working up 600,000 lbs. yearly, but its trade extends to England, France, the Mediterranean, and the 
"West Indies. It possesses an astronomical observatory, which. Tinder the superintendence of Schumacher, 
who died in 1S51, acquired great celebrity. 

Lauenburg, the capital of the duchy so called, is a very small place close upon the Elbe, dependent upon its 
transit trade. The territory was ceded to Denmark by the Congress of Vienna in 1815, by way of compen- 
sation for the loss of Norway, which was then aimexed to Sweden. 

Many small islands fringe the west coasts of Holstein and Slesvig, inhabited by a hardy, simple-minded 
people, of Frisian extraction, seamen at the whale-fishery duiing one part of the year, and husbandmen at 
the other. These isles have been formed by the deposits of the North Sea, which often inundates the low 
grounds, drowning the cattle, and carrying off the produce ; and would make havoc with the very dweUings, 
were they not placed on artificial mounds, and also guarded by embankments. This position, with the 



ISLAND AND COAST SCENERY. 



515 



employnienb of tho occupants, has given a somewhat serious cast to their character and habits. "Wives 
generally attire themselves in black during the absence of their husbands. ' Sir,' said one, to an inquirmg 
stranger, ' my neighboui's would think strangely of me if, while my husband is at sea, I should go to church 
out of mourning, or "with a gay kerchief on my head.' "Widows, in erecting tombstones for their departed 
husbands, frequently anticipate tho day of reunion in the grave by leaving a blank in the inscriptions — ' Here 
rest tlio bones of a good seaman, N". N., born March 17, 17S6 A.D. ; died April 13, 1834 a.d. ; also, in hope of a 
joyful resurrection, the bones of his wife, N". N., born May 1, 1797 a.d. ; died . . . .' But the burial- 
grounds shew tliat the males have commonly the sea for a grave-yard, for by far the greater number of the 
inscriptions aro for women. In tho epitaphs of those who die at home, the analogy between human life 
and seafaring is often introduced, as in the lines 

* Steer so across the sea of life. 
As not to miss the port of Heaven.' 

On another stone may be read, ' The voyage of the world brings sorrow, danger, and want ; but a happy 
deatli floats us to rest in the haven of Paradise.' The stone-cutter has eudeavoui-ed to illustrate the latter 
sentiment by rudely carvuig, as a picture of heaven, a quiet little bay, partly surrounded by houses, resembling 
those of tho harbours of "Wyk, Husum, and Tondern. 

Insular Denmark, or the Arcliipelago, lies off the east coast, het-ween the peninsula and 
S"wecleu. It consists of the two comparatively large islands of Seeland and Funen ; of 
four lesser, immediately to the south, Langeland, Laaland, Falster, and Moan ; and of 
upwards of sixty others dwindling down to insignificant tracts. The entire group occupies 
an area not exceeding 100 miles from north to south by 130 miles from east to "west. 
Thus crowded together, the separating channels are narrow, and are rendered still more 
confined by innumerable shoals and sand-banks. Many of these insulated spots were 
little kno'wn to each other, much less to the outlying "world, prior to the establishment of 
steam-navigation, though contiguous to one of the great thoroughfares of European com- 
merce — the Sound. The physiognomy of the more extensive is very uniform. There is 
no bold scenery, but it is often picturesque, and eminently beautiful, with tolerable summer 
weather. Striking blendings of land, water, and sky are to be seen in almost every direc- 
tion, while the white sails of merchantmen, the boats of pilots and fishermen, rich 
meadows and noble beech "woods, neat churches, "wiud-mUls, and homesteads, give variety 
and life to the landscape. Vegetation is everywhere luxuriant, and long retains a vernal 
appearance, o"wing to the humidity of the atmosphere. When the plains of Germany are 
bro"wn and ashy with the summer heat, the isles of Denmark dehght the eye with a fresh 
bright green ; and as truly deserve the title of ' emerald ' as our sister-kingdom. But 
dense fogs and cold drenching rains are more common experiences than fine weather, 
marring out-of-doors enjoyment. Yet, when a gale from the westward drives up clouds of 
mist, alternately vailing and disclosing sea, shore, and sky, fine studies are afforded to the 
painter of marine scenery. The Archipelago closely blocks the passage between the Baltic 
and the North Seas, reducing communication to three confined channels — those of the 
Sound, the Great Belt, and the Little Belt. 

The largest island, Seeland, corresponds in area to that of Lincolnshire, and contains on 
its east coast the capital of the Idngdom. It is separated from the Swedish shore by the 
Sound, which, at the north entrance, the ' narrows,' is somewhat less than two mUes and 
a half "wide. In the year 1830, when the channel was choked with drift-ice, which a 
hard frost converted into a compact mass, an accurate measurement was made of the 
width. This was found to be 4602 yards between the harbour of Elsinore on the Danish, 
and that of Helsingborg on the Swedish side. But these towns are somewhat diagonal 
with reference to the strait, and a direct line across it, from the fortress of Cronberg, 
immediately above Elsinore, to a stone tower on the opposite shore, measured 4328 yards. 
The distance expands to upwards of twelve miles off Copenhagen, and to sixteen miles 
below it. The depth is very u-regular, varying from three to nineteen fathoms, but the 
more considerable of these depths are rare and local. Shallows everywhere abound. 






516 DENMAEK. 

requiring careful pilotage in the iustance of large merchantmen. Lord Nelson, -with the 
iaferior line-of-battle ships of his day, found it one of the most harassing tasks of his 
life to reach the Danish capital hy this route ; and was almost worn out with fatigue 
and anxiety on accomplishing it. ^,^^ ing in light-green slopes to 

After the battle of Copenhagen, _^^^^^ the water's edge, adorned 

on proceeding to the Baltic, he u ' ^B^ ^^fc with heeoli-woods almost 

had the guns of his ships taken ^K^P*^ '' all the way to Copen- 

out, and carried in merchant ^^^^ ^ hagen. Elsinore, at the 

vessels, in order to pass through 4, ^ .^^^^r -, entrance, is the scene of 
the ' grounds,' or the shoals 
which stud the southern part of 
the channel. The annual number 
of vessels passing inwards and 
outwards averages very nearly 
20,000. 

On entering the Sound from^«»« 
the north, the Danish shores 
have a pleasant aspect, descend- 



■*the tragedy of Hamlet. 
But using poetic licence, 
Shakspeare has trans- 
ferred the locality of 
the Prince of Denmark 
thither from the penin- 



sula of Jutland, where he Hved, reigned, died, and was buried. With the same liberty, 
the dramatist did not concern himself to depict the natural features of the selected 
site, even supposing that he had any general information resjiecting them. !N"o spot in 
the neighbourhood answers to the described place of Ophelia's death : 

' There is a willow grow.5 ascaunt the brook, 
That shews his hoar leaves in the glass;/ stream.' 
Or to the language of Horatio : 

' The mom, in msset mantle clad, 
Walks o'er the dew of yon high eastern hill.' 

Or to the words of the same party when dissuading the prince from following his ghostly 

guide : ' What, if it tempt you to the flood, my lord, 

Or to the dreadful summit of the cliff, 
That beetles o'er his base into the sea ? 
And there assume some other horrible fonn, 
Which might deprive your sovereignty of reason, 
And draw you into madness ? tliink of it : 
The ■verp place puts toys of desperation, 
Without more motive, into every brain, 
That looks so many fatJioms to the sea, 
And hears it roar beneath.' 

Elsinore has no cliffs at aU, nor is there a dizzy precipice to be foimd in the whole of 
Seeland. Beyond repeated mention of the town, there is nothing in the tragedy which 
we can identify with the place, except notices which are equally applicable to a thousand 



COPENHAGEN. 517 

maritimo localities. Still, as the selected scene of a splendid work of genius, it will ever 
be associated in the minds of Englishmen with the hard of Avon, and the chscure Jutish 
prince ho has immortalised. The line in Campbell's famous Ode on the battle of 
Copenhagen — ' Thy wild and stormy steeiJ, Elsinore !' — is equally a poetic fiction. 

Between Elsinore and Copenhagen, in the mid-channel of the Sound, the island of 
Hveen rises with moderately high and steep shores, a dreary spot, but a site of interest, as 
the scene of Tycho Brahe's residence towards the close of the sixteenth century. The 
celebrated Danish astronomer, having received a grant of it from Erederic II., with an 
annual pension, erected a house and observatory on his insular domain, as fantastic in its 
arcliitecture as in its name — Uranienborg, the Castle of the Heavens. 

The spires and public buildings of the capital, with the masts of shipping in its roads 
and harbour, are distinctly visible from the astronomical island. In the full summer its 
aspect from the sea is extremely beautiful, owing to the dense masses of foliage which 
appear in , connection with its material and marine features. But the interior is more 
suggestive of respectability and comfort than of elegance or grandeur, though by no means 
destitute of imposing edifices. 

Copenhagen, or Kjohenliavn, tlie Mercliants's Harbour, ia latitude 55° 40' north, longitude 12° .38' east, 
consists of an old and a new town, simply separated by a street, occupying a promontory of Seeland, with a 
smaller division built on the adjoining isle of Amak. The intervening channel is the port, across which there 
is communication by drawbridges. Both parts are fortified with immense earthen ramparts, flanked with 
bastions, and surromidcd by a deep and broad wet ditch. A citadel and some forts, with the celebrated 
Trekoner batterj', on a sand-bank ofl^ the entrance to the i3ort, are further defences. The ramparts extend 
through a circuit of five miles, and being planted with double rows of lime-trees, they form an agreeable 
promenade. In the old town (GamU-By), the trading part of the city, the streets are generally narrow, the 
shops small, and the houses plaiu ; but it is rendered somewhat picturesque and Dutch-like by an old- 
fasliioned style of building, and the occurrence of canals which penetrate it in various directions from the 
harbour. The new town, Frederikshavn, the residence of the court, has superior external arrangements. 
But the entire street-architecture is of very ordinary description, with wretched paving ; and the greater part 
of the thorouglifares have an air of striking quietude, at variance with what is naturally expected in the 
capital of a European kingdom of renown in history. The Exchange is its pride, a fine old building, 
sm-mounted by a graceful twisted spire, appropriated to its present purpose in 1858, when it was purchased 
by the merchants from the government. In a modest mansion of the Amaliegade, a street connected with 
the best square, the present Princess of "Wales was born. The population of the city slightly exceeds 155,000. 
Neither its manufactures nor its commerce can be said to be important. 

Though there are few attractions for ordinary sight-seers in Copenhagen, some public exhibitions are of 
remarkable interest to the more limited class of instructed visitors ; the Palace of Christiansborg, containing 
the two Chambers of Parliament and the Picture Gallery ; the Museum of ISTorthern Antiquities ; the 
Museum of JSTatural History; the Eoyal Libraiy; Thorwaldsen's Museum; the Palace of Charlottenbor"- 
now the repository of the Academy of Ai'ts ; the old Castle of Eosenborg, containing the regalia and rarities 
collected by the various sovereigns ; and the old Observatory. The Museum of Northern Antiquities, 
founded in 1807, occupies a large suite of rooms ; and is quite unique of its kind for completeness and 
systematic arrangement. Illustrative monuments of the Scandinavian past are here stored, amounting to 
many thousands of articles, fomid by the peasant in turning up the soil, or obtained by exploring antiquarians 
from burial-mounds. There are relics of the age of stone, separately grouped, when the people, ignorant of 
metals, slew their game, felled trees, and had warlike implements of flint ; also memorials of the age of 
bronze, similarly classified, when the uses of tin and copper became known. Thorwaldsen's Museum contains 
casts of the works of the great sculptor, as well as several of his statues in marble, which he bequeathed to 
his native city. The old Observatory occupies the Rund Tarn, or Round Tower, an immense round brick 
building rising to a gi-eat height, attached to the Trinity Church. An inclined plane of brick-work winds 
within the tower to the summit, up which Peter the Great is said to have driven his empress in a carriage 
and four. The feat is possible enough, though how he contrived to descend is not stated, except by backing, as 
there is not space for a vehicle of any description to turn. The summit commands a fine view of the capital, 
the Sound, the Swedish coast, and the Danish islands. No northern city of the same extent rivals Copenhagen 
in the richness of its literary and antique stores, or in the number of its societies for the encouragement of 
art, science, and general learning. These have long placed it at the head of the civilisation of Northern 
Europe ; and together with the many illustrious names on the roU of citizenship, Niebuhr, Thorwaldsen, 
Oersted, Oehlenschliiger, Eask, Magnusen, Grundtvig, and others, establish for it a claim to be regarded as 
the Athens of the North. The Eoyal Library contains 400,000 volumes, arranged on open shelves, so as to 
be accessible to the public ; besides great treasures of Sanskrit and other MSS., amounting in all to 15,000. 



518 DENMABK. 

Tliere is likewise the accommodation of a reading-room, and tooks are lent out to respectaUe residents, 
and to strangers competently recommended. The TJniTersity Library contains 100,000 volumes; and 
Classen's 40,000, bequeathed to the public by the general of that name. 

In the island of Amak, on which part of the city is built, there is an interesting race of foreign extraction, 
still distinct from the Danes in dress, manners, and language, whose ancestors were imported from Holland, 
upwards of three centuries ago, in order to introduce more skilful husbandry. The name of their principal 
village, ' HoUander-byen,' commemorates their origin. Time has effected little change in the appearance of 
these colonists. They retain their picturesque, many-coloured national costume, which at once discriminates 
the girls of Amak from the more soberly-attired maidens of Seeland. They are preached to also in the Dutch 
language by their own ministers, though Danish is of course sufficiently well understood for all practical 
purposes ; and have civil and criminal tribunals peculiar to themselves, but under the jurisdiction of higher 
courts in the city. "With the characteristic industry of their race, the ilat swampy island has been rendered 
very productive, so as to be at once the dairy and kitchen-garden of the capitaL About the middle of the 
twelfth century, Copenhagen was. an obscure fishing- village, in the neighbourhood of which Bishop Axel or 
Absalom built a castle. In 1254, it obtained the privileges of a town, and was constituted the metropolis 
by Christopher III. in 1443. 

Elsinore, on the Sound, twenty-five miles north of the capital, with two old churches and a new town-haU, 
has been called the "Wapping of Denmark, and the adjoining Castle of Cronborg its "Windsor. Mariners, naval 
store-keepers, officers of customs or quarantine, and consular agents form the chief part of the population, 
engaged in victualling, clearing, and piloting ships. A company of incorporated ferrymen are ever on the 
alert, ready to go out to vessels in distress, whose skill and courage have been tested in many a wild tempest, 
and are as well known as in the instance of the boatmen of Deal. Many names of our countrymen who have 
died at sea by hapless shipwreck or natural causes, occur among the inscriptions in the public cemetery. 
Cronborg Castle, an immense pile washed by the sea, witliin ten minutes' walk of the town, is an imposing 
object viewed in any direction, but especially from the surface of the water, combining the strength of a 
fortress with the elegance and grandeur of a palace. The edifice was founded by Frederic II. in the year 
1574, and completed in the reign of Christian IV. It remained a royal residence for some time, but has long 
been appropriated to other pui'poses, now being used for a prison and a sea-mark. The northern turret bears 
a fixed light, and commands a fine view of the channel, with its shipping, and the opposite Swedish shore. 
In this building, in 1772, Caroline Matilda, queen of Denmark, the sister of George III., was confined upon a 
charge of which she has been acquitted by the unanimous verdict of posterity, including that of the Danish 
royal family. The story of her misfortunes is a more than thrice-told tale, though not so familiar to the 
present generation as it was to their grandsires. She fell a victim to the ambition and malignity of her step- 
mother, the queen-dowager, who wished to secure the succession to her own son. Permitted, after an 
imprisonment of some months, to retire to Zell in Hanover, owing to the intervention of her brother, she 
went in sorrow to the grave three years afterwards, at the still youthful age of twenty-three. The iU- 
fated Matilda, in her misfortunes, wrote with a diamond on one of the windows of Fredericsborg Castle, 
the line — 

* Lord, keep me innocent, make others great.' 

A wire screen was placed over the pane of glass bearing the inscription, the better to preserve it from being 
effaced. The memorial was swept away by the great fire of December 1859, which destroyed Fredericsborg, 
and its splendid Iiistoric piotui-e-gaUery. Roeskilde, on the railway, sixteen miles west of Copenhagen, the 
old metropolis, is now insignificant, but of interest from its cathedral, the Westminster Abbey of Denmark, 
containing the tombs of the sovereigns for many generations. The KothschUd family have their patronymic 
from the name of the place, which was formerly so written. The founder emigrated in the last century. 
' A Jew, on going to another land, where Solomons and Levis were plentiful as strawberries, was called, to 
distinguish himself, Solomon of Bamberg, Levi of Frankfurt, and so on, till he ended by assuming as a 
surname the birthplace of his ancestors.' 

The island of Fiinen or Fuhnen, smaller and less wooded, is separated from the 
metropolitan district Idj the Great Eelt. This middle passage between the Worth Sea and 
the Baltic is the broadest, varying in width from eight to twenty miles. Though almost 
everywhere of intricate navigation, there is water deep enough to float the largest vessels, 
except near the shores. Nearly midway in the channel, the little island of Sprogo 
occasionally serves as a temporary halting-place, for frequently in winter the accumulation 
of drift-ice compels a stoppage. Though there is a house of pubHo accommodation 
erected by the government, yet so well known is this detention for its discomfort, 
that the Danes commonly express their dislike of an obnoxious individual by wishing 
him at Sprogo. Fiinen is separated from the continent by the Little Belt, a 
dangerous, unfrequented, and narrow channel, contracting to less than three-quarters 
of a mile in breadth. 



THE ISLANDS. 519 

Odcnscc, the chief town, oooupios an inland site, has a cathedral and 14,200 inhabitants. Hans Tausen, the 
Danish reformer, the son of a blacksmith, was brought up in a school here. Not many years a^o some 
remains of his father's smithy could be pointed out. He became the second Protestant Bishop of Kibe, a 
town near the west coast of Slesvig, and lies buried in its cathedral, a large building of the earliest round 
period. Hans Christian Andersen, so well known to the English public as a popular writer, was bom in the 
island capital. 

Some eighty miles from tlio nearest point of the Archipelago, Bornholm and the 
Ei-tliolms form the most advanced possessions of Denmark in. the Baltic. The former 
island is but little more than a qnarter of that distance from the south-eastern extremity 
of Sweden, and is often united to it ia winter by the ice. It is a rhomboid, averaginrf 
twenty miles in length by eleven in breadth; and contains a population of Danish 
extraction, speaking the Danish language, but with a considerable infusion of German 
words. Building stone, dark-blue marble, potter's clay, and some coal are wrought for 
export to Copenhagen. 

Sonne, the cliief town, sends fishing vessels to the North Sea, and despatches fine salmon, taken along-shore, 
to the nearest Prussian port, Avhence the fish are sent off by express train to Paris. A few simple 
manufactures, as wooden clocks, earthenware, tiles, and bricks, with home-spun linens, are the other 
occupations. An ingenious native having taken to pieces a wooden clock saved from a wreck, attempted the 
construction of another from the model. He succeeded, and others followed the example, till wooden clocks 
began, and still continue, to be a prime article of export. The island, cut off from communication with the 
world in winter, is a very secluded spot, and was especially isolated prior to the age of steam. At present, 
in some of the villages, the inhabitants display extraordinary simplicity with reference to foreign objects. 
' Yes,' said the oracle of one of them, an innkeeper, to his guest, ' all the people look up to me, except on 
Sundays, when the priest comes down to preach. Ah ! he is a great man, that priest ! But I have seen 
much of the world also. I have been three times in Elsinore, and once in Rostock ; and few can say as much. 
Tes, upon my word, I have seen a great deal ; so much, that the governor liimself sometimes asks my opinion 
when he comes this way. And he is a greater man than the priest !' Upon the high functionary, the 
Lutheran parish minister, being visited, he was found in the back-yard of his dwelling, without coat or 
waistcoat, and with his striped shirt sleeves tucked up above the elbows, killing one of his pigs, though not 
for the supply of his own table, but for sale to the neighbouring garrison. 

The Ertholms, ten miles further in the Baltic, are a cluster of small rocky islets, strongly fortified, each 
bearing a separate name. Christianso, the principal, has a citadel, in the tower of which a revolving light is 
maintained. The common occurrence of the prefix Christian in Danish nomenclature is an honour paid to 
the memory of Christian IV., the ablest of aU the rulers of the kingdom, who distinguished himself in many 
naval battles with the Swedes, and is the hero of several spirited ballads. He paid a visit to James I. of 
England, Ms brother-in-law, and became a popular personage in London. Both kings signalised the meeting 
with a boisterous revelry, more in harmony with the times of Scandinavian paganism than -with the 
seventeenth century. 

* King Christian stood by the high mast, 
'Pilid smolEB and spray ; 
His fierce artillery flasrfed so fast. 
That Swedish wrecks were round him cast, 
And lost each hostile stern and mast, 

'Mid smoke and spray. 
Fly I Sweden, fly ! nor hope to win, 
"Where Christian dauntless mingles in 
The fray ! • 
Thus commences the national song of the Danes. Their national flag, the Dannebrog, is of crimson marked 
with a v/hite cross. 

The climate of Denmark is humid, owing to exposure to a vast surface of water. Fogs 
are frequent in summer; rain and. snow in winter; and ia the latter season, navigation is 
either impeded or suspended altogether by the ice. Winters of great severity are 
occasionally experienced, of which the following records occur in old chronicles : 

In 1269, the Cattegat was frozen between Jutland and Norway. 

In 1292, one sheet of ice extended between Jutland and Norway, so that travellers passed with ease. 

In 1323, the winter was so severe that both horse and foot passengers travelled over the ice from Denmark 
to Liibeck and Dantzic. Communication was maintained tor six weeks, and places of refreshment were 
established on the road. 

In 13i9, the sea was frozen over, and passable from Denmark to Stralsund. 

In 1402, the Baltic was quite frozen over from Demnark to Pomerania. 

In 1408, there was one of the coldest winters ever remembered. The whole sea was frozen over between 



520 DENMAEK. 

Denmark and Norway ; and the wolves, driven by hunger from the northern forests, came over the ioe into 
Jutland. 

In 1423, both the ITorfh Sea and the Baltic were frozen. Travellers passed on foot from Denmark to 
Mecklenburg, and from Liibeck to Dantzic. 

In 1460, the Baltic was frozen, and both horse and foot passengers crossed over the ice from Denmark to 
Sweden. 

In 1548, the winter was very cold and protracted. Between Denmark and Rostock sledges drawn by horses 
or oxen travelled over the ice. 

In more recent times, 1658, -Cliarles X. of Sweden crossed both, tlie Belts upon the ice, 
with his whole army, horse, foot, artillery, and baggage. He was on his way from 
Holstein to the attack of Copenhagen, and proceeded by the islands of Langeland, Laland, 
and Falster. His ablest officers endeavoured to dissuade him from the undertaking ; but, 
though hazardous, it was performed in safety, and compelled the Danes to conclude the 
peace of EoeskUde, Drift-ice, wliioh the currents convey from the Baltic through the 
straits into the Cattegat, rarely appears in the latter before the new year commences, and 
scarcely ever before Christmas. The period of its disappearance is more variable. It 
may be met with in April, is common in March, but generally ceases to be formidable to 
shipping by the close of February. As long as drift-ice continues to be seen from the 
light-house on the Scaw Point, at the north estremity of Jutland, a white iiag with a 
vertical blue stripe is hoisted. 

Denmark is one of the oldest states of Europe, now under an hereditary sovereignty, 
with a diet of two houses, upper and lower — the Landsthing and the FoUtething. 
Including the duchies, the home population numbers 2,600,000, of whom only 241 out of 
every 1000 live in towns, the remainder in country districts, sufficiently indicating the 
agricultural occupations of the people. The great majority belong to the Scandinavian 
branch of the Teutonic family. These are the Danes proper, occupying Jutland, the 
north of Slesvig, and the Archipelago. They speak a dialect of the K"orse, or Scandinavian 
Gothic, which abounds with consonants, many of which are slurred over in the 
pronunciation. The inhabitants of Holstein, Lauenburg, and the south of Slesvig 
belong to the Germanic division of the same stock, and speak the German language. The 
Danes are honest and hospitable, make excellent seamen, and have long held an 
honourable position in the intellectual world. Among the rural classes many old-world 
customs linger, some of which are not a little interesting and picturesque. 

Lutheranism is the established form of religion, while toleration is extended to all 
sects. The clergy are in general well-educated men, of mUd manners, and free from aU 
pretension. Their money income is very moderate, but as they receive tithes, and have 
land to farm, there is no lack of the substantial comforts of life. A Jutland prastgaard, 
answering to our parsonage and manse, but one of the best class, seen in its summer 
dress, has been thus described : ' You first drive through an archway into the gaard, or 
square court — a yard surrounded with farm-buildings : opposite stands the house occupied 
by the family ; a few Ume-trees are planted in the centre ; a house-dog barks violently, as 
though he 'd break his chain ; cocks and hens and chicks stalk about ; carts and horses ; 
but no manm-e— all clean, though somewhat untidy. The houses consist mostly of one 
story. You enter rooms scrupulously neat and clean ; windows opening on the other 
side into a flower-garden ; lots of roses, lilacs, and common flowers. Here the garden led 
into a hanging beech-wood, mth walks and seats ; a lake below — small, but large enough 
for the enjoyment of a boat, and fish in plenty. Then there is sure to be an orchard and 
vegetable garden, and a lime avenue leading somewhere.' But as the inevitable result of 
this system, at least in many cases, the clergy are not free from the charge of caring more 
for their farms than for then- flocks. In the parishes, as once aU over England — 
' The curfew tolls the knell of parting day.' 



THE DANE3 IN ENGLAND. 521 

Eiglit massive round oluirolies of very early date, stiU in use, are remarkable objects, as 
originally intended to serve the double purpose of fortresses in time of need, and places of 
•worship. Some are loop-holed like a castle turret for the discharge of arrows, having 
been erected previous to the age of musketry. There are two in Seeland, one in Fiinen, 
one in Jutland, and four in Bornholm. Hour-glasses may stiU be seen suspended near 
the pulpits in several of the ordinary churches. They were introduced as a check on 
the lengthy homilies of the early Lutheran ministers. 

The connection between Denmark and our own country is intunate, of long-standing, 
and striking interest. King Ivnut the Holy is the Canute of English history, who 
subscribed himself with ' truth, ' King of Denmark, England, Norway, and part of 
Sweden.' Gorm the Old, is the Guthrun who so sorely troubled Alfred, and had the 
Danelagh ceded to him, which embraced our eastern, midland, and northern counties. 
But much further back — ^before Britain was abandoned by its Eoman masters, though more 
conspicuously after the complete withdrawment of imperial protection — ^bands of obscure 
adventiu'ers, Jutes, Angles, and Saxons, appeared as conquering immigrants on our shores. 
The Jutes came from the peninsula of modern Jutland, and founded the diminutive 
kingdom of Kent. The Angles migrated from parts of the present duchies of Slesvig and 
ITolstein, arrived in greater numbers, and spread over a wider area, originating the states of 
East Anglia, Mercia, and Northumbria. The Saxons left a more inland territory, south of 
the Elbe, and established themselves in the localities which retain their name, Essex, 
Middlesex, Sussex, and Wessex, respectively the kingdoms of the east, middle, south, and 
west Saxons. It is easy to recognise in the orthography of England and English slightly 
altered forms of Angle-land and Angles. A district in the Slesvig duchy stUl bears the 
name of Angeln, inhabited by a people distinct in physiognomy and speech from their 
neighbours. Dr E. D. Clarke thus writes of it in. his travels : ' "We were surprised at the 
number of English faces we met ; and resemblance is not confined to features. Many 
articles of dress, and many customs, are common to the two countries. The method of 
cultivatuig and dividing the land is the same in both; the meadows, bounded by quickset 
hedges, or by fences made of intertwisted boughs, reminded us of Kent, Surrey, and Sussex. 
The natural appearance of the coimtry is also like the south of England, being diversified by 
numerous hi11s and valleys, adorned with flourishing woods and fertile fields.' Kohl, a recent 
visitor, makes a precisely similar remark. This interesturg locality — truly Old England — 
lies on the Baltic coast, between the towns of Flensborg and Apenrade. The latter name, 
signifying an ' open road,' or station for shipping, is nearly English. There is a closely- 
adjoining tract, but on the shore of the Korth Sea, occupied by a Frisian race, where the 
people have traditionally preserved the memory of the immigration, and claim to be 
peculiarly of the same stock with the founders of England, appealing to the identity of their 
language in proof. Kohl quotes a distich current among them, ' Good bread and good 
cheese, is good English and good Eriese.' Walking through one of the villages, he 
abruptly asked a child : ' Where did Hengist and Horsa saU from ? ' The answer 
was promptly returned : ' From Tondern on the Eyder.' Many names of persons are 
identical, or nearly so, with those in use iii this country, the result of subsequent 
intercourse, as Smit, Pott, Thomsen, Locke, Burns, Green, and others. 

The Faroe Islands form a bailiwick of Jutland, and though far out in the North 
Atlantic, are properly noticed in this place, as geographically belonging to Europe. The 
group consists of sixteen or seventeen strips of inhabited highlands, or mountains, 
separated by narrow sounds, nearly all basaltic, often columnar, besides outlying rocks 
only tenanted by the gull, puffin, and eider duck. They rise bold, bare, and bleak out of 
the deep ocean, here and there shewing cliiTs with perfectly vertical faces of more 



522 DENMARK. 

tlian 1000 feet in height. "Not a tree or shrub exists. A few patches of soil are 
cultivated, devoted chiefly to potatoes and a coarse barley, while some sheep pick up a 
scanty subsistence on the hillside. The islanders number from 8000 to 9000. 
The men are fishermen, fowlers, and shepherds, while the women have grinding the corn 
for their ordiuary duty. Tor tliis purpose, the quern or hand-mill is iu use — the same 
implement which is mentioned in the Bible as employed in primitive times for prepariag 
meal, where also grindiog at the miU is referred to as the work of the females. 
Thorshavn, on the western side of Stromoe, is the chief town, one of the rudest of 
villages in appearance. ' There are bright patches of green, mixed with one or two masses 
of black and Avhite,' remarks a tourist on approaching the spot ; ' and somehow a flag 
rises out from above these objects ; and we strain our eyes, and wonder what the whole 
thing is, for as yet it appears entirely anomalous. It proves to be a town of the 
Faroe Islands : these green patches are the sod-covered roofs of houses ; the spots of 
white and black resolve themselves into a merchant's house and a church ; and the flag is 
hoisted in a little fort, perched on the neighbouring hUlside. Such a curiously-disguised, 
half-buried little town it is ; such an odd huddle of cottages mixed mth rocks, and rocks 
mixed with cottages, that in certain lights, if the flag were only to keep itself down, we 
beheve an enemy's ship might pass it Avithout ever imagining that a town was there.' It 
has spaces between the cottages, but notliing in the shape of street or lane, and possesses 
one baker. There is great interest in peeping into tliese out-of-the-way nooks of the 
world, and meeting with circumstances completely apart from our own experiences. In one 
of the islands ' Paul Johnson's Iiuus ' is shewn as a wonder, as it is the only one with 
two stories. Great Dimon Island, occupied by a single family, can only be approached in 
favourable weather, and then parties have to be hauled up with ropes from the sea. 
Hence months sometimes pass away without any coming in or going out. It is on 
record that on one occasion having suffered the fire to go out, in the middle of winter, 
the family had to remain without fire or hght for the rest of the season, not having the 
means to re-create the blaze. The Faroeso very commonly depend for a new fire upon 
lighted tinder carried from house to hoiise. 





CHAPTEE II. 



SWEDEN AND NORWAT. 




HE territories of Sweden and JSTorway, politically associated ixudev 
the same crown, but with, distinct estates, naturally compose a 
single geographical region to which the ancients gave the name of 
Scandinavia, This is a peninsula, the most extensive in Europe, 
occupying the north-western part of the continent, and connected 
hy a comparatively narrow tract with Eussian Lapland. The Baltic, 
and its great branch, the GuK of Bothnia, form the boundary on 
the east and south; the Atlantic and Arctic Oceans on the west 
and north. Of the two districts, N"orway, the western, extends most 
to the north, with a gradually diminishing breadth, and forms the 
extremity of Europe in that du-ection. Sweden, the eastern division, stretches most to 
the south, and maintains a much greater uniform breadth throughout its extent. 
Between the extreme points of the peninsula from north to south the distance is nearly 
1200 iniles. The greatest expansion is about 4^50 miles, in the latitude of Christiana 
and Upsal; but the average width is not more than 200 mUes for Sweden, and from 
60 to 70 for ITorway. The area includes 292,000 square mUes, which exceeds 
that of any other Eiu:opean state after Eussia. Of tliis amount, Sweden has nearly 
one-sixth part, or 50,000 square mUes, more than K"orway. 

The great northern limb of the Baltic, the Gulf of Bothnia, which separates Sweden 
from Finland, extends upwards of 400 mUes, with an average width of 100, and 
terminates within a short distance of the Arctic Circle. But nearly midway the breadth 
contracts to less than 60 miles, and the distance across is frequently accomplished over 



524 



SWEDEN A^^) NOEWAY. 



the ice in iviiiter. This was effected for the purpose of itivasion by the Eussian general, 
Barclay de Tolly, at the head of his army, in the year 1809. Leaving "Wasa on the Finnish 
side, 17th March, he arrived in three days at Umea on the Swedish, after a journey 
resembling in its detaUs the narratives of polar expeditions. The troops bivouacked at night, 
with a clear sky and a bright moon aloft. Theu' guides often lost the way amid frightful 
masses of ice and snow which storms had confusedly heaped together. Stakes planted as 
marks by a reconnoitring-party sent beforehand could not be found, having been blown 
down by the winds. The sledges were contiuually stopped by broad chasms, which had 
to be crossed hke rivers, or avoided by long detours. Fortunately, though the weather 
was intensely cold, the air was calm; for had a violent snow-storm occurred, the army 
must have perished. The perilous exploit was useless, for scarcely had the soldiers 
gained the Swedish coast, when they were recalled, owing to the conclusion of a truce. 
At the entrance of the gulf, the mainland of Sweden is within twenty miles of a Eussian 
island, one of the Aland group. 

The shores of Sweden have gTeat peculiarities. On the eastern side, around Carlscrona, 
but principally from the Sound of Kalmar into the interior of the Bothnian Gulf, there is 
along-shore an enormous assemblage of small rocky islands and insulated points of rock, 
forming a bewUdering maze, which no map can represent owing to their number. The 
country, according to a common saying, has two coasts — one inner and the other outer. 
The inner is an integral part of the mainland ; the outer is the islet fringe closely 
bordering upon it, in which there is smooth water when the sea beyond is tempest tost. 
Nothing like it occurs elsewhere in European scenery. Though aU the members of this 
archipelago are of insignificant extent, and are never elevated, while rounded surfaces 
render the scene exceedingly monotonous, its aspect is singularly imjjressive to the stranger, 
from the apparently interminable extent of the labyrinth, and the want of Mfe in 
connection with it. Isle after isle comes into view, more or less covered with dark 
stunted pines in the south, but generally destitute of wood in the north, while around and 
between the larger masses, myriads of naked hummocks of gneiss just rise above the water. 
For miles and mUes the voyager may see no indication of human life, except o]l board 
his own vessel ; and may fancy himself visiting a newly-created world on which animal 
existence has not yet been jjlanted. Though contiguous to land in every direction, all is 
stOl and soUtary. ' We never,' observes the Countess Hahn-Hahn, ' lost sight of the 
shore, and sometimes were so near it that it seemed as though we could leap to it from 
the boat. Yet I have never seen anything so desolate as the voyage during this first day. 
On the open sea we should not complain ; but here, so near the land, and not a boat upon 
the water, not a living creature on the shore, not a garden, not a human being, not a dog, 
not even a fishing-net to shew that a man had been there — ^there was something awful in 
it ! ' This lifelessness does not belong to the main passages by which Stockholm is 
approached, which are enlivened by the transit of steamers and sailing-vessels, and 
by fishermen, pilots, and light-houses on the shores ; but as there are innumerable sunk 
rocks, the navigation is usually suspended during the night. The whole labyrinth is 
locally called the SJccirgard, signifying a rooky danger along the shore, or reef-defence ; 
the intervening channels are the Skdrgard-sleden ; and the light craft which navigate 
them, vessels built for the particular purpose, the SMrgdrds-skutor. 

The sJiores of Sweden are also of great geological interest, owing to the remarkable proofs they afford of 
changes in the relative level of land and sea, in gradual process at the present moment. Celsius, a Swedish 
naturalist, about the commencement of the last century, avowed the opinion that the waters both of the 
Baltic and of the Northern Ocean were slowly subsiding. In confirmation of it, he quoted the testimony 
of inhabitants on the shores of the Gulf of Bothnia, that towns, formerly seaports, were then far inland, 
while the sea was still constantly leaving dry, new tracts along its borders. The same parties also affirmed that 



ELEVATION OF THE COAST-LINE. 



525 



insulated rooks in the gulf, and on parts of the coast, rose higher above the sea-leyel than they rememhered 
them to have done in their youth ; and it was alleged that marks had been cut on fixed rocks to indicate the 
water-stand, which already denoted its lower level. Celsius, from numerous observations, estimated the rate 
of depression at from tliree to four feet in the course of a century. Linn^us personally examined the facts, 
and adopted the same opinion. But as, by the laws of equiUbriiun, the level of the sea can neither sink nor 
rise permanently in one place, without proportionably sinking or rising over the whole surface of the earth, 
pliUosophors in general were content to discredit the alleged proofs of change till the commencement 
of the present centuiy. Accurately to test the question, lines or grooves, at the ordinary level of 
the water on a calm day, with the date of the year, were chiseled out on the rocks in various localities. 

Playfair, in 1802, who admitted the evidence, was the first to suggest the true solution of the phenomenon 
referring it to the upward movement of tlie land, not to the depression of the water. But Leopold Von Buch 
who passed more than two years in Scandinavia, from 1806 to 1808, and traversed it in every direction, was 
the first distinguished geologist to pronounce an opinion upon the subject, founded on personal observation. 
He sought information from inteDigent pilots and fishermen, inspected the marks upon the rocks, observed 
upraised deposits of shells belonging to species now inliabiting the Baltic and the Bothnian Gulf, and 
announced his conviction ' that the whole country, from Frederickshall in Norway, to Abo in Finland and 
perhaps as far as St Petersbui-g, was slowly and insensibly rising.' He also conceived that ' Sweden may 
rise more in the northern than in the southern part.' All succeeding observers have come to the same 
general conclusion, and multiplied proofs of its correctness. In the years 1820-1821 the old rock-marks 
were carefully examined under the joint direction of the Swedish Academy and the Russian Minister of 
Marino. The ofileers reported that, on comparing the level of the sea at the time of their observations with 
the ancient indications, they found it lower relatively to the land in certain places, but the amount of chan"e 
during equal periods of time had not been everywhere the same. They cut new marks for the guidance of 
future investigators. Fourteen years later, in 1834, Sir Charles Lyell, who had been sceptical relative to the 
phenomenon, fully satisfied himself of its reality in the course of a tour ; and on examining even the new 
rock-marks, the sea was found to be sensibly below them at various points to the north of Stockholm. He 
marked, with the height of the water at the time of his visit, the celebrated stone at Liiffsgrund, near Gefle, 
on the Gulf of Botlmia. Su- Charles's mark was two feet seven inches below one made in 1731 ; and the sea 
was found to beabout seven inches below the fresh indication by Mr R. Chambers in 1849. The total change 
of relative level had therefore been more than three feet in 118 years, a confinnation of the accuracy 
of Celsius in his estimate of the rate of change. The hard texture of the rocks on this part of the coast, and 
the absence of tides, facilitate the accurate determination of the mean or ordinary height of the water. 

On receding from the northern parts of the Gulf of Bothnia, the alteration of level diminishes, and is very 
slight aroimd Stockholm. Further south, the rise of the land ceases altogether, and evidence is met with of 
an opposite movement, that of a gradual subsidence. No beds of marine silt containing the shells of 
moUusoa identical with species now inhabiting the sea are found inland through the southern part of 
the peninsula, while weU-known landmarks are at present nearer the water-line than formerly. Linnsus, 
in 1749, measured and marked the distance between the sea and a large stone near T. -g on the shore of 

Scania. In 1836, eighty-seven years afterwards, the distance had diminished to the extent of a hmidred feet. 
Another conclusive proof of the subsidence appears in the circumstance, that houses and entire streets in the 
maritime towns occupy positions relative to the sea to which they would never have been exposed had the 
same relation existed between them when they were built. In many cases they are either at or below the lowest 
level of the water, and are liable to be overflowed when the wind raises the waves above their ordinary 
height. This oscUlatory movement, upward in the north and downward in the south, is the more striking, 
as no part of the globe has been less subject to violent physical disturbances since the date of authentic 
history. However gradual the elevation and the subsidence, great changes must inevitably be produced in 
the configuration of the peninsula in the lapse of ages. Though quite inexplicable, the slow and sUent 
oscillation seems like an expu-ing effort on the part of those forces by which the vastly greater geological 
changes of ancient epochs were effected. 

ISTorway is distinguislied by a very complicated coast-line. It presents an uninterrupted 
series of inlets called fiords, a name analogous to the Scottish fijth, hotli having the 
same derivation from the old Norse. In a few instances they are spacious bay-like 
openings, but the great majority are elongated, comparatively narrow, and so tortuous as 
speedily to exclude all view of the open sea, rendering the appearance of the water 
lacustrine. It is beautifully clear. In fine weather the reflection of the bordering 
mountains is often as well defined upon the surface as the rocks themselves ; and when 
viewed at a short distance it is no easy matter to decide where the line is which separates 
the water from the shore. Sometimes this uncertainty, when crossing one of the fiords in 
a boat, lias a singular effect. Everything appears upside down ; houses upset, trees 
growing the ^vrong way, men walking on their heads, cattle on their backs ; the whole 



526 SWEDEN AND NOEWAT. 

appearance liaving an air of reality winch for tlie moment beguiles the senses. Where 
the rocky walls are exposed to the wild gales of the ocean, they are sternly naked ; hut 
in sheltered situations tail pines clothe the sides and summits, with the wild raspherry 
and strawberry beneath them, the blossoms of which in spring offer an agreeable contrast 
to the sombre foliage. The scenery in these inlets varies frequently within confined 
limits from the pastoral and picturesqiie to the striking and sublime, occasionally to the 
terrific. Sixty mUes to the south of Bergen, the Hardanger Fiord winds inland nearly a 
hundred miles, and sends off arms on the right and left. One of these branches is 
connected with the Matre Kord. This is a tremendous cleft in a mountain mass, nowhere 
more than a quarter of a mile wide and four miles in length. The sides rise 
from 3000 to 5000 feet, and are in places literally perpendicular, with masses here 
and there overhanging the water. ' Though it was nearly eleven o'clock,' observes 
Mr Wittich, spealdng of a midsummer day, ' the sun had not yet penetrated to the 
bottom of the cleft. The gloom which was spread over it, heightened by the dark rocky 
masses on its sides, excited a sensation in my breast of the most painful description. 
The view was not grand, it was not sublime — it was horrific. At the view of a truly 
grand scene om* feelings expand, but at the sight of this cleft I felt that they were 
contracted. I could not breathe with common ease, and the sensation which filled my 
mind approached nearer to horror than to any other feehng I know. I was really glad 
when our boatmen turned their vessel away to continue theu' course to the Hardanger 
Fiord.' There, on the eastern shore, before the simset hour, the traveller was gazing 
with delight upon Eosendal — the Vale of Eoses — ^with its manor-house and bordering 
higidands enclosing a beautiful succession of fields, meadows, and groves of fruit-trees, 
interspersed with hamlets and cottages, bearing witness alike to the productive powers of 
nature and the industry of man. 

The interior of the Scandinavian peninsula is traversed from south to north by a moun- 
tainous range, which overspreads nearly the whole of Norway, but only slightly intrudes 
into Sweden. It defines indeed to a great extent the boundary between the two regions. 
Boldly rising up from the deep waters of the Atlantic, the mountains attain their greatest 
elevation at an inconsiderable distance from the west coast of ISTorway, and decline 
gradually towards Sweden into the undulating lowlands which compose the chief part of 
its surface. The range bears the name of the Thulian in the south, the Dovre-field in the 
centre, and the Koeleu in the north. Skagstolsfind, in the province of Bergen, the 
highest point, rises 8153 feet above the sea, or more than 3000 feet above the snow-line 
in that locality. Owing to the great general elevation of the country in the central and 
southern districts, and the high northern latitude to which it stretches, it is estimated 
that an area of not less than 3500 square miles is above the line of perpetual congelation, 
and is constantly covered with snow. The largest single snow-field, the Folge Fonden, 
eastward of Bergen, is about thirty miles in length, from six to eighteen miles in breadth, 
is elevated 5400 feet above the sea, and has a covering of permanent snow forty feet deep. 
"When Pontoppidam, the Bishop of Bergen, published his Account of Norway in the last 
century, he suggested that improved roads might be laid out upon the top of the moun- 
tains with little difficulty, except from the snow. No idea could well appear more 
preposterous than this to readers imacquainted with these highlands. But their peculiar 
contour would render the suggestion feasible for considerable distances, were it not for 
the circumstance mentioned. Comparatively few peaked or rounded projections mark 
then- upward outline. The summits consist of high plains, locally called ^'eMs, or 'fields,' 
with generally level surfaces of varying dimensions, forming an extensive series of table- 
lands. Thus the Dovre-field is an extensive tract of country, from forty to fifty miles 



SCANDINAVIAN MOUNTAINS. 527 

across in every direction, and between 3000 and 4000 feet above tlie sea-level, from 
wliicli platform tlie jDyTamidal Sneeliiitten, or Hat of Snow, rises some 3000 feet more. 
The general surface of this high region merely undulates, and is sufficiently desolate, owing 
to the elevation and the latitude. Frost is almost continually experienced through nine 
months of the year, and snow occasionally falls in the middle of summer. Eeuideer-moss 
and heath clothe the drier spots ; grass springs up in some of the depressions ; and there 
are a few patches of hircli-trees, hut never higher than from three to four yards, with 
wiUows and alders less frequent and more dwarfish. Total silence prevails over the scene, 
except when interrupted by the mournful notes of the whistling plover, as it flits at a 
distance. This cold and dreary district, devoid of everything necessary for the subsistence 
of man and beast, while visited with fearful snow-storms, has to be passed on proceeding 
from Christiana to Drontheim, the modem and ancient oajjitals of Norway ; and very 
benevolently, to guard against loss of life by the way, King Egsdein, in the beginning of 
the twelfth century, caused stations to be erected, called fielclstuer, as places of refuge, 
endowed with a certain yearly revenue for their support. These stations are four in 
number, about ten miles distant from each other. They consist of houses of wood, 
containing two or three large rooms, one of which is set apart for travellers, with a large 
fire and requisite provision. 

The valleys, though in some instances broad and open, are for the most part rents in 
the mountain masses : narrow at the bottom, not much wider at the top, and therefore 
steeply walled. One of these ravines jDroved fatal to a number of auxiliary Scots, raised 
for the service of Sweden, just after Gustavus Adolphus, who was then at war with Denmark, 
ascended the throne. They landed at Eomsdale, on the coast of Norway, a hostile 
country, acknowledging the Danish sovereignty. This was with the view of gaining the 
Swedish frontier by a march across the mountains, as the passage by sea was guarded by 
the ships of the enemy. The detachm.ent, 900 strong, under Colonel Sinclair, while in a 
narrow pass upon the road, was attacked by a band of peasants, who rolled huge masses 
of rock, stones, and trees upon the entrapped party from the bordering heights, and then 
rushed down to slaughter the confused and wounded men. All perished, with the excep- 
tion of two individuals. This disaster occurred near Viig, on the 24rth of August 1612, 
and is commemorated by an inscription on a wooden tablet at the spot. The commander 
was buried close by in the church of Quam. To reward this exploit, the peasants were 
formally exempted from paying any taxes, as weU as from serving in the army. Though 
two centuries and a half have now elapsed, the name of Sinclair, pronounced Zinclar, is 
familiar in the district, and wiU. remain -so for ages to come. Another detachment landed 
at Stcirdal, and safely passed the Scandinavian Alps to Stockholm. Scotch auxUiaries 
crowded to the banner of the ' Snow King,' as Gustavus was contemptuously called by 
the imperialists during the struggle for the reformed faith which he conducted in 
Germany ; and such names as Hamilton, Bruce, Colquhoun, Murray, and Seaton are not 
unkno\vn at present as Swedish denominatives. Broad lowland Scotch is also to some 
extent intelligible in the south of Sweden. 

The peninsula abounds with rivers formed and sustained by the snows and glaciers. 
The Gotha in Sweden, and the Glommen in Norway, are the most important. Though the 
Scandinavian rivers have generally but short courses, they have full channels and powerful 
currents in spring-time, when the deeply-accumulated wintry covering of the country is 
dissolving, except on the loftiest uplands. But they have very little navigable value, 
owing to the repeated occurrence of falls and rapids, though highly useful in floating 
down the timber from the interior to the coasts. The falls of the Gotha at Trolhatta in 
Sweden are the highest in Europe of the same body of water, and the most magnificent, 



528 



SWEDEN AND NORWAY. 



for a cataract depends for imposing effect more upon the volume it discharges than the 
extent of the descent. The river, hroad and deep, plunges 130 feet in successive leaps. 
Its resistless power is illustrated to visitors by a log of wood being sent down by persons 
who expect a trifle for the exhibition. TJie log, which is of gigantic dimensions, is tossed 
like a feather on the surface of the water, and is borne almost in an instant to the foot. 
The Gotha is the only outlet of the Wenern Lake, which covers an area equal to that of 
the county of Norfolk, and is skirted with rich forests. This expanse and the adjoining 
Lake "Wetter are the largest in Europe out of Eussia. Both have long been traversed by 
steamers plj^g between Gothenburg and Stockholm, which are conducted by the Falls of 
Trolhatta through a lateral canal, aided by a series of locks. But their services are 
destined to be superseded by railway communication. The beautiful Lake Miosen in 
Norway, long and narrow, surrounded by fine pastoral scenery, is connected with the 
capital, Christiana, by a railway forty miles in length, executed by EngUsh engineers and 
contractors, and to a great extent their property. Small elongated lakes are as common 
as in the Highlands of Scotland. They abound with fish, as well as the streams, supply 
the people with their daily fare, and are annually visited by a number of our angling 
countrymen, who pay a rental for the right to fish to the neighbouring proprietor, and are 
expected to present him in addition with the ' lion's share ' of the proofs of their skUl. 
Smoked salmon is the commonest article of food in aU the river-valleys, and it is 
invariably eaten raw. 

The Dal is the historically-mteresting Swedish river. It enters the Gulf of Bothnia to the north of 
TTpsal, and gives its name to the district through which it flows, the old province of Dalecarlia. In this 
region the founder of the modem monarchy, Gustavus Vasa, took refuge in his temporary adversity, was 
sheltered from pursuers by its inhabitants, and roused the bold peasantry to assert triumphantly the liberties 
of their country. The common people stdl remember with pride how he wore the peasant's dress among 
their forefathers, plied axe and flail for daily hire, and many scenes of his adventures and perils are pointed 
out. The barn is indicated in which he thrashed at Eankhytta, and the one in the hamlet of Isola in which 
he similarly laboured. The latter has now a monmnent of porphyry, with tlie inscription : ' Here worked as 
a thrasher Gustavus Ericson, pursued by the foes of the realm, but selected by Providence to be the saviour 
of the coirntry. His descendant in the sixth generation, Gustavus III., raised this memorial.' The barn still 
belongs to the family of the original proprietor, wliose representative received an honorary medal in 1787. 
In like manner, the spot in the forest at Harness where tlie fugitive lay concealed three days under a fallen 
fir-tree, and the peasants brought him food; the lullock surrounded by marshes on Ashy Moor, which also 
served him for some time as a place of refuge, and is now called the King's HiU ; the cellar in the hamlet of 
TJtmedland where he hid from his enemies ; the site by the church of Mora where he harangued the people ; 
all these are shewn by the descendants of those who shared his dangers, and are little likely to be forgotten 
by future generations. The Dalecarlians or Dalesmen of the present day are a peculiarly energetic race, and 
are conscious of it; according to a maxun current with them, one man of the district is equal to two 
Swedes of any other province. In summer, a large nmnber of the girls migrate to Stockholm, where they are 
employed in working the boats. They are hardy, honest, industrious, and surprisingly strong, as may be seen 
by their toUing at the heavy oars from morning to night. Though with somewhat coarse features, their 
good-natured looks, blue eyes, and rosy cheeks, well set off by a veiy picturesque costume, render their 
appearance peculiarly prepossessing. 

Woods cover a very large proportion of the surface of the whole country. They shelter 
the wolf, bear, and wolverine, now limited chiefly to the wilder and more northern 
districts, with the elk in the least frequented localities, the fox, lynx, and badger 
generally, and the wary capercailzie, ' cock of the woods,' or ' horse of the woods,' as 
the bu-d is called. The stillness of the forests is very remarkable and impressive to persons 
familiar with our own sylvan scenes. Songsters are wanting ; small birds chirping and 
twittering among the branches are rare ; and the solitude is rendered additionally solemn 
by the sombre foliage of the prevailing trees. But inniimerable wild-flowers deck the 
ground, among which the beautiful Linncea borealis, a favourite with the botanist, is 
conspicuous. It grows where the woods are most dense, shews its delicate twin blossoms 



VEGETATION. 529 

anion" the moss, tlirougli wliicli its stems extend to the length of several feet. In the 
southern districts, the oak, elm, beech, and maple mingle with the generally diffused 
aspon, bii'ch, mountain-ash, spruce, and Scotch firs, Pinus sylvestris. The latter are the 
cliaracteristic trees, lofty, straight, and everywhere prordnent. They are the most 
valuable also for commercial purposes, answering admirably for the masts of ships, while 
yielding tar, tm'pentine, and pitch. Hence Milton's lines in the splendid description of 
Satan : 

' His spear, to equal which the tallest pine 
Hewn on Norwegian liills to be the mast 
Of some liigh ammiral, were but a wand.' 

It is interesting to mark the change of vegetation on proceeding from south to north. 
Many species, after becoming scarce, entirely disappear, while the birch becomes more and 
more dwarfish and the pine stimted, tOl both degenerate into mere bushes under the 
pinching cold of the climate. The peasantry are expert woodmen, and bring large trees 
to the ground in a very short space of time. They are then stripped of the bark, the 
branches lopped off, and the logs laid in rows, till they are ' received,' as it is termed, by 
the merchant. Upon this being done, the timber is rolled to the bank of the nearest 
stream, and committed to a rough voyage with the current. But previously, each log is 
marked at both ends, so that if broken in going down the falls, the owner can recognise 
both pieces as his property. The precaution is indispensable, as timber belonging to 
difi'erent parties may be afloat at the same time. Strong booms are thrown across the 
mouths of the rivers, or at other convenient points, where the floats are intercepted. But 
it sometimes happens, when there is a strong flood, or an extraordinary accumulation of 
timber, that the booms give way, and thousands of logs are irrecoverably drifted out to 
sea. Besides being expert hewers of wood, the peasants are ingenious carpenters. They 
fabricate most of their own household furniture, and render ordinary articles ornamental, 
as bowls, the handles of forks and spoons, by beautifully minute carving. 

The peninsula is remarkable for enormous stores of iron and copper, with some lead 
and silver, but the rugged character of the country, and the want of streams which admit 
of navigation, check the extraction of its metallic wealth, by rendering transport difi&cult 
or impossible. Iron ore occurs in Sweden in immense masses, occasionally forming 
entire hiUs, where the mines are open excavations. The iron produced in Dannemora is 
the best in the world, superior to any other in ductUity and malleabOity ; and has long 
been chiefly sent to England for the manufactui-e of the finest steel. Copper-mines have 
existed for several centuries at Falun in the same district, which Gustavus Adolphus was 
accustomed to call the 'treasury of Sweden' from the value of their produce. Though 
the yield is much less than formerly it is still considerable. Excavations extend here for 
miles underground, and comprise vast chambers, which were brilliantly lighted up for 
sumptuous banquets given by Bernadotte, king of Sweden. In Norway, extensive 
copper-works are carried on in the elevated region of Eoraas, a town near the source of 
the Glommen, where the climate is almost a perpetual winter; and also at the high 
latitude of nearly 70°, in the neighboui-hood of Alten, which give employment to several 
hundreds of persons, and are under an English director. The silver-mines at Kongsberg, 
discovered in 1623, once yielding gold, after a period of suspension are again worked at a 
profit. It was at this spot that the gold was found in 1647 of which Christian IV. 
caused the famous BUlen ducats to be coined, bearing the legend Vide mira Domini, 
'Behold the wonderful works of the Lord.' A mass of silver obtained in the 
seventeenth century, now in the royal collection at Copenhagen, weighs upwards of 
560 lbs. 

2h 



30 



SWEDEIJ AND NORWAY. 



The littoral climate of Iforway is comparatively mUd for the latitude, and much more 
uniform than in the interior of the peninsula, OAving to the iafluence of the adjacent 
ocean. But in the inland districts, two strongly-contrasted seasons divide the year 
generally between them, a long and rigorous winter, a short and hot summer. For six 
months and upwards hard snow covers the ground, while the lakes and rivers are firmly 
frozen; the thermometer frequently descends many degrees below zero; mercmy solidifies; 
and in the far north, as the effect of the long cold winter, the mean temperature of the 
year is below the freezing-point. On the other hand, the brief summer has its excessive 
heat, with an ample population of tormenting mosquitoes. But, unEke the days of 
winter, which brighten as the cold sharpens, those of summer become dull as the heat 
increases, while the succeeding' nights are magically clear. There is a haze aloft and all 
round the horizon, often with a bluish tinge, not moist, and therefore popularly called 
sun-smoke to discriminate it from ordinary fog. It saddens the sky, restricts vision, 
confuses objects, and tarnishes the landscape, The great summer heat arises from the 
long-continued presence of the sun above the horizon. Prom south to north the longest 
day varies from nineteen or twenty hours to several weeks in its length. A visit to 
Hammerfest or Tromsoe, within the Polar Circle, by steamer from Bergen, to see 
the sun at midnight, is now a midsummer escitrsioii with strangers from southerly 
latitudes. 




A Lapp Ladj, from Loid Diifterm'b Sketch. 
By permission 




Stookliobn. 
I. SWEDEN. 

Sweden comprises tlu-ee principal districts, central, southern, and northern, wliioh are 
subdivided into Zd'ws, or governments. 

Districts. Principal Towns. 

Sveland or Sweden Proper, . . Stockholm, TTpsal, Falun, Orebro. 

Gottland, Gothenburg, Carlscroua, Kalmar, Mahno, NoiTkoping. 

Norrland, Gefle, Sundsvall, Hernosand, Uniea, Pitea, Haparauda. 

Stocklwlm, the capital, in latitude 59' 20' N., longitude 1S° E., a city of 112,300 inhabitants, is situated 
upon a strait connecting the Malar Lake with the Baltic through the multitudinous channels of the islet 
coast. On the seaward side of the strait, and in the centre of it, on an island, the strong fortress of "Waxhohn 
commands the passage to it, as all approaching ships must come within range of the guns. The site of the 
metropolis is one of the most remarkable in the world, varied with rock, ridge, wood, water, and island, 
which combine to render its simimer appearance beautiful in the extreme. A profusion of freshly-green 
verdiu'e, with gleaming expanses, intermingles with the buildings, while the whole is encircled by a wreath of 
forest foliage. But the interior, especially of the older part, is a labyrinth of narrow crooked streets, in want 
of a thorough reform as to paving and sewage. The city, properly so called, occupies three islands, so 
contiguous and connected by bridges as to appear but one. These are the Stockholm, or ' island of the 
castle,^ which gives its name to the capital, and where the first buildings were planted ; the Eiddarholm, or 
' knights' island ; ' and the Helge Ants Holm, or ' island of the Holy Ghost.' This central division contains 
the royal palace, an edifice of great extent and remarkable architectural beauty ; the seat of the legislature, 
a plain building ; the cathedral of St Nicholas, where the kings are crowned ; the Riddarhohn Church, in 
which they are buried, along mth many of the Swedish captains who served in the Tliirty Years' War ; and 
the offices of the principal merchants. Bridges connect this division with a more extensive portion on the 
southern mainland, the abode chiefly of artisans, and another on the northern, where the best streets and 
shops are to be found. The opera-house is in the northern, in which its founder, Gustavus III., in 1792, 
received liis death-wound ; and where in our own time Jenny Lind achieved her first triumphs. Though 
every part of the city may be reached on foot, yet this will often require long detours to the bridges ; and 
hence the intervening waters are alive with boats and miniature steamers, the cabs and omnibuses of 
Stockholm. On fine summer evenings and on Sundays they are crowded with passengers proceeding to the 
Djui-garden, or some other of the magnificent parks, which add so much to the beauty of the environs. Not 
less animated is the scene in winter when aU the water-ways are firm streets of ice, on which pedestrians 
sport, and people of all classes are perpetually passing to and fro in sledges, the most delightful of all modes 
of conveyance. . Hear the sledges with the tells— 

Silver hells ! 
What a world of merriment their melody foretells.' 



532 SWEDEN AND NORWAY. 

Upsal, the old capital, readily reached by steamer up Lake Miilar, is some forty miles distant on the north- 
west, situated on the verge of a vast plain, and has a population of about 8700. A huge brick cathedral 
claijuB notice on account of the great names which appear upon tablets on the walls, thoso of Gustavus 
Vaaa in the Lady Chapel, and Linnffius near the principal entrance. The house occupied by the botanist, 
where most of his works were written, is a neat dwelling of two stories, with an avenue of shady limes in 
front, planted by his own hand. The university hero, with which he was connected, is the oldest and most 
important of tlie two in tlie kmgdom. It was founded in 1477, and that of Lund in 166G. In one of these, 
all candidates for the clerical, medical, and legal jirofessions must take a degree as a preliminary to official 
duty. The students are distinguished by white caps of jean, but wear no other academic dress. They 
lodge in the town, as there are no colleges for their accommodation, and being fond of chorus-singing, their 
boisterous melody is frequently heard in the streets late at night. Besides Linnaeus, the names of Celsius, 
Bergmann, Scheele, and Berzelius occur in the list of distinguished professors. The library, of 100,000 
volumes, contains the Codex Argenteus, a manuscript copy of the Gospels in Gothic, translated by Bishop 
TUphilas in tho fourth century. Falun, a mining town further north, is locally called Omnia Kopperherget, 
the ' old copper-mine.' Its wooden houses are black with fumes from tho Bmeltiug-furnaces, destructive of 
all vegetation, but not deemed unhealthy by the inhabitants. Oreiro, with 7700 inhabitants, on Lake 
Hielmar, west by south of Stockholm, was the first Swedish town in which the Eeformation was formally 
established. 

Gothenburg, on the river Gotha, about five miles above its entrance into the Cattegat, is by far the largest 
and most important provincial to\vn, but contains little more than one-third the population of the capital, 
or 33,000. It is a handsome and rapidly-increasing place, with broad bustling streets, canals running up the 
centre of several of them. Some recent public buildings are of the first class, as well as manufacturing works. 
Owing to intimate tradmg commmiication with Hull, it is here that Englishmen commonly mako acquaint- 
ance with Sweden, and with the usages of the natives, such as tho triple bows and uplif tings of tho hat which 
accompany an introduction ; ' snaps,' or various dishes before dinner, washed down by ' finkel,' a kind of 
home-made brandy, intended to prepare the stomach for operations on a larger scale ; and the presence of 
the ' flicka,' or waiting-maid, by the bedside, betimes in the morning, with coffee to welcome the retiu;n of 
the sleeper to the region of conscious existence and reality. Carlsorona, with 15,500 inhabitants, the naval 
arsenal of Sweden, and the ordinary station of the fleet, is situated towards its south-east extremity, on 
several islands connected with each other by bridges, and with the mainland by an embankment. A citadel, 
with walls of granite mounting 200 pieces of cannon, and strong detached forts, render its position 
peculiarly formidable towards the sea. The town commemorates by its name Charles XL, who founded it 
in 1680. Kalmar, of only 8000 inhabitants, on the same coast to the northward — a decayed place, is 
conspicuous from afar by its remarkable cathedral and castle. In the palatial castle, June 1397, Queen 
Margaret assembled representatives of the three Scandinavian kingdoms, and effected the union of Denmark, 
Norway, and Sweden under one crown, a federation which was never cordial, and lasted little more than a 
century. On Stenso Point, a tongue of land in the neighbourhood, Gustavus Vasa disembarked in 1520, 
on retm'ning from his exile at Lubeck to deliver his country from the yoke of a tyrant, and establish a new 
dynasty on the throne. As a memorial of the event, Louis XVIII. of France, during his temporary residence 
at Kalmar, caused a tablet to be erected at the spot. Malmo, a fortified town and port, is on the east 
side of the Sound, nearly opposite to Copenhagen. Jbnkoping, containing an arsenal and an arms-factory, 
is beautifully situated at the south extremity of Lake "Wetter, with pine-clad hills rising in the background, 
and has a population of 7700. Norrkoping, at the mouth of the Motala River, the outlet of the lake, is the 
third town of Sweden in size, with docks, budding-yards, hardware and cloth manufactures, and a population 
of 20,000. 

Geflc, the principal port on the Swedish side of the Gulf of Bothnia, is at its south extremity a scene of 
great activity in suimner as soon as the navigation opens. It ranks after Stockholm and Gothenburg in 
mercantile consequence ; exports timber, tar, pitch, and iron from the forests and mines of Dalecarlia ; and 
possesses one of the best com't-houses in the country, with a gymnasium and good pubUo library. Its 
population is about 11,000. Sundsvall, Scrnosand, Umea, and PiUa are small, neat-lookmg ports in the 
interior of the gulf, somewhat Swiss-like, far more actively commercial than would be iuferred from their 
size and remote position. The inhabitants are engaged in fisheries, the preparation of forest produce for 
expoi-t, and ship-building. The vessels built are small-craft, cheaply built of fir, purchased by the shipmasters 
of Lubeck, Bremen, and Hamburg. Dr Solander, who accompanied Captaui Cook on his first circumnavigation, 
was a native of Pitea. Saparanda, at the head of the gulf, of modern date, is opposite the Eussian town 
of Tomea, separated from it by the river of that name. Upon the annexation of Finland to the Russian 
empii-e in 1809, tliose inhabitants of Tomea who wished to remain under Swedish government withdrew to 
the contiguous bank of the river, and founded Haparanda. It has become a thriving place, with churches, 
warehouses, and red painted dweUuigs, surpassing its older neighbour in appearance, but of smaller size. The 
two towns communicate by a bridge. The name signifies ' a shore covered with aspens,' which are abundant 
in the vicinity. 

Two islands of some extent and interest belong to Sweden, that of Oland on tlie soutli- 
east coast, and of Gottland, Goodland, near the centre of the Baltic. The former, 



GOTTLAND. 533 

separated hy a narrow oliaunol from tlio mainland, is singular from its very dispropor- 
tionate size, extending ninety miles in length, parallel to the peninsula, but never more 
than ton miles in width. It is a great slab of Umestono, so uniformly low and level, that 
the small churches on one side may he seen across it from the sea on the other. 

Gottland, much more extensive, is of special importance from its geographical position 
and natural capabilities, for in a strategic point of view it has been styled ' a padlock 
upon the Gulfs of Finland and Bothnia,' by means of which a strong hand might lock up 
the Eussian navy, and command the navigation of the Baltic. The island is watered by 
a number of small streams and lakes, has productive fisheries, woods of oak and pine, a 
8oil capable of yielding abundant harvests, and harbours of sufficient depth of water for 
war-steamers. The climate is remarkably mild for the region, as the inhabitants do not 
calculate upon having more than eight days of sledge-driving in winter ; horses and sheep 
remain abroad the whole season ; and the grape, walnut, and mulberry ripen in favourable 
summers. 

Borglwlm, the chief town, on tho west coast, has an old castle remarkable for its colossal architectitro, 
which may be distinguished to seaward on the east. The island possesses a productive soil, abundance of 
game, fine woods, pleasing villages, and has long been celebrated for a race of diminutive and graceful ponies. 
One of the most beautiful was presented by a native peasant to Gustavus Adolphus while a boy. He was 
highly delighted with tho gift, but with tho thoughtfulness which distinguished him in after-life, immediately 
proposed to compensate the donor. ' I must not suffer you,' said he, ' to go away unpaid, for it cannot be 
your intention to give mo this horse for nothing ; at any rate, you may be in want of money.' So saying, he 
drew forth his little purse, filled with ducats, and emptied it iu the peasant's hands. 

TVishy, once the chief town, now a poor decayed place, on the west coast, has existing mommients of former 
consequence, which is frequently noticed in medieval chronicles. Its present aspect is tmique in Northern 
Europe, not unlike that of a ruined city of the ancient world, which the traveller expects to encomiter in a 
southern or oriental region, but views with surprise in the far north, amid the mists and waters of tlie 
Baltic. Prior to the Norman Conquest of England it was a prosperous commercial emporitmi. Some of its 
deserted but well-preserved churches were founded in the early part of the eleventh century. It was the 
parent city of the Hanseatio League, and one of its principal depots during the period of its ascendency. 
The productions of the east, brought by caravan to Novgorod and conveyed across the sea, met in its marts 
the furs of the north and the buyers of Southern Europe. So numerous were the foreigners resorting to it 
that each nation had its own church and house of assembly. Olaus Magnus specifies among its visitors 
' Gothi, Suedi, Sussi seu Bcuthini, Dani, Prussi, Angli, Scoti, Flandri, Galli, Finni, Vandali, Saxones, 
Hispani.' A code of laws, styled ' The Supreme Maritime Law of Wisby,' was long of paramount authority 
with seamen on the waters. 

The town contains about 4300 inhabitants, lodged mostly in poor cabins, but within an ancient wall, by 
the side of costly bufldings, and in comiection with well-paved streets, provided for the accommodation of full 
E0,000. The waU, built in the year 12S8, thirty feet high, is entire, as are nearly all the forty-five towers 
upon it. The ruined churches, eighteen in number, are most interesting objects to the antiquary; and 
supply models of the style of buildmg, ornament, and workmanship of the eleventh and twelfth centuries. 
No specimens so entire of equal date are to be f()imd in England. The Helige Ands Kirken, or CSiuroh of the 
Holy Ghost, a .small octagonal structure, built in 10i6, has a round massive Saxon arch for the main entrance, 
with windows and other arches in the same style. A curious aperture occurs in the ceiling of the choir the 
purpose of which has not been satisfactorily ascertained. St Lawrence Cliurch, erected in the same year, has 
a transept, and exhibits the pointed arch used indiscriminately with the round. St Drottens, buUt in 1086, 
is a specimen of the Saxon style. St Nicholas, 1097, is altogether Norman, with very beautiful pointed 
arches. The only church now kept up for the use of the inhabitants, St Malay's, was built by the Gorman 
merchants in 1190. Tombstones applied to strange purposes, forming stairs and pavements, are conmion 
objects. Many of these, though of comparatively modern date, exhibit marks resembling hieroglyphics or 
Kimic characters. A lawyer of the place accounted to Mr Laing for the occurrence of these marks in an 
ingenious and plausible way. At a period when writing was not an ordinary accomplisliment, even with the 
wealthiest inhabitants of "Wisby and the Hanse Towns, every merchant had his particular mark or scratch, 
known to his customers and friends as well as if it had been his signature in letters. This countersign was 
transmitted in the family, and by it their wares were known and their communications recognised by aU who 
dealt or corresponded with them. It was also inscribed on their tombstones to distinguish them from others. 
Tliis is the tradition of the place respecting the marks. The most ancient tombstone observed by the 
traveller had the year 1236 inscribed upon it, and was stowed away in a summer-house. Coins from the east 
and west, Persian, Arabic, and Anglo-Saxon, found at Wisby, are memorials of the extremely foreign 
character of its visitors in the middle ages. 




Palls of Feigumfoss. 



n. NORWAY. 



Three great geographical regions are distinguished in Norway, subdivided into emits, ox 
bailiwicks. 

Principal Towns. 

Sondenfields, the soiitliem ranges of hiUs, Christiana, Frederickshall. 

Nordenfields, the northern ranges of hills, Bergen, Drontheim. 

Norrland, the north land, Tromsoe, Alten, Hammerfest. 

GIvristiana, the capital, stands at the head of a lovely fiord on the south coast, speckled with islands, and 
bordered with heights thickly clothed with pines. It is a small city of 39,000 inhabitants, remarkably clean, 
free from indications of squalor and vice, with broad streets, fresh-looking houses, and shops scarcely to be 
distinguished from private dwellings. A few samples of wares are placed in plain parlour-windows, many of 
which are without shutters, shewing no apprehension of the thief in the night. There is a universitj^ a 
botanical garden, an astronomical observatory with which the celebrated Hanstein was long connected, a new 
storthing-house for the accommodation of the legislature, and a palace also of recent date. The great 
conflagration of 1S5S, by destroying many antiquated and irregularly-shaped buildings, opened a large field 
for the display of architectural taste, of which the authorities and the inhabitants have promptly availed 
themselves. In the tower of the princiisal church a fire guardian is constantly posted, who has to prove Ms 
vigilance by calling out every quarter of an hour from each of its four sides. Throughout Scandinavia, 
where the houses are so largely of wood, fire is the great enemy dreaded by the people. The night-watchmen 
do not forget this danger in their hourly call — 

' The clock strikes twelve, may God still keep rriT, i + • + ' Unless the Lord the city keep. 

The town from fire, while the citizens sleep !' "^^ ''"™* vanes to ,^y^^ watchmen watch in vain.' 

Fredcricl^shalU on a bay of the Cliristiana fiord, with an excellent harbour and a rock-seated castle, is close 
to the Swedish frontier. It has a population of 7400. An obelisk marks the spot where Charles XH. fell 
in 1718, wliile besieging the foi-tress. It was raised to his memory by command of Bernadotte, and is 
surrounded by a double row of cypress-trees. An avenue bordered with the same funereal slrrub leads from 
it to the battery, from whence the caimon-ball that terminated his career is supposed to have come. 



■WEST COAST OP NOEWAY. 535 

Serffcn, tha commercial capital, on the west coast, with about 26,000 inhabitants, has a very plain 
appearance, considering the wealth and enterprise of its merchants. Tliey are chiefly engaged in the Lofoden 
fishery ; export annually many thousands of tons of dried fish to the southern countries of Europe ; import 
corn, wliich is not raised in the country sufHcient for home consumption, with other articles of necessity and 
luxury ; and carry on the trade in their own vessels. The neighbourhood of the town is very naked and 
sterile. No woods are to be seen, but only a few small clusters of stunted trees in sheltered situations. 
This is a feature of the whole coast where it is freely swept by the north-west gales from the ocean. They 
prevent the growth of tunber to the distance of ten or twelve miles from the open sea, and have a marked 
influence upon the vegetation, rendering it dwarfish, to three times that extent inland. The harbour very 
rarely freezes, and is commonly accessible to vessels all the year round, though further north than St Petersburg, 
where the waters are ice-hound through the whole of the winter. This circumstance is important in connection 
with the Lofoden fishery, which is carried on in February and Marcli, and upon which the prosperity of the 
whole west coast of Norway depends. Drontheim or Trondhjem, the old metropolis, on a large fiord 
further north, is chiefly buUt of wood, with 16,000 inhabitants. It has an ancient cathedral, once an 
object of veneration to all Scandinavia, but now simply an odd, irregular, quaint-looking building, havin" 
been repeatedly ravaged by fire and re-edified. "Within the Arctic Circle are TromsSe, on an island of the 
same name, where a dealer in smallwares, as the consul, hoists over his shop-door the royal standard of Great 
Britain ; AUen, on the mainland, ivith copper-mines in its neighbourhood, under the direction of an English- 
man ; and Hammcrfcst, on the island of Hvaloe, the most northerly town in Europe, consisting of a single 
street of straggling, one-storied, wooden houses. An obelisk at the outskirts marks the terminus of a great 
meridian line drawn from the Danube near Rustchuk. It has an inscription signifying that here is * the 
northern termination of the meridian line of 25° 20' from the Arctic Ocean to the River Danube, through 
Norway, Sweden, and Russia, which, after the ordination of his majesty King Oscar I., and the Emperors 
Alexander L and Nicholas I., by uninterrupted labour from 1S16 to 1852, was measured by the geometers of 
the three nations — latitude, 70" 40' 11 "3".' The Thief Mountain, in the vicinity, about 1500 feet liigh, exhibits 
in a remarkable manner the effect of altitude upon the vegetation. There are some dwarf birches at the foot 
of the hill, rising rather more than the human height, which are represented on ascending further by plants 
gradually diminisliing to six or eight inches, yet still having the form of mature trees. The summit 
commands a view of the island of Mageroe, with the North Cape, the extremity of Europe towards the 
pole. 

The whole west coast of Norway is fringed with an immense numher of islands, aU 
small, generally close inshore, and often assuming very fantastic shapes. The Hestmann 
or Horseman rears his head ahove the sea on the line of the Arctic Circle, a bold rocky 
mass, bearing a curious resemblance in. one part to the head and ears of a horse. In the 
same locality are the Seven Sisters, a range of seven towering mountains with pointed 
summits, forming a single island, and making a glorious panorama. The insular granite 
rock of Torghatten has the name from its outline corresponding to that of a 'wide-awake' 
or 'sou-wester' hat. It is remarkable for a huge natural tunnel which completely 
perforates the upper part, so that the daylight is seen through it. The Lofoden Isles, a 
northerly chain at some distance from the mainland, are granitic masses rising from 3000 
to 4000 feet above the sea, which break at the summits into a multitude of jagged points, 
comparable to the jaw of a shark, and are covered with snow for the greater part of 
the year. Here is the famous Maelstrom, a whirlpool formed in certain states of 
the tide by the collision of opposite currents, the terrors of which seem to have been 
exaggerated. It is one of a series of ' grinding streams ' or ' bad currents,' according to 
the meaning of the name, common in the locality, but only dangerous to smaU-craft. 
The great fishery at these islands commences in the beginning of February, and annually 
attracts a large number of vessels to the station. The fish principally taken are a kind of 
cod, the hake of our countrymen, which, after the necessary preparation, are hung up on 
poles ashore to dry. There they remain tiH the middle of June, when the process of 
curing is considered complete. Cargoes arrive at Bergen in August, which have been 
purchased by the merchants at the spot of the more needy fishermen, as well as obtained 
by their awn vessels. The London market is largely supplied with lobsters from the 
I^aze of Norway, its south extremity. 

The Swedes number 3,856,000, the Norwegians 1,490,000, making a total of 5,346,000. 
Though of the same Hneage, they are distinguished by difference of language, with those 



536 



SWEDEN AND NORWAY. 



distinctions of temperament and manners which so universally discriminate a highland 
from a lowland people. The praise of honesty, industry, and hospitality may he awarded 
to both, as well as the discredit of heing addicted to the immoderate use of ardent spirits, 
though not to such an extent as in former times. 

Corn-trandy is tlie favourite potation, which the farmer or proprietary peasant in Norway distils from his 
own crops for the use of his family ; and hard drinking does not, as is ordinarily the case, lead to quarrels 
and fights. The liquor mentioned, believed to inspire strength and long life, is the subject of the old 

Norse song : 

' To tlie brim, young men, fill it up, fill again ; 
Drain, drain, young men, 'tis to Norway you drain ; 

Tour fathers have sown it. 

Your fields they have grown it. 
Then quaff it, young men, for he '11 be the strongest 
Who drinks of it deepest, and sits at it longest. 

To the brim, old men, fill it up, fill again,' &c. 
The greater intercommunication of nations, consequent on steam-navigation and the railway-system, has not 
been without effect in refining manners in Scandinavia, and will be extended to its more solitary populations 
as contact becomes more frequent with foreign visitors. Personal characteristics are most decisively marked 
among the Norwegian peasantry. They have the vigour and agility common to mountaineers ; their free 
and independent bearing ; their fiery patriotism ; and their passionate vehemence when pride or prejudices 
are touched. Any company of natives wiU be excited by the mention of GamU JSTorge, Old Norway ; and 
the toast is sure to elicit a burst of exuberant enthusiasm. Marriages are high occasions, as elsewhere, and 
are almost invariably celebrated on a Sunday. A gilded coronal of paper distinguishes the bride. According 
to the cu'cumstances of the parties, dancing and feasting antedate and follow the event ; the services of 
fiddlers and drummers are in requisition ; corn-brandy flows freely ; and kegs of butter, or if the season is 
winter, salted or frozen meat, are acceptable bridal-presents. In all grades of society, guests on rising from 
table grasp hands with due deliberation, and say to hostess, Tak for maden — Thanks for your entertainment. 
Thus, at a dinner-party of sixteen persons, as every one shakes hands with fifteen, there will be 240 shakings. 
Large festal-parties are common, even in the wilder districts of the country, especially at midsummer and 
Christmas, the guests frequently coming from a distance of twenty or thirty miles. 

The legislature of Sweden, called the Diet, consists of representatives of the nohles, 
clergy, burghers, and peasants, ordinarily meeting once every five years at Stockholm. 
The four estates of the kingdom assemble in a common chamber divided into four 
compartments. At one end sits the president ; on his right hand are the nobles ; on the 
left the clergy ; with the burghers and peasants in front. The Storthing, ' Great Court,' 
of ISTorway, is a representative body usually convened every third year at Christiana. It 
presents a very motley and almost ludicrous appearance to the stranger, owring to the 
different costume of the members, often apparently below the dignity of legislators. 
Inglis, who attended one of the sessions, saw several deputies with jackets and girdles. 
' These,' he observes, ' I recognised as the natives of TeUemarken, through which I had 
recently passed. Others, whose coats were as much beyond the length of an ordinary 
coat, as the jackets of the former were shorter, and who might be seen walking to the 
hall, their heads covered with something of the shape and colour of a Kilmarnock night- 
cap, I was informed were the deputies of Gulbrandsdalen, the mountainous district 
bounded on the north by the Dovre-field and its range. The appearance of the assembly 
altogether was not superior to that collected at a second-rate cattle-show in England, and 
infinitely more grotesque. Among the number, however, were several wealthy land- 
owners, chiefly from the coimtry skirting the Miosen, and from the districts on both sides 
of the Christiana fiord. They seemed to conduct theu' deUberations with temper and 
decorum, although there were neither wigs nor black rods ; and I will venture to say they 
stood in less need of reform than some other dehberative assembHes.' In both countries 
Lutheranism is the established form of rehgion, and in Sweden intolerant laws are in 
force to check the rise of nonconformity. 

SoHtary churches, usually on gentle eminences, with led-tUed or white-boarded roofs, 
are common, objects in Sweden, and useful landmarks to the sailor when on the coast. 



ISOLATED DiaiEICTS. 537 

Tlio custom is perhaps partly a rolic of the northern paganism, for the altars of Odin 
invariably occupied such sites, as localities were supposed to acquire sanctity by distance 
from human habitations, and high situations were preferred to low for the same reason, 
being nearer the sky, the abode of the gods. But in Norway especially, where the 
parishes are very extensive, and consist of scattered homesteads, the churches are often 
isolated to suit the general convenience, being fixed at some point central to the more 
dispersed parishioners. Many have from ten to fifteen mUes to traverse to attend public 
worship, and sis or eight miles is a common distance. Hence church attendance is of 
necessity infrequent on the part of numbers, owing to bad weather, particularly in the 
more mountainous districts, as the streams and torrents by the way are rendered impass- 
able by storms and floods. This cause operates against the attendance of children at 
school, and has given rise to the class of ambulatory schoolmasters who visit certain 
locahties on different days to impart instruction. In some instances famiKes remain 
cooped up in glens through the whole winter, never once being able to visit church, or 
communicate with a neighbour only a few mUes distant, owing to the path out of them, 
always difficult, being rendered impracticable by accumulations of ice and snow. 

Soon after the Eev, U. F. Borgesen was appointed to the charge of a parish in Bergenstift, he heard of 
Vettie's Giel, the residence of a farmer belonging to his flock, which he determined to fisit. Tettie is the name 
of the farm, and giel denotes the narrow glen by which it is approached. It had never been visited by 
any previous incumbent. Men lived and died contiguous to the spot, without ever seeing it, owing to the 
extraordinary difficulty and peril of the route. In the middle of summer, M. Borgesen started on horseback, 
accompanied by guides. The steed was dismissed at the entrance of the glen, for though horses can traverse it, 
only such as are thoroughly accustomed to the path can be trusted. The whole district being at a great height 
above the level of the sea, snow and ice were stiU abundant on the sides and sununits of the precipitous hiUa, 
notwithstanding the advance of the season. From a projecting mass of granite, a bridge of pliant trmiks of 
trees, laid over with birch bark, turf, and gravel, spans a narrow chasm at an immense height above a roaring 
stream. The frail structure swings beneath the footfall of the passenger, and leads to a path out out of a 
frightful wall of rock. ' You are now in the Giel,' remarks the clergyman ; ' traveller, God be with you ! 
Tlie path here is not broader than that a person can just stand on it with both feet beside each other. 
Sometimes you have only room for one foot ; nay, at times, from the quantity of loose earth and small stones 
which are frequently tumbling down here, you find no place at all to stand on, but must, with your foot, in 
a manner scrape out such a place in these loose materials, which here lie over the surface of the whole 
precipice, the upper part of wluch forms a very sharp angle vriih your body, while the part below approaches 
frightfully near to a perpendicular line.' This was the thoroughfare for the space of from four to five miles. 
' With the ntmost caution, your eye fixed steadUy on the point where you are to tread, you set forward foot 
by foot, withoiit stopping to draw your supjiressed breath. A slip, an unsteady step, or giddiness itself, 
which always tlireatens to overwhelm the unaccustomed traveller, and in a moment the torrent becomes the 
grave of your mangled carcass ! "When overcome by the violence of the exertions I had to make, I stopped a 
moment. This rest, so far from being refreshing to me, was full of horror. It was better to go on, however 
exliausted. In doing so, your thoughts were so occupied with the place where you might find some footing, 
that you had but little time to observe the grimaces with which death seemed everywhere to gape around 
you. But set yourself down, you cannot avoid seeing yourself sitting on the brink of an abyss — I asked my 
guides if anybody had ever come to mischief on this way. They recollected only one person who, ivith a 
knapsack of birch-bark on his back, by a false step had tumbled over from about the very spot where we 
were standing. From an irresistible apprehension that I might be the second, I pushed forward from such a 
place, but yet I found no safer way.' 

Having got over the perilous part of the route, the guides were dismissed. Tlie glen began to open a little, 
and gradually widened tfll it enclosed the fields of Vettie, with the dweUiags of the houseman and his master, 
where the clergyman was received with unbounded astonishment by the inmates of the homestead, and 
imsparing hospitality. He goes on to state, that observing the hostess near her confinement, ' I expressed my 
T.'ishes for her safety, and asked her, " How she would get the child taken to church ?" " Oh," answered she 
smiling, " when matters come that length, there wiU be no difficulty : the child is well wrapped up, and is 
carried to church, properly girt, on the shoulders of the servant-man." " By the same way I have come ?" 
"Yes ; we have no other." "Wow, then, God be with both him and the child." " Oh, we are not afraid of 
the way, we are so accustomed to it ; and after a few weeks it will be better, when aU the ice wfll be away." ' 
The giel is an enormous guUy prolonged far beyond this point, or to a total extent of more than thirty mUes. 
It has openings and cross glens at intervals, where there are a few inhabitants, who have no means of 
enjoying other human intercourse than by similar paths along fearful steeps. During his stay, M. Borgesen 
learned that when a death occurred at Vettie the corpse was wrapped in linen, and laid on a plank, furnished 



538 



SWEDEN AND NORWAY. 



with holes .it both ends, in wliioh were fastened handles of cord. To this plank the hody was lashed, and 
then carried by two men, one before and another behind, till having cleared tlie glen, it was put into a coffin, 
and conveyed in the usual way to the churchyard. If any one died in winter, when the route was impractic- 
able, they endeavoured to preserve the body in a frozen state, till it could be carried to the tomb. A funeral, 
perhaps ivithout a parallel, was related, which took place in an adjoining ravine of equal difficulty. As its 
occupiers had often changed, there had been no death within the experience of the existing inhabitants, to 
task ingenuity in the carriage of a corpse to consecrated ground. At last a young man died ; a coffin was 
provided ; the body was laid in it ; and not till almost ready to set out did the utter impossibility strike any 
one of proceeding in this way to the grave-yard. 'What is to be done? Good counsel is here precious. 
They leave tlie coffin as a memento mori at home, and set the dead body astride on a horse. The legs are tied 
under the horse's beUy, and a bag of hay is well fastened on tlio horse's shoulders, to which the body leans 
forward, and is made fast. In tliis manner rode the dead man over the mountains, to his resting-place in 
Forthuus Clmrch, in Lyster — a fearful horseman ! ' 

Over tlie more northerly districts, both of Norway and Sweden, a few thousands of 
Lapps are thinly distributed, a totally distinct race from the general inhabitants, 
belonging to the Mongolian division of mankind. They are of uncouth appearance, and 
very diminutive stature ; are clothed with the skins of animals or coarse woollen stuffs ; 
live in huts rudely constructed of boughs overlaid with turf; occupy the mountains in 
summer, and the valleys in wiater ; depend for subsistence upon their reindeer and fish ; 
and occur both in solitary fanuhes and small groups. Once notorious for an insatiable 
desire for brandy, and wild intemperance at the fairs, and other places of gathering, they 
have become to a great extent a sober and orderly people, owing to the efforts made to 
reclaim them. Professor Porbes, who visited a Lapp encampment, after remarking that 
fu'st impressions made by their appearance were unprepossessing, observes that an 
attentive survey brought out some more favourable features. 'The countenance was 
altogether imlike any I had seen, but by no means devoid of intelligence, and even a 
certain sweetness of expression. ISTotwithstanding that our party was tolerably numerous, 
they exhibited no signs either of distrust or of shyness ; and whilst some of them entered 
into conversation with one of the gentlemen from Tromsoe, who knew a little of their 
dialect, and others went attended by several small active dogs to fetch some reindeer for 
our inspection from the heights, the greater part remained quietly in their huts, as we had 
found them, quite regardless of our presence. On inquiring into their occupation, we 
were surprised to find them possessed of some exceUently-printed and well-cared for 
books, particularly a Bible in the Finnish tongue, and a commentary, each forming a 
quarto volume. We found some of them also engaged in writing.' It is common for 
the poorest Lapps to possess a dozen reindeer, while a herd of a thousand, or more, 
occasionally constitutes a single property. To this magnificently antlered animal, the 
lemming, another inhabitant of the district, offers a striking contrast in size, not being 
larger than a mouse. But coimtless myriads appear at irregular intervals as migrants 
from the mountain solitudes. Streams, torrents, and gorges are crossed, while all 
vegetation in then way is consumed. Scarcity of food in their native haimts appears to 
cause the migration. 




1 




CHAPTEE III. 



EUEOPEAN RUSSIA. 



IJ^^Yi HE European portion of tlie Russian Empii-e embraces the 
entire east of the continent from the northern to the 
southern boundaries, contains more than half its area, with 
one-fourth of its population, and has a single government 
that of Archangel, larger than any European kino-dom. 
This vast country is bounded on the north by the Arctic 
Ocean; on the south by the mouth of the Danube, 
the Black Sea, and the ridge-line of the Caucasus ; on 
the east by the shore of the Caspian, the Ural Eiver and 
Mountains ; and on the west by the territories of Turkey, 
Austria, and Prussia, with the Baltic and its gulfs. The 
extent measures nearly 2000 miles from north to south, by 
about 1500 from east to west, and the area is estimated to include more than 2,000,000 
square miles. The whole is included between the parallels of 40° and 70° north latitude, 
and between the meridians of 18° and 60° east longitude. Two large islands, ISTova 
Zembla or ':Kew Land,' and several smaller, are insular dependencies in the Arctic 
Ocean, only important on account of their cetaceous animals and birds, with the Aland 
group and a series of islets off the Gulf of Eiga in the Baltic. . The serviceable part of 
the coast-line belongs entirely to the inland seas, but it labours under disadvantages, 
besides being extensively closed to navigation through the winter months. 




540 



EUROPEAN RUSSIA. 




An arm of the ISTortliern Ocean, tlie WMte Sea, is tlie only inland basin exclusively 
Eussian. It penetrates tlie country to the extent of more than 200 miles, has a varyino- 
hreadth, assuming a semicircular shape at its greatest expansion. It forms the Gulf of 
Kandalask on the north-west, called after an unimportant place at the extremity ; and 
terminates on the south and south-east with the Gulfs of Onega and Dwina, the estuaries 
of the rivers so denominated. Periodically the sea 
answers to its name, for ice clothes the surface from 
October tUl May, all the streams are frost-hound, and 
the region traversed by them is thicldy crusted with 
hard snow. In crevices of the rocks and shaded 
places, with a northern exposure, the accumulated 
snow of winter is met with at midsummer, and in. 
some years it remains permanent. Extremes of heat 
and cold are characteristic of the basiu, the heat 
being limited to a very brief period, while the cold 
prevails uninterruptedly for six months or more. 
Mosquitoes are numerous ' on the coast in summer, 
and the temperature is at times oppressive. But the 
transitions are sudden and violent from the wind 
veering, so that an out-of-doors laboiu'er perspiring at 
his task one hour will be glad to resume his furs the next. Dense fogs occur, continued 
for days together, with furious transient storms. But the fogs are seldom hazardous to 
shipping, as they are commonly light towards the land, and thick only where there is 
ample sea-room. The White Sea contains several inhabited islands. Solovetz, the 
largest of a cluster at the entrance of the Gulf of Onega, contains a town celebrated for 
its isinglass, with an adjoining monastery, the reputed sanctity of which annually attracts 
pilgrims from an immense distance. Peter the Great, during his stay at Archangel, paid 
a visit to the place, and narrowly escaped shipwreck on his return. 

The main part of the Baltic supplies only a maritime frontier of limited extent, but the 
eastern side of its northern arm, the Gulf of Bothnia, and all the coasts of the lesser 
branch, the Gulf of Finland, are Eussian territory. The latter is the important marine 
highway, leading up to St Petersburg, by which the capital receives the luxuries of 
the tropics, retains what is wanted for its own consumption, and disperses the remainder 
far inland, chiefly by a connected system of rivers and canals. But it is rendered 
periodically useless by wintry bonds, and so strongly frozen at the upper extremity that 
high-roads are established on its surface between Cronstadt Island and the metropohs, a 
distance of eighteen mUes, on which horses gallop, sledges fly, and houses of refreshment 
appear. In the opposite season, navigation is active, favoured by the light nights 
consequent upon the high latitude. ' I am writing at midnight,' observes the 
Marquis de Custine, ' without any lights, on board the steam-boat, Nicholas {lie First, in 
the Gulf of Finland. It is now the close of a day which has nearly the length of a 
month in these latitudes, beginning about, the 8th of June and ending towards the 
4th of July. About an hour ago I beheld the sun sinking in the ocean, between the 
north-north-west and north. He has left behind a long bright tract which continues to 
light me at this midnight hour, and enables me to write upon deck while my feUow- 
passengers are sleeping. As I lay down my pen to look around, I perceive already 
towards the north-north-east the first streaks of morning Hght. Yesterday is not ended, 
yet to-morrow is begun.' Light-houses in the gulf are lit in spring, as soon as the 
breaking up of the ice opens the navigation. But towards the close of May they cease 



EUSSIAN SEAS. 541 

to be illuminated, owing to tlie brightness of tlie niglits, and are not rekindled tUl 
the ajiproaoh of August, from which period they are kept glowing till the return of 
congelation suspends maritime piu'suits. 

The Black Sea is Eussian along its northern and eastern shores; and brings the 
southern provinces into communication with the Mediterranean by the channels which 
connect the two great basins. This expanse is distinguished by its vast size, compact 
form, and nearly unbroken surface, for only one small island off the mouth of the Danube, 
and two rooks off-shore in the Crimea, interrupt its continuity. The inland reservoir has 
been known imder various and contradictory designations. The Greeks, in their earliest age, 
styled it Axinus, or ' inhospitable,' in allusion, probably, to the stormy weather common at 
certain times of the year, as well as to the barbarity of the rude Scythian hordes on the 
coast. But when their colonies were estabhshed upon the shores, they adopted for it the 
more auspicious title of Euxinus, ' hospitable,' ' friendly to strangers,' out of compliment to 
themselves, and as an iuducement to emigration. The present name, the Black Sea, Karor 
dcnghis, originated with the Turks, and has no physical claim to appropriateness, the water 
being intensely blue, but metaphorically refers to real or supposed perils incident to the 
navigation. It has its dangers and demerits in common with other parts of the great 
realm of the ocean, but they supply no reason for the adoption of the specially sombre 
title. Tremendous storms from 
the north occur about the 
equinoxes, and in the winter, 
tempests of bliading snow and 
sleet are not rmusual. On the 
other hand, it is admirably 
adapted for nautical purposes 
through the greater part of the 
year, being generally deep, so 
that the largest vessels may 




Caspian and Black Sea, 



often sail close inshore, unobstructed by shoals and islands, affords ample sea-room, and 
possesses many excellent harbours. But down to very recent times, the expanse has 
not been traversed by expert mariners in efficient craft, and it has had to bear the blame 
of many a mishap which might have been avoided by ordinary seamanship. On the 
north, a large offset runs up into Southern Eussia, forming the Sea of Azov, ever3rwhere 
shallow, and blocked up with ice from Ifovember to March. 

The Caspian Sea, the western shore" of which belongs to European Eussia, is entirely 
landlocked, and can only be the seat of very local commerce. Thus it is alone by 
cu'cuitous routes through narrow channels, the coasts of which are held by other nations, 
or by waters rendered periodically unserviceable by the cHmate, that maritime commerce 
can be pursued— a disadvantage which cripples the relations of the country with the great 
markets of the world, both as to the export of its own produce and the import of foreign 
luxuries and manufactiu'es. 

The surface of Eussia belongs generally to the great European plain, and includes the vast 
proportion of its area. Low rocky ranges of hiUs overspread much of Finland, Olonetz, 
and Eussian Lapland ; the Valdai plateau, on the south of Petersburg, where the Volga 
has its source, is of comparatively trifling elevation and very limited extent ; spurs from 
the frontier Urals diversify the country in that direction ; offsets stretch out from the 
mighty chain of the bordering Caucasus ; and a bold and beautiful mountainous tract 
occupies the south-east coast of the Crimea. But apart from these exceptions, the united 
area of which is inconsiderable, the country is a gently-undulating plain, in many parts 



542 



EDEOPBAN EUSSIA. 



a dead-level, comprelieiiding natural forests, woodless steppes, dreary moorlands, and 
extensive niarslies, ■with pastures and cultivated soil. These varying aspects are noticed 
ill connection with, the great territorial divisions. Three general inoliaations of the 
surface are distinguished, northward, westward, and southward, divided from each other 
hy low water-sheds. In these directions the drainage is conducted hy upwards of thirty 
rivers, which directly enter the ocean or the inland seas, fed hy an enormous numher of 
affluents. But only eleven river-basins are of important magnitude, the most extensive of 
which incline towards the south. They consist of the Volga and Ural, entering the 
Caspian; the Dnieper, Don, Dniester, and Kuban belonging to the Black Sea; the 
Neva and Southern Dwina, connected with the Baltic ; the Northern Dwina, Mezen, and 
Petchora, flowing to the Arctic Ocean. In addition, the Vistula is Eussian in the 
middle part of its course, and the Niemen in the tipper, while the Pruth, an affluent 
of the Danube, forms the border-line from the Turkish dominions, and the Tornea 
from Sweden. 

The Volga is the largest river of Europe in the magnitude of its basin, the length of its 
course, and the extent of its navigation. It receives the drainage of nearly one-seventh 
of its area, and winds through 2200 miles, though the direct distance from somce to 
mouth is not more than 900 miles. This amount of meandering is owing to the 
inconsiderable inclination of its bed, for the total fall of the river is under 700 feet, 
wHch gives it an average descent of less than four inches per mile. It issues from a 
small lake on the eastern slope of the Valdai plateau, forms an extensive delta at 
its termination, and is popularly said to enter the Caspian by seventy mouths. When in 
flood from the melting of the snow in spring, the stream spreads out to the width of from 
fifteen to twenty miles towards its embouchure, and appears to bear entu'e forests upon its 
bosom. Though gently imdulating hills appear in places on either side of the channel, 
the banks have very rarely a touch of the pictui'esque, but commercial activity and weU- 
peopled districts distinguish its course. Unobstructed by rapids, possessing considerable 
depth, navigable nearly up to its source, and employed as a great mercantile thorough- 
fare, the Volga is fondly called the ' niu'sing mother ' of the empire, from the wealth and 
plenty it diffuses. Annually, at the junction of the Oka, the two streams present a very 
animated spectacle, owing to the hundreds of vessels with which they are crowded, in 
attendance upon the fair of Nijui-Novgorod, held on the triangular piece of land at the 
confluence. 

The Dnieper, second of the Eussian rivers in magnitude, known to the ancients as the 
Borysthenes, has a flow of 1200 miles from the government of Smolensk to the northern 
shore of the Black Sea, but has its navigation wholly interrupted for upwards of 100 
miles below Kiev by rocks and rapids, where the scenery is extremely wUd. In the 
vicinity of this impracticable part of its course, a wild, lawless race long had their 
stronghold, called the Zaporogian Cossacks, a name alluding to the locality, ' beyond the 
cataracts.' They consisted of fugitives and adventurers from various countries, had almost 
every language of Europe represented among them, formed an independent community, 
took part in the Eussian, Polish, and Tm-kish wars of the last century, repeatedly changed 
sides as interest prompted, were admirable boatmen and bold pirates. Brought into 
subjection in the reign of the Empress Catherine, they were removed to the banks of the 
Kuban, to guard the frontier against the mountaineers of the Caucasus, where theii- 
descendants remain under the name of Tchernomorski, or Cossacks of the Black Sea. 
The Dnieper acquires considerable expansion, and discharges through a long and noble 
estuary, crowded with wooded islands, with but few signs of human life on their shores. 
' After having spread out to the breadth of nearly a league, it parts into a multitude of 



KIVERS AND LAKES. 543 

clianuels, -wliicli wind through forests of oak, alders, poplars, and aspens, whose vigorous 
growth bespeaks the richness of a virgin soil. The groups of islands capriciously breaking 
the surface of the waters, have a melancholy beauty, and a primitive character, scarcely to 
be seen except in those vast wildernesses where man has left no traces of his presence. 
ITothing in our coiintry at all resembles tliis kind of landscape. With us, the creature 
has everywhere refashioned the works of the Creator ; the mark of his hand appears even 
on the most inaccessible mountains ; whereas in Russia, where the nobles are the sole 
proprietors, nature stUl remains in many places just as God created it.' The Don, ancient 
Tanais, third in rank, is scarcely inferior, but has its utUity as a commercial artery 
restricted by turbulence during the spring floods, and sand-banks through the remainder 
of the year, formed by the immense quantities of mud brought down by the current, a 
portion of which, carried into the Sea of Azov, where it discharges, renders it so shallow 
as only to be navigable by vessels of small size. 

Among the northern rivers, the Southern Dwina flows through the heart of the flax- 
producing districts to the Gulf of Eiga ; the N"eva conveys the surplus water of the great 
lakes to the Gulf of Pmland ; the Northern Dwina and Mezen enter the White Sea ; the 
Petchora travels direct to the Arctic Ocean, but through a region, scarcely habitable by 
civilised man from the rigorous climate, and only occupied by a few hordes of wandering 
Samoiedes. 

The ISTeva, of importance and interest from the position of St Petersburg on its banks, 
is remarkable for its volume of water, derived chiefly from four great lakes of which it is 
the outlet. These are the Onega, which has an area of 3280 square miles ; the Ilmen, 
3390 ; the Saima, 2000 ; and the Dadoga, with a superficial extent of 6330 square miles. 
The latter receives the drainage of the other three. Ten different streams flow into the 
Onega, eleven into the Ilmen, and thirteen into the Ladoga, besides those which convey 
the tribute of its lacustrine feeders. From such an accumulation of waters, it is natural 
to expect an immense outflowing, especially as the solar heat, upon which evaporation 
mainly depends, acts only with vigour through a brief portion of the year. Accordingly 
the Ifeva is foxmd to discharge into the Gulf of Finland upwards of 116,000 cubic feet 
of water in a second, only a fraction of which proceeds from eight small streams which 
flow into it during its course from the lake to the gulf. This admeasurement, executed 
with great care and skiU, was made in order to obtain data for devising means for 
protecting the capital from the inundations which have often threatened its existence. 
At the city, the river divides into several deltoidal branches, the largest of which bears 
along a mass of 74,000 cubic feet of water per second, while the ISTile, in the same tune, 
furnishes but 21,800 cubic feet. From the lake to the gulf the Neva has only a com-se 
of sixty-nine versts, or but little more than forty miles. It maintains a medium breadth 
of 1500 feet, and a considerable depth in the mid-channel, generally amounting to fifty 
feet. But it cannot be entered by large vessels, owing to a bar across the mouth with 
not more than nine feet of water upon it. The brimful stream is a fine object, the pride 
of the metropolitans, and the only ornament which nature has given to their locality. 
The water is beautifully blue and transparent, much lauded by the citizens for its quahty, 
one reason for which may be found in the fact, apart from its merits, that there is no 
other supply of the first necessary of life fit for domestic use, not a single pure spring 
within leagues of the city. 

Besides the lakes mentioned, an immense number of fresh-water expanses, some of 
which are of comparable extent, overspread the whole of the north-western district, while 
saline lacustrine waters are numerous in the region towards the Caspian. Both lakes and 
rivers are frozen in the winter season, though much more feebly, and for a far briefer 



544 



EUKOPEAN RUSSIA. 



interval, in tlie south than in the north. Eanging through nearly thirty degrees of 
latitude, the climatic variations are considerable, hut strongly contrasted temperatures in 
su iTi Tner and winter are everywhere characteristic of the climate, with seasonal heat and 
cold much more excessive than is experienced under corresponding parallels of latitude in 
"Western Europe. It appears from a record of the freezing of the !N"eva at St Petersburg, 
and the breaking of its wintry bonds, extending over an interval of 117 years, compiled 
by Colonel Jackson — 1st, that out of 117 times the river has only been frozen up once so 
late as the 14th of December; 2cUy, that it has been frozen up 13 times in October, 95 
in JSTovember, and 8 in December, the general period being from the 5th to the 20th of 
ISTovember j 3dly, that out of 117 times, the ice has never broken up before the 6th of 
March, and only once at that early date; AtJily, that it has broken up 18 times in March, 
and 99 in April, the general period being from the 5th to the 15th of AprU; and lastly, 
that one year with another, the navigation may be said to be open seven months, and 
closed the remaining five. Further north, the Dwina and the port of Aichangel are 
blocked with ice for seven months out of twelve. But vegetation advances with remark- 
able rapidity as soon as the genial season returns, and scarcely has the spring revealed 
itself than it is summer. In little more than thirty days after the IN'eva has been covered 
with ice three feet and a half thick, the birch-trees have put forth theic full complement 
of leaves, and in ten days afterwards the Syringa vulgaris is in flower. Observations 
upon the first manifestations of vegetable Mfe, made by Erman and Goppart, serve to 
shew that while they are about a month later at St Petersburg than at Breslau, the 
various phenomena of development succeed one another with far greater rapidity at the 
northern capital, both with reference to native and aochmatised plants. Thus the budding 
of the birch is followed by that of the 



Mo\uitam-ash, 

The Lime-tree, ... 5 

The flowering of the Syringa, 10 

Of Alcliemilla Vulgaris, . IS 



in 2 days at St Petersbiarg, 



in 6 days at Breslau. 
15 

39 „ » 

51 ,. r, 



In the southerly districts the winter is short but severe, and the summer long, dry, and 
oppressively hot. But in the extreme south, on the coast of the Crimea, where there is a 
protectiag range of mountams in the background, the climate is balmy j the tree-frOg 
climbs ; and both on the seaward slopes, and in the deep valleys of the chain, the vine, 
fig, oUve, orange, pomegranate, mulberry, and plantain flourish luxuriantly. Here are 
imperial chateaux, and the viUas of nobles, occupied by their owners in summer, at least 
before the outbreak of the Crimean war. 

Eussia has important natural resources in minerals, forests, fisheries, and a vast extent 
of fertile corn-growing land, only a comparatively smaU. proportion of which has hitherto 
been brought imder cultivation, though, besides the home consumption of grain, a large 
amount is raised for export to western markets. Iron occurs in various parts of the 
country, and is extensively worked in Finland and other provinces. Lead, copper, arsenic, 
nitre, alum, and salt are also yielded ; but the metalliferous wealth of the empire is chiefly 
developed on the Asiatic side of the Urals. Coal, though generally wanting, is found 
on the banks of the Oka in association with iron ; also in the valley of the Donetz, the 
principal tributary of the Don ; and a rich field of great extent is a discovery of recent 
date in the government of Moscow. Immense forests clothe the central districts, chiefly 
betwaen the parallels of 52° and 60°. In the southern part of this zone the beech and 
oak appear, but the predominant trees are the lime, birch, elm, ash, maple, alder, wiUow, 
Scotch fix, and various pines, with an undergrowth of hazel, juniper, and berry-bearing 
plants, the fruit of which serves the rustic as a substitute for orchard and garden produce. 



RUSSIAN PROVINCES. 



545 



Besides supplying fuel and materials for dwellings, tlie woods act as a protection against 
tlie biting blasts of tlio north, furnish, timber for export, with pitch, tar, potash, and 
turpentine, the preparation of which goes back to a remote age. Hence the primitive 
Slavonic name for the month of April is Beresosol, or ' birch ashes,' in allusion to the 
period usually devoted to the production of potash. Wild bees abound in the forests, 
using the aged and hollow trees for hives, from which a considerable quantity of honey 
and wax is obtained ; and wild animals, hunted for their skins and furs, are numerous, 
the bear, fox, lynx, ermine, squirrel, and otter. The wolf boldly roams the more open 
and unwooded districts ; the polar bear appears on the shores abandoned to icy desolation 
in the north ; reindeer browse upon the moss-grown treeless plains within the Arctic 
Circle ; the auroch, a huge bovine species, lingers under imperial protection in one of the 
Lithuanian forests ; semi-wild horses and cattle range in vast droves the southern steppes ; 
the buffalo and Bactrian camel are employed for draught and burden in the Crimea and 
neighbouring districts. On the Volga, the Don, the Sea of Azov, and the Caspian the 
fisheries are highly valuable. Stixrgeons of enormous size are taken, with the beluga, the 
largest known of all edible fish. Isinglass is prepared from the sounds or swimming- 
bladders, and caviare from the roes, an article of food in great demand, owing to the 
numerous fasts enjoined by the Eussian Church. 




Entrance to Sea of Azov. 



2 I 





Eevel. 

European Eiissia, exclusive of Pinland and Poland, is distributed into forty-nine govern- 
ments, but it is usual and most convenient, politically, to divide tbe country into tbe 
following territories, witb which natives and foreigners are aUke familiar : 

Cities and Towns. 



The Baltic PrOTiaoes — Courland, 

II II Livonia, , 

n II Esilionia, 

» ir St Petersburg, 

Grand Duchy of Finland, . 

Great Eussia, or Muscovy, 

Little Eussia, or the Ukraine, 

"West Russia, including Poland, 

South or New Eussia, . 

East Eussia, 



Mittau, Libau. 

Eiga, Dorpat, Pernau. 

B/evel, Narva. 

St Petersburg, Czarskoe-seloe, Cronstadt. 

Helsingfors, Sveaborg, Viborg, Abo, TJleaborg. 

Moscow, Tula, Nijni Novgorod. 

Kiev, Pultowa, Kharkov. 

Grodno, WUna, Warsaw, Vitepsk, Vola, Aichangel. 

Kertch, Anapa, Sebastopol, Odessa, 

Kasan, Saratov, Simbirsk, Oufa. 



I. THE BAITIO PBOVINCES. 

This region occupies the shores of the Baltic from the Prussian frontier iu the neigh- 
bourhood of Memel to the far extremity of the Gulf of Pinland, and consist, in order 
from south to north, of Courland, Livonia, Esthonia, and St Petersburg. The three 
provinces first named are frequently distinguished as the Germanic provinces, on account 
of the Teuton-Scandinavian origin of the towns, with the inhabitants and institutions. 
Their coast is indented by an arm of the sea, the Gulf of Livonia or Eiga, the third in 
point of extent which it forms. Wo natural features of iaterest belong either to the 
sea-board or to the interior. Dark pine-woods, sandy heaths, swamps, and small lakes, 
with memorials of the northern drift, occupy a. great proportion of the area. The 
remainder of the surface, under cultivation, produces large crops of rye, barley, flax, hemp, 
and Unseed for exportation ; while the woods sujoply the outports with masts, deals, pitch, 
and tar for the foreign markets. The majority of the people are Lutheran Protestants. 

Few parts o{ Europe have been more bandied about by different powers than the three jjrovinces men- 
tioned. In early times they were occupied by a branch of the Finnish family, now represented by the 
Esthonian peasantry. These aborigines were pagans, predatory and piratical in their habits. The Danes 
appear to have first intruded upon them. The Germans followed upon the rise of the Hanse Towns, and 
formed an association to repress piracy by Christianising, as it was called, the natives. Its members, men of 
Lubeck and Bremen, took the name of Schwert-briider, Brethren of the Cross and Sword, a conjunction of 
means common in the dark times of the middle ages. The result of their establishment upon the coast was 



BAIjTIO PEOVIN0B3. 547 

the slaughter or slavery of the obdurate, and the hypocrisy of the yielding, temporarily assumed in order to 
concert schemes of vengeance. But soon after the commencement of the thirteenth century, the Lithuanians, 
another race of pagans of a different stock, the Slavonic, came pressing westward from the interior, estab- 
lished themselves in Southern Livonia and Courland, founding the present Lettish population of those pro- 
vinces. The new-comers so shook the power of the Schwert-brilder, that the brotherhood was only preserved 
from a complete overthrow by calling in the aid of the Teutonic Knights. This order of military priests 
acquired predominant authority, erected castles, built palaces, and remained masters of the territory tiU the 
middle of the sixteenth centiuy, when the Swedes and Poles became lords of the soil. Sweden obtained 
possession of Esthonia, and Poland acquired Livonia and Courland. But the Grand-Masters of the Teutonic 
Knights were allowed to hold tlie latter province as a duchy dependent upon the Polish crown, taking the 
title of Dukes of CourlancL The Swedes, under Gustavus Adolphus, captured Eiga in 1621, and deprived 
the Poles of Livonia. They remained the paramount power till the struggle between Charles XII. and Peter 
tlie Great terminated to the entire advantage of the latter. The peace of Nystadt in 1721 declared Esthonia 
and Livonia, with the adjacent islands, annexed to the empu-e of the czar; and Eussia obtained Courland at 
the second partition of Poland in 1795. 

Courland immediately adjoins the Prussian territory, to which its wild and pitiless snow-storms pass in 
winter, where they are familiarly styled ' Corn-land weather.' Mittau, the cliief place of the province, with 
a majority of wooden houses, painted with staring colours, is of Kttle importance. The population is 23,000, 
all of whom are Germans, except about 1000 Jews, and a few Eussiaus. Xdban, another wood-built town on 
the coast, with 10,000 inhabitants, is the principal port, of some consequence as the most southern harbour 
which Eussia possesses in the Baltic, free from ice for some weeks before the other ports. 

Livonia, northward, extends along the eastern side of the gulf of that name, and is traversed by the 
Southern Dwina, one of the most important rivers of the em^, ire. On its banks, about five miles above its 
mouth, jRiga is situated, the capital of the government, the church-spu-es of which are visible many mUes 
off-shore. The river is here as broad as the Thames at London, and has a bridge of boats thrown across it, 
with a railway bridge opened in 1863, which rendered communication uninterrupted between Paris and St 
Petersburg. The Dwina is navigable for a distance of 400 miles, but, owing'to shallows and rock-obstructions, 
the navigation is very difficult except during the spring and autimm floods. Eiga is wholly German and 
Hanseatic in its interior appearance, consisting of old and lofty stone houses, terminating with pointed gable- 
ends, often turned towards the streets, which are narrow, crooked, and iU paved. The extensive suburbs are 
cntu-ely modern, and Eussian in then- style. Among the public buildings, the Eathhaus, the Exchange, the 
Castle, and St Peter's Church are the principal. Eiga has several colleges and schools, and a piiblic library, 
with numerous rare and valuable MSS. As a commercial mart, it ranks next to the capital in the Baltic 
provinces, in the extent of its trade and the number of its population, which, in 1S58, amomited to 72,000. 
While the navigation is open, a mmierous array of vessels may be seen in the river, closely moored below 
bridge, and an equal number of flat-bottomed barges above it, laden with timber, corn, flax, and other produce 
of the interior for export. The Dvrina flows through the heart of the flax-producing districts, where an 
article of the flnest quality in the world is grown. All the great commercial houses are represented by 
foreigners ; but a few branches of retail trade, and some industrial occupations, as the preparation of leather, 
are in the hands of Eussians. Dorpat (called by the Eussians Guricv), an agreeable inland town, with 
14,000 inliabitants, on an aflluent of the Great Lake Peipus, whose stormy surface may be seen from the 
suburbs, is the seat of a university founded by Gustavus Adolphus, with an observatory, which acquired 
distinction from the researches of Striive. The university has about 70 professors, and is attended by about 
600 students. It is also the chief school of the Protestant clergy in Russia. 

Esthonia, called by the inhabitants Wiroma (Border-land), extends along the southern side of the Gulf of 
Finland, and has its seat of government at Sevel (called by the Eussians Kolyvan), a town on the 
coast, possessing regular fortifications, a fihe harbour, and considerable commerce. It was founded by 
the Danes; remained long in the hands of the Swedes; and exhibits many features of an old Hanse 
Town — antique guild-halls with groined roofs, and arched doorways, approached by fiights of steps, with 
stone benches adjoining, where neighbours sat conversing together on summer evenings in bygone days. 
The place consists of two distinct portions, upper and lower. The upper part occupies the Domberg, or hill 
of the cathedral, a singular reef of lofty rocks, circular in shape, and about a mile in cii'cumference. It has 
at a distance the aspect of a citadel, being an insulated mass, with levels of deep sand aroimd it. The vaults 
of the cathedral are curious for containing the remains of difierent trading corporations in the town in tho 
middle ages, who preserved a kind of distinction in death as well as in life, by being separately grouped. 
Thus butcher slumbers with butcher, and shoemaker with shoemaker ; but the men of the cleaver and the 
awl do not commingle. Insignia also denote the respective profession of the deceased. The bas-relief of a 
colossal boot in the pavement indicates the resting-place of the shoemakers, and an ox's head that of the 
butchers. XTarva, the scene of the great victory of the Swedes imder Charles XII. in the year 1700, over 
the army of Peter the Great, is a small town near the mouth of the Narova, which divides the province from 
the government of St Petersburg. Out of the towns, which are few in number, in each of these provinces, 
and contain but a fraction of the whole population, the people live in detached houses on the estates of the 
landholders which they cultivate, or in connection with the country residences of the nobles. Leagues may 
be traversed wit'nout meeting with a village or hamlet. The higher classes are, with few exceptions, of 



548 EDEOPEAN EUSSIA. 

Gorman, Polish, or Swedish, extraction ; the town dwellers are mostly German, with a considerable number 
of Jews ; the peasantry are Letts in the south, and Esthonian Finns in the north. 

Adjoining the mainland of Esthonia are the two large islands of Osel and Dago, with several smaller ones 
adjacent, and many stragglers, Euno Kuno, Moon, "Wormso, Odinsholm, and Eogo. They have collectively 
the name of Sarri-ma, or the island-country. Some are wooded, all are low, and several have enormous 
boulders upon the surface, which might be mistaken for ruined towers at a distance. In this island-country, 
the inhabitants are neither Lettish nor Finnish ; but Swedish blood predominates, and the Swedish language 
is exclusively spoken where the blood is the purest. The name of Odinsholm points directly to Scandinavia. 
As in the case of Sweden, Thursday is the unlucky day, and the almanacs of the people are Runic. They 
own no lord, but call themselves the ' free Swedish yeomen ; ' are pilots, fishermen, and seal-hianters. The 
islanders are all Lutherans, and have clergy so little acquainted with the ways of the world, owing to their 
seclusion, that ' the parson at Euno ' is a common saying for simplicity. 

The government of Si Petersbuks lies at the eastern extremity of the Gulf of Finland, extends from 
thence to the central region of the Ladoga Lake, and contains St Petersburg, in latitude 59° 56' N. and 
longitude 30° 20' B., with a population of 520,000. It is situated on both banks of the Neva, and several 
islands between them. It occupies an area of nearly twenty miles in circumference ; but large open tracts, 
vast squares, gardens, and ornamental grounds are included within this space. The number of the streets is 
very limited, owing to their great length, and to the same name being retained from one extremity to 
another, however often interrupted by cross-streets. The Nevski Prospekt has an extent of more than 
two miles and a half, with a breadth of sixty yards. Both sides are lined with footways formed of granite 
pavement, and separated from the carriage-way by a row of lime-trees. It is the great thoroughfare, generally 
crowded with foot-passengers and vehicles of all kinds, from the four-in-hand of the noble to the dirtiest drosliky, 
aU gliding over the central wooden pavement at the furious pace common with Eussian drivers, who announce 
their approach with wild haUoos. Showy shops appear on either hand, with such a number of places of worship 
bclongmg to different confessions, as to acquire for it the sobriquet of Toleration Street. But no subject is at 
liberty to leave the established Eusso-Greek communion tluroughout the empire, under pain of banishment to 
Siberia. The number of houses in proportion to the population is also very smaD, and is similarly explained 
by their vast size. The humblest classes are to be found in dwellings comparable to those of the great in 
magnitude, but are at once to be distinguished from them by the filthy odours they emit, as well as by the 
dingy appearance of the paint or stucco covering their walls and timbers. The houses of the opulent arc 
chiefly of brick ; many occupied by the lower ranks are of wood ; but both are stuccoed or painted to hide the 
material. Owing to the frequency of destructive fires from the number of timber buildings, their erection has 
been properly prohibited. All have roofs inclined at a very small angle, and are therefore readily cleared of 
snow. St Petersburg has a respectable university founded in 1819, -with celebrated surgical and military 
schools, schools of commerce and navigation, a famous observatory, an imperial library containing 420,000 
volumes, and 7000 MSS., and numerous scientific and literary institutions. 

By far the largest part of the capital is on the left or south bank of the Neva, with those imperial and 
government edifices which have won for it the style of the City of Palaces, the Palmyra of the North. This 
is, therefore, called the Great Side, and is also known as the Admiralty Quarter, from that building being 
lirominent, and a central point from which the prmcipal streets diverge. It is a vast structure, nearly half a 
mile in length, running parallel to the river, with a tower rising from the centre of the grand front, 
surmoimted by a tall tapering spire, gUt with the finest ducat gold, wliich glitters brilliantly in the sunsliine. 
Eastward is the "Winter Palace, the ordinary residence of the emperor for seven or eight months of the year ; 
the Hermitage, an imperial museum for works of art, the Louvre of St Petersburg ; and the Column of 
Alexander. "Westward is the equestrian statue of Peter the Great, and the Isaac Church, one of the grandest 
of temples, remarkable for simplicity of design combined with colossal proportions, and for profuse ornamen- 
tation, with polished granite, marble, malachite, and gold. The czar is represented riding up the steep face 
of a rock, and checking the steed so as to make him rear at the instant of having gained the summit, an 
expressive personification of the natural difficulties encountered and overcome in founding the city. A little 
above the "Winter Palace, ou an island across the river, stands the citadel, with the church of Peter and Paul, 
the bmial-place of the imperial family, within its precincts. The tombs are plain sarcophagi, covered with a 
velvet pall, on which the names of the deceased appear, and sometimes only their initials. The remains of 
Suwarrow and other distinguished Eussians are in the church of the Annunciation, attached to the monastery 
of St Alexander Nevski ; Kutusoff lies in the Kasan Cathedral ; and Moreau, the conqueror of Hohenlinden, 
in the Eoman cathedral church. 

Many peculiar features belong to St Petersburg. Its social aspect is eminently masculine, the males being 
immensely in excess of the females. This arises from the number of soldiers in garrison ; the host of govern- 
ment employes who flock from the provinces in quest of higher posts, and remain unmarried till their 
aspirations are realised ; and the multitude of peasants from the interior who sojourn m the capital for a term 
as servants and labourers, leaving their wives and families at home. Owing to these circumstances, few cities 
have such a fluctuating population, only a minority of the inhabitants remaining stationary. The whole 
number, in 1858, amounted to 520,000. It is, too, the coldest great capital in the world. In winter, the 
temperature often descends to — 24° of Eeaumur, equal to 54° below Fahrenheit's zero ; and even a greater 
degree of cold has been registered. 



ST PETERSBURG. 



549 



Small cu-oiilar buildiiiss may be seen in various parts of the city, furnished with public fireplaces for 
the accommodation of coachmen and servants, whose profession compels them to stand still in the open air 
at night, waiting to take up parties from the ball or the theatre. In the Senna'ia Ploschad, or Haymarket, 
a vast square where provisions of all kinds are sold, besides fodder for cattle, the scene is without a 
parallel elsewhere. The ground, deeply overlaid with snow, hardened by frost, is covered with an immense 
number of sledges, many from very distant parts of the empire, laden with oxen, pigs, sheep, calves, and 
other dead stock. The stiffly frozen carcasses stand upright as if in Ufe ; the flesh is as hard as the bone ; 
and if a few pounds or meat are wanted, the quantity has to be detached by an axe or saw. While 
the coldest of all capitals, St Petersburg is one of the nearest to the haunts of savage life. Some of the 
islands at tho mouth of the river have not yet been occupied by man, and remain as nature formed them, 
swampy, birch covered, and scarcely known to the citizens. They are visited by fishermen in summer, and 
by wolves in winter, who come over the ice to them. In severe seasons, when pressed by hunger, the wolves 
have been known to approach the suburbs, and prowl in the precincts of the houses. No European 
metropolis occupies a site so proximate to a cause of danger, with the single exception of Naples. Omng to 
its slight elevation above the ordinary level of the river, destructive inundations occur when a westerly gale 
blows for any length of time, as it opposes the exit of the stream, and drives up the waters of the Gulf of 
Finland into the channel. So certain is this result, under the circumstances, that when there is a prolonged 
gale from the westward, the state of the river is anxiously watched by the police authorities. For a 
brief period, in fine weather, at midsummer, St Petersburg is a very enjoyable place to the stranger, 
especially at night, which is but a softened continuation of the day, and when the moonbeams, mingling with 
the strongly-reflected sunlight, invest the river, the quays, and palaces with a kind of unearthly beauty. 
But when the scene has lost its novelty, and first emotions of astonishment are overexcited by 
imposing material features, the impression of the place upon most visitors is repelling rather than agreeable. 
It has no hoar antiquity and storied associations to interest the feelings. There is no Acropolis as at 
Athens ; no Colosseum as at Eome ; no Piazza as at "Venice ; no Kremlin as at Moscow ; not a stone 
identified with those events and achievements which at least stir the imagination, if they fail to inspire 
respect and touch the heart. 

Fifteen miles to the south, connected with the capital by railway, is Czarsioe-seloe, an imperial palace, by 
wliich a town of some magnitude has sprung up, with Pultowa, intermediate, the site of an astronomical 
observatory. More attractive from its maritime site and elevated position is PeterTwff, the summer 
residence of the emperor, with a fine surrounding domain, on the chalk-cliS's which form the southern 
shore of the Gulf of Finland, commanding an extensive view of its waters, with the northern coast in tho 
distance, and Cronstadt intermediate. This celebrated bulwark and seaward gate of St Petersbui'g, a town, 
fortress, and great naval station, occupies the eastern extremity of an island, and, with detached forts, 
completely commands the approach to the Neva. The intervening distance, about sixteen miles, is not 
navigable for large vessels, wliich therefore anchor at Cronstadt, wliile horses gallop and sledges fiy over it 
in winter, when the entire surface is sohdly frozen. The town has a large summer population, when 
trade is active, consistiag of workmen, soldiers, sailors, merchants, and employes ; but at the opposite 
season, when all maritime operations are at a stand, the number is reduced by more than two-thirds, and 
an aspect of utter dreariness is impressed upon the site. The chief exports are taUow, flax, hemp, timber, 
iron, and copper, oUs, furs, hides, and canvas. 





Helsingfors. 
n. FINLAND. 

Finland, a very extensive province, but largely desolate, forms a north-western section 
of the empu'e, washed by the Finnish gtilf on the south, and by the Gulf of Bothnia on 
the "west. It is a rocky plateau of moderate elevation, upon which lakes, streams, and 
swamps are profusely distributed, which engender cold and imwholesome mists, render 
travelling circuitous in summer, but form a hard and easy pavement for the sledge in the 
opposite season. This copious water-supply, the great natural feature of the country, 
originated its native name, for the iuhabitants style it Suomesimaa, the 'region 
of lakes and swamps,' and call themselves by a derivative signifying ' dwellers in the 
morasses.' The prevailing geological formation is granite, which has been quarried for 
the palaces, quays, public buUdings, and monuments of St Petersburg. Besides being a 
component of the general surface, it is strewn over the lower sites in huge blocks and 
smaller boulders, seriously diminishing the extent of the ctdtivable ground. Many of 
these blocks are estimated to weigh from 100 to 200 tons. They are mostly coated with 
large lichens of green, purple, and yellow colours ; and ferns of great size grow beneath 
the shelter of the masses. OcoasioiiaUy the boulders lie heaped upon one another, and 
form a very wild spectacle. Some are imbedded in their own debris, owing to the 
granite rot, la maladie du granite of the French, a disintegration from atmospheric causes 
to which the rock is liable when its felspar constituent is in excess in its composition. 
The more elevated lulls are bare, but the lesser heights and the lowlands abound with 
forests of pines and firs, with which the birch, ash, aspen, and alder intermingle. 
Woodland produce, as timber, deals, potash, pitch, tar, and resin, are hence important 



GULP OP FINLAND. 551 

articles of export, owing to wliicli the maritime districts have TDeen largely cleared, and 
th.e forests limited to tlie interior. Eeindeer, wolves, elks, beavers, and various kinds of 
game abound ; while the numerous lakes and the adjacent gulfs, supply the inhabitants 
with an abundance of salmon, herring, and other fish. JSTotwithstanding the northerly 
latitude, great heat is experienced in summer, and the temperature is higher than in 
muoli more southerly localities, owmg to the longer continuance of the sun above 
the horizon. This hot weather comes suddenly, with no other precursor than grass 
and green leaves, when in myriads the flies awake from their torpor, and distress the 
traveller. Winter commences early in October, and lasts till the end of Aprd. ; spring is 
confined to the month of May; summer begins in June, and terminates at the close of 
August ; autumn, like spring, is limited to a single month, September. But even by 
the middle of August the night frosts are sharp. The progress of vegetation during 
the brief period allotted to it is astonisliingly rapid. In the neighbourhood of 
Uleaborg grain has been sown and reaped in the space of six weeks. 

About six centuries ago Knland was annexed to Sweden by Eric the Saint, and became exactly to it what 
Wales is to England, a district in which two nationalities blended, subject to the same laws, sei'ving on 
common battle-fields, and rendered as much one as friendly intercourse and political union can amalgamate 
distinct races. Peter the Great obtained the south-eastern jirovince of Viborg ; and the rest of the eountiy 
passed to Russia by conquest in the tune of the Emperor Alexander. A considerable nimiber of the 
inhabitants along the shores are of Swedish extraction ; many Russians are in the long-occupied province ; 
but the great bulk of the people are Finns, quite distinct from the Slavomc and Teutonic races in 
physiognomy, language, character, and marmers. A short stature, sallow complexion, and flat face, with 
ta^vny hail', scanty beard, and small, lustreless eyes, are their personal characteristics. They are taciturn and 
grave, bold and hardy, make good seamen, and are numerous in the Russian fleet. "Winter is their busiest 
season. The great fairs are then held, owing to the facility afforded by the ice and frozen snow for 
travelling and the transport of goods. Journeys of many hundred miles are made to dispose of produce, and 
procure commodities, performed in one-horse sledges, wliich accommodate a single individual, his few wares, 
and provender for his steed. Frozen fish, peltiy, and corn are the chief articles brought, to be exchanged 
for salt, brandy, tobacco, and domestic utensils. The Finns are nearly all Lutherans, but retain many 
traces of ancient heathendom in popular sayings and usages. Ifclsingfors, the capital, of comparatively 
modem date, occupies a peninsula of the south coast, and contains 16,000 inhabitants. It has several 
handsome structures, a cathedral, senate-house, and university, with all the institutions wliich usually 
distinguish the head of an important province. The imiversity was removed hither from Abo in 1829, has 
CO professors, and about 600 students. Population, 14,000. It has, since 1840, become a favourite bathing- 
place, and, during the simimer months, attracts many visitors from St Petersburg. It is guarded by the forti- 
fications of Sveaborg, within long-range camion-shot of its quays. This renowned fortress extends over six 
islands or rocks, and conmiands the only channel to the town which has water deep enough for large vessels. 
It was bombarded with efl'ect by the Anglo-French in the summer of 1855. It was shamefully sui-rendered 
to the Russians, dmlng the invasion of the year 1808, by the Swedish commandant, Count Cronstedt, with 
all its vast munitions of war. Though never explained, the sun'cnder was generally supposed to have been 
pm'chased by a bribe. Hence the indignant, lines of the patriot poet Runeberg : 

' Conceal his lineage, hide his race — 
The crime be his alone ! 

That none may blush for his disgrace- 
Let it be all his own ! 

He who his country brings to shame, 

Nor race, nor sire, nor son may claim.' 

Abo, the former metropolis, stands on a picturesque river three miles from its entrance into the Gulf of 
Eotlmia, where the stream is overlooked by an old castle, now occupied by a detachment of infantry, 
and used as a prison. The city is the most ancient in Fmland, datmg from the twelfth century. Its 
history has been eminently one of disasters, chieiiy from fires. One in November 1827 raged for two entire 
days, and was not extinguished till more than two-tlmxls of the houses had become a confused heap of ruins. 
A cathedral of coarse red brick is venerated as the cradle of Christianity in tlie counti-y, and the place wliere 
repose the ashes of bishops, nobles, and captains, few of whicli are now distinguished by any memorial. The 
great fire referred to melted the beUs, destroyed the altar and organ, with almost everything consumable in 
the interior. 

Northward, the shores of the Gulf are dotted at intervals with small and neat wood-built towns, where 
coasting vessels are built, and forest produce prepared for export by the men, while knitting, spinning, and 
weaving are general branches of household industiy with the women. The go-to-bed time is regularly 



552 



EUROPEAN RUSSIA. 



announced in these, as well as in the inland towns, hy Molcans, or night-criers, in a monotonous tone, of voice. 
But at Brahestadt, in 1847, Prince Galitzin found the oui-few proclaimed by beat of drum. The night-criers 
are appointed to take charge of the streets, and watch against fire. Instituted in the middle ages, they have 
preserved in several instances the singular costume of that period. They wear a long hanging gray cape, a 
felt-hat with an enormously broad brim, on which a metal plate exhibits the arms of the town, and carry in 
one hand a stout baton, in the other a rattle. Thus accoutred, they set out at nightfall, drawling a kind of 
civic psalmody. It consists of couplets, the burden of wliich commonly invites those who are abroad to make 
haste home, and those who are indoors to put out their fires. TorneS,, at the head of the Bothnian Golf, on 
an island of the river of the same name, is the frontier town of Russia towards Sweden, and communicates 
with it by a bridge. A detachment of from thu'ty to forty Cossacks keep watch and ward at this extremity 
01 the empire ; and the distance from the capital is painted in large letters on a wooden post : * To St 
Petershm-g, 1735 versts.' The town, a mean-looking place, is an old Swedish foundation of some interest and 
celebrity. Being within half a degree of the Arctic Circle, it has about two hours of daylight at midwinter ; 
and even this brief day is often darkened by tremendous falls of snow, which , is sometimes di-if ted in the 
streets to the very roofs of the houses. But at the opposite season, circumstances are reversed, for from an 
elevated position the sun may be seen just above the horizon at the midnight hour. In 1694, Charles XL of 
Sweden visited Tornea for the purpose of enjoying the spectacle, and saw the midsummer midnight sun 
from the steeple of the church. In the summer of 1736, the French savans, Maupertuis, Clairaut, 
Lemonnier, and others, deputed by the Academy of Sciences, made the town their head-quarters while 
engaged in measuring an arc of the meridian. They fixed their trigonometrical stations in the vaUey of the 
Tornea Eiver, and m the following winter commenced measuring a base-line on the frozen surface of the 
stream. The general result obtained confirmed the Newtonian doctrme, that the earth is a sphere flattened 
towards the poles, which the gi-eat philosopher inferred must be the case from the fact of its diurnal 
rotation. 

The Aland Islands, at the entrance of the Gulf, belong to Finland, and extend from thence to within 
twenty miles of the Swedish coast, separated by expanses of water so closely landlocked as to resemble a 
succession of inland lakes. The archipelago consists of about sixty inhabited isles; 200 more which are 
uninliabited. Though of Swedish origin, the islanders do not identify themselves with the Swedes more 
than with the Finns, but proudly call themselves Alanders, regarding their chief island as a kind of continent. 
They subsist chiefly by fishing, seal-hunting, and piloting, are a hardy race, enjoy their isolated position 
and rigorous climate, hailing its phenomena with the expressions: 'Brave ice!' 'Fine snow!' 'Good 
winter ! ' Aland, propei-ly so called, is somewhat smaller than the comity of Middlesex, but is equal to more 
than half the area of the whole group. It acquired notoriety in the year 1854, owing to the total destruction 
of Bomarsmid by the Anglo-French fleet, a strong fortress on the cast coast, intended to be to Sweden 
like Sebastopol to Turkey, a menace and a means of aggression. 

ra. GREAT RUSSIA. 

This section of the country, by far the largest, is an old portion of the empire, central 
and northern. It comprehends the most densely-peopled districts, the principal centres 
of agricultural produce and manufacturing industry, grouped around the former capital, 
which is still venerated as the ' Holy Mother ' of the Russians, and it comprises also tracts 
which are among the most desolate as to population, where vegetable life is entirely confined 
to the production of mosses and lichens. Moscow, with its 380,000 inhabitants, is seated 
on the small river Moskva, 728 versts, or nearly 486 miles, south by east of St Petersburg, 
following the old road. Peter the Great made the journey in winter between the two 
places in forty-six hours. This was considered a feat. The Emperor Alexander, more 
than once, in an open sledge, in severe weather, passed between the two capitals in forty- 
two hours. The distance is now accomplished by an express train on the railway in 
twenty hours, with the allowance of ample time for refreshments on the way. The line 
runs almost as the crow flies, and hence the distance is less than as given above. It is 
said that upon the engineers, appointed to survey the best route, submitting their plans 
to the Emperor Mcholas, he terminated controversy by drawing a straight line upon the 
map between the cities, observing : 'Make it as I have drawn.' As the consequence, the 
shortest route has been obtained, but no important place is passed by with the single 
exception of Tver. ISTo railway in existence intersects such an extent of unpicturesque 
scenery. Dark woods appear on either hand, cleared away on both sides for the space of 



MOSCOW. 553 

about 100 yards, except that the stumps of the trees have heen left in the ground, which, 
with stagnant pools of water between them, form a most uninviting landscape. Here and 
there tracts of open country under cultivation occur, dotted with groups of log-huilt 
cabins, which afford no relief to the eye owing to their extreme ugliness, except when the 
green dome of a church appears in the larger villages above the other dwellings. This 
dreariness of the road renders the traveller impatient to reach the end of his journey, and 
undoubtedly adds to the attractions of the remarkable place at the terminus. 

Moscow is pre-eminently a city of churches, convents, towers, and bolls, of gilded domes and painted 
cupolas, of objects most magnificent and mean, massive and tiny, of styles Asiatic and European, confusedly 
intenningled so as to occur in the closest connection ; and not a little picturesqueness is the result of this 
incongruity. It has a circuit of about twenty-six miles, and is seated on an extensive plain overlooked by 
the Sparrow HiUs on the south-west. From their summit Napoleon and the French had their first view of 
the renowned old capital. After having traversed, dreary wastes and sombre forests, the legions shouted, 
' Moscow !' in the confident imagination, soon to be utterly dispelled, that one of earth's richest prizes was 
about to fall within their grasp, offering ample compensation for every march and fight. Towards the 
siunmer sunset, when the strong beams of the departing luminary fall full upon an endless series of golden 
and silvery domes and minarets, the spectacle from these hills is superb ; and its effect is heightened on a 
festival-day, as the breeze bears along the varying tones of a thousand bells. A glorious panorama also meets 
the eye from the top of the tower of Ivan Veliki in the Kremlin, the loftiest and most remarkable in the 
city, the campanile to a church below. This tower contains thirty-tlrree bells, which duninish in size frojn 
below upward. In the first story hangs the largest, a solitary giant, only allowed to speak three times a 
year, to wliich our Great Toms and Big Bens are pigmies, as it weighs rather more than sixty-four tons. 
But a much huger neighbour, the Monarch, Czar Kolokol, King of Bells, is unsuspended, and probably never 
has been hung. It is 21 feet high, 22 feet in diameter, and rests on a mass of granite close to the base of the 
tower. The extreme thickness of the metal is 23 inches ; the length of the clapper 14 feet ; the greatest circum- 
ference 67 feet ; and the weight is estimated at about 180 tons. On one side there is a fracture large enough 
to admit the body of a man. ' I went inside, and called aloud,' says Stephens, ' and received an echo like the 
reverberations of thunder.' 

Centrally seated on a lull, stands the Kremlin or fortress— the original nucleus of the city — its present head 
and heart, an immense assemblage of buildings, old and new, sacred and secular, civil and military, with 
which beautiful gardens intermingle. All travellers confess themselves at a loss to describe this prime 
feature of Moscow. ' I have frequently been asked : " "What is the Kremlin !" ' says a visitor in 1861, ' and 
confess I have experienced considerable difficulty in answering this question. It is everything at once — a 
maze of mighty temples, towers, ramparts, and palaces thrown promiscuously together, and looking more 
like some wUd freak of nature in the Eocky Mountains than the work of human hands. Eaised on a high 
elevation above the rest of the city, it seems, when viewed from the distant hills, like an immense island 
floating in a wavy sea of domes, the surface here and there broken by the massive walls of an ancient 
monastery with its silvered minarets sparkling in the sun, and resembling some bold rocks among which the 
bright breakers are playing. The Kremlin is a stupendous fortress surrounded by massive Tartar waUs, 
raised some five centuries ago to resist the attacks of the Eastern barbarians, who waged a perpetual war 
against the infant Russia. Here are arranged numerous guns, standards, trophies, captured from conquered 
foes. The Kremlin is the nation's sanctuary. 'Witliin a space of not more than a mile in circumference rise 
the spires and gilded domes of above thirty churches, sometimes in such close proximity that in passing from 
one to the other you seem to be traversing^the chapels of a huge cathedral. Here the emperors are crowned, 
here lie the remains of the ancient czars, and relics of the most revered ilussian saints. The Kremlin is also 
an ijuperial residence, and contains magnificent palaces. Among countless treasures are the croivns worn by 
the rulers who swayed their sceptres over the kingdoms of Poland, the Crimea, and Kasan, before they were 
absorbed in the ever-encroaching gulf of Russian conquest. No city but the " Holy Mother " could form so 
rich a setting for so splendid a gem intwined with the glittering chain of the silvery Moskva,' There are 
several entrances to this famous site. The most important is the Gate of our Saviour, a vaulted portal, over 
which hangs a picture of the Messiah, behind a glass, with a lamp kept constantly burning beside it. No 
person, prmoe or lackey, is allowed to pass without taking off his hat, and remaining uncovered till clear of 
the entire entrance, about twenty paces long. A sentinel rigidly enforces the act of reverence ; and the 
greatest care is taken to keep dogs away from the threshold. Both Dr Clarke and Jlr Stephens attempted 
to evade the observance, by way of testing its stringency, but were compelled to submit. Exterior to the 
Kremlin, on the east, is the Kitai-gorod, or Chinese Town, the finest and busiest part of the city, sun'ounded 
by a wall with battlements and towers. Both these divisions are enclosed by the Beloi-gorod, or White Town, 
so called from having been formerly encircled by a white wall, the site of which is now occupied by the 
iimer boulevard. Beyond this, and bounded by the outer boulevard, is the Zmclnoi-gorod, or Earthen Town, 
once fenced with an earthen rampart. Further out are suburbs, and the country-seats of nobles, which are 
considered to belong to the city to the distance of twenty-five miles, and are called Podmoskuvyi, or Moscow 
appurtenances. 



554 



EUBOPEAN EUSSIA. 



The story of Moscow is crowded with calamities, rarely equalled, and never surpassed in any other place. 
The origin o£ the city is lost in obscurity. But early in the fourteenth century it became the capital, under 
Ivan I., and the primate removed his residence to it from Vladimir. ' My bones,' said he, ' shall rest in this 
city. Here will the primates fix their abode ; it will overcome all its enemies.' Famine, pestilence, sword, 
and fire followed each other in quick succession soon after the middle of the sixteenth century. The two 
latter came together in 1571, brought by the Tartars under the khan of the Crimea. Having set fire to the 
suburbs, a furious wind rapidly carried the flames into the heart of the city. A Dutch merchant, an eye- 
witness, whose account is among the Harleian MSB., speaks of the event as a ' stoi-m of iire,' owing not only 
to the wind, but to the oily and resinous fir-wood with which the streets were paved and the houses buHt. 
In 1771, the plague raged with fearful violence, and so maddened the populace that they rose against the primate, 
Ainbrosius, who had ventured to interfere with their superstitions. Hearing of liis danger, he fled to the 
Donskoi monastery without the city ; but he was followed thither by the mob, and savagely murdered while 
ofBciating at the altar. The burning of Moscow upon the entrance of the French in 1812 is a tale of our own 
times, and a catastrophe unexampled in modern history. Towards the evening of Sunday the 13th of September, 
the advanced-guard of the enemy arrived under Mui-at ; and before night Napoleon was in the Kremlin. But 
scarcely were the invaders established in their new quarters, when smoke and flames were observed issuing 
from houses closely shut up in different districts. By Tuesday the fires had assumed a menacing aspect, 
distracting the efforts made to quench them by their number, while a high wind rapidly connected them 
with each other, and wrapped the city in one vast sheet of flame. The conflagration raged tUl Satui-day, 
when the wind fell, the smoke gradually cleared off, and revealed the extent of the desolation. It is 
supposed that 7000 principal edifices and 14,000 pubhc buildings were consumed. More than two-thirds 
of the city were entii-ely destroyed, but it was restored by the inhabitants and the government with remark- 
able rapidity, and considerable improvement. The year after the fire, seedling aspen plants were observed 
springing up everywhere among the ruins. The tree is abundant in Eussia, especially in the woods around 
Moscow. The seeds had been wafted by the winds, and if the people had not returned, the whole site would 
speedily have become a forest. Moscow has a university with upwards of 100 professors and 800 students, 
an observatory, and numerous literary and scientific institutions. 

Around this heart of the country, but at considerable distances from it, there are many towns of important 
size, yet with few exceptions without any features of interest. Tula, on the south, commonly called the 
Russian Birmingham, with a population of 57,700, has large government works for the manufacture of 
fiii-earms, which were originally erected, while the artisans were instructed, under the superintendence of 
Englishmen. Various fancy articles are also made of hardware, as platina snuff-boxes. At Torjok, on the 
north, embroidered leather goods are produced — shoes, slippers, belts, caps, and reticules ; and the material 
is prepared in the peculiar way wliich has obtamed for it the name of Eussia leather. Oak bark is used 
in the tanning ; cochineal gives the red colour ; and a vegetable oil imparts the distinctive odour. JVijni or 
Lower Novgorod, on the east, is annually one of the most remarkable places in the world, owing to its great 
fair, which swells the population from 36,000 to 300,000. The fan-, which lasts from July 1 to September 1, 
old style, was originaUy held at Kasan, but was finally fixed at its present site by the Emperor Alexander 
in 1817. The permanent stone-market consists of 2522 store-rooms. These are connected with as many 
chambers for the owners of goods to live in. A noble edifice rises in the centre for the ofiicial superintendents 
of the fair, the gi-ound-floor of wliich is used as a post-ofiice during its continuance. But the number of 
temporary shops, with dwelling-rooms attached to them, erected for the occasion, is enormous. They are not 
raised at random, but are regularly arranged in streets; and churches, barracks, hospitals, and theatres 
appear in connection with them, the whole vanishing in a few weeks as completely as if they had never been. 
The site of the fair is about a imle from the centre of the town, across the broad river Oka, which is passed 
by a bridge of boats, and close to its junction with the majestic Volga. Both rivers are then crowded with 
craft of aU descriptions conveying merchandise, and have a floating population of perhaps 40,000 persons. 
Asiatic products are here exchanged for European goods. Closely grouped together are Chinese with tea, 
Persians with scents and amulets, Bokhariaus with precious stones, Siberians with furs, Cossacks with hides 
and caviare, .German jewellers, Swiss watchmakers, Frankfurt wuie merchants, Hamburg leech buyers, 
Dresden pipe makers, "Warsaw furriers, French fancy dealers, and Manchester manufacturers. Apart from 
this great gathering, Nijni Novgorod has little to invite notice, but one of its natives distinguished himself 
by taking the lead in the revolution which placed the reigning dynasty on the throne. This man, named 
lilinim, an obscure butcher, has a monument to his memory here and at Moscow. 

The name of Novgorod, or New Town, without any prefix, is borne by one of the oldest places in Eussia, 
situated about 100 miles south of St Petersburg, near the confluence of the river Volkhof with the great Lake 
Emen. A thousand years ago, or in 862, this was the seat of Eurik, the fomider of the monarchy; and here, ui 
1862, Eussia commemorated her thousandth anniversai-y by micovering a monument raised in honour of the 
event. Favoured by geograpliical position in the north, which secured it from the Tartar invasions 
which harassed the centre and the south, whUe readily communicatuig with the Baltic, it became one of the 
leading factories of the Hanseatio League. Commerce fostered public spirit, and brought wealth to strengthen 
it. Hence the people acknowledged only a nommal allegiance, assumed an independent attitude, and adopted 
in the main a republican form of government. There was a municipal body who elected a burgomaster for 
a limited term; a boyar of the commons appointed to watch over their interests ; and popular assemblies 



ARCHANGEL — KOLA. 



555 



wore held to decielo upon important questions in which every citizen Iiad the right of voting. These puhlic 
meetings were summoned by tlie sound of a famous bell, called the vetchooi-kolokol, or assembly bell, which 
the inhabitants regarded as a type of their independence, the palladium of the state, and dignified with the 
appellation of ' eternal.' In the days of its commercial and political gloi-y the city occupied an area of sixty- 
three versts in circuit, and contained a population of from 300,000 to 400,000 souls. Its power originated the 
proverb, Quis contra Deos et magnain Novgorodiam ? — ' "Who can resist the Gods, and Novgorod the Great ?' 
Ivan III., in 1478, destroyed its liberties, and marred its fortunes. Upon the plea that one of the Hanso 
Towns had offered him an insult, he confiscated the property of the League in the city, and put the foreign 
merchants in irons. The place has now a melancholy appearance, containing scarcely a population of 16,000, 
surrounded by ruined churches and grass-grown streets. 

Archangel, forty miles from the entrance of the Dwina into the "White Sea, is the head of the most 
northerly province, bearing the same name, or, more correctly, that of Archangelskoe, 'the land of the 
Archangel.' St Michael is the celestial personage referred to, to whom a convent was dedicated at an early 
period on the north bank of the river. The province is the most extensive of the territorial divisions of 
European Russia, and the most thinly peopled. Though equal in extent to the united areas of Great Britain 
and France, its total population is far inferior to that of the borough of Liverpool, and does not give one 
individual to the square mile. A few Lapps and Finns, fishermen, hunters, and reindeer breeders occupy 
the peninsula of Kussian Lapland on the north-west. The town occupies a low flfet, 400 miles north-east of St 
Petersburg, and oohtains about 20,000 inhabitants. It is almost entirely built of wood, and the streets are paved 
%vith timber. Situated close to the line which marks the northern limit of cereal and garden culture, all its 
sujiplies of grain and vegetables are brought from a distance, as well as fodder for cattle. The port is the oldest 
in the empire, and was for nearly a century and a half its only channel of communication with the maritime 
nations. It is still frequented by many English vessels, but is closed to navigation by the ice for six months in 
the year. Cholmogory, thirty-five miles flirther up the river, is of Unimportant size, but of interest as the seat 
of one of the first English trading settlements. Here an enterprising factor set up a rope-manufactory, for 
which workmen Were specially sent out from Eilgland ; and at this spot, in 1576, Sylvester, a political agent 
of Queen Elizabeth to the court of Moscow, ^as killed by a flash of lightning, as he was preparing to prosecute 
his joiu'ney. The lightning set fire to the house and destroyed it, mth the dispatches of the envoy. The 
town has also been used as a place of exile. To it the regent Anne was sent, along with her husband. Prince 
Anthony Ulric of Brunsmck, upon the deposition of then- infant son in favour of the Empress Elizabeth in 
1742. They occupied a log-built house, surrounded with high palhigs, which enclosed a little garden 
containing a few birches, ferns, and nettles. Death soon delivered the princess from bondage ; but her 
husband, at the time of his decease, had been for nearly twenty years exposed to the dreariness, cold, and 
snows of the Ajctio Circle. Kola, the most northerly town in Eui-opean Russia, between the Kola and its 
tributary the Tuloma, has a population of 800 Russians, Lapps, and Finns, chiefly occupied in the walrus, 
whale, and cod fishery. 




Kola, in the "White Sea. 




IV. LITTLE RUSSIA. 

This soutli-western district, the original nucleus of the empire, lies along the middle 
course of the Dnieper. The river has on its banks one of the oldest and most remarkable 
of the Eussian cities — Kiev — the cradle of the sovereignty and of the church. It was the 
capital for nearly three centuries ; and the scene of extraordinary ceremonies in the reign 
of the Grand-Duke Vladimir, about the year 980. Having embraced Christianity, this 
prince signalised his zeal against idolatry. Perune, the thunder god, who occupied a 
place in Slavonic mythology analogous to the Zeus of the Greeks and the Jupiter of tho 
Eomans, was represented at Kiev by a huge image, with a trunli of the hardest wood, a 
head of sUver, ears and wliiskers of gold, and legs of iron. Deprived of ornaments, and 
reduced to the character of a naked log, the image was tied to the tail of a horse, dragged 
to tho Dnieper, and tlirown into the water, after being soundly cudgelled by twelve stout 
soldiers on its passage to the stream. All the inliabitants were then ordered to repair to 
the river at a particular time to be baptized. Men and women, old and young, bowed to 
the edict. But the royal children received the rite with greater ceremony. In a pretty 
romantic spot within the limits of tho city, there now rises a lofty stone obeUsk 
surmounted by a cross, built over a fountain where they were baptized. A wooden 
crucifix close to the base has the inscription, in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin, 'Jesus of 
Nazareth, the king of the Jews.' 

Striking and welcome is the appearance of Kiev, especially to the traveller from the south, who has been 
passing over a country of monotonous steppes. Two divisions of it, the Old Town and the Petcherskoi, also 
called the ISTew Fort, occupy two bold hiUs separated by a deep ravine. A third division, the Low Toivn, or 
Town of the Vale, the business quarter, stretches from the base of the hills to the river. A fine suspension- 
bridge, half a mile long, the work of Mr Vignolles, an English engineer, crosses the stream. The -whole of 
the iron for this erection, upwards of 3000 tons, was wrought in England, mth aU the requisite machineiy. 
Fifteen vessels conveyed it to Odessa, from whence it was transported in bullock-wagons over the steppes. 
' On the opposite bank,' says Stephens, after crossing the old bridge of boats, ' I turned for the last time to 



WEST RUSSIA. 



557 



tho saorod city, and I never saw anything more unique and strikingly beautiful tlian the high, commanding 
position o£ this " city on a hill," crowned with its golden cupolas and domes, that reflected the sun with 
dazzling brightness.' On the hill of tho Old Town stands the cathedral of St Sophia, founded in 1037, with the 
palace of tho metropolitan close by, shaded with venerable trees. The opposite hill has tho Petchcrskoi 
monastery, with the attached Church of the Assmnption. This building has seven domes, gilt and coloured, 
connected with chains, and a belfry standing apart, which rises to the height of 300 feet, making with the 
hill a total of nearly 600 feet above tho Dnieper. Kiev has a flourishing university, with minoralogical 
and zoological collections. But the catacombs — a great charnel-house of Russian saints— form the point 
of attraction here. They consist of two caverns behind the monastery, excavated in the precipitous cliff 
which faces the river. These caverns were occuxiied by living monks prior to the erection of the monastic 
cdifloo, and have since accommodated tho remains of departed holy men of repute. The bodies are ranged 
along the sides in open coffins, but enveloped like Egyptian mummies in wrappers, so that no part, not even 
tho face, is left visible. But the stiffened hands are so arranged as to receive the kisses of devotees, and 
on the breasts are ^vritten the names of the deceased, with occasionally a short record of their deeds. Kiev is 
Iienco the Jerusalem and Mecca of the empire, annually visited by multitudes, who seek an interest in the 
intercession of the defunct. Tlicy come from the remotest parts ; the confines of Tartary, and the wilds of 
Siberia, as far as Kamtchatka ; performing tho whole journey on foot, seldom sleeping under a roof, and 
depending for subsistence by the way on j^recarious charity. The pilgrims have amounted in a single year to 
60,000. ' I remember, as if they were before me now,' says Stephens, ' the groups of Russian pilgrims strewed 
along the road and sleeping under tho pale moonlight, the bare earth their bed, the heavens their only 
covering.' The population of Kiev is 00,000. 

Tlie broad, deep, and beautiful Dnieper forms a series of rapids below Kiev, occurring at intervals through 
a course of more than 100 miles. They are caused by reefs of granite which diagonally cross its bed; 
and the navigation is impracticable to barges, except during the spring floods. Kocky islands rise here and 
there out of the channel, haunted by wild-fowl ; and huge blocks of granite lie on the banks, as if piled at 
random by the hands of giants. In this scene of stern grandeur the Cossacks of the Ukraine were cradled, 
and it continued long to be their head-quarters. The islets of the river were kept as war establisliments, 
suppUed with anns, provisions, stores, and ammunition. "Women were rigorously excluded from these 
strongholds, and death was the penalty of their intrusion. The islets were intrusted to the care of a corps 
selected from the bravest and most agile of the race, who formed a kind of aristocracy. These men, among 
tho wildest that ever lived, acquired the name of Zaporogians, from the two Polish words, za, beyond, and 
porog, water-falls. In long light barks they descended the stream on piratical expeditions, sailing by night, 
and concealing themselves in the osier-beds by day, in order to take the villages by surprise. Their excursions 
extended to the Black Sea, and once they appeared within sight of Constantinople. In tho wars on land they 
johied the Polos, the Turks, the Russians, as expediency dictated. A rook in the Dnieper, called the 
Brigand, commemorates the rude race who were once lords of its waters. One of their chief estabhshments 
was on the island of Cortetz, a natural fortress, rising xipwards of 100 feet above the stream, and defended 
on all sides by masses of granite, now in tho possession of peaceful and industrious German colonists. 
I'uUowa, in the coimtry eastward of the Dnieper, is about four miles from the field of battle, where Peter the 
Great signally defeated Charles SII. of Sweden in 1709. A tall mound of earth, surmounted by a cross, 
covers the remains of the Swedes who fell in the action, and the town has a monument of the czar. Kharkov, 
on some affluents ot the Donetz, contains 45,000 inhabitants, a university, saA has vast commerce in wool 
and corn carried on chiefly at four annual fairs. 

^. WEST RUSSIA. 

West Eussia comprelieiicls tlie territory wliich still retains tlie name of Poland, and 
the greater part of the provinces formerly belonging to the Polish crown, some of which 
formed tho ancient and independent grand-duchy of Lithuania. The whole was annexed 
to the empire by the two infamous partitions of 1772 and 1795 with Prussia and Austria. 
The country is intersected by the Vistula, traversed by the Niemen, and sends a number of 
affluents to the Dnieper. It contains very extensive swamps and marshes, with vast 
woods, one of which, the forest of Bialowieza, is perhaps the largest single remnant of the 
primitive woods of Europe. The site is noteworthy also on account of its aurochs, of 
which about 1500 survive. This animal is supposed by Cuvier to be a distinct species of 
the genus hos, or ox, which man has never subdued, and is one of the most massive of all 
existing quadrupeds. As late as the reign of Charlemagne it was not uncommon 
in Germany, but is now fast following its extinct congener, the urus of Csesar, from 
which the common ox has descended. No living specimens are known, except in this 
Lithuanian forest. PaUas observes that it is remarkable the auroch does not exist in 



558 EUROPEAN RUSSIA. 

any of the vast forests of Eiissia Proper and Northern Asia, whence, if it had penetrated, 
hardly anything could have eradicated it. The preservation of the animal at this spot is 
entirely due to the protection afforded it, iirst by. the Polish, and next hy the Eussian 
government. Not only has the slaughter been long prohibited under severe penalties, except 
by the royal and imperial owners, or parties duly authorised, but a certain number of 
the peasants and serfs of the neighbourhood have always been engaged to make hay for 
them at appoiuted places, to serve for winter fodder. On the 18th of October 1860, 
when the sovereigns of Eussia, Austria, and Prussia mot in conference at Warsaw, there 
was a grand chase, and nine aurochs were killed. The herd had not been similarly 
disturbed for more than a century, 'or since the 27th of September 1752, when 
Augustus Sigismund III., king of Poland, and elector of Saxony, took part in the hunt. 
A monumental stone commemorates the event. Besides these animals, the forest harbours 
elks, wUd boars, red deer, lynxes, wolves, hares, badgers, beavers, grouse, woodcocks, and 
partridges. Formerly there were bears, but none have been seen since the year 1846, 
when one was shot. 

The forest of Bialowieza, once the private patrimony of the Polish sovereigns, now a Eussian imperial 
domaiai, is situated in the government of G-rodno, and extends north and soutli from tlie river Bog to the 
heiglits near the town of Osla. There is here an expanse of wood 31 miles long, 27 broad, and 
112 in circuit, with an estimated area of 135 square miles, nearly equal to the half of Middlesex. A 
village, two small hamlets, and a few cultivated spots, are ahnost the only interruption offered to the trees. 
The site is generally level, and the soil sandy, with here and there marshes and bogs. An intensely severe 
winter alternates with a. hot summer. Several streams rise in the interior, feeders of the Vistula. The 
Narew issues from a true peat-bog, which extends several miles exterior to the forest ; and the Narewska 
flows through it. Both are navigable for boats and timber-rafts, the former nearly to its origin. The village 
of Bialomeza, from which the forest has its name, is near the centre, and consists of a church, an inn, and 
some sixty dwellings. Augustus HI. of Poland built here a hunting-seat, which was enlarged by Stanisla^is 
Augustus. Bound the exterior are several villages and hamlets, the inhabitants of which are all connected in 
some way or other with the wood, and under its local jurisdiction. They are of Eusso-Polish descent, rude, 
and uncultivated, simply and poorly clad, having as the only covering for the feet sandals made of the wood 
of the lime-tree. Their dwellings consist of logs of timber piled one upon another, with boards or shingles 
for the roofs. In return for certain services, such as providing fodder in winter for the aurochs, they have 
free use of the timber for building and fuel. Preferring a wandering forest life to agricultural operations, 
they are very expert as foresters and hmiters, on which account aU the imperial huntsmen and foresters are 
selected from them. When requisite, a small army of 2000 men can be brought together for the chase — all tvue 
Nimrods — content for the time being with the honey, wild fruits, and edible mushrooms found in the forest. 

The Scotch pine is the most common tree, as on all the sandy Sarmatian plains ; and next to it the silver fir. 
Larches and the spruce fir are entirely absent. Oaks occur, a,nd supply magnificent specimens ; but beeches are 
more abundant, generally found in the vicinity of the oak. The birch is scattered throughout. Elder, 
both the black and white, with a great variety of grasses, grow along the sides of the streams, and in the 
low swampy situations. The lime-tree is very common, and attains vast dimensions. The poplar, ehn, ash, 
and sycamore are met mth, and also the wUd apple and wild cherry. It appears from the stems of a number of 
the pines thai the tree has here a duration of from 250 to 300 years ; the birch reaches 120 years ; the beech 
220 ; and the life of the oak ternimates in from five to six centuries. An innei-most district of about 15,000 
acres, or two square miles, has not yet been penetrated by the wood-cutter. It bears the name of Niezeanow, 
or the 'unknown region,' and is quite impassable tUl the axe clears the way, owing to the multitude of 
trunks of trees rooted up by the storms of ages crossing one another in all directions. Such is the old forest 
of Bialowieza, the last stronghold of the auroch, the bison of Europe. In 1845-184:6 the whole domain 
was measured and appraised. It has since been divided into five districts, each of which is under the care 
of an officer of the forest corps, as highest inspector and conservator. 

Grodno, the head of the government containing this interesting site, is of mournful celebrity in Polish history, 
as the place where the Diet, after withstanding Eussian intimidation and violence for three weeks, assented, but 
under protest, to the second partition of their unhappy country in 1793. The record ran : 'SiuTounded closely 
by foreign troops on the second of this month, threatened with further invasion, and oppressed by innumer- 
able violences — thus situated, we do declare in the most solemn manner, that unable to prevent, even with 
the risk of our lives, the effect of the oppressive force, we leave to our posterity, happier perhaps than ourselves, 
those means of saving our dear ooimtry whereof we are bereft at present ; and thus the project sent to us by the 
Eussian ambassador, though contrary to our laws, wishes, and opinions, forced by tlie above means to accept, we 
do accept. Done at Grodno, the 24th September. Signed and engrossed in the pubUo records, according to law.' 
Grodno carries on a flourishing trade, almost wholly in the hands of the Jews, who form three-foirrths of the 



WARSAW AND POLAND. 



559 



population. Wilna, tlio old Lithuanian capital, with 51,000 inhabitants, still retains importance, hut has 
nothing in its appearance to interest the stranger. The remark apphes to all the towns of the ancient duchy, 
except it be those connected with the fatal march of the French to Moscow. The country, too, is dreary ; and 
the villages, few and far between, are miserable collections of small straggling log-built huts, with holes to 
admit the light and let out the smoke. Near Kovno, the grand army crossed the frontier river Niemeu, 
and within six months afterwards a wretched remnant came back to the same point, ' like ghosts returned 
from the infernal regions.' In the market-place of the town, an ugly monument commemorates the event, 
but it hears a neat inscription : ' In 1812, Russia was invaded by an army numbering 700,000 men. It 
recrossed the frontier numbering 70,000.' Vitepsk, on both banks of the Dwina, is memorable as the place of 
which Napoleon remarked on his advance : * Do you think I have come so far to conquer these miserable 
huts?' and then changed his first detei-mination to halt there for the winter, for wHch preparations had 
already been made, and pushed on to his ruin. Stephens, while traversing this region, observed with surprise 
the utter ignorance of the inhabitants in regard to circumstances, so recent and momentous. At Borizoff, on the 
Berezina, close to the terrible scene of the passage of the river, one had merely heard of a great battle having 
been fought there ; and the best informed referred to the scenes of struggles and tragedies mthotit half the 
interest with which the Greek, even now, points the stranger to the field of Marathon, or the ruins of Argos. 
Wm'smo, once the capital of a great European kmgdom, now the head of the comparatively small Russian 
government of Poland, is seated on the left or western bank of the Vistula, which is here much broader than 
the Thames at "Westminster, and is crossed by a bridge of boats to the totaUy-decayed suburb of Praga on the 
opposite side. It has a population of 162,000. Few cities have a more imposing appearance at a distance, 
especially from the St Petersbiug road, and most refreshing is the view to the traveller who has come from 
thence, after having passed over 650 miles of utterly iiimiteresting and dreary country. It stands upon 
an ascent rising up rather steeply from the river, which displays its huge pubUc buildings to great 
advantage. But though many of the palaces are magnificent, and of colossal size, the greater portion of 
the private dwellings are mean, while the spacious streets and squares are dirty, badly Ughted and paved, 
and almost entirely destitute of trottoirs for foot-passengers. All the houses are numbered, beginning from 
the government palace, a modern edifice of immense dimensions, which is reckoned nmnber one, and 
momiting up to between 5000 and 6000. Conspicuous in the centre is the vast Zamek, the old palace of the 
kings of Poland, containing the Hall of the Diet, and a splendidly-gilt ball-room, now occupied by the 
Russian commandant. A statue of Copernicus, a Pole by birth, adorns one of the principal squares ; and 
memorials are still numerous of the nation's kings and captains, though Poniatowski's statue by 
Thorwalsden, one of his greatest works, has lost its jjlace among them. The fashionable lounges are the 
Jardin de Saxe, in the interior of the city, and the TJjazlov, beyond the barriers, with its long and 
labyrinthine avenues branching off from a large central octagon, divided from each other by rows of lime and 
chestnut-trees. But Wai'saw has long been a city of mourners and military ; the former, the most inflexible 
of all patriots ; the latter, the rudest of all soldiery. Gardens are deserted, theatres abandoned, public and 
private festivities suppressed. Every woman, until forbid by police order, dressed from head to foot in 
black; and a people gay by temperament, fond of show and pleasure, now totally refrain from such 
indulgences, intensely occupied with one subject, the fallen fortunes of their native land, from which lapse 
o£ time has failed to extract the bitterness, and the resurrection of which they believe to be possible. In 
Warsaw there are said to be more Jews at present than in any other city in Europe. Though excluded 
from all offices of honour, profit, and trust by the Russian government, they were exempt from imlitaiy 
service on payment of a tax, down to the accession of the Emperor Nicholas, who made them subject to the 
regular conscription. Hence they are with the patriotic party to a man, and are Poles in everything but 
religion and physiognomy. ~^ 

Three miles from the city, the Chateau of "WiUanow, with its finely-planted park, is a place of pilgrimage 
to native and foreigner. It was erected by the renowned King John Sobieski, and was his favourite 
residence, where most of his time was passed when away from the battle-field. To it he returned as the 
deliverer of Vienna from the Turks amid the shouts of his countrymen. Then, 
* When his horse triumphant trod 

The burghers richest robes upon. 
The ancient words rose loud, " From God 

A man was sent whose name was John." ' 
■Within Its walls he died, leaving an intriguing queen and unnatural children wrangling about his possessions ; 
and the name of Sobieski has ceased to be inherited. Another celebrated place, five miles distant, is the 
field of Vola, the scene of the election of the Polish sovereigns. It was formerly surrounded by a ditch with 
three gates — one for Great Poland, a second for Little Poland, and a third for Lithuania. Here the nobles 
assembled, from 1 50,000 to 200,000 strong, to elect the sovereign from a list of candidates, and encamped in 
separate bodies under the banners of their respective palatinates. They did not vote individually, but by 
their palatines. The prunate went round on horseback to collect their suffrages. Among the paintings by 
Canaletto, removed from "Warsaw to Moscow, there is one beautifully executed which represents the election 
of Stanislaus Augustus in 1764. This mode of filling the vacant throne frequently divided the nobles into 
hostile bands, ready to use the sword in the cause of a favourite candidate, and it undoubtedly contributed 
not a little to the political extinction of the kingdom. 




Fort of Kintarn. 
VI. SOUTH EUSSIA. 

This great natural division of the country consists of a series of steppes or plains, and 
emhraoes the greater part of the basins of the Dnieper and the Don, with that of the 
Kuhan, and the interior of the Crimean peninsula. It is a portion of the vast similar 
tract stretching from the borders of Hungary into the heart of Asia, of which it has been 
said, though with obvious exaggeration, that a calf beginning to graze at the foot of the 
Carpathian Mountains might eat its way to the Wall of China, and arrive there a full- 
grown ox. The word steppe is of Enssian origin, and strictly denotes a flat, open, and 
unwooded country, mantled with a rank, grassy, and herbaceous vegetation. This is the 
general character of the region, but it includes extensive swamps and marshes, with tracts 
of saline sand of the true desert description. Eubruquis, the Dutch traveller, who crossed 
the steppes in the fifteenth century, aptly describes them : Nulla est sylva, nullus mons, 
nullus lapis — ' ISTot a tree, not a hill, not a stone.' ' We journeyed,' says he, ' towards the 
east, with no other objects in view than earth and sky, and occasionally the sea upon our 
right, which is called the Sea of Tanais (Azov).' Hundreds of miles may be passed on a 
soil remarkable for its richness and the luxuriance of its herbage, without a tree being- 
encountered ; although in a few favoured spots there are small copses known to the 
natives which shelter game, and are visited on that account. While almost perfectly flat 
through extensive spaces, the surface more generally gently undulates. Hollows, or slight 
rounded depressions, also occur, as if made by the stamp of a Titan on his passage 
across the plain. These places are of no small importance as natural troughs in which 
the rain collects. ' Though the water is speedily evaporated by the sun, and absorbed by 
the soil, they remain moist and verdant long after the adjoining lands are whoUy parched j 
and are hence prized by the herdsmen. Tumuli, the Khourgans of the natives, are other 
diversities of the steppes, of an opposite character to the depressions. The tumuli are now 



CHARACTERISTICS OP THE STEPPES. 561 

devoted to tlio practical purposes of life. Herdsmen, wlien they have to call together the 
horses and cattle under their charge, station themselves upon their summits to command 
a view of the surrounding plain. 

In spring, when the grasses are rising, the steppes resemble an immeasuraWy verdant ocean of the freshest 
and brightest green. But this hue soon ceases to be uniform, and is almost entirely e.^.tinguished over 
c.\fconsive spaces, owmg to flowering plants putting forth their floral glories, and waving to the wind their 
masses of varied colour. Thousands of acres may be seen covered with the purple larkspur, intermingled 
with patches of bright scarlet poppy and the pink-coloured wild peach-shrub. There are tulips, crocuses, 
pinks, hyacinths, and anemones innumerable, finely contrasting with each other ; and there is mignonette in 
abundance, but without the odoiu' which cultivation has given to it. While the vegetation is astonishingly 
luxuriant, it is not remarkable for variety. Botanists usually enumerate about 500 species of plants 
in these vast grazing-grounds, each species usually growing in large masses. The most common plant is the 
hair-grass, Stipa capUlata, wliich often occupies more than half the surface. Next to it is the closely 
related feather-grass, Stipa pennata, called Schelkowoi, or silk-weed, by the Russians, which generally covers 
a foiu'th of the land, and is frequently grown as an ornament in English gardens. Though these grasses are 
not esteemed with us as fodder for cattle and sheep, they form the principal food of the herds and flocks on 
the plains of Southern Russia. Thistles are also prominent, occasionally attaining the height of six or eight 
feet. Hence the relation may be credited of the Cossacks concealing themselves and their small horses in 
the thickets of the steppes. "Wormwood rises to the height of six feet, and the cattle are compelled to feed 
upon it in specially dry summers, when milk and butter are rendered detestably bitter by the aliment. 

Locusts are a terrible scourge to the vegetation, natural and cultivated, though fortunately their appear- 
ance in destructive swarms is only occasional. Tears pass away without damage from them, owing to the 
limited immber. Then for successive years a gradual increase is perceptible, tUl millions upon m illions cover 
the ground, and darken the air when on the wing. The most common species, the Gryllus devastator, is also 
the most formidable, as the name implies, combining, according to a current saying, the bite of the horse, the 
greediness of the wolf, and unequalled powers of rapid digestion. In the beginning of May, when the eggs 
deposited in the ground the preceding autumn are hatched by the returning warmth of summer, the baby 
locusts crawl out of their holes, and immediately begin to teed. After remaining stationary a few days, they 
are compelled to migrate by the consumption of the grass. Wot having wings, they creep slowly, or proceed 
by a series of leaps. They pause at night, and also in cold wet weather, but when on the march, no natural 
impediment or artificial obstruction arrests it. Though commonly proceeding in a straight line, they acquire 
a taste for the cultivated vegetation, and will move to the left or right to attack the plantations of a town or 
villiige. The Tartars endeavour to get rid of the enemy by beating the ground with branches of trees. Deep 
trenches are also dug, filled with lighted straw, to protect fields threatened with invasion ; and at Odessa 
long iron rollers are dragged by horses over the invaded surface. But all the means resorted to are more 
plausible than efiectual, as the living are not sensibly diminished by the numbers destroyed. 

Dreary in the extreme is the appearance of the steppes in winter, when the snow is lord-paramount of the 
sou, and every trace of a road or trackway is obliterated, while storms of fearful violence occur. The 
Russians distinguish three classes of storms, and give them distinctive names. The mildest form, called the 
Miatjel, corresponds to the wildest weather to which we are accustomed, rain, sleet, or snow simply 
descending from the clouds. The second and severer kind of storm, the Samef, occurs more rarely, though 
the winter seldom passes without an example. It raises the snow from the ground with its whirl in vast 
masses, and drives it forward horizontally, filling up ravines, and sometunes burying men and cattle beneath 
the drift. Indoors, there is tolerable security from danger. Abroad, the traveller may protect liimseK by 
gaining the shelter of a forest ; and a large number of men or beasts may withstand the blast in an open 
coimtry by grouping together. But woe betide the solitary wayfarer with no shelter at hand. The driving 
shower of snow blinds him, and no horse will move tlxough flogged and spurred to the utmost. But the 
third kind of storm, the Wiuga, far exceeds the second in violence, though still more rare, and always 
announcmg its coming by unmistakable indications. When these have appeared, no one sets out upon a 
journey, not even to the next village, though only a verst or two distant, lest the dreaded hurricane should 
overtake him. Precautions are taken for the safety of the houses by protecting them on the north side with 
heavy stones, and propping them up on the south. Droves of cattle, flocks of sheep, and troops of wild 
horses in the steppes gather in a compact circle to resist the gale, if no shelter is attainable. But entire 
groups have been driven before it with headlong speed, till blown over the edge of a precipice into a ravine, 
or swept from the cliff's into the Black Sea. There have been instances of men near the sea being surprised 
by the tempest, and forced into the water ; whUe roofs, trees, stones, and other objects in its path are taken 
up from the earth hke chaff from the thrashing-floor, and conveyed by the eddying air whole versts away. 
Government couriers are excused, if during the three days the Wiuga is abroad — ^its usual duration — ^they 
remain closely housed at the post stations. 

Odessa, the head-quarters of the governor-general of Southern Russia, stands on the north-western shore 
of the Black Sea, at the distance of about 000 miles from Moscow, and 1200 from St Petersburg. It was 
founded on the site of an old Turkish fortress and a few fishermen's huts, by Catherine II. in 1792, and is 
now the thiid commercial port of the empire, while one of the most important in Europe for the export of 

2 J 



562 EUROPEAN EUSSU. 

wheat. It has a population ot 104,000. The capacious harbour, protected by two moles, has sufficient depth 
of water almost to the very shore for the largest men-of-war. The city is seen to great advantage from 
the sea. It occupies a high limestone cliff, along which runs a promenade. Then a long line of buildings 
occurs, with the Exchange at one extremity, and the prmcely palace built by the late Count Woronzow 
at the other. Some principal hotels are intermediate, all overlooking a broad expanse of intensely blue 
waters. From the centre of the promenade, a monster staircase descends the cliff to the beach, with 
a bronze statue at the top of the Duke de Richelieu, a French emigrant. He was made governor by the 
Emperor Alexander, and laid out most of the streets. Instead of amassing wealth, he devoted his income to 
public objects, and is said to have left the place, on relinquishing office, with a small portmanteau containing 
his uniform and two shirts. Such a Russian official deserved a monument. Odessa labours under great 
disadvantages as a place of residence, and would never have prospered but for its commercial position. 
The neighboui'ing country is of the tamest description, and can sustain no luxui'iant timber, whUe oiving 
to the friable texture of the lunestone on which it is built, the dust forms an insufferable plague in dry 
weather, which rain converts into a sea of mud. Nicolaief, on the coast eastward, with 33,000 inhabitants, 
where the rivers Bug and Ingul blend in a common estuary, of equally modem origin, exhibits the outUne 
of an immense naval port, not destined at i^resent to be iiUed up, owing to the loss of the vocation for 
which it was designed, that of harbouring and recruiting the Russian Black Sea fleet. Clierson, near the 
mouth of the Dnieper, with 40,000 inhabitants, will ever have a name in history from its connection 
with Howard, the philanthropist, whose tomb is in the adjoining steppe. A small japanned hand-candle- 
stick, much bruised, once his property, is now in the museum of Odessa. EkaUnnoslav, on the Dnieper 
inland, founded by Catherine n., durmg her famous journey to the Crimea, has not prospered. Though 
planted upon a gigantic scale, as if intended to be the abode of a million of souls, it has only gathered a 
population of a few thousands in the space of threescore-years-and-ten. The palace provided at the spot 
for the imperial tourist was a splendid edifice, standing on a slope by the river, siuTounded by an extensive 
park. The trees have grown up to be magnificent timber ; the stream flows on with undiminished majesty 
and might ; but the royal dwelling, spoiled by the peasantry for materials to erect or repair their cabins, 
is a heap of shapeless fragments — a ruin without the interest of history or the dignity of age. 

Taganrog, on the north-east shore of the Sea of Azov, seated on a high cliff, is a thriving shipping port, 
subject to the disadvantage of shallow water, which compels vessels to lie off at a great distance to unload 
and receive their cargoes. It was founded by Peter the Great in 1706, whose sojourn at the spot is 
commemorated by an oak wood of his own planting, a suitable monument in a district naturally destitute of 
trees. At this place the Emperor Alexander ended his days, December 1, 1825, after a visit to the Crimea, 
during which he caught its intermittent fever. From hence to the decayed town of Azov, on the opposite 
shore, a shoal extends, or rather a continuation of shoals ; and when violent east winds blow, the sea reth-es 
so remarkably, that the inhabitants are able to make the passage between the two points on foot, a distance 
of about fourteen miles. But the experiment is somewhat hazardous, as the wind shifts suddenly, and 
rapidly brings back the water. This singular kind of monsoon takes place almost every year after 
midsummer. The Sea of Azof is the Palus Mcsotis of the classical geographers. It extends nearly 200 miles 
from north-east to south-west, by 100 miles m the opposite direction, but is more lacustrine than sea-like, as 
the water is everywhere shallow and comparatively fresh. It is supposed by the people on its shores to be 
fining up, and there seems to be no doubt of the fact. Pallas records in 1793 the lamioh of a large frigate 
where lighters now sail with difficulty. This is the consequence of the large amomit of sediment brought 
down and deposited by the Don, which also renders the waters anything but blue and limpid. The great 
river gives its name to the Don Cossacks, who occupy the country around its mouth, which forms one of the 
governments, with Novo-Tcherkaslc for the capital, at a short distance westward of the main stream. The 
town was founded in the year 1807 upon the recommendation of their celebrated ataman, Count Platof. 

The Sea oi' Azov, with its arm, the Putrid Sea, washes the north-eastern side of the Crimea. At the 
commencement of the recent war with Pnussia, the latter name excited curiosity on the part of many who 
were led by passmg events for the first tune to pore over charts of the district. Ideas of the tragic or the 
horrible were suggested by it. But only very common-place features are indicated. The tract in question is 
one of shallows, lined with swamps and quagmires, scarcely passable by men or animals, which give off 
noxious exlialations in the heat of summer, and render the whole neighbourhood at that season highly 
insalubrious. Large beds of osiers jut out into it, and serve as a haunt for a quantity of moor-fowl. The 
ancients appreciated its true character when they called it an unwholesome marsh or lake, Pafes Putris. 
These closely-landlocked basins communicate with the grand expanse of the Black Sea by the Strait of 
Kertch, the old Cimmerian Bosporus, at the eastern extremity of the Crimea. Both shores of this channel 
exliibit evidences of pseudo-volcanic action. Kertch has a mud volcano in its neighboui-hood, but the most 
remarkable is on the opposite coast, at a short distance from Taman. The hill here in its ordinary state 
resembles a vast sore. Various apertures appear in a crater-like area, from which water is discharged, with 
dingy-looking mire and a fetid gas. But paroxysmal action has been sometimes displayed in a prodigious 
outpouring of mud, accompanied with grand columns of fire and smoke. One of these eruptions took 
place February 27, 1794, when the flames rose to the height of 300 feet, and the mud was thrown into the 
air. In a short time, according to the estimate of Pallas, who repaired to the spot, 100,000 cubic fathoms 
were ejected. The Cossacks distinguished the place by the name of Prekla, signifying 'Hell.' In 1799 an 




Kertch. 

island was thrown up in the Sea of Azov, which, after remaining visible some time, gradually suhsided 
beneath the waves. Tremendous noises alarmed the inhabitants on the shore, and shocks of an earthquake 
were felt. It is not unlikely that in former ages igneous action might be far more intense or frequent in the 
district, and originate the fancy, common to all the ancients, that Cimmeria lay at the entrance to the 
subterranean kingdom of Hades. 

The Crimea, formerly called Crim-Tartary, and in remoter times known by the designation of Taurioa 
Chersonesus, is a peninsula on the northern shore of the Black Sea, projecting into it from the mainland of 
Southern Russia. This territory, now of celebrity in our annals, extends 130 miles from north to south by 
170 from west to east ; but the latter direction embraces a long narrow strip of country abutting eastward 
from the main mass. The area is estimated at 1050 square miles, which is equal to that of our own 
principality of "Wales, with the addition to it of the Enghsh border counties. Travellers in the middle ages 
frequently styled the peninsula the island of Caffa, in allusion to its almost complete insulation, and the 
great commercial town of that name on the east coast. In fact, that it once was entirely detached from the 
continent, according to ancient opinion, is very probable from the character of the connecting neck of land. 
This is the Isthmus of Perekop, seventeen nules in length by five in breadth, and so low, that from the centre 
the seas on either hand are apparently above the level of the spectator, and seem only to requu'e a slight 
impulse from the wind to imite their waters. Katm-e has distributed the surface into two very distinct 
regions. There is a highland range on the south coast, and a series of steppes to the north of it which 
comprehend by far the greater portion of the country. This highland range runs some seventy or eighty 
miles along the shore, and is from twelve to twenty nules broad. It culminates in the Tchadir-dagh, or Tent 
Mountain of the Tartars, the Table Mountain of the Greeks, and the Saddle Mountain of the Cossacks, 
upwards of 5000 feet above the sea. In the space between the crest of the main ridge and the beach, or the 
under-cUff, the climate is delightfiU, as it is open to the warm breezes of the south, while protected from the 
cold winds of the north. It has therefore been studded with chateaux and villas belonging to the great 
Russian nobles. Originally, a perfect chaos of rocky fragments, traversed by deep ravines, the stern and 
savage features have been toned down by art covering them with creepers ; and the vegetation of a southern 
clime has been introduced, the almond, arbutus, oUve, cypress, wild chestnut, and Judas-tree, wliich flourish 
■with great luxuriance. The principal residence, Aloupka, called the Alhambra of the Crimea, was built by 
the late Count Woronzow, and is of rich greenstone in various styles. The Gothic and Saracenic predominate, 
and are somewhat typical of the site, on the confines of Europe and Asia, the west and the east, the land of 
the feudal baron and the oriental satrap. 

No river occurs in the whole district worthy of the name throughout the year. The Salgliir, the most 
considerable, descends from the tioithern slope o£ the mountains, enters the steppes, and creeps slowly 



564 



EUROPEAN BU5SIA. 



through them to the Putrid Sea. In nearly all parts o£ its course hefore reaching the plains, it may he passed 
dry-shod in smnraor, by simply stepping from one stone to another in its bed. The Alma, the scene of the 
victory of the Anglo-French in 1854, similarly changes its character with the season from a rapid stream to 
an insignificant rill. Among the members of the animal kingdom, the wolf, fox, stag, and roebuck are found 
in the wooded highlands. Hamsters, small burrowers, annoy the husbandman by making havoc with grain 
and vegetables. The harmless and graceful jerboas, 'earth-hares' of the Germans, feed upon the bulbous 
plants in the steppes, and divert the traveller by their frolics. Birds of prey are numerous, with birds of 
song and beauty, the nightingale and lark, the oriol, hoopoe, and brightly-coloured bee-eater. Reptiles 
include the tree-frog, so brightly green as to be scarcely distinguishable from the leaves of the trees it 
haunts, and peculiarly interesting from its habits and bird-like note. The creature is weather-wise, and is 
sometimes kept in large glass jars, half filled with water, to answer the purpose of a barometer. A little 
ladder being inserted, the frog ascends it to the upper half of the jar in fine weather, and indicates an 
approaching change by taking refuge in the water belov/'. The scolopendra, or centipede, from six to eight 
inches long, and the tarantula spider, of huge size, are both common, and justly dreaded from the severe 
effects of their bite. The latter abounds in the vicinity of Sebastopol. Besides the usual domestic 
quadrupeds, Bactrian camels are employed for draught on the plains, and buffaloes in the mountain districts. 




The Country round Sebastopol. 

Sebastopol, lately the military capital, close to the south-west point of the peninsula, was founded in the 
year 1786, but received all its chief fortifications and public buildings during the reign of the Emperor 
Nicholas, while Woronzow was viceroy in the south. It is now rapidly rising from the heap of ruins to 
which it was reduced by the memorable siege of 1854-1855, but under treaty is not again to be made a 
formidable stronghold. In 1861, Alexander II., with the empress, paid a private visit to the place, and laid 
the foundation-stone of a new church. The noble harbour is a repetition of Malta on a larger scale, and of 
Sidney on a smaller. Previous to the appearance of the town, there were two humble hamlets on the shores, 
Aktiar on one of the creeks of the southern .side, and Inkermann at the upper extremity. But the site was 
anciently occupied by Greek colonists from Heraclea, who founded a city, and gave it the name of the 
Heracleatic Cliersonesus, in memory of their original home. It survived every storm down to a comparatively 
late period. Two strong towers were entire after the rise of Sebastopol, a little to tlie south. Vestiges of walls, 
gates, dwellings, and sepulchres, the shafts and capitals of columns, were also found strewn over the ground. 
The Tartars regarded them with wonder and reverence, but the Russians swept them away by using them 
up as building materials. A railway is also commencing which will connect Sebastopol with Moscow. It 
win be 963 miles in length, and is in the hands of English engineers. Balaclava, about eight miles to the 
south, with one of the most completely landlocked harbours that nature ever made, has likewise been a 




Port of Balaclava. 

long occupied site. The Genoese held it while they were lordfs of the shore ; reared the fortress, the 
remains of which are on the heights; and originated the name, which is a corruption of hella cJiiare, 
' beautiful port.' Very fancifully, Dubois de Montpereux fixed the wanderings of Ulysses in the Euxine ; 
and regarded the harbour of Balaclava as the identical spot described in the tenth book of the Odyssey : 

* Witliin a long recess a bay there lies, 
Edged round with cliffs, high pointing to the skies ; 
The jutting shores that swell on either side. 
Contract its month, and break the rushing tide. 
Our eager sailors seize the fair rctveat, 
And bound within the port their crowded fleet ; 
For here, retired, the sinlting billows sleep. 
And smiling calmness silvered o'er the deep. 
I only in the bay refused to moor. 
And fixed, without, my hawsers to the shore.' 

Excluding the theory from notice, a more exact description could scarcely be given of the harbour of 
Balaclava, about three-quarters of a mile long, from 300 to 400 yards wide, very deep, with lofty promontories 
at the mouth, which so closely approach each other that two large vessels can hardly pass in the intervening 
channel. Kaffa, on a convenient roadstead of the east coast, has gone to decay, but contains many memorials 
of former importance, when, as the capital of the Genoese colonies, it was popularly called little 
Constantinople from its extent and prosperity. Kertch, on the strait leading into the Sea of Azov, with the 
distant summits of the Caucasus in view, is a small well-built town, entirely modern. It stands on the site 
of the ancient Panticapoeum, founded by Greeks from Miletus, eventually the capital of Mithridates, and of 
the kingdom of the Bosporus, from about 502 B. 0. to 344 A. D. This district is mentioned by Demosthenes 
as the gi'anary of Athens ; and the buck-wheat of Kertch carried off the prize at the Great Exhibition in 
Hyde Park in 1851. The environs are of special interest. Huge cones of earth stud the surface, tlie tombs 
of the wealthy and gay of a long-departed generation, which have yielded gold ornaments and trinkets, gilt 
bronze vases, all of very fine workmanship. A hill fronting the sea has the name of Momit Mithridates, as 
the supposed site of his palace. The traveller may now have historical recollections revived at Kertch, not 
only by undoubted remains of antiquity, but by putting up at the Bospheri Tractir, the Bosporus Hotel. 

Simferopol, the civil capital of the peninsula, is inland, on the banks of the Salghii-, in the hilly tract 
between the mountains and the plains, and has a population of 25,800. It has some handsome government 
buildings, with churches gay with pictures of saints in richly-gilt frames. But by far the most interesting place, 
a few miles distant, is Bakchiserai, the Palace of Gardens, the old metropolis of the khans of Crim-Tartaiy. The 
site is a Matlook-liko valley, through which a small stream wends its way. The houses are on its banks and the 



566 EUROPEAN RUSSIA. 

slopes of the hills on either side, interspersed with gardens, vineyards, and clumps o£ Lombardy poplars. The 
Serai, or palace, towards the centre, was restored as much as possible to its original condition by the Emperor 
Alexander. 

VII. EAST RUSSIA. 

This portion of the empire borders on the Ural Mountains, fringes part of the Caspian, 
and touches slightly upon the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov. It comprehends an 
extensive portion of the course of the Volga upward from its mouth, with a vast area of 
its basin, and stretches southward to the banks of the Kuban and the Terek, beyond 
which is Circassia and the other regions of the Caucasus. In its northerly extension the 
country has forests, pastures, and fertile cultivated soU. Corn is grown, cattle are bred, 
bees kept, woodland produce is abundantly obtained, and river fisheries are conducted. 
But the surface southerly consists chiefly of barren wastes, salt marshes, and lakes ; and 
the aggregate population is altogether inconsiderable in comparison with the immense 
area. Bordering upon Asia, a large niuaber of the people are much more Asiatic than 
European in features, dress, and habits. Mohammedanism is also the prevailing religious 
profession, while a species of Buddhism distinguishes some nomadic tribes. Nearly the 
whole of this part of Eussia was included in the khanates of Kazan and Astrakhan, two 
of the divisions formed out of the old empire of the Mongols upon its dissolution. They 
remained independent tiU, the middle of the sixteenth century, when they were reduced by 
the arms of the czar, Ivan the Terrible. 

Kazan, containing 58,000 inhabitants, stands on an affluent of the Volga, at a short distance from the great 
river, about 200 miles eastward of Nijni-Wovgorod, and 450 miles from Moscow. It has an oriental appear- 
ance, possesses numerous churches, nine mosques, and many educational establishments. There are various 
manufactures, and the city is an important dep5t for goods and produce passing to and from Siberia. Perm, 
comparatively small, towards the Urals, has metals extensively wrought in its neighbourhood, iron, copper, 
and platina. Onnhurg, on the river TJral, close to the border of Asia, is the thoroughfare of the trade 
between Eussia and Bokhara. Saratov, the largest town, seated on the right bank of the Volga, contains a 
population of 63,800. Astrakhan, with 44,700^ occupies an island formed by the river at its mouth. Across 
the Caspian, costly embroidered goods, raw silk, drugs, rhubarb, and other articles are received from Persia, 
while leather, woollens, salted fish, caviar, and isinglass are exported. The town has a mean appearance, 
most of the houses being of wood, and the fish-curing, of which it is the great seat, renders it additionally 
unattractive. But the place is somewhat remarkable for the number and diversity of its religious buildings. 
These include tliirty-seven Greek, two Eoman Catholic, one Protestant, and two Arminian churches, with 
fifteen Mohammedan structures, and an Indian temple. Stavropol, a small fortified town in the direction of the 
Caucasus, is the head of the government of that name, about midway between the Caspian and the Black Sea. 
JSTearer to the grand chain, with military appointments and Cossack garrisons, are BkaterinoAar, ' Catherine's 
Gift,' Ekaterinograd, and Kizliar, on the lines of the Kuban and Terek. 

CiEOASSiA extends along the slope of the moxm+ains from the Black Sea to about the meridian of 42 degrees, 
and, being on the northern side of the chain, is a border country of Europe. The people have no towns, but 
are distributed in villages seated liigh up the ravines, consisting of rudely-built cabins, and are physically 
among the finest specimens of the human race. Apart from their bravery and love of freedom, they have no 
claim to respect, having been accustomed to subsist in jjart by brigandage, and also by the sale of their 
female children to those who supply the slave-markets of Constantinople and other cities of the East. After 
a long struggle for independence, they have quitted their homes by thousands for the Turkish dominions. 
South of the Terek, on the side of the Caspian, extending thence to the Caucasus, is DAGHESTAlf, another 
border Eni'opean district, which has long been Eussianised, and formed into a government. Derbend, a town 
and port, at its head, with about 12,000 inhabitants, occupies an important mihtaiy position, at the entrance 
of a defile between the mountains and the shore, called by the ancients the ' Albanian Gates.' 

European Eussia contains a population of upwards of 65,000,000, a large aggregate, but 
a very small proportion to the vast area of the country, and irregularly distributed. Thus 
the northern province of Archangel, equal ia extent to the whole of Great Britain and 
France, has a much smaller number of inhabitants than the borough of Liverpool, not 
amounting to one individual to the square mile. No European state contains such a 
variety of races, but they are mainly referrible to four principal stocks — ^the Slavonic, the 
Finnish, the Teutonic, and the Turkish. But in a general view of the population, the 



GENERAL SUMMARY. 



567 



tlu'ce latter may be overlooked as of very inferior numerical importance, and attention 
fixed upon the Russians proper, the great branch of the Slavonic family, who alone 
number nearly 50,000,000. Though generally diffused, they are specially prominent in the 
central provinces, and speak a language subject to few dialectical variations considering 
the wide area over which it is spread, but one of extremely difficult attaiament to the 
foreigner. It embraces thirty-sis characters m its alphabet, some of which are Greek, 
with others peculiar to itself, and is the vehicle of only a very meagre literature. Modem 
Eussian writers use the German or French languages, which are commonly understood by 
the reading classes of society, and thereby secure for themselves a hearing at home and 
abroad. Nobles, many of whom are in the possession of immense estates, held by 
hereditary right, but with no political privileges annexed, form a large body. Clergy of 
the dominant church compose an enormous proportion in comparison with the number in 
other states, and enjoy some special immunities, being exempt from taxation and corporal 
punishment. They are in general very ignorant, and often too much addicted, along 
with their flocks, to strong potations of corn-brandy. Citizens of the middle and lower 
classes, chiefly engaged in trade, with government officials and military, constitute a 
considerable section of the population. But the great bulk of the people are in the rural 
districts as agriculturists, the majority of whom were, tiD. recent times, farm-labourers 
attached to the soil, and might be bought, sold, or exchanged with it, while completely 
under the dominion of the ' stick.' These serfs, after acquiring some legal protection 
from tyrannical masters, were emancipated by an imperial edict in 1861, subject to 
gradations of liberation. This grand social change is full of promise for the future. It 
must inevitably tend to reduce the prestige of the nobles ; but unfortunately, so degraded 
is the mental and moral condition of the Eussian peasant, while so few are the improving 
influences which can possibly gain access to him, that, under the most favourable 
circumstances, the hope of any speedy social and political advance cannot be indulged. 

Eeligious forms are prominent in the everyday phases of Eussian life, and whatever 
opinion may be formed of theu> character and influence, the sincerity of the observers of 
them in general admits of no dispute. The dominant and established faith is that of the 
Greek Church, of which the sovereign is the head. In the architecture of the sacred 
edifices, the Byzantine style, with its single or clustered domes, is more or less 
conspicuous. The interiors of those in the cities and great towns are splendidly- 
ornamented, and the services are conducted with great pomp. But display is much more 
obvious than taste in the adornments, and after the novelty is over, the ceremonies are 
wearisome to the stranger, from tire incessant crossings, bowings, and genuflexions, and 
the non-provision of seats. Each church has its inner sanctuary, shut off from the rest of 
the building by a screen, forming a kind of holy of holies, reserved for the use of the 
priests. It is subject to the singular regulation, that though laymen may enter, no 
woman, not even the empress, must intrude. Pictures of the Virgin and popular saints 
are suspended on the walls, to which the people pay great veneration, bowing to them, 
and lighting tapers before them, which are always on sale at the spot for the purpose. 
They are also hung up and similarly honoured in the thoroughfares, the shops, public 
offices, and dwellings. Easter is the grand festival, a carnival season. At a late hom' on 
the eve of the Sunday, the streets are thronged with people proceeding to the different 
places of worship, where a kind of dramatic representation of the resurrection is the 
principal feature of the service. The buUdings are only illuminated at one point, where 
the priests are stationed in full canonicals, while the congregations have unUghted tapers 
in their hand. After chanting litanies and repeating prayers, the officials retire into the 
inner sanctuary, and are supposed to be seeking the body of Christ. At the midnight 



568 EUEOPEAN RUSSIA. 

hour the screen is thrown open, and the announcement is made, Ohristoss voskress ! — 
' Christ is risen ! ' Tapers are then rapidly lighted, bells ring, cannon thunder, and 
congratulations are afterwards general ia the streets. Acquaintances meet with the 
greeting, ' Christ is risen,' and with the response, Vo-istino voskress ! — ' He is risen indeed !' 
Another rite ohserved with great state, the blessing of the waters, takes place in the 
depth of winter, on the day of the Epiphany, and is attended at St Petersburg by the 
emperor and the whole court. Over an opening made in the ice of the Ifeva, a stately 
canopy is erected, to which the archbishop and clergy proceed, followed by the secular 
dignitaries, while thousands of spectators are congregated on the frozen surface of the 
river. The act of blessing consists in the prelate taking the cross and plunging it into 
the water. The populace regard this ceremony with excessive superstition. Upon the 
retirement of the imperial cortege, they rush with eager haste to the opening, anxious to 
touch the consecrated stream, and fi.U pitchers from it to carry home. Even infants have 
been sent with their nurses to be plunged, under the idea that if the immersion is 
endured they wiU be fortified to bear all the perils of life. The last occasion on which 
Peter the Great appeared in public was at this celebration. He had been previously 
indisposed, and exposure to the severe weather of the season in a few days brought on 
his death. At Moscow, the waters blessed are those of the Moskva ; at Simferopol, the 
consecrated stream is the Salghir. 

There are Eussians, properly so called, who do not belong to the church of the empire, 
and have been subject to most oppressive treatment. They were once numerous through 
the whole country from the shores of the White Sea to the southern provinces, but have 
vastly diminished, toleration having subdued the sectarian obstinacy which persecution 
seldom faUs to strengthen. These parties are known by the general name of Easkolniks, 
a term which is exactly equivalent in its meaning to that of Dissenters in England. But 
their original dissidence from the establishment was the result of absurd ignorance and 
prejudice. They arose soon after the middle of the seventeenth century, when the 
Slavonic Scriptures and the liturgical books of the chujch, having become exceedingly 
corrupt in the process of transcription, were revised by an ecclesiastical council, and the 
purified texts were ordered to be alone used in the churches. This measure, wholesome 
in itself, met with opposition. Thousands, both of the clergy and laity, reverenced the 
antiquated copies, however corrupt, simply because they were ancient ; and preferred 
separation to conformity. Hence arose the Easkolniks, an imposed and not an adopted 
title, as the seceders style themselves by terms signifying adherents to the ' old faith,' or 
the ' old rite.' They now number only 759,000. The Eoman Catholics, who are chiefly 
Poles, are returned at 2,800,000 ; the Mohammedans or Turkish tribes in the south and 
east, at 2,320,000 ; the Protestants, principally Lutherans in Finland and the Baltic 
provinces, at 1,900,000 ; the Jews at 1,400,000 ; and the Greek Church includes the vast 
remainder. Though toleration is conceded, proselytism is dangerous. No member of the 
national communion can openly leave it for another fold without hazard of banishment 
to Siberia, while the government has long steadily aimed at securing as large an incor- 
poration of subjects as possible within its pale. The object of this poHcy is obvious, as 
the hierarchy and priesthood maintain their temporal head to be a kind of vicegerent of 
the Deity, whose decisions are not to be disputed. In the ecclesiastical constitution of 
the empire, he has all the authority and prestige of the pope in the Eoman Catholic 
communion, with the addition of wearing a military costume, and having more than half 
a million of soldiers at his command. ' I believe in God in heaven, and in the Czar on 
earth,' is part of the orthodox confession of faith. Hence as the power of the crown is 
strengthened in proportion as the personal ecclesiastical supremacy of its wearer is 



THE SPITZBERGEN ARCHIPELAGO. 569 

admitted, tho imperial government lias pursued witli no little zeal and unscrupulousness 
tlie work of proselytism to tlie national establisliment. Upon the issue of an edict 
directing the conversion of the Samoiedes from heathenism, some of them were speedily 
brought by missionary priests under a guard of Cossacks as candidates for the waters of 
baptism. 

The emperor is the only source of law recognised in the form of government. His 
authority is exercised by means of boards of administration which take cognizance of 
legislation, war, finance, and religion. His official style of Samoderjetz or autocrator, 
signifies that he governs simply by his own will. The title of Czar is an altered form of 
Coasar, adopted from the Eomau emperors. It was first used by Ivan III., who married 
a princess of the imperial Byzantine line in 1472, and also introduced the double-headed 
black eagle of Byzantium as the national symbol. Her issue reigned till the year 1598, 
when the House of EurLk, the founder of the empire, became extinct. After a term of 
dreadful turmoil under an usurper, a Eomanoff was raised to the throne, from whom the 
present dynasty descends. 

THE SPITZBEBGBN ARCHIPELAGO. 

Spitzbergen, an extensive island, upwards of 200 miles from north to south, and three 
considerable isles adjoining, Edge's, Prince Charles's Foreland, and North-east Land, with 
many of smaller size, and a multitude of rocks, form an archipelago in the Arctic Ocean, 
between the parallels of 77° and 81°, and the meridians of 10° and 24° east of Greenwich. 
Its position wiU be better understood by the statement, that it deviates a little to the 
west from being due north of the !N"orth Cape of Europe ; and the most southerly point 
is at the distance of more than 400 raUes from that promontory. The cluster contains 
the most northerly known land of the globe, with the exception of the coasts recently 
explored by Captain Inglefield in Sir Thomas Smith's Sound, an inlet runniag up from 
the head of Baffin's Bay. Throughout the long winter, it is completely environed by the 
polar ice, in a compact field, which extends for mUes to the southward, cutting off all 
communication with the external world; nor is there always an open sea in summer, so as 
to admit of the land being reached, though this is generally the case. On approaching 
the coast of this outlying region, the eye is arrested by a forest of peaks — the sharply- 
defined snow-capped tops of mountains — ^which rise to the height of from 3000 to 4000, 
feet, exhibit brown, lUac, and purple tints, as seen from a distance, giving them an 
unsubstantial appearance, as if the spires of faiiyland. Hence the name, Spitzbergen, 
' the peaked mountains.' ^^ 

On further acquaintance with the scenery, its general desolation powerfully impresses 
the mind, though both animal and vegetable life have representatives on the shores. 
' How shall I give you an idea,' remarks Lord Dufferin, on landing, past midnight, the 
6th of August 1856, 'of the wonderful panorama in the midst of which we found 
ourselves ? I think, perhaps, its most striking feature was the stillness — and deadness — 
and impassabihty of this new world : ice, and rock, and water surrounded us ; not a sound 
of any kind interrupted the silence; the sea did not break upon the shore; no bird or any 
living thing was visible ; the midnight sun — ^by this time muffled in a transparent mist- 
shed an awful, mysterious lustre on glacier and mountain ; no atom of vegetation gave 
token of the earth's vitahty ; an universal numbness and dumbness seemed to pervade the 
solitude. I suppose in scarcely any other part of the world is this appearance of deadness 
so strikingly exhibited. On the stillest summer day in England there is always percept- 
ible an under-tone of life tliriHing through the atmosphere ; and though no breeze should 
stir a single leaf, yet — ^in default of motion — ^there is always a sense of growth ; but here 



570 



EUROPEAN RUSSIA. 



not SO mucli as a blade of grass was to he seen on the sides of the bald excoriated biUs. 
Primeval rocks — and eternal ice — constitute the landscape.' Upon closer examination, a 
scanty flora is observed near the level of the sea, but vegetation ceases at a very incon- 
siderable elevation above it. It consists of moss and lichens, sisty-three species of 
flowering plants, and the dwarf willow creeping a few inches above the ground. The 
animals are reindeer, the Arctic fox, white hare, polar bear, the walrus, seal, and sea-fowl 
of many varieties. 

Elvers of ice, or glaciers, occupy the valleys between the mountains, several of which, 
according to a careful estunate made by Dr Scoresby, were forty or fifty miles ia length, 
by ten or twelve ia breadth. They terminate seaward in crystal cUffe from 400 to 500 
feet high. In the height of summer, the loftiest summits lose their winter covering of 
snow, owing perhaps to the accumulation of heat consequent on the sun being above the 
horizon for three or four months together, and their own elevation above the region of 
fogs and mists. ^Nothing is more remarkable than the contour of the mountain-tops, 
literally jagged spikes of stone, or steep narrow ridges on which a man might seat himself 
as if on the back of a horse. This feat was actually performed by Scoresby, who was 
rewarded with the view of a striking panorama. The ascent is toilsome and dangerous 
from the looseness of the surface, often schistose strata, which the frost has fractured and 
crumbled. Ko true volcanic rocks are known. Coal occurs, and is so readily procured 
that the Dutch whalers were formerly in the habit of laying in a stock for the homeward 
passage. On one occasion some walius-fishers took as many as fifty tons to Ham m erf est 
in Norway. Dolomite marble is found agreeing in colour, grain, and other characters, 
■with the statuary marble of Italy. The precious garnet is not uncommon, and is therefore 
of all the gems the one which has the widest geographical range, extending in the 
northern hemisphere from the equator to withm a few degrees of the pole. Among 
weU-known localities on the west and north coasts, there are English Bay, a secure 
roadstead between Prince Charles's Poieland and the mainland ; ]\Iitre Cape, a singular 
cliff which Scoresby clambered up ; Hakluyt's Headland, the north-west point ; Cloven 
Cliff, named from its resemblance to a cloven hoof, so perpendicular that it is never 
covered with snow ; Moffen Island, where Ilf elson had an adventure in his youth j and 
Hecla Cove, whence Parry started on his attempt to reach the pole. 

Great interest belongs to the history of Spitzbergen. In 1633 the Dutch contemplated 
a permanent settlement there, and seven sailors volunteered to stay the winter. On the 
30th of August, they were left in !N"orth Bay; and at once began to visit the neighbouring 
shores, looking out for fresh provisions. On the 27th of May next year, a boat was seen, 
to the great joy of the sojourners, which soon conveyed them to their coTintrymen in a 
neighbouiing bay. It is evident that they were indebted for their preservation from 
scm'vy, and endurance of the severity of the climate, to their prudence in securing the 
vegetable antiscorbutics, subsisting as much as possible on fresh provisions, and leading 
an active life. 

Encouraged by this successful experiment, seven other seamen offered to renew it in 
the ensuing season, and were left apparently furnished with every facility to go through 
the dreary interval with the like result. But they had not the intelligence and energy of 
their predecessors. Disappointed in early attempts to procure fresh victuals, they shut 
themselves up in their hut, when the sun left them on the 20th of October, and scarcely 
ever stirred out of it. Attacked by scrurvy, it soon assumed a malignant form, in the 
absence of fresh meat, vegetables, and requisite exercise, tOJ three died, whose bodies were 
with difficulty enclosed in cofiins by the others. Some rehef was found by the survivors 
in killing a fox and a dog for food, but not enough to arrest the progress of the malady. 



WINTER IN SPITZBEEGEN. 571 

Tlicir mouths became ulcerated ; they could not chew their biscuit ; and only one had 
power to rise from liis bed, and kindle a fire. This was their miserable condition when 
the sun reappeared on the 24th of February. Their journal closes with the record : ' We 
are all four stretched on our beds, and are still aUve, and would eat willingly, if any one 
of us were able to rise and light a fire. We implore the Almighty, with folded hands, to 
dehver us from this life, which it is impossible to prolong without food or anything to 
warm our frozen limbs. ISTone of us can help the other ; each must support his own 
misery.' In the early spring the fishing- vessels arrived, and a pai-ty repaired to the hut. 
They found it a sepulchre. Three of the men were enclosed in the coffins which had 
been framed for them ; the other four lay dead, two in their beds, and two on a piece of 
sail spread upon the floor. These last had perished from sheer inability to make the 
effort necessary for reaching and dressing their food, and the gripe of the frost had brought 
knees and cliin together, so that they lay rolled up like a ball. 

More than a century elapsed before another instance of wintering at the spot is on 
record. Tliis was a most extraordinary adventure, wholly inadvertent. In 1743 a 
Eussian vessel from Archangel visited the shore, and four seamen landed, soon to find 
themselves imprisoned, for a violent tempest arose, which drove the ship out of si^ht 
and it was never heard of afterwards. Thus abandoned, without the slightest preparation 
for a stay, the unfortunate men did not despair. They had a gun, with which twelve 
deer were kiUed, before their small stock of powder was expended. Then finding some 
pieces of iron on the beach, they contrived to fashion them into pilses. With these 
Aveapons, just as their store of flesh was beginning to be exhausted, they attacked a 
polar bear, and despatched him after a formidable struggle. The animal supplied food 
his skin clothing, and the entrails, duly prepared, furnished the string for a bow, with 
which they coiild once more assail the reindeer. By the activity which the necessities of 
then- position imposed, and subsisting on fresh meat, these hardy men preserved their 
health, and endured the hardships of a wearisome sojourn through the extraordinary 
period of six years, looking often but in vain for dehverance. During that time they 
killed 10 bears, 250 reindeer, and a multitude of foxes. At last one of them died, and 
the three sm-vivors, regarding his fate as significant of their own, were sinkino- into 
despondency, when, on the 15th of August 1749, a vessel was descried. They hghted 
fires on the heights, hoisted a flag made of skins, and were discovered by the ship, which' 
proved to belong to their own countrymen. Since that period Eussian hunters have 
repeatedly wintered in huts on the coast, taking care to provide themselves with fresh 
provisions, and collecting those pFants from under the snow which act as antidotes to 
scurvy, often making their way out by the chimney, when the snow-drift has blocked up 
the door. But it is not uncommon for human skeletons to be found, scantily sepulchred, 
or not at all, either struck down by ordinary disease, or accident, or unable to endure 
the climate. 

The archipelago, so dreary and so isolated, was brought within the range of yachting by 
Lord Dufferin, in the Foam, in August 1856, who, in the course of a ramble on shore, 
unexpectedly stumbled upon a human relic. ' Half imbedded in the black moss, there 
lay a gray deal cofiin, falling almost to pieces mth age ; the M was gone — blown off 
probably by the wind — and within were stretched the bleaching bones of a human 
skeleton. A rude cross at the head of the grave still stood partially upright, and a half- 
obhterated Dutch inscription preserved a record of the dead man's name and age : 
"Vander ScheUing .... Comman .... Jacob Moor .... Ob 2 June 1758 ^t 44." 
It was evidently some poor whaler of the last century to whom his companions had given 
the only burial possible in this frost-haidened earth, which even the summer sun has no 



572 



EUROPEAN RUSSIA. 



force to penetrate lieyond a couple of inctes, and which mil not afford to man the 
shallowesb grave. A bleak resting-place for that himdred years, I thought, as I gazed on 
the dead mariner's remains ! It was no hrother-mortal that lay at our feet — softly folded 
in the embraces of "Mother-Earth" — ^but a poor scarecrow, gibbeted for ages on this 
bare rock, like a dead Prometheus ; the vulture, frost, gnawing for ever on his bleaching 
relics, and yet eternally preserving them ! ' 

A Swedish scientific expedition rmder Mr Torell visited Spitzbergen ia the year 1861, 
when many positions were astronomically determined for the correction of maps, while 
new harbours were discovered, and numerous zoological, botanical, and geological 
specimens were brought away. It was ascertained beyond doubt that the Gulf Stream 
impinges upon the coast — its utmost limit Ln a northerly direction. ITot only was the 
seed of Mimosa scandens discovered there, but also quantities of glass bottles, which the 
inhabitants of the Norwegian shores use as floats for nets in their cod-fisheries. The 
pumice-stone found in abundance upon the strand, in all probability, is drifted thither by 
this stream from Iceland, as a branch of it sweeps the southern coast of that island, while 
the drift-timber common to both Iceland and Spitzbergen is conveyed by an opposite 
current from the northern shores of Asia, to which it is carried from the interior by the 
Siberian rivers. Birch bark was met with, rolled together in a peculiar form, evidently 
manufactured by man, which the fishermen of Siberia use as net-floats. Upon examining 
a white bear that was shot, the stomach was found full of plants, thus proving that these 
animals can be herbivorous. A curious fact was ascertained relative to the wabus, that 
among other uses the tusks are employed to dig up food from the bottom of the sea, as 
the stomach of one contained a quantity of the Myn truncata, a species of sand-mussel. 
It lies buried at least one foot below the surface of the mud, and could only have been 
reached by the walrus using his tusks like a dung-fork. Deep-sea soundings yielded 
interesting results. Several species of living mollusca and Crustacea were brought up from 
the depth of 1300 fathoms. The nominal sovereignty of the Spitzbergen group is claimed 
by Eussia. 




Sea-shore, Spitzbergen, after Lord Dufferin's Sketch, 



20 SO 40 SO 60 70 SiJ *' 














il> 



^:!r-*^ 



' A .V 



' d":'-^s'^-n) 






ASIA 



nr 1 HARIHOIflMEW f K ' 



•V I) 

K,,„.„„, 



S ,.; .4 <^.^ 



'••l..„d. 






(."-''(♦•^ pi 



<) ( 



70 l.an^ivndr Ka 













lir-kg- ^' .,." ,5; ,. ^«.*f^^ )..:..> v''iv^^^ \4^^» 






V E S -fi:^ , J 









r<-^n-.v.,.c. nr *^ Vf ,t J^'' v t»"^ '/^ ^o** 



.^,vitf^ 



.^--jiSK 



C- X i^JF-* N^^'^y /?^^ ^ ^""•'i r ^^"\ '^'• 








The Gausriankar Peak, Himalaya range. 

PAET 11. 

DESCRIPTIVE GEOGRAPHY OF ASIA. 

INTKODUOTOEY CHAPTER. — GENERilj VIEW OF ASIA. 

SIA, t]ie largest of tlie great land divisions of the globe, 
and the most populous, takes the lead also in diversity of 
surface, variety of organic forms, and historical antiquity. 
It is nearly five times the size of Europe, considerably 
exceeds that of Africa and Europe taken together, and 
surpasses the joint masses of JSTorth and South America. 
5^ Within its limits are found more than half of the whole 
population of the earth, yet so little proportion is there 
between this vast number of inhabitants and the magnitude 
of their dweUing-place, that Europe is three times more 
densely peopled. The immense region contains the loftiest 
T^Ji^Ew^ifc5^^^%^ elevations and the deepest depressions of the terrestrial 
surface, "with the most varied and highly-developed forms of animal and vegetable life ; 




574 GENERAL VIEW OF ASIA. 

while from its plains, valleys, and hiUs have been distributed to other parts of the 
world the most valuable of the domesticated quadrupeds, the choicest fruits, and those 
food-plants which are most important to the daily sustenance of mankind. 

The mainland of Asia is situated entirely in the northern hemisphere, but it makes a 
very close approach to the equator, within a hundred miles, and the insular appendages 
advance southward of the Hue. In the opposite direction it passes far into the depths of 
the north polar zone. Whde conterminous with Europe, and attached to Africa by the 
slender Isthmus of Suez, its eastern extremity is only separated from America by the 
narrow channel of Behring Strait. The other boundaries are the Caspian and Black Seas, 
the Arcliipelago, Mediterranean, and Eed Sea, on the west; the Indian Ocean on the 




Section of Asia on the Meridiin of Comonn. 
\, Capo Comonn : B, Chira Gup C NUglienea 9D71 , D Table-land of tho Deccan o m E Valley of Nerbndda , F, Vindbja. Chain ; G, Table-land of 

Olalva, 1600, a, Plaiaa of India 1000 I HiinalayaB ?1 000 T Lidak 1 10 L Ki ' ^ '" "' -" - " "- " ■-■ 

0, Saiean Lake, 850, P, Altai Mouutatus 11063 R iUr i-i il Is! o PI ins ot Sil 



L, Khntan,M, Tian Shan Mountalna ; N, Talragatai, 7418; 




Waterfalls, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, of Buadelkund G, of tho Himalaya Ghauts , 7, of the Jumna , 8, of the Gaoges, 9, of the Gntsnpah , 10, 11, 12, of the Godavcry. 



south ; the Pacific on the east ; and the Arctic on the north. These ocean-basins advance 
to some extent inland, forming minor seas, fimged and dotted with numerous islands. 
The most important are the Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal, southern ; the China, 
Yellow, and Japanese Seas, with that of Okhotsk, eastern, each of which has its 
subordinate gulfs. On the northern side the indentations are numerous, but upon an 
inferior scale, and have more the character of river estuaries than oceanic inlets. 

Generally sj)eaking, Asia is distinguished by great compactness. It has therefore a 
smaller extent of coast-line in proportion to its magnitude, though reckoned at 35,000 
mUes, with fewer maritime advantages than the other continents, Africa alone excepted. 
The maia mass forms a trapezium, from which there are huge projections. Those on the 
southern side remarkably correspond to the projections of Southern Europe. Thus, 
peninsular Arabia, on the west, is the gigantic counterpart of the Western Spanish 
peninsula ; India, with the adjoining island of Ceylon, central, has a famUy-hkeness, but 
with broader features, to Italy and the instdar SicUian dependency, similarly placed ; and 
India beyond the Ganges, with its multitudinous islands, eastern, may be taken for a 
magniiied representation of the eastward Turko-HeUenic tract and the bordering Greek 
arcliipelago. But there are striking differences between Asia and the other great masses 
of land, both as it respects horizontal and vertical configuration. Europe may be compared 
to a body with very prominent Umbs ; Africa, to a body without members ; while Asia 
has arms of enormous magnitude, with a body preponderating conspicuously in its 
dimensions. Glancing at America, its extension is principally in the direction of the 



StrPEEFIOIAL AREA. 



675 



^M E D I T e R RA M EA N. S £/• 



%> 



'm 



meridian, Tjut ttat of Asia is somewliat propor- 
tionate in latitude and longitude. The highest 
mountains of America are in the -vvestem coast 
ren-ion, its most extensive lowlands are central, 
while the highest mountains of Asia are towards 
the centre, and its low-lying levels are maritime. 

The superficial area of the continent, not 
including the islands, is commonly reckoned at 
17,.500,000 square miles, equivalent to nearly one 
half of the entire land of the globe. Its extreme 
points are all maritime. Cape Eomania, in 
Malacca, forms the southern extremity, and Cape 
Severe, in Siberia, the northern, respectively in 
latitudes 1° 20' and 78° 20' north. The western 
limit is Cape Baha, on the shore of Asia Minor, in 
longitude 26° 4' east, and the eastern, a headland 
on Behring Strait, is defined by the meridian of 
170° west. Prom north to south, the greatest 
extent amounts to about 5400 miles, following 
the meridian of 100°. This is slightly exceeded 
by the linear distance, east and west, along the 
parallel of 40°; but a diagonal line drawn from 
north-east to south-west, or from Behring Strait to 
the Isthmus of Suez, measures not less than 6700 
miles, and intersects no considerable body of water 
except the southern part of the Caspian. An 
enormous number of insular appendages closely 
adjoin the mainland. They occur chiefly in groups 
and chains, are variously of volcanic or coraUine 
formation, and have an aggregate area equal to 
one-fifth of the extent of Europe. The Northern 
Ocean contains the desolate and highly fossUiferous 
cluster of New Siberia. The Aleutians, stretching 
out in a curving line towards America, the long and 

narrow tract 



. ^^Op;WAft ' 






, mreniM 



OF ADEN 



wm 



J.DOWER ,1: 



576 GENEEAIi VIEW OF ASIA, 

the Andaman and Nicobar, tlie Maldive and Laccadive groups. "Westward, in the 
Mediterranean, are Cypnis, Ehodes, and other dependencies of the Lesser Asia. But 
the grand insular examples are on the south-east, where the large masses of Sumatra, 
Jaya, Borneo, Celebes, the Philippines, and a world of contiguous isles, compose the 
East Indian or Malayan Archipelago. This splendid region — the ' gardens of the sun ' 
in eastern speech — divides the basin of the Indian from that of the Pacific Ocean, leads 
by a series of huge stepping-stones to within haU of Australian lands, and forms part of 
a separate division of the globe rmder the name of Oceania. 

The interior of Asia embraces lowlands, plateaus, chains and groups of mountains, 
developed upon a scale in harmony vdth its colossal proportions. Six great lowlands are 
prominent in the vertical configuration of the surface — ^namely, the Siberian, by far the 
largest ; the Chinese ; the Indo-Chinese ; the JSTorth Indian ; the Syrian, compre- 
hending the historically-renowned basin of the Euphrates ; and the plain of Turkestan, 
part of wMch is an area of actual depression, being below the level of the sea. These 
low-lying levels are of vast extent, and vary in their character, from dreary and desolate 
wastes, true sandy or gravelly deserts, nearly rainless and waterless, to districts of the 
richest soil, clothed with continually exuberant vegetation, which are visited periodically 
with copious showers, and irrigated by rivers of ample voliune. Great extremes of 
temperature occur in these regions, some districts being subject to a burning heat for 
the greater part of the year, while others are carpeted with deep snow for as long an 
interval, and the subsoil constantly remains so firmly frozen, that, in order to excavate 
a grave of any depth, fire is commonly employed to thaw it, even in the midst of summer. 
Densely-crowded cities and large village populations occupy the plains of China and 
Bengal, but the signs of human life are few and far between on those of Siberia and 
Turkestan. Two prinoij)al highland systems are likewise distinguished in the continental 
interior. The one is south-western, sometimes called the Tauro-Caucasian ; the other is 
central, generally styled High Asia, on account of its stupendous elevations, with which 
extensive ranges of subordinate mountains and intervening high grounds, on the east and 
north-east, are connected. 



KABA KOROUM/(\^ 



ASiflTfC yft, ////''' I 





TURKEV 




Mountains of Asia. 



The south-western highland system includes the table-lands of Iran or Persia, Armenia, 
and Asia Minor, which range in altitude above the sea from 3000 to 7000 feet — the 
Armenian being the loftiest. It forms a grand platform for the volcanic cone of Ararat, 
which attains a total height of 17,323 feet, and is the colossal boundary-stone of three 



THE HIMALAYA MOUNTAINS. 577 

great empires, standing at the convergence of tlie Eussian, Persian, and Turkisli 
dominions. This generally higHy-elevated region is a kind of mountain nucleus, with 
■which several chains are more or less directly connected, wliile some immediately radiate 
from it. They include the Zagros Mountains, in Kurdistan, running parallel to the 
Tigris, as the eastward boundary of its basin ; the range of Taurus, extending into Asia 
Minor in several branches, and sending oif Lebanon as a southerly prolongation into 
Syria and Palestine ; the bolder Caspian Mountains which skirt the southern shores of 
that sea; and the still more majestic Caucasus, intersecting diagonally the isthmus 
between it and the Black Sea, the ridge-line of which is part of the boundary between 
Asia and Europe. Ifear the centre of the last-named grand chain is Mount Elburz, 
crowned with snow and clad with glaciers, untrodden by the foot of man, which attains 
the height of 18,493 feet, and may be regarded, from its position on the frontier, as at 
once the culminating-point of Europe and of Western Asia. The table-lands of this 
region diifer widely in their character. Those of Persia are sternly desolate, consisting of 
sandy and salt deserts, with the blast of u.tter barrenness upon them, while those of Asia 
Minor, though treeless, afford fine pasturage, and are the summer camping-grounds of 
nomadic tribes. Several of the mountain-passes present fine scenery, and were celebrated 
in ancient times as the routes of armies, as weU as the thoroughfares of commerce. Alexander 
the Great, in his wild eastern campaigns, crossed the Taurus by the Pylae. Ciliciae, or 
Cilician Gates, a defile which connected the old provinces of Cappadocia and CiUoia, 
now called the Pass of Golek B6gh4z. He proceeded from Asia Minor into Syria by the 
Pylos Syrice, now the Pass of Beilan, in the range of Am.anus, close to which Darius was 
overthrown on the battle-field of Issus. In pursuit of the fugitive monarch, he threaded 
the Pylcii Caspice, a rent in the high mountain-wall south of the Caspian, in the 
neighbourhood of the modern Persian capital. In a central part of the Caucasus, the 
present Pass of Dariel, converted into a military-road by the Eussians, represents the 
Portce Oaueasice, or Caucasian Gates of the Eomans. Then* Portce Albanice, at the eastern 
extremity of the range, between it and the Caspian, is now called the Pass of Derbend. 

The central highland system is an immense region of table-lands and mountains, occu- 
pying an area much larger than the whole of Europe, and containing the most elevated 
points of the terrestrial surface. It forms the core of the continent, and exerts a natural 
influence which is felt at the opposite extremities. The parallels of 28° and 53°, and the 
meridians of 73° and 120°, generally defijie the extreme limits, equal to a linear distance of 
1730 miles from north to south by 2400 mUes from east to west. This remarkable 
district, High Asia, many parts of which are stiQ very obscurely known, appears to be a 
four-sided protuberance, with chains of mountains on its borders, all of which rise far above 
the line of perpetual snow; while some ascend to that elevation, on the exterior, rising from 
the zone of apricot and pomegranate trees, of rice and cotton, of sultry heat and tropical 
jungle. The southern side is formed by the gigantic Himalaya rampart ; the western by 
the Bolar-Tagh or Cloudy Mountains ; the northern by the Altai chain ; and the eastern 
by the Khing-Khan, In-Shan, Yung-Ling, and other Chinese ranges. Intermediate to 
the Himalaya and Altai— the southern and northern walls — ^parallel to them and to each 
other, are the equally grand chains of the Kuen-Lun and the Thian-Shan or Celestial 
Mountains. The country, thus bordered and intersected, consists of high plains, diversified 
with vaUeys, streams, and lakes, but by no means of imiform elevation, though the general 
level is high hi relation to that of the sea. Between the Himalaya and the Kuen-Lun, 
comprehending the whole of Tibet, the plateau ranges in altitude from 10,000 feet to a height 
exceediag that of Mont Blanc, and is the loftiest in the world. The table-land of Pamir, 
on the north-west, has a mean elevation of 1.5,000 feet. From west to east the surface 



578 



GENERAL VIEW OF ASIA. 



generally declines, but probably the lowest part, including the wliole of Mongolia, a region 
of sandy deserts, has an average elevation of from. 3000 to 4000 feet, and is tlie most 
extensive table-land of tbe globe. 

The Himalaya Mountains form a magnificent frontier to the north of India, and separate 
its low plains from the high plateau of Tibet. They follow a curving course of consider- 
ably more than. 1000 mUes, contain the greatest elevations of the earth's surface, and 
answer to the meaning of their name, ' the abode of snow.' Upwards of forty peaks have 
been ascertained to exceed the altitude of 23,000 feet ; several rise to a much greater height ; 
and one, Mount Everest, or Gausriankar, represented at the head of this chapter, copied 
from the magnificent atlas of the Brothers Schlagintmeet, attains to very nearly 29,000 
feet, the highest known point on the globe. On the southern slope of the range, 
mosquitoes go up to 8000 feet; monkeys and tigers to 11,000; the leopard to 13,000; 
and snakes to 15,000 feet; whUe the dog follows his master over the loftiest passes. 
The main masses are separated by deep gorges, which furnish routes between India 
and Tibet, but aU of them above 16,000 feet are closed with snow from ISTovember tiU 
May. The Parang Pass, in Spiti, ascends to 18,500 feet, and is the loftiest used as a 
commercial thoroughfare ; but the Ibi-Gamin Pass, leading into Gurhwal, reaches the 
elevation of 20,450 feet. Glaciers abound in the higher parts of the mountains, many of 
which are of great magnitude, and apipear to correspond to the icy masses of the Alps in 
their rate of movement. Their lower extremities are found at the height of from 11,500 
to 12,000 feet, south of the great peaks, but on the northern side, where the snow-line 
is higher, they are not met with below 16,000 feet. The illustration of these stupendous 
mountains has been chiefly efl'ected by English expeditions from India, while that of the 
Altai, the opposite northern wall, has been accomplished by Eussian men of science and 
travellers from Siberia. 




The lugh ociiLial mass of the continent has mountainous connections on the noith-east, 
stretching out to the shores of the Pacrfio Ocean and Behrmg Strait. In the opposite 
direction, it is linked with the south-western highland system by the Hindu-Kush, a 
prolongation of the Himalaya, extending through Afghanistan to the plateaus of Persia. 
But besides these two systems wholly distinct from tliem, the Asian highlands include the 
eastern slope of the Urals on the frontier of Europe, the lofty table-lands and ranges of the 
Arabian peninsula, the elevated groimd of the Deccan in India, walled by tlie Eastern and 
Western Ghauts, and the scantily known chains of China and the Indo-Chinese countries. 
The region of the Caspian offers a striking contrast to the uplands, and a singular exception 
to general terrestrial arrangements, as the expanse occupies an area of actual depression, 
its surface being below the level of the Black Sea. Active volcanic mountains are very 
rare except in the peninsula of Kamchatka, and in the islands, where they are numerous 
and formidable. Two examples in the continental interior, connected with the Thian-Shan, 
apparently feeble, are remarkable as variations from the prevailing rule of such sites being 
proximate to the sea, as they are upwards of 1500 mUes from the nearest point of the ocean. 
Earthquakes are frequent and often violent in the southern region, especially in the 



PEINCIPAL EIVBRS. 579 

south-west, as in ancient times, when the Hebrew writers graphically descrihed their terrihle 
phenomena by the bowing down of the perpetual hills, the wilderness shaking, the earth 
reeliag to and fro lilce a drunkard, and being removed like a cottage. These are not 
altogether the highly-coloured pictures of imagiaation, but refer to dread phenomena 
which have then- counterpart in the modern age within the bounds of Syria, Palestine, 
and Asia Minor. 

Magnitude and diversity mark the hydrography of Asia. The snows and glaciers 
of the high uplands are the sources of magnificent rivers, which, though not. equal in 
length and volume to those of the western world, owing to the different disposition 
of the mountains, make a very close approach to them, while the lakes are remarkable for 
their number, size, and varied attributes. At the same time vast tracts of the surface are 
waterless wastes. In the northern half of the continent the great streams have a very- 
languid current in then* mean state, owing to the vast extent of country between the central 
highlands in which they rise, and the Arctic Ocean to which they flow. So slight is the 
declination of the surface, that Tobolsk, on the Irtish, though 550 miles from the sea, is 
little more than a hundred feet above its level. For the same reason the rivers overflow 
their banks, and spread out in wide inundations, upon the melting of the snows wliich 
deeply cover the whole of their basins in winter ; and in that season they are useless as 
navigable channels, being strongly frozen. In Southern Asia the rivers are generally rapid, 
having a considerable fall, consequent on the comparative proximity of the highlands from 
which they descend, to the ocean. They are subject to an annual or a semi-annual rise, 
from the melting of the snow in spring towards their sources, and from the deluges of rain 
which periodically visit the countries they traverse. 

Binary rivers are characteristic of the hydrographic condition of the continent, and are 
nowhere else exhibited in such a prominent manner. The components of the double 
systems rise not far apart from each other ; pursue, with a variously-divergent course, the 
same general direction ; and either finally come to a confluence, or converge to a common 
delta, or enter the ocean in comparative proximity. Thus the colossal streams of the 
Chinese Empire, the Hoang-ho and Yang-tse-ldang, are in near neighbourhood at the 
beginning of their course, butTseparate to the '^distance of 1000 miles on then- eastward 
flow, and again approach, having their outlets in the Yellow Sea, very little more 
than 100 miles asunder. The Indo-Chinese peninsula is traversed by a series of great 
parallel rivers, which pour down from the central table-land, the Irawaddy and Salueyn, 
the Meinam and Cambodia, forming conspicuous pairs, the former having a common 
estuary in the Gulf of Martaban, the latter entering the Chinese Sea. Prom opposite 
slopes of the Himalaya Mountains, but not far apart at their rise, the Ganges and 
Brahmaputra descend to mingle their waters in the same vast delta, at the head of the 
Bay of Bengal. The twin streams of the Euphrates and Tigris issue from contiguous 
sources in the highlands of Armenia, diverge to a considerable distance, and then 
gradually approach to an actual confluence, flowing in one channel to the Persian Gulf 
But a considerable proportion of the river-drainage of Asia never reaches the ocean, being 
discharged in inland seas or lakes, which are without any outlet, and yet experience little 
change of level, as the strong evaporation fuUy counterbalances the supplies received. 
Among the rivers which are thus whoUy continental in their course, the principal examples 
are the Amu or Jihun (ancient Oxus) and the Sir or SOiun (Jaxartes), entering the Sea 
of Aial; the Kur (Cyrus) and the Aras (Araxee), received by the Caspian; the Helmund, 
descending from the Afghan highlands to the Lake of Zuri-ah; the Yarkand, which 
terminates in Lake Lob, on the great central plateau ; and the Jordan, which flows into 
the Dead Sea. Several of the Asiatic rivers are of older historical date and celebrity than 



580 



GENERAL VIEW OF ASIA. 



Principal Rivers. 


Course. 


Termination. 


Length 
in Miles. 


Obi, . 


. Western Siberia, 


Arctic Ocean, 


. 2500 


Yenesei, . 


Central Siberia, . 


ri 


2900 


Lena, . 


. Eastern Siberia, 


II 


. 2400 


Amoor, 


Eastern Asia, 


. Pacific Ocean, . 


. 2300 


Hoaug-ho, . 


. China, 


Yellow Sea, 


. 2600 


Tang-tse-kiang, 





ri 


3200 


Brahmaputra, 


. Tibet, 


Bay of Bengal, 


. 1300 


Ganges, . 


. Northern India, . 


II 


1491 


Indus, 


» u . 


Indian Ocean, 


. 1700 


Tigris, 1 
Euphrates) ) 


Western Asia, 


. Persian Gulf, 


(1140) 
11780) 



any others, ■with, the exception of the Nile. The Tigris and the Euphrates recall the 
memory of the Assyrian and Babylonian monarchies, which arose upon their banks ; the 
latter is associated with the wanderings of Hebrew patriarchs ; and the Jordan, with the 
passage of Israel into the Land of Promise. 

The following table presents approximate estimates of the course of the principal 
rivers. 

Area o£ Basin 

in Square Miles. 

1,250,000 

1,110,000 

960,000 

900,000 

400,000 

760,000 

350,000 

420,000 

400,000 

230,000 

Lakes are extremely numerous, both on the high table-lands and in the low plains, and 
have very diversified features. They offer indeed more striking contrasts as to extent, 
position in relation to the level of the sea, and the physical quality of the water, 
than lakes in any other part of the globe. The Caspian Sea, situated on the 
European frontier, but chiefly within the limits of Asia, is a true lake, and is called a sea 
from its vast magnitude. It is the largest inland body of water in the world, considerably 
exceeding the united area of the lakes of Canada, spreading over a surface of 140,000 
square mUes. In the direction of its length, from north to south, it extends about 
700 miles, by an ' average of 200 from east to west, and has great central depth, 
amounting in places to 500 fathoms, though shallow along the shores, which are 
extensively fringed with sheets of ios on the north every winter. The water is salt, 
though less so than that of the ocean. "While receiving the great stream of the Volga, 
and other rivers, the Caspian has no outlet, yet its level, instead of rising, appears to be 
sinking, owing to the strong evaporation duriug the summer months. Its depression 
below the surface of the Black Sea may be regarded as an ascertained element, but is 
probably more moderate than was formerly supposed. The navigation, almost wholly in 
the hands of the Eussians, is now conducted by steamers, and the fisheries are valuable. 
The Sea of Aral, to the eastward, is similarly a lake without an outlet, though receiving 
river contributions, and has an area of 26,000 square miles. It is less salt than its 
neighbour, and being comparatively shallow, the surface is largely frozen over in winter. 
Little was known of this expanse previous to the years 1846 — 1848, when it was 
explored by the Eussian government by means of schooners built at Orenburg, and 
transported in. pieces across the interveniag steppe. Towards the centre some islands 
were discovered, before unknown even to the Kirghiz wanderers on the shores, which 
received the name of the Islands of the Czar. The Lake Sir-i-kol, on one of the central 
plateaus, where the Oxus rises, 

' In his high mountain cradle in Pamere,' 

is the most elevated sheet of water on the terrestrial surface, at the height of 15,600 feet 
above the sea-level, or nearly as high as the top of Mont Blanc. It is crescent shaped, 
about fourteen miles long, by an average breadth of one mde, frozen, and deeply covered 
with snow during the winter months. By the end of Jime the ice has broken up ; the 
snow has entirely cleared away from the neighbourhood ; swarms of aquatic birds appear 



OLIMATB AND TEMPBRATURE. 581 

upon tlio water ; and tlio natives drive up their horses and sheep from the lower grounds, 
to pastiu-e on its banks tiU the inclement season returns. As a contrast to this high lake, 
the Dead Sea in Palestine is 1300 feet below the level of the Mediterranean, and is 
remarkable for the intensely saline quality of the water, though it is not, as sometimes 
stated, the saltest water in the world, being exceeded by that of the Lakes Elton in 
Kussia, and Urumiah in Persia. The largest Asiatic fresh-water expanse. Lake Baikal, iu 
Siberia, has an area of about 15,000 square miles, with peculiarities of a different kind. 
It is the Holy Sea of the Eussians, who regard it with superstitious feelings, owing to an 
apparently mysterious movement of its waters in calm weather, apparently occasioned by 
the earthquake shocks which are common on its shores. The navigation is highly 
dangerous, arising from the excessive violence of the winds, their unsteadiness, and 
sudden shifting. It is a proverbial saying, that it is only upon the Baikal in autumn, 
when its surface is most vexed by the rude and inconstant gales, that a man learns to 
pray from Ms heart. In winter the lake is covered with ice four feet thick, and is then 
traversed by sledges, laden with tea and other products from China. 

Eanging in its latitude from the equatorial to the polar zone, and varying in its 
elevation from sites actually depressed below the level of the sea, to mountains rising five 
miles above it, the continent has every diversity of chmate within its bounds, the 
extremes of heat and cold, of aridity and moisture, of rain in torrents, causing the hot 
earth to steam, and snow in cloiids, covering the frozen surface to the depth of several 
feet through more than half the year. In the southern countries, embracing the two 
Indian peninsulas, the south-west of China, and some maritime parts of Persia and 
Arabia, the climate may be generally characterised as hot and moist. No real cold is 
experienced except in the more elevated districts, to which the phenomena of winter, 
frost, and snow are exclusively confined. At Calcutta the mean temperature of summer 
is 86°'7, that of winter 72°-2, and that of the year 82°4. The rains are seasonal and 
regular, often falling with tremendous violence, so that in the course of a few days, 
eometimes of a few hours, the amount precipitated is equal to the whole annual 
quantity received in higher latitudes. The winds, over a large proportion of the area, are 
periodical or monsoons, blowing from the north-east and the south-west alternately, and 
maintaining each direction for six months together. In the more easterly localities, as at 
Canton, the average annual amoixnt of heat is considerably less, and the difference between 
the temperatxu'es of opposite seasons much greater. In the middle Asiatic zone, on the 
lofty plateaus, the temperature is low, the wind biting, and the air dry, as the high wall 
of the Himalayan range prevents the northerly progress of warm moist cuirents from the 
tropics. Through the entire north the climate is extremely rigorous ; and the coldest in 
the world in the basin of the Lena, in the eastern division of Siberia. A short, warm 
summer alternates with a winter extending from the middle of September to that of the 
following May, dm-ing which, in ordinary seasons, mercury remains a solid body for two 
months, all the rivers are frozen up through seven months, and the whole country is 
covered with a deep layer of hard snow. This rigour is occasioned partly by the 
obstruction offered by High Asia to the advance of warm air from the south, and 
in part by the great levels on the shores of the Arctic Ocean, which freely admit the 
polar blasts. 

Great range of latitude and difference of level, with the connected diversity of climate, 
render the vegetable features of Asia extremely varied. Dense jungles of arborescent 
ferns, orchidaceous plants in profusion, and forests of stately timber, characterises the 
warm and watered southern zone. Entire treelessness, where there is only a temporary 
supply of trailing plants, coarse grass and rushes, mosses and lichens, when the dissolving 



582 



GENERAL VIEW OF ASIA. 



snows permit the surface of the ground to be exposed, distinguishes the extreme northern. 
In the less inclement parts of Siberia, pines, birches, and -willows form enormous 
woodland.s, and make the furthest advances to the north, assuming gradually a stunted 
appearance, and occurring only as stragglers. Berry-bearing plants are abundant, as the 
crowberry and bilberry, with some herbaceous species of cuHnary value. In the middle 
zone, comprehending the high table-lands, trees of large growth are scarce ; vast districts 
are almost entirely bare of arborescent forms ; but succulent grasses abound as pastures 
for flocks and herds, wild and domesticated. Vegetation in the southern zone, including 
India, the greater part of China, and specially the Indo-Chinese peninsula, with the Indian 
Archipelago, is remarkable for its exuberance, beauty, varieties, and utility, not only to 
human subsistence, but the. arts of life. Porest trees furnish timber prized for ship- 
building in the Indian teak, with a profusion of ornamental and dye woods, and the 
substances caoutchouc and gutta-percha, very extensively applied in arts and manufactures. 
The caoutchouc or India-rubber tree is of large size and great beauty, one of the fig family, 
to which the banyan-tree belongs, so peculiar from the lateral branches sending down 
shoots to the ground, which take root, and become stems — 

' And daughters gro^v 
About the mother-tree.' 

In the warm and temperate region generally, the botany is rich in products which 
supply food, luxuries, and medicines, besides a vast variety of plants distinguished for 
theii floral ornaments. Palms of dififerent species in the tropical districts furnish dates. 











cocoa-nuts, and sago, where also the banana, plantain, and yam contribute largely to 
sustenance. The sugar-cane is a native of India and China; the tea-plant, wild and 
cultivated, is common to China, Japan, and Assam ; the coflfee-bush clothes the highlands 
of Yemen; the cinnamon lam'el flourishes in Ceylon ; the pepper vine grows on the coast 
of Malabar, and in the islands of the Archipelago ; nutmegs and cloves are the crops of 
the Moluccas ; the camphor-tree is found in China and Japan ; the rhubarb of the 
druggist occurs throughout most of the temperate zone ; and so distinctive of the warmer 
parts of Arabia, Persia, and adjoining localities, are plants yielding odoriferolis gum-resins, 



ANIMAL AND VEGETABLE PRODUCTS. 



583 



tliat tlie countries are grouped together as tlie Eegion of Balsam-trees. While the native 
seat of the vine, orange, lemon, olive, peaoh, nectarine, apricot, damson, cherry, fig, and 
mulberry, it is probable that the important cereals, wheat, barley, and oats are of Asiatic 
origin, lUce rice. Beautiful flowering-plants, now widely diffused — oameUias, azaleas, and 
China-asters, the China rose, the damask rose, the common jasmine, the peony, hydrangea 
and cliiysanthemum — ^liave their home in Asia, where they floiu'ish in wild luxuriance. 

The animal kingdom is also distinguished by the diversity and importance of its forms, 
more so than in any other division of the globe, especially in relation to the larger quadru- 
peds. Asia alone possesses the tiger, and has in common with Africa, but of different species, 
the lion, ele|)hant, and rhinoceros. The tiger, though eminently the tyrant of the jungles 
in the warm regions around the Bay of Bengal, bears a cool atmosphere, and hence is found 
high on the mountains, and far to the north, even to the confines of Siberia, but does not 
appear in the south-western countries. The lion has a much more restricted northerly 
range, but advances further west, to the banks of the Euphrates, and not so anciently — in 
Aristotle's time — the lion was found more westerly stUl, in Thrace and Macedonia. The 
elephant and the rliinoceros are not known north of the Himalaya or west of the Indus. 
On the shores of the Arctic Ocean the white bear growls, and the walrus splashes in the 
waters. Formidable species of the bear family inhabit the northern pine-woods, and a 
comparatively harmless race appears in the tropical forests, intent upon insects, fruit, 
and honey. The reindeer and elk, the wolf and fox, with the small fur-bearing animals, 
are characteristic of Siberia. Troops of the wild horse and ass, with goats, sheep, and 
varieties of the ox tribe, are prominent on the upland plains and mountains of the central 
region, some of which never leave the highlands, while others pass between them and the 
lowlands, according to the season, almost all occurring also, reduced to a state of 
domestication. The wild ass, high-spirited, fleet, and wary, scours the levels of Tiirkestan 
as a summer pasture, and appears on the shores of Lake Aral, but migrates southward in 
vast troops on the approach of winter to Persia and the borders of India, being impatient 
of cold. On the contrary, impatient of warmth, the yaik, or Tibetan ox, never quits the 
keen air of the mountains, can scarcely exist in summer at the height of 8000 feet, and 
has been met with ia small herds at the elevation of 19,000. The camel is distinctive of 
the lands of great heat, where there is often great drought — India, Persia, Syria, Arabia — 
though it is met with far to the north, on the confines of Siberia, close to the southern 
limit of the reindeer. Through aU the warmer parts of the continent the hyena and 
jackal are common, with numerous species of monkeys, the largest of which, the orang- 
outang, is limited to the Malayan peninsula, and the adjoining islands. The ostrich, 
king of the birds, inhabits the south-western deserts ; the nightingale sings in Persia ; 
but birds of song are generally scarce, while those of splendid plumage abound in the 
south-eastern districts. All our domestic poultry, except the turkey, originally came 
from Asia, where they run wUd in the woods, with the peacock and pheasant. Both 
the temperate and the warm regions have dangerous reptiles. The largest saurian, the 
gavial or crocodile, infests the Indian rivers ; the python, an ophidian, sometimes of 
enormous length, crushing its prey with its folds, haunts the forests and swamps ; the 
smaller cobra-de-capello bites with deadly venom. In the countries of the south-west, 
locusts occasionally display the power of agents — feeble singly — to commit dreadful 
ravages by the combined action of myriads. They obscure the sky as with a cloud when 
on the wing, and alighting upon the fields, destroy the subsistence of villagers, in a few 
hours, by consuming the crops, with every green thing in their way; 

The mineralogy of Asia is rich and varied. Mines were opened within its limits in 
far remote ages. The mountains of Kurdistan, on the eastern border of the old 



584 GENERAL VIEW OP ASIA. 

Assyrian Empire, have ancient -workings from ■wMcli supplies of copper, iron, and lead 
vers drawn. Mr Layard, during his interesting explorations in the region, visited a 
disused copper-mine, only known to a few mountaineers, nearly Mocked up with earth 
and ruhhish. He found the metal occurring in veins, small crystals, compact masses, 
and powder, and recognised at once in the latter the material used to colour the bricks 
and ornaments in the exhumed palaces of ISTineveh. Inscriptions on copper, various 
utensils, figures of lions in the soHd metal found in the long-huried haUs, hear witness to its 
extensive use, while it is the ordinary material of tools, daggers, arrow-heads, and armour. 
Gold, copper, and iron are now ohtained from mines in connection with the Ural 
Mountains ; gold, silver, iron, lead, and the finest porphyries from the Altai chain. Tin 
has heen supplied for centuries by Banca Island, in the Indian Archipelago ; quicksilver 
occurs in Tibet, China, and Japan ; kaolin, or porcelain earth, and zinc are abundant in 
China ; coal is found in Asia Minor, India, China, and Japan ; salt is extensively 
distributed ; the best lapis lazuli, used for ornamental jDurposes, from which also 
ultramarine is made, is procured in Bokhara ; and Asia has furnished a greater number of 
precious stones of the more costly kind than any other part of the world. The largest 
topazes come from Siberia, the finest sapphires from Ceylon, the best rubies from 
Burmah, and the most valuable diamonds, which are European crown jewels, are of Asiatic 
origin. The great Eussian diamond, placed at the top of the imperial sceptre, formerly 
adorned the throne of Nadir Shah, and passed from Persia to St Petersburg for 450,000 
rubles, about £70,000. The Eegent diamond, the property of Prance, at first set in the 
crown, and then affixed to the sword of state, was purchased in India by a governor of 
Madras, and re-sold to the Eegent, Duke of Orleans, for about £80,000. But these are 
exceeded in size and value by the Koh-i-niir, ' mountain of light,' the property of the 
English Sovereign, originally found in the year 1550, on the banks of the Godavery, in 
the Deccan. This was long the pride of the Mogul emperors, from whom it passed to 
Eunjeet Sing, ruler of the Punjab, and became British upon the annexation of that 
territory to the Anglo-Indian Emphe. 

The inhabitants of this vast continent are supposed to number 650,000,000, equal to 
nearly two-thirds of the population of the globe, according to the ordinary estimate. 
They consist almost exclusively of indigenous races, for the descendants of the old Greeks 
who colonised the shores of Asia Minor, with the Eussians, British, and other Europeans 
in their respective possessions, form comparatively a very insignificant fraction. From 
the inhospitaUty of the climate through the entire north, and the large area occupied by 
towering mountains, chill plateaus, and dry sandy deserts, the people are very irregularly 
distributed, being thinly sprinkled over Siberia, High Asia, Turkestan, Persia, and 
Arabia, while densely massed on the rich aUuvial plains of China and Bengal. Discrimi- 
nated by difierences of physical conformation, the Asiatics generally are divisible into two 
great groups of nations. A line drawn from the delta of the Brahmaputra along the 
Himalaya Mountains, and thence passed westward by the Hindu-Kush to the Caspian 
Sea and the Caucasus, will generally define their respective geographical positions. South 
and west of the line are nations belonging to the variety of mankind, commonly, but 
improperly, called the Caucasian, consisting of the Hindus, Afghans, Persians, Syrians, 
Jews, and Arabs. On the north and east are populations corresponding to the Mongolian 
type, embracing the Chinese, Indo-Chinese, Japanese, Mongols proper, Kirghis, and other 
branches of the Turkish family, with the semi-barbarous native tribes scattered through 
Siberia. The Malays, in the extreme southern peninsula, and prominent also in the 
Indian Archipelago, are mainly a MongoUan subdivision. 

The first great group embraces two widely-distinct linguistic families — the Indo- 



EACH AND KBLIGION. 585 

European or Aryan, and tlio Syro-Arabian or Shemitic. To tlie former belong the inhabit- 
ants of Northern India, Afghanistan, Persia, and Armenia, whose different languages 
(springing, however, from the same root) are distinguished by a higlily-developed system 
of inflections ; to the latter the inhabitants of Syria, Palestine, Mesopotamia, and Arabia, 
in whose kindred tongues inflections aie much fewer. The second group branch likewise 
into two divisions — the Chinese and Indo-Chinese languages, monosyllabic and whoUy 
destitute of inflections ; and the other tongues of the Mongolian nations which are more 
or less inflexional and polysyllabic. 

Among the various forms of religion in Asia, two systems, inveterately hostile, 
prevail in the south and south-east, where population is the densest, and are remarkable 
as governing the thoughts and actions of more than half the human race, Buddhism, with 
perhaps not less than 400,000,000 professors, and Brahmanism, with 120,000,000. The 
former holds sway in Ceylon, Burmah, Siam, Tibet, ITepaul, the Japanese empire, and 
over the Mongols generally. The latter is the national creed of India. Yet there is 
reason to beKeve that Buddhism was once extensively prevalent for a long period even iu 
India, till uprooted by persecution from the priesthood of the other creed. Among the 
monuments of past time in that country, cavern-temples occur belonging to both religions, 
wliich curiously illustrate their difierence, and prove their former contiguity. The deities 
of Brahmanism are supposed to have often become incarnate, under a variety of forms, 
sometimes appearing with many heads and hands, or with the heads of animals, and other 
unnatural combinations, of which there are sculptured representations in the cave-temple 
of Elephanta, near Bombay. Buddhism, on the contrary, does not recognise a god at all 
— even in the Pantheistic sense. It is a system of utter Atheism ; it knows no beings 
with greater supernatural power than any man is supposed capable of attaining to by 
virtue of austerity and science ; and a remarkable indication of this startling fact is to be 
seen in the circumstance that some at least of the Buddhist nations — the Chinese, 
Mongols, and Tibetans — have no word in their languages to express the notion of 
God. ]Sro Buddhist believes that even Buddha any longer exists. He has reached 
the blessed goal of existence, and has passed away into Nirvana, or Annihila- 
tion, The essential idea of this strange religion, which finds no place either for 
a god, or for the doctrine of Immortality, is that existence is, on the whole, a restless, 
insecure, unhappy thing, to escape from which is the consummation of felicity, and 
Buddhism only professes to teach a way to escape — ^the path to Nu-'vana. In temples of 
this faith there are no many-headed and many-handed monsters sculptured, no 
combinations of man and beast, but simply the images of men in various attitudes, 
sometimes standing upright, but usually sitting crosslegged in a meditative posture. At 
no great distance from Bombay, the caves of Kanara, in the island of Salsette, and those 
of Karli on the mainland, belong to Buddhism ; those of AmboH, also in Salsette, and of 
Elephanta adjoining, belong to Brahmanism; while examples of both kinds occur at 
EUora, in the territory of Hydrabad. 

The creed of Islam ranks next in the number of its adherents within Asian Hmits, 
reckoned at 60,000,000, consisting of aU the Aiabs, the Turkish tribes, the Persians, the 
Afghans, and a considerable number of the Hindus, upon whom it was enforced by the 
sword of invaders. Christianity and Judaism divide a comparative remnant between 
them. Eorms of heathenism linger among the rude natives of Siberia; and Guebres, 
descendants of the followers of Zoroaster, remain in India and Persia, addicted to 
sun-worship — 

' Those slaves of fire, who, morn and even, 
Hail their Creator's dwelling-place 
Among the living lights of Heaven.' 



58C 



GENERAL VIEW OF ASIA. 



Communities exist in the basin of tlie Euphrates and Tigris whose usages have a mixed 
Pagan, Jewish, Mohammedan, and Christian complexion. 

The principal countries of Asia are enumerated in the table, with their area and 
population, but in most instances these elements are approximations merely : 



Area in 

Sq. Miles. 

Paissian Asia— Siberia and Trans-Caucasia, . . . 5,486,750 

Ottoman Asia — Asia Minor, Turkish Armenia and Kurdi- ) ggg onn 

stan, Mesopotamia and Babylonia, Syria and Palestine, ) 

Arabia, 1,200,000 

Persia or Iran, ,450,000 

Beloochistan, Afghanistan, Kafiristan, .... 390,000 

Tiu-kestan, comprising Bokhara, Kliokan, Ktmd&z, ) ^20 ooo 

Khu'gliis Territory, ' 

India — British, Protected, and Independent States, . . 1,383,600 

Further India — British Possessions, Burmah, Siam, ) ggg ngn 

Anam or Cochin Cliina, Malaya, . . . . i 

Chinese Empire, comprising Cliina Proper, Corea, Mant- \ g ggg qqq 

churia, Mongolia, Tibet, ) ' ' 

Japanese Empire, 210,000 



Population. 
8,328,000 
16,050,000 

8,000,000 
8,000,000 
5,600,000 
1,700,000 
90,000,000 
18,905,000 

415,500,000 
30,000,000 



Capitals or 
Chief Towns. 
Tobolsk, Teflis. 
( Smyrna, Aleppo, 
I Damascus. 
Mecca. 
Teheran. 
Kelat, CabM. 

Bokhara, Khiva. 
Calcutta. 
Moulmein, Bankok. 

Pekin. 
Jedd.0, 




Burial-place of the English and French killed at Petropaulovsk. 



I 





Desert of Gobi. 



CHAPTER I. 



ASIATIC RUSSIA. 



USSIAN ASIA comprehends two unconnected tracts, very 
dissimilar in size, climate, superficial features, and inhabitants 
— Siberia, in the north, a vast, monotonous, and dreary 
region — Tfins-Caucasia, in the south-west, a comparatively 
small district, highly diversified, and splendidly luxuriant. 
They are separated from each other by a portion of Turkestan 
and the basin of the Caspian Sea. 

I. SIBERIA. 

Siberia embraces the whole northern part of the continent, 
extending from Turkestan and the Chinese Empire on the 
south to the Arctic Ocean on the north, and from the chain of the Urals on the 
■west to the coast of the Pacific on the east. A linear distance of 1900 miles may 
be traversed, due north and south, and one of nearly 4000 miles, east and west. 
The total area is computed not to be less than 5,000,000 square miles, thus exceeding 
by one-third that of the entire surface of Europe, while the population does not equal 
that of Scotland. On the western side, a portion of the country is included in the 
European governments of Perm and Orenburg. Southerly, in the direction of Turkestan, 




5»« ASIATIC RUSSIA. 

no frontier exists ; and the policy steadily pursued by Eussia is to appropriate as muoh as 
is desirable, and can be aooomplisbed. From the Chinese dominions, the general 
boundary is defined eastward by the river Amur, and westward by the Altai Mountains. 
This chain, or rather series of ranges, though of moderate elevation generally, rises above 
the liae of perpetual snow in Mount Bielukha, which attains the height of 11,000 feet. 
Further west, the border has recently been advanced to the northern range of the Thian- 
Shan, or Celestial Mountains, towards which, settlements of Cossacks and immigrant 
peasants now make a close approach, aU of them dating since the year 1854, when the 
Russian colonisation of the district commenced. 

Lowland plains, declining very gradually from . south to north, or towards the Arctic 
Ocean, occupy an immense proportion of the surface. Some are clothed with dense 
forests of pine, aspen, larch, and birch. Others, in the west and south-west, are true 
steppes, with no vegetation for hundreds of miles except a few bushes, willows, and saline 
plants, but plentifully besprinkled with salt lakes and marshes. The whole northern 
zone consists of the mossy, rush-grown levels, called tundras, swampy in summer, hard 
bound with ice and snow in winter, which have been styled ' the types of everlasting 
rest,' from the invariable sameness of their seasonal features, and the impossibility of 
altering them by introducing cultivation. In the eastern portion of the country, there is 
greater superficial diversity. Eanges of mountains occur, which are finely clothed with 
woods in the southerly districts, and enclose fertile valleys. These features are specially 
characteristic of the region of the Baikal and the Amur. Three great river-systems 
ramify over the whole surface from south to north, and discharge in the Polar Ocean. 
The Obi, with its principal arm, the Irtish, is western; the Tenesei, with its chief 
affluent, the Angara, is central ; the Lena, with its leading tributary, the Aldan, Eastern. 
Further east is the Kolima, with a shorter course, belonging to the same basin, and on 
the south-east the frontier river Amur flows to the Pacific. A melancholy interest is 
attached to the Irtish, on which stands Tobolsk. Its passage is considered the entrance 
into Siberia Proper, and hence the ferry is the symbol of political death to the exile. In 
this river perished Yermak, an adventurous Cossack, who began the conquest of the 
country in the last half of the sixteenth century, during the reign of Ivan the Terrible. 

The central Tenesei is distinguished by Lake Baikal, in the upper part of its basin, the 
drainage of which is conveyed to its channel by the Angara. This crescent-shaped 
expanse of fresh- water covers an area of 14,000 square miles, and has great depth, with 
rugged granitic mountains on its borders. The water is remarkable for its clearness and 
low temperature. It forms part of the great line of communication between the Russian 
and Chinese Empires, being navigated in summer, and traversed by sledges in the winter 
season. Though receiving upwards of a hundred rivers, it has only the single outlet 
mentioned. Lake Balkash, and its neighbour the Issikul, the latter at the base of the 
Thian-Shan, with many others, have also important magnitude, and the number of smaller 
dimensions is immense. Both lakes and rivers swarm with fish, while the woods and 
waters are haunted by myriads of gallinaceous and aquatic birds. The zoology embraces 
the white and black bear, the woK and glutton, the reindeer and elk, the fur-bearing 
species, as the sable, ermine, marmot, marten, beaver, fox, and squirrel, with a valuable 
race of dogs. Coniferous trees compose the main mass of the forests, and make the 
furthest advances to the north of the arborescent vegetation. The undergrowth of the 
woods consists extensively of edible berry-bearing shrubs ; and herbaceous plants of large 
size are common in the less frigid regions, as the species of rhubarb cultivated in Europe 
for the table, which was originally derived from the temperate zone of Asia. 

A Siberian climate has become a proverbial expression for the extremity of rigour. 



CLIMATE OF SIBEEIA. 589 

Over the wliole country tlie reign of -winter is long and severe ; mercury remains a solid 
body for two or three months together in ordinary seasons through the north-eastern 
districts ; and snow-hurricanes occur, as sudden as they are violent, which endanger the 
traveller hy completely obstructing his view and obliterating the track. The lower jDart 
of the valley of the Lena is the coldest region of the globe. At Yakutsk, in this basin, 
only a little further north than the Shetlands, the first night-frost, announcing the advent 
of winter, and withering the leaves of the birch, occurs usually by the 17th of September. 
The frost becomes unabating day and night by the middle of October, and the river is 
frozen up by November 2. Throughout January the mean temperature is 45° below zero ; 
breathing becomes difficult ; and the reindeer hides himself in the depths of the forest. 
About the beginning of April the first symptoms of thaw in the shade are observed. 
The last night-frost occurs about 12th May, and the Lena is free from ice by 25th May. 
During a brief summer, in July, the hottest month, the mean temperature is 68°, and the 
surface is completely thawed. Scanty crops of the hardy cereals and useful vegetables are 
then raised. But the heat only penetrates the ground to an inconsiderable depth, three 
or four feet, below which the soil is perpetually frozen. Though the climate has not this 
extreme character in the western and southern parts of the country, yet rigour is everj''- 
where its invariable feature, and hence agriculture can only be prosecuted to a very limited 
extent. In the milder region a few fruit-trees succeed, the gooseberry and cherry. 
Wheat is grown in the upper part of the basin of the IJrtish, but rye, barley, and oats are 
principally cultivated, and have in general their northern limit at the parallel of 60°. 

In compensation for an inhospitable climate and restricted husbandry, nature has been 
lavish in siipplying various kinds of produce independent of the arts of cultivation, such as 
fish, furs, peltry, metals and precious stones. According to Erman, the minimum amount 
of the annual take in the fisheries of the Obi may be estimated at 26,000,000, consisting 
of sturgeons, salmon, herrings, and other migratory species. Great havoc has been made 
among the animals valued for their furs and skins by the exterminating warfare of the 
hunter. Some of the most important have nearly disappeared from the western districts, 
and are chiefly captured in the remote eastern region. Sable furs rank with the most 
valuable, according to the deepness of their colour ; also ermine furs, purely white ; fiery- 
fox furs, of a brUliantly glowing hue j sUver-fox furs, of a lustrous gray ; and sea-otter 
furs, remarkably fine, soft, and glossy, are obtained along the shores of the Pacific Ocean. 
Tribute furs for the emperor are exacted from the native tribes as an acknowledgment of 
allegiance ; and they are rendered of-4ihe finest kind by the simple people, imder the idea 
that they will reach St Petersburg. But as they pass through the hands of many 
individuals, each substitutes an article of an inferior quality, and the tribute rapidly 
deteriorates in value. 

In the variety and amount of its mineral wealth, Siberia is unrivalled, embracing the 
precious and the useful metals, with some of the rarest gems. The great sites of mining 
industry are along the base and slopes of the Ural and Altai Mountains. In the former 
locality, gold is obtained by washing from the sands and gravel on the borders of the 
streams ; copper-ores abound, with noble specimens of the green carbonate, or malachite ; 
but ii'on, bulging out at the surface, is the first product in point of quantity, and of 
financial importance. The precious metal is also occasionally met with in considerable 
masses. Upon the auriferous deposits of the river Miass seemiag to be exhausted, new 
explorations were made in the neighbom'hood, particularly along a little stream, the 
Targana. The search for gold was attended with great success in the marshy plain 
through which it flows, and the surface was completely turned over, except that part of it 
occupied by the buildings in which the washing operations were conducted. In 1842 it 



590 



CLIMATE OP SIBERIA, 



was resolved to take down these workshops, and examine the soil, when sands of extreme 
richness were met with, and a ' nugget ' was found weighing ninety-six and a half pounds 
troy. This mass, of the estimated value of £4000, now in the coUeotion of the Corps 
des Mines at St Petersburg, was the largest known example of native gold prior to the 
Australian discoveries. The mining prosperity of the Ural dates from the reign of Peter 
the Great ; and origuiated with Nikita Demidoflf, ancestor of the present noble family of 
that name. His portrait is a favourite subject with humble artists, who usually represent 
him graspiug a sturdy staff as the untiring explorer of the mountains. The woods of the 
Demidoffs, near ISTevyansk, so essential to the smelting of the metals, cover an immense 
area, and are still untouched to a wide extent, where the elk has not been disturbed. 
Eussians, Germans, English,- and other foreigners, are the miners and artisans, as the 
native Bashkirs and Voguls look upon such employments with aversion. Their only 
concern, on the arrival of the first adventurers, was to have the fossil remains of the huge 
animals respected, which were found imbedded in the soil, under a misconception of their 
character. ' Take from us,' said they, ' our gold, if you wOl ; but leave us the bones of 
our great ancestors.' 

The riches of the Altai, principally silver, with gold from the sands, copper and lead 
ores, were not fully disclosed tiU a comparatively recent date, though the first mine was 
com m enced by the son of the Demidoff mentioned, in the year 1728. It is remarkable 
that in both the mining districts, decisive evidence exists, in pits and galleries, sometimes 
containuig relics of implements, of their treasures having been freely drawn upon in 
remote antiquity. 'Seex the silver-mines of the Schlangenberg, or Snake Mountain, there 
is an ancient excavation extending 1000 feet, plainly artificial ; and a stone sphinx, 
discovered in one of the old workings, of rude construction, is now preserved in the 
museum of Barnaul. These monuments appear to throw light upon a statement of 
Herodotus, who, speaking of the Arimaspes, the most easterly Scythians of whom he could 
obtain any account, refers to their mines of gold, guarded by griffins and monsters, which 
Humboldt identified with the bones of elephants and other animals at present to be found 
in the steppes between the Ural and the Altai. Both districts supply precious stones of 
great beauty and value, and of many varieties ; the emerald, amethyst, beryl, topaz, rose- 
tourmahne, and garnet ; jaspers, deep green, dark purple, dark violet, cream coloured, and 
striped ; porphyries of equally variegated hue, which are made into columns, pedestals, 
vases, and tables in the establishments of the government. The Alexandrite, a species 
of beryl, shewing the Eussian colours, green and red, received that name from having been 
discovered in the Urals on the bhthday of the Emperor Alexander. A fine topaz from 
the same locahty, in the museum of St Petersburg, measures nearly five inches in length. 
AH precious stones, wherever found in Siberia, are the property of the emperor, but do 
not always find their way into the imperial cabinets and jewel-cases. Instances of gem 
smuggling and gold stealing have repeatedly been detected at the mines, in which of&cials 
have not unfrequently been implicated. 

There is a third great mining region, the district of !N"ertchinsk, in the country beyond 
the Baikal, rich in lead, quicksilver, tin, zinc, and iron. At quite a recent date, discovery 
has added plumbago or graphite of the finest quality, highly prized for making lead- 
pencils, and very rarely found in considerable quantity in any condition, whether fine 
or coarse, to the known minerals of the country. An extensive bed occurs on the 
summit of the mountain of Batongul, not far from the Chinese border. To work 
the m ines, criminals convicted of the highest crimes are sent from European Eussia, 
chiefly to those situated in the remotest districts. Minor delinquents, and political 
offenders generally, are established by themselves in little knots as agricultural 



COMMERCE. 591 

colonists, under regular supervision, restricted as to distance and tte use of firearms. 
Tliis system of deportation, dates from tlie reign of Peter tlie Great. JSTot a few 
statesmen, generals, and authors have shared the banishment, with a host of unfortunate 
Poles of the middle ranks, guilty of patriotism. The number of exiles is estimated at 
about 10,000 annually, including the wives who choose to share the lot of their husbands. 
One-fifth die in the first ten years, owing to change of climate and general hardshiiDs. 

Fossil ivory is a valuable and curious part of the produce of the country. It consists of 
the tusks of mammoths, elephants, and rhinoceroses of extinct species, found imbedded in 
the frozen soil in the lower part of the valley of the Lena, but occurring more abundantly 
in the islands of New Siberia, or the Liakhov group, in the Arctic Ocean. It is remark- 
able that the tusks decrease in size and weight from south to north, as if they had been 
borne to their present sites by some great drift in that direction, which carried the lighter 
ones the furthest. Those of the islands are the smallest, but are much whiter, and 
apparently fresher, than those of the continent. The ivory, though of inferior quality to 
that obtained from the living species, is used in the arts. 

The foreign commerce is almost exclusively with Cliina, and is very extensively carried 
on entirely by barter. Merchants from Pekin bring to the frontier teas, raw and manu- 
factured sUk and cotton, all kinds of porcelain, lacquered ware, artificial flowers, toys, 
ginger, rhubarb, musk, sugar-candy, and other sweets. The greater part of the raw cotton 
is employed in packing up the porcelain. Camels are chiefly used in the transport of this 
merchandise across the Mongolian desert to Maimatchin, one of the principal trading 



^l!"^I ^- 






av^**''!''^**^^^ 





stations on the Chinese side of the border, a journey of about forty-six days from the 
Great Wall. Furs, skins, metal wares, and other native produce, with European 
manufactures, ai'e brought to the adjoining Kiachta on the Eussian side. These goods 
are conveyed along the rivers in summer, and overland on sledges, drawn by dogs or 
reindeer, in winter. They might be transmitted all the way from Kasan, Nijai-lfovgorod, 



592 



ASIATIC RUSSIA. 



or St Petersljurg hj water, but owing to the long intervals during which the frost 
suspends navigation, three summers would be required for the transit. The interior trade 
is largely conducted at fairs, to which the natives briug then* furs, and exchange them 
for the articles they requhe. 

Siberia is distributed into two vast regions, western and eastern, each of which has a 
governor-general at its head, and is subdivided into miaor governments. 

GoTernments. Chief Towns. 

"Western Division, . . Tobolsk, . . . Tobolsk, Omsk, Tinmen, Berezov, Ekaterinburg. 
" " . Tomsk, . . . Tomsk, Barnaul, Kolyvan, Semipolatinsk. 

. Yeneseisk, . . . Teneseisk, Krasnoiarsk, Abakansk, 
Eastern Division^ . Irkutsk, . . Irkutsk, Kiachta, Nertoliinsk. 

. Yakutsk, . . . Yakutsk, Aldanska, Nijni-Kolimsk, 
Amur, . , . Blagoveshensk, Aigun, Nioolaevsk. 

. Okhotsk, . . . Okhotsk, Kamenoi-Ostrog. 

Kamchatka, . . Petropaulovski, Nijni-Kamchatsk. 
. Tohoukchi Coimtry, . Ostrovnoi, Anadirsk. 

With two or three exceptions, these places are of unimportant size. They are chiefly 
bmlt of timber, and would be utterly insignificant but for the public offices and works 
established by the government, with the barracks of the military. 

Western Siberia includes the whole basin of the Obi, and the greater part of that 
belonging to the Yenesei. Enormous forests of coniferous trees are spread over the 
central and north-western parts of the surface, in which last du'eotion the larch extends 
to the mouth of the Obi, and the utmost limit of arborescent forms, though the tree is 
only known in Europe as a native at a southerly latitude, on the mountains of Austria. 
On the south and south-west, extending to the Caspian and the Aral Lake, are vast 
steppes, apparently interminable and dismally monotonous, with no elevations but a few 
low hiUs, and with scarcely any vegetation except taU rank grass, occupied by wandering 
hordes of the Kirghis. On the south-east, a change of scenery awaits the traveller in the 
newly-colonised Trans-IHan region, as the basin of the Ili, one of the feeders of Lake 
Balkash, is called. This expanse separates the uniform steppe from the mountain-ranges 
which lead up to High Asia, in the midst of which Lake Issikul, bounded by the chain 
of the Alatau on the north, and the Thian-Shan on the south, is cradled. The valleys 
here contain scenes of surprising beauty and richness ; the apricot, pear, apple, plum, and 
the vine flourish ; and while, on the one hand, the landscape fades away from a con- 
siderable elevation into the silvery surface of Lake Balkash, and what seems a boundless 
plain beyond, the eye catches in the opposite direction the dazzling whiteness of 
perpetually snow-olad heights. 

Toholsh, though not the capital, is the largest town, with 20,000 inhabitants, seated on the L-tish, near its 
confluence with the Tobol. It is much frequented, being on the commercial thoroughfare between European 
Eussia, Further Siberia, and China. The streets are regular and spacious, but the buildings are of wood, with 
the exception of the cathedral and a few public edifices. It contains a monument to the memory of Yermak, 
the founder of Russian influence in the country. Tanneries and soap manufactures are the principal 
industries. Omsk, higher up the Irtish, at its junction with the Om, is the most important military station, 
and the capital of Western Siberia, being the residence of the governor-general. It has only a population of 
about 11,000, trading with the Kirghis in furs, brandy, and tobacco. A short distance below the town, the 
Irtish is broader than the Ehine at Cologne, though with a coiu'se of 1000 miles stiU to rim. Tomsk, a 
smaller place, on the route eastwai'd, is on an affluent of the Obi, contains a mihtary-school, and is largely 
connected with the mines of the Altai. Kolyvan, in the same district, is remarkable for the extensive jasper 
quarries in its neighbourhood. There is here a great govermnent establishment for cutting and polishing the 
jaspers and porphyries, which are worked into tables, vases, chimney-pieces, columns, and ornamental objects 
for European palaces and mansions. Barnaul, an actively industrial town on the south, is the chief smelting- 
place for the ores of the Altai, the seat of the mining administration, and contains a magnetic and meteoro- 
logical observatory. Krasnoiarsk, on the Yenesei, and the great eastward road, marks the distance of 3197 
miles from St Petersburg. The town contains 7000 inhabitants, in possession of herds of cattle and horses ; 
and has a large number of tanneries, a considerable fur trade, and a good coUeotion of Siberian antiquities. 



SIBERIAN INDUSTRY. 593 

Berezov has a moxuiifiil interest attached to it, as a common place o£ exile tor prisoners of rank, male and 
female. The smaU town lies far down the course of the Obi, 400 miles north of Tobolsk, in a cold and dreary- 
region, surrounded with pine woods. At this spot the sun just peeps above the horizon at the winter- 
solstico, and a day of four hours alternates with a night of twenty, while the light prevailing through seven 
months of the year is that of the ' half -dark day,' as the Russians call the sombreness occasioned by clouds of 
mist, sleet, or snow-flakes in the atmosphere. Here, in 1727, when the place was a miserable group of log- 
houses. Prince MenzUcoff, the powerful favourite of Peter I. and Catherine I., was deported. Becoming a 
devotee, the fallen minister helped with his own hands to erect a little wooden church now gone to decay. 
He went to the forest, axe on shoulder, to fell trees for the work, then served as bell-ringer in it, and was 
finally buried before the door of the buUding, having smik in little more than two years under the shock of 
his political overthrow. His resting-place, not marked by any monument, but known through tradition, 
remained undisturbed to the year 1821, when the governor of Tobolsk had the grave opened. The cofBn was 
found to be imbedded in frozen soil ; and owing to this circumstance, after the lapse of ninety-two years, its 
contents had undergone so little change that pieces of the clothing which wrapped the body were sent to 
the descendants of the deceased as relics. The site of the wooden hut he occupied is stUl pointed out near 
the Spaska Cliurch, the dwelling itself having been destroyed by a fire. A few years afterwards, Osterman 
and Dolgoroulri, both the colleagues of Menzikofif, were banished to the same place, and both like him ended 
their days at it. It has been said that the flower of the Eussian court and army lie buried beneath the snows 
of Berezov. 

Ehatcriiihurg, the first town which the traveller usually enters on passing from Europe into Asia, is perhaps 
the most interesting, but is included in the European government of Perm. It is the capital of the Ural 
mining district, founded by Catherine, wife of Peter the Great, and bears her name. It stands at the foot 
of the moimtains, on the banks of a beautiful lake, from the sm-face of which it is seen to great advantage. 
The towers, spires, and domes of eight churches, a monastery and a convent, rise with pleasing elfect over the 
public and private buildings, while pine-clad hills appear in the background. The town contains about 
16,000 inliabitants, most of whom find employment, as officials or workmen, in connection with the works for 
smelting and coining metals, polishing and cutting ornamental stones, erected by the government on an 
enormous scale, and fitted up with machinery and tools from the best English makers. In the Granilnoi 
Fabrique, the sumptuous jasper tables are made, inlaid with different coloured stones representing birds, 
flowers, and foliage, which adorn the palaces of St Petersburg. The machines in use are moved by water- 
power, and worked by peasants, who display great imitative genius, and acquire admii-able skill in their calling. 
An amount of labour is bestowed upon a single article, the cost of which would effectually prevent its 
execution with us, even if the materials were at hand. But owing to the excessively low rate of wages, it is 
not uncommon for four or five men to be employed upon a table or a vase for several years. In 1853, Mr 
Atkinson saw a man engaged in carving foliage in a style not to be excelled, whose wages were three sliilliogs 
and eightpence a month, with two poods or thirty-sis pounds of rye-flour for the same period — meat he was 
never supposed to eat. Another, who received the same remuneration, was cutting a head of Ajax after the 
antique, in jasper of two colom's, in very high relief, intended for a brooch. Ekaterinbm'g has in its neigh- 
bourhood the remarkable hill of Blagodat, a name signifying ' benefit ' or ' blessing,' which is almost entirely 
composed of magnetic iron ore. This hUl rises out of a plain, and presents two rugged naked peaks. A 
wooden bridge spans the cleft between them, and appears to hang in the air. The lower peak is ascended 
by a flight of narrow steps, cut in the rock, whence, passing over the bridge, the path conducts to a neat stone 
chapel on the other eminence. It is related that one of the Voguls — the aborigines of the district, com- 
municated the knowledge of tliis metallic mass to the Paissians. The result was the immediate irruption of 
mining adventurers, whose presence proved so unwelcome to the old inhabitants that they burned their com- 
municative countryman alive on the hdl, and erected the chapel, having repented of their cruelty. Very 
powerful magnets, capable of raising a hundred times their weight, were once procured at this spot, but few 
now are met with exerting more than a sustainmg power of forty times their weight. Tinmen, on the road 
to Tobolsk, has a population of 10,000 engaged in various manufactures, Eussia leather, woollen fabrics, and 
soap, bemg the principal. 

A very rich collection of minerologioal specimens from the Ural and Altai Mountains, with an interesting 
model of a mine, upon a scale large enough for visitors to enter, is exliibited in the museum of the Corps 
des Mines at St Petersburg. The more remarkable treasures include a single crystal of beryl, weighing more 
than sis pounds, supposed to be the finest specimen in existence, valued at £6300 ; a piece of native platina, 
from the mines of Nuovo Demidoff, weighing ten and a half pomids, valued at £4300 ; a block of malachite 
from Ekatermbm'g, weighing 4000 pounds, valued at £18,400 ; and a piece of native gold from the sands 
near Miask, eight inches long and five broad, valued at £26,000. There is also the mass of meteoric iron, 
discovered by Pallas in the last century, on the summit of a mountain in the vaUey of the Tenesei, which, 
after having supplied specimens to many European museums, still exceeds three cubic feet in bulk. 

Fort Veriioe, in the Trans-Ilian region, the most advanced post towards the Thian-Shan, founded in 185.5, 
has 4O00 inliabitants, consistmg of immigrant peasants and Cossacks. Timber for building is supphed from 
the mountain slopes, which, at elevations of from 4000 to 7500 feet, are overgrown with the Siberian fir. The 
settlement stands at the emergence of a rapid stream from its momitain-bed, wliich thenceforth flows to join 
the Hi, through' a valley clad with natural orchards of apple and apricot. This river descends from the 

2l 



594 ASIA.TIC EUSSIA. 

highlands on the diinese frontier, and enters Lake Ealkash, where it forms a low delta, clothed with reeds of 
impenetrable thickness, in some places from seventeen to eighteen feet high. From Fort Vernoe, in 1858, 
M. Sevenof, of the Russian Geographical Society, started to visit the Thian-Shan, and was the first European 
to ascend the Celestial Mountains. At the foot of the lower range, on the liigh marshy plain of Santash, or 
the ' numbered stones,' a pile of them was observed, evidently an artificial heap. A legend of the Kirghis 
connects it with Tamerlane, who certainly marched his army through the district. "Wishing to ascertain the 
Bumber of his warriors, it is stated that he directed each to take a stone, and deposit it in one place. Thus a 
colossal pile was formed. On re-crossing the plateau, after a battle, in which, though victorious, his army 
suffered severely, he directed each survivor to remove a stone, in order to ascertain his loss. To the plateau 
of the ' numbered stones,' the lower range of the Tliian-Shan slopes abruptly, covered with a luxuriant 
light-green verdure, bright flowers of the sub-alpine zone, with many bushy species, as the mountain-barberry, 
varieties of the honeysuckle, and the tasteless alpine currant. A hot spring, shaded with trees, was reached 
at a considerable elevation. It was deemed sacred by tlie Kirghis, and hence covered with rags of every 
variety of colour, as offerings to the spirit of the fountain. 

The immediate ascent of M. Sevenof was made by the Zauku Pass, a thoroughfare from time immemorial, 
but a perilous route through the sternest wilds, of wliich incontestable evidence was observed. * The horror 
of the scene,' remarks the traveller, * was increased by the countless carcasses of camels, horses, oxen, sheep, 
goats, and dogs that strewed the path in every direction. They occurred by thousands, stretched in every 
imaginable posture. This frightful pictm-e of death was in harmony with the sublime though fearful 
character of the sceneiy, and the icy atmosphere that surrounded us. "We were now not more than an 
hour's journey from the summit, but the principal difficulties of the ascent were still before us. "We were 
soon enveloped by a cloud of snow, and our horses, trembling with fear, continually stumbled over sharp 
stones and rocky masses, making a dead-stand at the sight of each new carcass. We were at last obliged to 
dismount and lead them by the bridle. The guide assured us that the difficulty of breathing at the summit 
was so great, that existence beyond half an hour was impossible. At last we obtained the object of our 
journey, and found ourselves on the summit of the mountain-pass, where a landscape of unexpected beauty 
spread out before us. Directly in front were two lakes, covered with ice, already dissolving round their edges. 
Here I foimd myself in the very heart of Asia, rather nearer to Cashmere than to Semipalatinsk, to Delhi 
than to Omsk, to tlie Indian than to the Northern Ocean, and midway between the Pacific and tlie Euxine, 
in about 41^° north latitude. The fire which we kindled cracked and biu-ned unequally ; but I experienced 
no particular oppression in breathing. Ai'oimd the lake, flowers of the most brilliant colours, and of the 
highest alpine zone peeped out from under the newly-fallen and dissolving snow.' Tlie height of the 
Tengri-Khan, one of the gigantic peaks of the Celestial ilountains, is approximately estimated at not less 
than 21,000 feet. 

The native tribes of Western Siberia consist of Samoiedes in tbe extreme north, who 
are thinly sprinkled on the shores of the Arctic Ocean, and belong to the same family as 
the Finns of Europe. They subsist chiefly by fishing, are an extremely ignorant and 
degraded race, addicted to forms of the grossest heathenism. South of these, spread over 
a wide area, are Ostiaks and Vognils, fishers and hunters, who probably belong to the 
same stock, and are only to a slight extent more advanced. Some have been made by 
baptism members of the Eusso-Greek Church; others profess a mongrel kind of 
Mohammedanism; but the idlest superstitions are prevalent respecting the p)ower of 
evil spirits, the effect of charms and magical incantations, while the bear is occasionally 
honoured with propitiatory rites before the hunter will go out into the woods upon an 
expedition to destroy liim. The immense southern steppes are occupied by the Kirghis, 
who extend into the Trans-Ilian region, Chinese Tartary, and Turkestan. They belong to 
the Turkish race, and profess a corrupt form of Islamism. Though claimed as subjects of 
the Czar, only a few have adopted a settled life as agriculturalists under his protection, and 
acknowledge allegiance. The majority are completely independent, have their own 
khans or chiefs, are nomadic in then' habits, and wander at will in the territory as their 
own, which is delineated on maps as Eussian ground. For many centuries these noniades 
have been discriminated as the Great, the Middle, and the Little Hordes, each of which 
has a particular general location. But the titles have now lost their numerical 
significance, as the Great Horde has become the least, and the Little Horde the largest. 
They are supposed to number together 400,000 tents, or to form an aggregate of 1,500,000 
persons. Their wealth consists in horses, cattle, sheep, and camels. But they attack 
merchant caravans, and sell their captives iu the slave-markets of Turkestan. A wild 



EASTERN SIBERIA. 595 

mountain tiibo south of Lake Issikul, called the Dikokamamii Kirghises, make war upon 
their neighbours indiscriminately for the sake of spoil. 

Eastebn' Siberia, a region of immense extent, comprehends the riTer-valleys of 
the Lena and Kolyma, the expanse of Lake Baikal, great part of the basin of the 
Amur, and a vast maritime tract on the Pacific Ocean. The country is mountainous 
in many parts. It comprises the eastern portion of the Altai series, with the chain of 
Saiau, and the Jablonovy or Apple range, towards the southern border, while parallel 
generally to the east coast, the Stanovoi Mountains stretch northward to the shore of 
Behring Strait. Forests of gloomy pines largely clothe the central portions of the 
surface. Other trees prominently mingle with them southerly, especially in the direction of 
the Amur, or the ' Great Eiver,' as the Tunguses call it, while their Mantchu 
neighbours apply the name of Sagalientula, ' Eiver of the Black Water,' to the stream. 
This is the most naturally fertile part of the vast province, but it has only become 
Russian by cession from the Chinese, at a recent date, and is therefore very little 
colonised. Northward, with every advance, the general asjject of the country becomes 
increasingly cheerless and desolate, while subject to a winter cold, terrible in its rigour and 
long duration. Thousands of square miles of this area are very imperfectly known to the 
authorities, and are not woi-th exploration, except by the fur-hunter. The most remarkable 
district is the extensive peninsula of Kamchatka, occupied by a series of lofty active 
volcanoes, one of which attains the great elevation of 16,000 feet. It now emits smoke 
and ashes, but was formerly distinguished after brief intervals by grand explosions. The 
northern members of the KurUe Isles, which stretch out from the peninsula towards 
Japan, with the north part of Sagalien Island, off the mouth of the Amu.r, and the 
singular ivory-bearing Liakov group, opposite to the mouth of the Lena, are included in 
this division of Siberia. 

Irhttsfi, the seat of the general government, and the head of a bishopric, is an agreeable town, situated on the 
Angara, the river which drains the Baikal, close to its confluence with the mountain stream of the Irkut, from 
which the name is derived. It is surrounded with remarkably fine scenery, contains the residence of the 
governor-general, with the official establishments, a handsome cathedral, various churches, a public library, a 
museum of natural history, and other institutions. The population amounts to about 19,000, and includes many 
wealthy merchants, with the best society in Siberia, as it respects educational accomplishments. The 
climate is healthy, but severe, as mercury freezes in the winter, though the latitude is only 52° 17', 
corresponding to that of the centre of England. Some manufactures are carried on for the supply of the 
native tribes, and an oil is prepared from the nuts of the stone-pine. There is also an imperial factory of 
woollens for the supply of the troops. The iirst settlement was made at this place by Ivan Poohapof, a 
Cossack leader, in the year 16G1. The town is 3842 miles from St Petersbiu-g ; and hence its Eussian 
inhabitants are nearly equidistant from their own capital and the earth's centre. The transmission of letters 
by post requires twenty-four days ; but telggraphic commimication was opened throughout in December 
1863. Tlie first dispatches left Irkutsk at noon, and reached St Petersburg at 8.30 P.M. Eiachta, about 200 
miles on the south-east, is close to the dinese frontier-town of Maimatchin. The place is small, but a highly- 
important seat of trade, fitted with storehouses for the reception of goods. A mai-t on neutral ground denotes 
the actual frontier of the two empires. A door on the northern side opens into the Russian dominions, and 
an opposite one into the Chinese. At sunset a bell is rung when transactions terminate, and both parties 
retire within their respective boundaries. Intercourse is maintained between them by the use of a Mongolian 
patois. No money passes. Tea, made up into bricks or cakes, called ' brick-tea,' is the standard of value. 
An immense quantity is imported into Russia by this overland route, of better cjuality than what is known 
in Europe generally, being the first crop, undeteriorated in flavour by a long sea voyage, but of a higher price, 
owing to the expense of the land transit. JSTeHchinsk, in the Trans-Baikal district, is in the midst of lead and 
quicksilver mines, to which the worst criminals are consigned. 

Yakutsk, on the left bank of the Lena, is nearly 5000 miles distant by road from St Petersburg, 1100 miles 
north-east of Irkutsk, and 700 miles from Okliotsk on the shore of the Pacific Ocean. It is surrounded by 
extensive forests and marshes, remarkable for the intensity and dui-ation of its wintry cold, wliich political 
offenders of rank have been doomed to experience by exUe in this dreary site also. Of M. Mouravioff, who was 
sent here for his share in the conspiracy at the accession of the Emperor Nicholas, the officer in charge of 
him reported, in reply to an inquiry from the governor-general as to how he spent his time, ' He sleeps— he 
walks— he thinks.' The town is small, containing only 3400 inhabitants. But it is the centre of the fur 



596 



ASIATIC EUSSIA. 



trade of Easiern Siberia, and has important traffic in ivory obtained from the walrus of the Arctic Ocean, as 
well as in the fossil kind prociu'ed from the remains of extinct animals found imbedded in the frozen soil of 
the Lena valley. The place puts on an animated appearance in the summer months when annual fairs are 
held. The native hunters then bring in their tusks, skins, and furs ; and manufactured goods arrive from 
Irkutsk by the river to be exchanged for them. A mouth is required for their passage. They reach the 
Lena by an overland transit of about 100 miles, and are embarked at a point where the river is as broad as 
the Thames at Loudon, though with a course of more than 2000 miles stOl to be accomplished. Butter is 
also brought by the natives to tlie Yakutsk market, which is forwarded on horseback through 700 miles of 
swamps and woods to Okhotsk, wholly dependent upon this distant supply. 

Okhotsk, a naval port and trading station of the Russo-American Fur Company, on a vast arm of the 
Pacific, contains government offices, a church, ship-yard, and log-buUt houses, the whole forming a mere 
village in size. It rests upon a mass of shingles, one effect of which was not foreseen by its founders, but is 
related by a visitor. ' The church is the most lone and wi'etched imaginable. It stands apart from the 
houses upon a little elevation of the shingles, and has a burial-ground attached to it, the rails of which were 
however falling down for want of solid earth to sustain them. Moreover, we heard afterwards that it was 
impossible to place the remains of the dead out of reach of the wolves, by which they were continually raked 
from the shingles amidst which they were laid.' Port Aian, another station of the Pur Company, is farther 
to the south. Nicolaevsh, a settlement at the mouth of the Amur, dates from the reign of the Emperor 
Nicholas, founded with the design of making it the principal Russian station on the Pacific Ocean. 
Blagoveshensk, far inland up the river, is the seat of government for the territory of the Amur, but has not 
yet gained the sUghtest consequence. Great recklessness has been displayed in attempting to open up the 
navigation of the river, and by it establish easier communication between the interior of Siberia and the 
Pacific. In 1855 about 4O0 infantiy were ordered to ascend the stream in barges, as far as possible, and 
make their way to Kiachta. They set out late in the season, furnished with an insufficient supply of 
provisions, and soon fomid themselves in a very sparely peopled country, wholly solitary thi'ough great 
distances, when they were overtaken by the winter. They all perished of hunger, exhaustion, and cold, 
except eleven, who survived by subsisting on the bodies of their fallen comrades. Sagalien island, off the 
mouth of the Amur and the coast of Mantchuria, separated by a narrow channel, is upwards of 50O miles 
long, but very contracted ; and is apparently a valuable territory. The northern half is Russian, and the 
southern Japanese. Its native population are an abject race grovelling in the depths of barbarism. Of the 
KuHle islet-chain, extending between Japan and Kamchatka, twenty-two in number, the three southern- 
most belong to Japan, and the remaining nineteen to Russia. They are all volcanic, and possess fm'-bearing 
animals. 

JPetropaulovski, the 'Port of Peter and Paul,' on the east coast of Kamchatka, is the Russian head- 
quarters, naval and mi litary, in that peninsula. It occupies an agreeable nook adorned with pine-woods, 
possesses an excellent harbour, but is often disturbed by earthquakes, and has an active volcanic crater in the 
backgroimd. Three interesting memorials of distinguished navigators are erected at this remote spot — one to La 
Perouse, the Frenchman, who sailed on the adjoining waters, and perished in the southern seas ; a second 
to Beliring the Dane, who discovered the strait which bears his name, and died after shipwreck on a 
neighbouring island ; a third to Captain Gierke, the companion of Cook in his last voyage, who, after the 
violent death of his superior, here succumbed to disease, and was interred. The officers of Sir John 
Franklin's unfortunate expedition, in their last communications home, fully expecting to make the North- 
west Passage, requested future letters to be addressed to them at Petropaulovski, ria St Petersburg. In 
1854, during the war, the place was imsuccesstiUly attacked by the Anglo-French fleet. It was afterwards 
abandoned by the Russians in expectation of the arrival of a larger force, and the fortifications were 
destroyed, but they have since been restored. The Kamchatkan peninsula has a milder chmate than the 
interior of the continent at the same latitude. It has been held by Russia smce the close of the sixteenth 
century, contains a very spare native population, and possesses a peculiar breed of dogs, half mastiff and half 
wolf in their appearance and habits, but differing from both in the sound of the voice, which can scarcely be 
described, except as not corresponding either to the bark of the one or the howl of the other. They are 
tractable to their masters, but are not so much won by kindness as restrained by authority. In winter they 
cheerfully work hard, drawing the sledges for journeys of several days or even weeks in succession, with 
very little food; and are thus as valuable to the Kamchadales as the horse or the bullock to the civilised 
nations. 

The aborigines of Eastern Siberia belong to various tribes like those in the western 
division, and correspond to them in modes of subsistence, Tvandering habits, paucity of 
numbers, gross ignorance, and low social condition. Though generally following fishing 
and the chase, yet many possess large herds of reindeer, and lead a more settled life. 
The Buriats, dwelling around Lake Baikal, are of Mongol origin, and are said to be the 
most numerous, though only reckoned at 150,000. They adhere to forms of Buddhism, 
as do the Tunguses, who are spread over the country eastward of the Lena, blending with 



ABOEIGINAL TEIBES. 



697 



them rites analogous to fire-worship. Upon assembling at the annual fairs, they light 
enormous bonfires by night, and dance wildly around them, while the priests perform 
religious ceremonies as if to propitiate favourable commercial transactions. Some of the 
Yakutes in the lower part of the Lena valley, and the Kamohadales in their peniasula, 
have nominally embraced Christianity, but retain old superstitions, and oHng to ancestral 
habits in all their rudeness. The Tchukchi, who occupy the extreme north-eastern 
angle of the continent, are pagans, bold and warlike, completely iudependent of Eussiau 
control. They occasionally visit the post of Anadirsk for the purpose of barter, but all 
attempts to subdue them, and occupy the country beyond this station, have hitherto been 
repulsed with loss. The name of these people is said to signify a confederation or 
brotherhood. But less is really known respecting them than of almost any other race on 
the face of the globe, considering that Behring communicated with them nearly a century 
and a half ago, and Cook touched on the coast. Lieutenant Hooper a recent visitor, 
discriminates two races, the Eeindeer Tchukchi, or natives proper, chiefly ia the raterior, 
and the Fishing Tchukchi, an alien tribe, limited to the shores, with a dialect allied to 
that of the Esquimaux. 

The climate of the regions of the Amui is iofluenced by two causes ; first, its position 
at the eastern extremity of a large continent ; and, secondly, by its being washed, towards 
its lower part, by the Pacific Ocean. The features of a continental and maritime climate 
being thus blended, the cold during winter is less severe, nor is the summer so warm 
as iu other places u.nder the same parallel. At the confluence of the Bureya, in 130° 
east longitude and 48° north latitude, thick fogs hang upon the river in August, and 
the nights are cold. In 1857, the first snow fell on the 6th October, and the tempera- 
ture on the 24th was 23 degrees Fahrenheit ; but by the 2d November, the snow had 
disappeared; by the 13th ITovember, the river was frozen, and the glass had fallen to 
10 degrees. 





II. TRANS-CAUCASIAN PEOVINCES. 

Trans-Caucasia, or the country beyond the Caucasus, as viewed from the European side 
of the range, is situated between the Black Sea and the Caspian, and is subject to the 
sway of Eussia as far to the southward as the borders of tlie Turkish and the Persian 
Emphes. The grand mountain-chain runs in a very diagonal liue from the one sea-basin 
to the other, north-west and south-east, which gives it an extent of about 700 mUes, 
while its peaks rise to a stupendous elevation, the loftiest. Mount Elburz, nearly central, 
attaining the altitude of 18,400 feet. The next highest. Mount Kasbeck, to the eastward, 
is 16,500 feet. A military road is carried through a defile on its slope, and is the only 
carriage-way across the Caucasus, but is traversed with great difficulty in the mnter 
season. This great range sends off numerous spurs and branches southerly, which ramify 
over the country, enclose lovely river-valleys, which almost link themselves with the 
mountains of Armenia. The whole region is eminently beautiful and fertile, mth the 
exception of tracts on the Caspian, which are sterile plains, sandy, saline, or bituminous. 
Vegetation is very diversified and vigorous ; and magnificent trees appear at an extra- 
ordinary elevation. Oaks, beeches, elms, and limes, of great size, cro^vn the summits of 
dizzy heights, which, in less favoured climes, would exhibit the dark foliage of the pine. 
The yew, chestnut, and cherry are rarely seen elsewhere of equal magnitude; the common 
box-tree is a perfect giant of the forest ; the juniper attains such dimensions as to be 
fifteen feet in circumference ; and rich varieties of fruits and flowers grow in wild 
luxuriance on the lower grounds. The stag, antelope, wild boar, and wild goat are 
common animals. iNothLag seems wanting in the outward aspect of the country but the 
picturesque moss-grown castle, the ivy-clad abbey, and the neat English-looking village, 
with its church tower or spire, in connection with a weU-governed and instructed people, 
to render it one of the most charming in the world. 



TRANS-OAUCASIAN PROVINCES. 599 

The largest river, the Kur, ancient Cyrus, enters the CasjDian, after receiving the Aras 
or Araxes, which, for a considerable distance, forms the frontier line from Persia. On the 
side of the Black Sea the principal streams are the Ingiir and the Eion. The latter is 
the Pilosis of antiquity, which had a temple at its mouth, with cities and bridges on its 
banks. No remains of by-gone civOisation are extant at the spot, which is now occupied 
by the small modern village and fort of Poti. But, says Lieutenant-general Monteith, 
'there was formerly here a preserve of pheasants, which birds derive their European name 
from the river Phasis, the present Eion.' The neighbouring district represents the 
Colchis of the pre-historic age, which the Argonauts are said to have visited in order to 
obtain the golden fleece, a relation which may have historical basis in some real voyage, 
commercial or piratical, of the early Greeks. 

The Trans-Caucasian provinces form the four modern governments of Kutais, Tiflis, 
Shamaki, and Derbend ; and embrace an area of about 80,000 square miles. But the 
names of the old divisions of the country maintain their hold on local remembrance, and 
are most familiar generally — Abassia, Mingrelia, Imeritia, Georgia, Shirwan, and that 
part of Armenia which has been absorbed by the Eussian Empire. 

Abassia is a narrow slip of territory lying along the north-east coast of the Black Sea, 
intersected by ridges sloping from the inland mountains, everywhere presenting the finest 
scenery, especially as seen from a little distance off shore. There are no towns, and only 
a few Eussian posts on the coast, with highland villages in the interior, now largely 
deserted by the martial mountaineers, who have retired into Tiu'key rather than submit 
to the power which has so long oppressed them. In the defile of Jagra, the house 
occupied by Elijah Mansur is pointed out, who so strenuously exerted himself, towards 
the close of the last century, to unite the tribes of the highland isthmus in a common 
league, in order to cope Avith their northern antagonists with the greater chance of success. 
This extraordinary man, hke his successor Sohamyl, united the character of warrior, 
prophet, and priest, but was far superior to him in capacity and power. To this favourite 
cot in the defile he retired, when not engaged in war, where multitudes visited him to 
hear his discourses, which taught a more tolerant form of Islamism than that announced in 
the Koran, as well as to profit by his skUl in medicine. His memory lives in songs ; and 
a wild legend is current, that because he was not a true Mussulman, he has been 
condemned to imprisonment in the bowels of a mountain, but is to re-ajppear at the 
expiration of a hundred years, and wave his conquering sword to the terror of the 
Muscovites. 

' He was boln to tread the Moscov's pride 
Down to the lowly dust ; 
He fought, he conquered, near and md© 
That northern race accurst. 

The swift deer hounds from hill to hill. 

No arrow like its flight ; 
But Mansur's step was swifter still, 

When he led on the fight.' 

Mingrelia, a maritime district immediately to the south, and Imeritia, inland on the 
east, are comprised within the basin of the Eion. The fine region of Georgia extends 
southward from the central and highest portion of the Caucasus, and is entirely inland. 

Kutais, in Imeritia, the head of the government, is a small town containing many Armenians and Jews, 
who monopolise the trade. Tiflis, the capital of Georgia, and of Trans-Caucasia in general, occupies both 
banks of the Kur, the best or Kussian portion being on the western side. It contains about 37,900 
inhabitants, but is enlivened with the noise and bustle of crowds of people from the neighbourhood. There 
are manufactures of carpets, sUks, and shawls, celebrated hot baths, and an ample supply in season of 
exquisite fruits, as peaches, apricots, almonds, figs, and grapes. In many houses of the natives, common 



600 ASIATIC EUSSIA, 

paper, or oiled paper, may be seen as a BiAstHute for glass in the windows, or the doorway answers the 
pxvrpose of a ivindow. Tiflis is about 1750 miles from St Petershm-g. From hence starts the military road 
across the Caucasus, following the valley of the Kur, and its afiBluent the Ai'agna, mitil it enters the 
mountain region, which is traversed by the pass known to the ancients as the PoHce Gaucasice, now commonly 
called the Pass of Dariel. Tliis is a series of tremendous defiles, extending altogether not far short of 100 
miles, often so contracted as scarcely to afford room for the waters of the Terek to foam through on the 
northern side. Dariel is a miserable fortress, on a nearly isolated rock at one of the narrowest points, but a 
position which might easily be defended against any force that could be brought to bear against it. At the 
summit of the pass, the Kreuzberg, or Mountain of the Cross, 8000 feet above the sea, a stone monument 
commemorates the completion of the road in the year 1809. But the route was taken by General Toklabene 
in 1768 with a convoy of ammunition and stores. The descent of avalanches, torrents, and masses of scliistose 
rock, are the natural dangers to be apprehended in this pass, especially after a thaw. 

The imbecility of the native princes of Georgia threw them into the toils of Russia as suppliants for help 
in political difficulty, and they ceded their independence to gain it. Upon the death of Gourgheen Khan, 
Bometunes styled George XI., in 1801, the Emperor Alexander incorporated the country as a province of his 
empire, appointed a governor-general, and to secure quiet submission he directed the widowed queen and 
other branches of the royal family to be sent to reside in Russia. This event did not transpire without a 
trao-edy. General Lazaroff, charged with the execution of the office, found the queen obstinate ; and when 
the carriages were ready, she refused to move. Placing his hand upon her to enforce compliance, the 
indignant woman drew a dagger, and stabbed him to the heart. A few months afterwards, she was on the 
banks of the Neva, with her sons and daughters, prisoners of state, and objects of curiosity to the people. 
Imeritia and Mingrelia were occupied in 1808, and subsequently incorporated. 

The Georgians, like the Circassians, have long been celebrated for the athletic frames of the men and the 
beauty of the women. Hence there was formerly a large demand for both sexes, the males to serve in the 
armies, and the females to occupy the harems of the Turks. Nor has the traffic in the women ceased, or is 
it objected to by the parties concerned, though opposed by the Russian government. The girls, fascinated 
by the thought of a luxurious life in Constantinople, are reconciled to appear ii\ the slave-market, wliile the 
consent of parents is won by a stipidated money value. A local legend at Gori, north-west of Tiflis, oddly 
refers the beauty of the women in part to an English origin. Allah, it is said, vrished to stock his celestial 
harem with the fairest daughters of earth. He therefore commissioned an Imam, who was a good connoisseur 
in female beauty, to cull for him forty of the loveliest women he cotild find. The Imam journeyed into 
Frankistan, into the country of the Ingliz, whence he carried off the king's daughter. The English monarch 
pursued him, but AUah, who protected his servant, threw dust in the eyes of the pursuer, and thus checked 
him. From England the Imam proceeded to Germany, where he selected many lovely maidens j but when 
he came to Gori, he fell in love with one of the beauties he had chosen for the celestial harem, and remained 
there with the whole bevy. Allah punished the treachery of the Imam by death, but the beautiful maidens 
all remained in Gori, and became the mothers of a splendid race of mortals. 

The majority of the Georgians are not Mohammedans, as might be inferred from the legend, but only some 
of the mountain tribes. They belong to the Greek Chm'ch, and both clergy and i^eople are abimdantly 
ignorant and superstitious. Their old sovereigns lie buried in the cathedral of Msket, the place of their 
coronation. Over the grave of the last, Alexander caused a monimient to be erected, with an inscription 
mentioning the cession of his territory. The emperor likewise restored to the people the cross of their 
patroness, St Nino, by way of conciliating them. According to ecclesiastical tradition, this female 
missionary came into the country, in the fourth century, to diffuse the true faith, bearing a cross made of the 
vine bound with her hair. Holding tliis symbol in her hand, she preached the doctrine of the evangelists. 
The cross was afterwards carefully preserved by the kings, who, when absent, deposited it in the cathedral 
of Msket, and in tunes of invasion retu'ed with it to the mountains. The venerated relic found its way to 
Moscow at an early stage of the intercourse between Georgia and Russia ; and its return had been soUcited 
without success, tiU upon the annexation the emperor sent it back as a cheap benefaction to liis new subjects, 
and a prized offering. 

The province of Shirvan, formerly part of Persia, extends along the shores of the 
Caspian, and consists generally of a series of plains, well watered in the south by the lower 
couise of the Kur, but in many places very unhealthy. ■ The summer temperature is 
remarkably high. When Peter the Great made his ineffective campaign in this district, 
his soldiers suffered so grievously on the march from the iutolerable heat that many of 
them dropped in the ranks. "Wearing a dimity waistcoat, a white night-oap, with a plain 
flapped hat over it, the czar shared their fatigues, and trudged at their head, occasionally 
mounting an English pony. 

Baku, a small walled town on the coast, defended by two forts, is one of the principal ports on the Caspian. 
At its gates, in 1806, Prince Zizianof, the first governor-general of Georgia, was shot dead by the treacherous 
commandant, who had invited him to a conference, with the expectation of delivering up the place into his 



RUSSIAN AEMENIA. 601 

liancls. The body was removed to Tiflis, and interred in the cathedraJ. The town stands on the southern 
shore of the peninsula of Apsheron, celebrated for its mud volcanoes and springs of naphtha, which yield 
annually upwards of 4000 tons. The naphtha issues from natural crevices in the ground, as well as artificial 
holes, and readily ignites. These springs are the 

* Fountning of blue flame 
That burn into the Caspian.' 

In their vicinity is the Field of Fire, about half a square mile in extent, from which inflammable gas is 
continually escaping. From remote antiquity to the present, this spot has been held in the highest veneration 
by the Guebres or Parsees, fire-worshippers, and visited by thousands of the race. There are still fix'e-temples 
at the place, and a few pilgrims from Persia and India. 

EussiAN Aemenia, sometimes called tlie district of Erivan, lies to the south of Georgia, 
extends to the Aras, and has a small south-western portion beyond the river. This last 
emhraces the highest point of the colossal mass of Mount Ararat, -where the Eussian, 
Persian, and Turldsh Empires are in contact. The country is for the most part a high 
plateau, and contains the large fresh--water lake of Sevan. Eapidly overrun by Priace 
Paskiewitch, the Persian part was ceded hi the year 1828, and the Turkish in 1829. 

Erivan, tlie capital, a poor town, but with an extensive caravan trade, and an important military position, 
occupies an elevated plain upwards of 3000 feet above the sea. Taken by storm by the general mentioned, 
he received in consequence the surname of Erivanski. About thirty miles to the south, Ai'arat, traditionally 
called the mountain of Noah, and regarded as the resting-place of the ark, but without the slightest authority 
from Scripture, rises majestically 14,320 feet above the plain, far above the snow-line, and has a total 
elevation of 17,.323 feet above the sea. In harmony with the tradition referred to, a small to^vn on the 
south-east has the name of N'alchitchivan, ' first place of descent,' as the spot where the patriarcli fixed his 
first residence after the subsidence of the waters. Turks and Persians know nothing of Ararat by that 
denomination, but call it Agri-dagh, supposed by some to mean ' the painful mountain.' 

From its isolated position on the plain, which in comparison with itself has but a moderate elevation, this 
celebrated momitain reveals by far the greater part of its height and mass at once to the spectator, and is a 
sublime object. There are two summits. Great Ararat and Little Ararat, the latter upwards of 4000 feet 
lower than the former. They gradually slope to a blending in a common mass, while the peaks are seven 
miles apart in a direct line. For a short time the snow aimually disappears from the top of the lower, but 
never from that of the higher. Great Ararat was ascended for the first time by Professor Parrot, October 9, 
1829, who found the summit a gently-vaulted sm-face, about 200 paces in circuit, formed of eternal ice, 
without rock or stone to interrupt its continuity. It was next scaled by M. Abich, July 29, 1845, with six 
companions, who remained a full hour at the elevated point. The north-east slope of the mountain is the 
shortest, measuring about fourteen miles, on which there is a deep, gloomy, crater-like chasm, which can be 
seen from Erivan. Near tliis chasm, previous to a grave disaster, stood the large and beautiful village of 
Arguri. Its inhabitants cultivated the vme, believing, according to tradition, that Noah first planted it at 
the spot, and hence the Armenian name of the place, argli, ' he planted,' urri, ' the vine.' At a short 
distance, but higher up, was the monastery and chapel of St James, on a grassy platform. 

The chronicles of adjoining monasteries extend back over a period of eight centuries, but are silent as to 
disturbance in the instance of Ararat, though the volcanic character of the moimtain is not doubted by 
travellers, owing to the products on its slopes', consisting of trachytio porphyry, pmnice-stone, and varieties 
of lava. The complete demonstration came on the 2d of July 1840, when a rent was formed at the upper 
end of the great chasm, which played the part of a crater. A little before simset, mth the atmosphere clear 
and cahu, the inhabitants tlirough a wide extent of Armenia were alaimed by a thundering noise, which was 
loudest in the vicinity of Great Ararat. An imdulating motion of the earth was felt. Pillars of vapour or 
smoke rose from the point indicated, aui} quickly overtopped the mountain. Stones, earth, and mud were 
projected over its slopes, and fell into the plain. The vapom- exhibited prevailing blue and red tints for a 
time. Its colour then changed to the deepest black, and a strong smeU of sulphur was difi^used through the 
ail-. Masses of rock were discharged upwards of fifty tons in weight. The eruption continued a fuU hour, 
accompanied by subterranean explosive soimds, and the noise caused by the stones whizzing with immense 
force tlrrough the air, crashing against each other, and falling to the ground. The village of Arguri and the 
monastery of St James perished, through being overwhelmed by the projectiles. Of their inhabitants, 
consisting of 1500 Armenians, 400 Kurdish servants, and 8 monks, only 114 escaped, who were at a distance 
from the immediate scene of the calamity. Erivan, Nakhitchivan, and other towns were injured severely by 
the earthquake ; and 6000 houses were laid in ruins. 

The Armenians of this district, like their brethren elsewhere, are addicted to trade, 
generally honest in their dealings, and though great ignorance prevails among them, it is 
not so gross as that in which their neighbours of the Greek communion are involved. 



602 ASIATIC EUSSIA. 

The ecclesiastical capital of the entire community, Etclimiadzia, is tliirteen miles to the 
east of Erivan, in the vaUey of the Aras. This is a monastery where the head of their 
church resides, the primate, patriarch, or oatholicus, near a considerahle village. Externally 
it has the appearance of a quadrangular fortress, heing surroimded with a lofty wall, 
entered by four gates, and flanked by towers, which, as well as the walls, are furnished 
with loopholes. It contains a church said to date from the time of St Gregory, ' the 
enlightener,' with a seminary, printing-press, and library, the latter to some extent useless, 
as it includes Latiu and Greek books, which none of the monks and priests are able to 
read. A remarkable people, some of the Yezidis, who are reputed to be devLl-worshipiJers, 
wander in summer in the region around Ararat, live in tents, but resort to the villages in 
the winter season. They deny the imputation, but maintain secrecy respecting their 
usages, and hence may have had practices ascribed to them of which they are innocent. 
It seems true, that behoving in the existence of two powerful agents, the one good, tho 
other evil, they carefully abjure the use of those expressions in relation to the latter, 
which are in common use, and convey ideas of horror or contempt. 





Coast of Anatolia. 



CHAPTER 11. 



ASIATIC TUBKEY. 



HE Asiatic portion of the Turkish Empire is far more 
extensive than the European, embracing at least double its 
area, but containing a much smaller proportionate population, 
as vast tracts have no permanent inhabitants, though they are 
the temporary campuig-grounds of nomadic tribes. It includes 
countries situated at the upper extremity of the Mediterranean, 
•which form also the eastern side of the Greek Archipelago, the 
southern shore of the Black Sea, and extend thence to the north 
coast of the Persian Gulf. The regicta. thus lies between the 
arms of two great oceans, the Atlantic and the Indian; and is 
of geographical interest as a central part of the Old World, 
while of the highest historical distinction as the theatre of 
most of the important events which mark the early annals of the human race. Trans- 
Caucasia, Persia, and Arabia form the inland limits, but on the side of the latter 
countries the frontier is very indefinite. The greatest linear distance, east and west, 
between Mount Ararat and Cape Baba on the Archipelago, measures 950 miles ; in the 
opposite direction, the Black Sea and the south of Palestine are separated by an interval 
somewhat exceeding 800 miles ; but a diagonal line, dra-wn from north-west to south-east, 
or from Scutari on the Bosporus, to the head of the Persian Gulf, wiU extend over 1400 




604 ASIATIC TURKEY. 

miles. The entire area embraces considerably more than 600,000 square miles, and is 
included between latitude 30° and 42° 'N., longitude 26° and 48° E. This territory- 
is commonly supposed to contain the natal seat of manldnd, as well as the centre 
from which the post-dQuvians dispersed themselves. The great events which distinguish 
the annals of Judaism and the rise of Christianity transpired withiu its bounds, where 
also the old Assyrian and Babylonian empires — with their renowned capitals, Nineveh 
and Babylon, whose remains excite the curiosity and wonder of the present age— rose 
and perished. Cyrus and Alexander triumphed in decisive battles upon the soil. The 
ancient Greeks extensively colonised the maritime districts, where their degenerate 
descendants are now numerous in the ports, as well as in many inland towns and villages, 
by the side of ruined monuments of the taste and art of their forefathers, the fragments of 
temples and sepulchres. 

Ottoman or Turkish Asia consists of four principal geographical regions — Asia Minor, 
Turkish Armenia and Kurdistan, Al-Jezireh and Irak-Arabi (corresponding to ancient 
Mesopotamia and Babylonia), Syria and Palestine. 

I. ASIA MINOR. 

The Lesser Asia, one of the finest countries in the world, is a peninsula projecting from 
the main mass of the continent towards Europe, which is very closely approached at the 
channels of the Bosporus and the Dardanelles. It is enclosed by the waters of the 
Black Sea on the northern side, and has the Archipelago on the west, with the 
Mediterranean on the south. The coast-line abounds mth gulfs and bays, bold headlands, 
and striking rock scenery. But generally the maritime region consists of a belt of fertile 
lowlands, of varymg breadth, frequently very narrow, at the foot of high table-lands 
which occupy great part of the interior, and are both intersected and bounded by chains 
of mountains. The best defined range, that of Taurus, runs from east to west, parallel 
to the Mediterranean, and sends out offsets in its direction, against some of which the 
waves play or dash in hours of calm or storm. One of these points, on the south-west, 
anciently bore the name of Climax, or the ' Ladder,' in allusion to the regular gradation 
with which the heights rise one above another as they recede from the shore. The place 
figures in the campaigns of Alexander the Great, and can be identified. Li ordinary 
circumstances there was no passage along the beach, but when the wind blew strongly from 
the land, causing a retirement of the waters, it might be traversed, though the enterprise 
was perilous. Availing himself of a favourable breeze, the king pursued this course in 
order to avoid a tedious journey across the ridge. The adventure was safely conducted, 
but the soldiers had to wade in places deeply through the water, and had an adverse gale 
arisen, the victor at the Granicus would never have seen another battle-field. An 
eastward interior outlier of the Taurus, near the modern town of Kaisariyeh, is the highest 
point of the peninsula. - This is the volcanic snow-crowned cone of Mount Arjish, the 
ancient Argceus, which rises from a broad and extensive base to the height of 13,100 feet 
above the sea. It was ascended by Mr Hamilton in 1837, who met with the effects of 
volcanic action aU the way up, and found at the summit two large and contiguous craters, 
containing deep unbroken snow. In the western part of the coimtry, which has been 
shaken by earthquakes in the modern epoch, the evidences of volcanic action are very 
decisive, in numerous hot springs, and the remarkable ' burned region,' so styled by the 
Greeks from its monuments of fiery activity in past ages. 

The table-lands have a mean elevation of from 3000 to 4000 feet above the sea, but the 
plain of Kutaiah attains the height of 6000 feet. These are dry and treeless tracts, in 
many parts sterile, in others clothed with excellent pasturage. But the slopes of the high 



PRODUCTS 05 THE COUNTRY. 



605 



mountains, witli tlie crests of the inferior ridges, and also a considerable extent of the 
maritime lowlands, are forest clad. A range parallel to the coast of the Black Sea has nohle 
woods of ash, elm, plane, poplar, larch, beech, and oak, called by the Turks Agatcli 
Degnis, ' the Sea of Trees,' extendiag through more than a hundred miles ia length by 
forty in breadth, which supplies timber for then- navy. The rivers are numerous, but have 
generally short courses, owing to the close approach of the highland interior to the sea ; 
and theic volume is not considerable, except during the winter rains, when they become 
ungovernable torrents. In the heat of summer they mostly dwindle to insigniiioance, 
and the channels of many are in places wholly dry. The largest example, the Kizil- 
Ii'mak, ' Eed Eiver,' is the Halys of antiquity, and ilows to the Black Sea, which receives 
also the Bartin (Parthenius) and the Sakaria (Sangarius). On the side of the 
Archipelago are the Baku- {Caicus), the Kodus (Hermus), and the Mendere (Meander). 
The Mediterranean has connected with it the Tersus {Cydnus), the Sihun (Sarus), and 
the Jihun (Pyrmnus). 

Several of tjiese rivers, with some of theii' affluents, and other very minor streams, are celebrated in 
history under their old classical names. The Halys was the boundary between the Lydian monarchy under 
Cro3sus and the Median under Cyrus, on the banks of which the first battle was fought in the struggle 
between the potentates, which eventually transferred the sceptre of Asiatic dominion from the former to the 
latter. The defeated ting had interpreted an oracle in his own favour, which stated, ' By crossing the 
Halys, Crcesus will destroy a mighty power ' — an ambiguous response as much susceptible of an adverse as of 
an auspicious signification. From the Pactolus, a gold-bearing runlet, which descended from adjoining 
heights to Ms capital, Sardis, he is said to have derived much of the wealth now proverbially associated with 
his name. The rivulet still flows to join the Hermus, but its auriferous sands have vanished, along with the 
city on its banks. The Granious, a stream of no natural importance, which Moimt Ida contributes to the 
Sea of Marmora, witnessed the first triumph of Alexander over the army of Darius. Bathing in the Cydnus, 
wlnle oppressed with heat and overcome with fatigue, the conqueror contracted a fever, wliich for a time 
threatened to prove fataL Oja the plains through which it flows, the heat of summer is fiercely felt, while 
the cold and snow of winter stai mark its sources on the Tauric highlands. Hence tiU the warm season is 
sufficiently advanced it descends with a temperature in striking contrast with that of the atmosphere at the 
lower level. The Cydnus actually occasioned the death of the Emperor Frederick Barbarossa during the 
Crusades, but no property belongs to it except what is common to rivers which descend quickly from cold 
elevated uplands into bm-ning plains. Modem travellers have sustained no inconvenience from repeating the 
experiment, ' We found the water,' remarks Captain Beaufort, ' undoubtedly cold, but no more so than that 
of other rivers which carry down the melted snow of Mount Taurus ; and we bathed in it without feehng 
any pernicious effects.' 

Salt-lakes and beautiful fresh- water expanses are numerously distributed over the surface of Asia Minor. On 
the plain of Konieh, the shallow salt-lake of Koch Hissar, with a circuit of about ninety miles, is one of the 
most remarkable of its^lass. The water is so extremely saline that no fish can live in it ; no aquatic birds visit 
it, as their wings would become stiffened by the mineral ; and anything thrown in is speedily coated. The 
remains of a causeway, built across the lake-by Sultan Selim, are now almost concealed by an incrustation. 
The salt is a government monopoly, farmed by the Pasha of Konieh, who disposes of it. Among the other 
minerals are copper and argentiferotis lead, productive mines of which are worked. Coal of excellent 
quality occurs in abundance near the shore of the Black Sea, in the vicinity of Erekli, which represents the 
ancient Heraclea. The field extends from seventy to eighty miles, and belongs to the true carboniferous 
formation. It was opened and wrought imder English direction during the Crimean war, for the supply of the 
steam navy, and is of obvious importance to navigation on the adjoining waters. In the neighboxirhood of 
Konieh, the peculiar earth, the meerschaum, literally 'sea-foam,' of the Germans is quarried, and is locally useS 
Uke fuller's-earth with om-selves, in addition to its well-known appliance to the manufacture of tobacco-pipes. 
Loadstones, found near Magnesia ad Sipylum, first received the name of magnets after that of the town. Jet, 
the bituminous mineral, was similarly named from a river in the Lycian province, the Gages, on the banks^ of 
which it was coUeeted by the ancients. It was origmally called gagates, which passed by successive 
corruptions into gagat and Jet. The most valuable animal native to the country — the Angora goat, has a 
limited range on one of the high uplahd plains, west of the Kizil-Irmak, where the winters are very cold 
and the summers excessively hot. This climatic contrast is supposed to contribute to the fineness of the 
hair, made into shawls and canilets, for which the breed is celebrated. The ivild boar and hyena are 
common ; with troops of jackals, making the night hideous With their cries, and dogs are a pest in all the cities,- 
towns, and villages. The camel is the principal beast of burden ; caravans of them are formed in long files 
for the transport of goods and merchandise ; but a general change in the old eastern mode of locomotion is 
betokened by the Smyrna and Aidin KaUway. Fruits in vast abundance, was and honey, drugs and dyes. 



606 



ASIATIC TURKEY. 



silk, wool, cotton, leather, and goats' hides are the important commercial products. The insular dependencies 
consist of Cyprus in the Mediterranean; Rhodes at the entrance of the Archipelago; Mitylene, Scio, 
Samos, Cos, and many others, off its coast. 

The political divisions include six eyalets or governments, under pashas of varying rank : 



Governments, 
Anatolia, 
Kumili, or Sivas, 
Trebisond, 



Cities and Towns. 
Kutaiah, Smyrna, Aidin, Budrun, Brusa, Scutari, Angora. 
Sivas, Tokat, Amasia, Mersivan, Samsun. 
Trebisond, Kerasun. 



Marash, Marash, Malatiyah. 

Karamania, .... Kaisarieh, Konieh, Karaman. 
Adana, Adana, Tarsus. 

In ancient times Asia Minor comprehended nine maritime and five interior provinces, 
many of -which were at intervals distinct states. Their names are therefore introduced as 
of common occurrence on the page of history. 



Northern, 
"Western, 
Southern, , 
Central, 



Ancient Divisions. 
. Bithynia, Paphlagonia, Pontus. 

Mysia, Lydia or Masonia, Caria. 
. Lycia, Pamphylia, Cilicia. 

Phrygia, Pisidia, Lycaonia, Galatia, 



Ajtatolia, the largest and most important part of the peninsula, is immediately 
contiguous to Eiu'ope, and has its position in that connection defined by the name, which 
signifies the ' sun rising,' or the ' east,' equivalent to the Levant of the Italians and 
French. Eich plains extend along the coasts, hut a considerahle portion of the high 
central plateau region is embraced, with the western part of the range of Taurus on the 
south, and of the chain which sku'ts the shores of the Black Sea on the north. The 
narrow waters thence to the Archipelago are overlooked by the peaks of the Bithynian 
Olympus and Mount Ida. The wooded heights of the latter enclose the famous Troad 




ANATOLIA. 607 

on ono side, wliicli the sea directly south of the Dardanelles washes on the other. This 
renowned scene of the struggle commemorated in the Iliad is a level peninsular plain, 
watered by the Mendere and the Bunarhashi, which are supposed to represent the 
Simois and Soamander of antiquity. Three miles from the shore, a hiU called Hissarlik 
has claims to be considered the true site of Homer's Ilium ; and artificial mounds on an 
adjoining promontory have had the names of Achilles and Patroolus traditionally 
associated with them as their tombs from a very ancient date. The entire plain has now 
few noticeable features ; and it must have undergone great changes from natural causes in 
the lapse of ages, as the rivers named, inconsiderable in summer, overspread it with 
torrent-hke floods when swelled by the winter rains. 

Kutaiah, the ancient Coti/ceum, is an inland city on a branch of the Sakaria, on the great route between 
Constantinople and Aleppo, said to contain 50,000 inhabitants. It possesses no ancient remains or 
objects of interest, but ranks as the capital, being the residence of the Pasha of Anatolia, who has military 
command of the whole country on the west of the Euphrates. This place was the residence of Kossuth, and 
other Himgarians under mild restraint as refugees in the Turkish dominions. Afium Kara-Hissar, ' Opium 
Black Castle,' further inland, on the south-east, is a considerable town, deriving its name from the extensive 
production of opium in the neighbourhood. 

Smiirna, by far the largest city of Asia Minor, and the most important commercial poi-t of the east, after 
Constantinople, is finely situated at the head of a gulf of the Arcliipelago, partly on a plain by the shore, and 
partly on the slope of the ancient Mount Pagus, the summit of which is crowned by a citadel in ruins. It is 
of high antiquity, has traditional claims to be considered the bu-thplace of Homer, and was celebrated in the 
classical ages as ' the crown of Ionia,' ' the ornament of Asia.' In modern times it has been eulogised as 
' Izmir the lovely,' its Turkish name, and denounced as ' Izuiir the infidel,' in allusion to the large number 
of its non-Mohammedan inhabitants. The population is estimated at about 150,000, consisting to tlie extent 
of at least one half of Greeks, Armenians, Jews, and Franks belonging to most European states, with their 
consuls. The Greek and Frank quarters stretch two miles along the shore, in the midst of which is the 
Casino or Merchant's Club, an establishment worthy of Western Europe, well supplied with papers and 
magazines, access to which is readily granted to strangers. Six newspapers are published in five different 
languages. Street scenes are full of interest from the varied appearance of the motley population, embracing 
the long-bearded Turk, the classically-dressed Greek women, saUors from all parts of the Levant, dervishes, 
Greek priests, camel-drivers, and camels. The trade, in the export of figs, raisins, and gall-nuts ; silk, raw 
cotton, goat's hair, and skins ; madder, olive oil, valonia, drugs, and gums, is immense. Cotton and woollen 
goods and hosiery, are the important imports from England. Cofi'ee-houses and pleasure-gardens are scattered 
along the banks of the Meles, which enters the gulf outside the city. Its caravan bridge is a picturesque 
spot. Files of camels are constantly passing over it, with packs of merchandise brought from far-ofif places ; 
while others, having discharged their burden and returned, are seen reposing in groups by the side of the 
stream, in the shade of enormous cypresses. The railway to Aidin, partly opened in 1860, now brings up 
the fi-uit crop, with other produce, from the southerly districts. Old Smyrna chiefly occupied the slope of 
Mount Pagus. An excavation on one side of the hill marks the site of the Stadium, and is traditionally 
regarded as the spot where Polycarp suffered martyrdom in the first age of Christianity. 

The city was the seat of one of the ' seven churches ' of the early Christian period addressed in the 
Apocalypse ; and it alone has flourished. Of the remaining six, Pergamoa, now Bergama, 48 miles on the 
north ; Thyatira, now Ak-Hissar, ' White Castle,' 60 mUes on the north-east ; and Philadelphia, now Allah- 
Shehr, 85 miles on the east, are inconsiderable places. Sardis, 50 miles on the east, has no representative but 
the nodding walls of its Acropolis, and a few mud-built huts ; Laodicea, 120 miles on the south-east, has 
only the poor village of Eski-Hissar, ' Old Castle,' by its site ; and little appears at Ephesus, 40 miles on the 
south, but a ruin-strewed malarious plain, abandoned to desolation and silence, except that the rattle of the 
railway from Smyrna to Aidin, which passes over it, occasionally mingles with the sea-bird's cry, the howl of 
dogs and jackals, and peasant voices from the adjoining hamlet of Aiasaluk. Yet vast substructions and 
some mighty fragments, half entombed in sand and rubbish, attest the grandeur of the ancient city, which 
have been recently illustrated by the industry of Mr Falkener. Its temple of Diana, one of the seven 
wonders of the world, has utterly perished, and its site has not been identified. But traces of the theatre, 
the scene of a memorable incident in the history of St Paul, are distinct on the slope of a lofty hiU, and 
shew its immense extent, capable of accommodating upwards of 50,000 spectators. Aidin, a commercial 
town, is 60 miles south of Smyrna, in the fruitful valley of the Masander. 

Budrun, a small piort and fortress, on an inlet of the south-west coast, occupies the site of Halicamassus, 
the capital of Caria, and the birthplace of Herodotus. The city was famous for a splendid tomb erected for 
Mausolus, one of the rulers, from whose name the word mausoleum is derived. This structure, long con- 
cealed by the rubbish of ages, has been discovered in the present day, and fragments of it transported to the 
British Museiun. Striking sepulchral remains of the ancient Greeks abound in this part of Asia Minor. 
The site of Tehnessus, now occupied by a small village port, has its ' mountain of tombs,' consisting of 



608 ASIATIC TURKEY. 

excavations in ihe hUl, -the exterior of which present the appearance of finely-built temples, having porticoes, 
columns, gates, and doors beautifully sculptured, but in a more or less ruined condition. The interiors are 
small rooms, with benches running along three sides, upon which the coffins or urns have been placed. 
Some are larger, affording accommodation for mourners within them. The tombs are of several styles and 
various dates, but none are thought to be more recent than about 370 B.C. Extant inscriptions shew that the 
domestic affections were fondly cherished by the old Greeks. Adalia, at the head of the gulf to which its 
name is given, is a tliriving port on the Mediterranean. 




Brusa, 

Brusa, formerly Prusa, in the northern part of the peninsula, about twelve miles from the Sea of MarmOra, 
ranks next to Smyrna in importance and population, 60,000. It is renowned for its splendid situation, the 
number of its warm springs and of its mosques, 365 large and small, some of which are magniiicent erections, 
but the majority are wofully dilapidated. The city occupies a plain sparlding mth streams, gay with 
ilowers, and diversified with meadows, gardens, and mulberry woods, the whole surrounded by a framework 
of mountains, among which the noble head of Olympus is conspicuous from afar, silvered with snow through 
the greater part of the year. The site is eminent for historical associations as well as natural beauty. Here, 
at a remote period, tlie kings of Bithynia kept their court, one of whom gave an asylum to the illustrious 
Hannibal in his misfortimes, who probably ended his days in the locality. Here Pliny, as the Eoman 
governor, noted the early progress of Christianity, and illustrated the piety of the primitive believers. Here 
likewise Othman, the founder of the Ottoman dynasty, fixed his residence, and was interred in one of the 
mosques, originally a Byzantine chui-ch, where some curious relics of him were preserved down to the first 
year of the present century. A fire then desolated the city and ravaged the mosque. Tlie dome fell in, and 
covered the tomb with a heap of rubbish. This event, happening at the beginning of a century, was 
popularly regarded by tlie Turks as ominous of the speedy downfall of the empu'e. The remains of Amurath I., 
third sultan of the Ottomans, and the first who died upon the soU of Em-ope, repose at a village in the 
neighbourhood, where he had caused his own mausoleum to be prepared. This edifice is a beautifully-pro- 
portioned domed structure, still in good preservation, with the funeral arrangements just as they were 
nearly five centuries ago. In our own day Brusa became the residence of the celebrated Arab emir, Abd-el- 
Kader, when allowed to witlidraw from France. It suffered severely from an earthquake in 1855. Silk is 
extensively raised on the adjoining plain, tlie preparation and spuming of which is the chief industiy of tlie 
inhabitants. On the north-east, bordering a spacious lake, the poor village of Isnik occupies the site of 
JViccea, where the ecclesiastical council was held which drew up the ISTicene Creed, 325 A.D. ; and in the same 
du'ection, at the head of a long inlet of the Sea of Marmora, the inconsiderable but pleasant town of Ismid 
represents Nicomedia, once a splendid city, made by Diocletian, for a time the capital of the Eoman world. 

Scutari, on the Asiatic side of the Bosporus, a suburb of Constantinople, is celebrated for its vast Moslem 
cemetery, constantly replenished from the great city. It has now a conspicuous Protestant burying-ground. 



SHORES OP THE BLACK SEA. 



609 



containin" the graves of many of our countrymen who died of sicloiess or wounds in the hospitals here pro- 
vided for tlieir reception during the Crimean war. The name of tlie place is a corrupt Persian word signify- 
ing a courier ; and Scutari is the starting-point of couriers and caravans from the capital bound for inland 
Asia. Sinopc, a port of the Black Sea, of ancient fame, founded by a Milesian colony, acquired notoriety in 




Sinope. 

18.5J from tlio raercUess destruction of a Turkish squadron at anchor in the roadstead by the Russian fleet 
from Sebastopol. Angora, formerly Ancyra, occupies a liigh interior site on a branch of the Sakaria, and 
contains a great number of khanri and mosques, with many antiquities, and a considerable population. The 
fine silky hair of the goats of this upland region, an effect of the climate, distinguishes to some extent the 
cats and the shepherds' dogs, whose fleeces are used for the purpose of adulteration. On the plain of Angora, 
in 1403, the fiery Ottoman sultan, Bajazet I., was overthrown and taken prisoner by the invading Mongols 
under Tamerlane. The city was the capital of Galatia, a district named after its inhabitants, who branched 
off from the great Gaulish emigration which crossed the Hellespont luider Brennus, 270 B.C. From the 
mingling of these settlers with Greek colonists, the country obtained the name of Gallo-Grsecia, whence 
Galatia. A Celtic dialect was spoken in the time of Jerome, six centuries after the immigration. The 
apostle Paul visited Galatia, and addressed an^epistle to the Christian part of the population. 

The pashalics of Edmili and Tbebisond estend along the Black Sea, and have shores 
possessing great scenic attractions, with a history dating from the days of Grecian fable. 
Vines and fruit trees clothe the lower slopes of the mountains, above which, up 
to the summits, are noble beeches and pines. Among the undergrowth is the pale-yellow 
honeysuckle on which feed the bees, whose honey had an intoxicating effect, amounting 
almost to temporary madness, upon the Greeks under the command of Xenophon, 
described in his history of the Eetreat of the Ten Thousand. This deleterious property, 
noticed by the moderns, is supposed to be consequent on the bees extracting the honey 
from the Azalea Pontica. 

Sivas, ancient Sehaste, an inland town of 30,000 inhabitants, is ^ situated in the valley of the Kizil-Irmak, 
not far from the sources of the river ; and has many elegant mosques and minarets, well-stocked bazaars, and 
a considerable transit trade. To/cat, on a branch of the Yeshil-Irmak, or Green Kiver, another centre of 
inland commerce, is a somewhat larger town, with a cheerful appearance, owing to extensive groves and 
gardens, the former made musical by nightingales, the latter teeming with odorous flowers. Copper-mines 
are in the mountainous vicinity ; and copper refining, with dyeing, and printing cottons, are prevailing 
industries. Amasia, nearer to the coast, is distinguished by antiquities, as the capital of ancient Pontus, the 

2 M 



610 



ASIATIC TURKEY. 



tirthplace o£ Mithridates and Strabo the geographer. It has only one mosque, as the greater part of the 
inhabitants are Cliristians. Mersivan, more important, with a population oJ 30,000, is surrounded by a 
region of wooded mountains, and luxuriant well-watered valleys. The country abounds in corn and fruit ; 
the "vineyards are extensive ; and an excellent red wine is made from the grapes. All the preceding towns 
are on the great route leading from Constantinople to Mosul on the Tigris, a distance of about 1000 miles. 
Samsun, on the coast, though only a small place, has an active commerce as the shipping port of Sivas and 
Tokat, 




Trebisond. 

Trebisond, a principal port of the Black Sea, situated near, its south-eastern extremity, about 600 miles 
from Constantinople, is the natural entrepot of merchandise destined for Armenia and Persia. It 
contains a population of 25,000, has enclosing walls passed by six gates which are shut at sunset, with 
a dilapidated citadel, and considerable suburbs. There are eighteen large mosques, the handsomest of 
which. Saint Sophia, formerly a Christian church, is built of hewn stone, and has four white marble 
Corinthian columns at the principal entrance. The other public buildings are Greek and Catholic churches, 
khans and baths, with a beautiful aqueduct carried on arches across a valley conveying cool and refreshing 
■water to the inhabitants. Though without any proper harbour, the roadstead has good holding-ground for 
vessels, and the remains of an ancient mole still serve the purpose for which it was made. The imports are 
largely British manufactures, purchased and sliipped at Constantinople, conveyed inland on the backs of 
mules, asses, oxen, or camels, and also in rude native carts. The exports are sUks, wool, hides, tobacco, was, 
nut-galls, and various gums. Few places are so magniiicently situated, or have a more pleasing aspect at a 
little distance. A range of lofty mountains forms the background umbrageous from base to summit. Viewed 
from the sea, white houses are seen ivith red tops peeping out from the foliage of trees and shriibberies. But 
the interior has its proportion of poor hovels, ragged beldames, and sinister-looking beggars. The climate is 
very genial. Kgs, olives, pomegranates, and lemons are abundant ; and the atmosphere is wonderfully 
transparent, but so himiid, that no metals can be left about, even for a day, without contracting rust. 
Trebisond is the Trapezus of antiquity, so called from its shape corresponding to that of a parallelogram or 
trapezium. It was from the adjoining heights that the immortal Ten Thousand, after their severe winter 
march through the Armenian highlands, first caught sight of the waters of the Euxine, communicating with 
their homes, and rapturously exclaimed, 'The sea — the sea!' Kerasun, westward on the coast, wholly 
insignificant, answers to Gerasns, from whence LucuUus introduced the first cherries into Italy. Hence their 
German name Eirschm. 

The provinces of Marash and Kaeamania are wholly inland, on the eastern side of the 
peninsula. That of Adana is maritime, and forms the extreme north-eastern coast of the 
Mediterranean, indented by the Gulf of Iskenderun. It coiacides with ancient Cilicia, 



GREEK AEOHIPELAGO. 611 

,and is chiefly a fertile plain, separated from the interior tahle-lands by the range of 
Taurus, which is crossed by the pass of Golek-Boghas, the old CiUcian Gates. 

Marasli, a floiu-isliing town, is beautifully situated at the soutliern base of Taurus, immediately overlooked 
by its wooded heights. Sllalatii/ah is on the northern side, within a short distance of the banks of the 
Euphrates. On the neighbouring plain the general of the Emperor Justinian defeated the Persian Chosroes, 
wlio crossed tlie river on an clepliant, and escaped on a camel, abandoning his army to its fate. 

Eaisarich, a waUed, dilapidated, but still considerable city, a few miles south of the Kizil-Irmak, is the 
Cccsarea of tlie Romans, the capital of Cappadocia, once containing a vast population. JTonieh, seated on the 
route between Smyrna and Alejjpo, occupies a rich and well-watered plain, and is rendered by its position a 
great emporium for tlie produce of the interior. It has manufactures of carpets and morocco leather, and 
contains 30,000 inhabitants, besides a suburban population. In 1832, on the adjoining plain, the Turldsh 
army was signally defeated by the Egyptian under Ibraliim Paslia, a disaster which laid the road to Constan- 
tinople quite open to the invader. The city, under its ancient name, Iconium, was visited by St Paul. In 
the middle ages it was the capital of a dynasty of Seljukian princes. Here Mollah Hunkiar, a Moslem saint 
of high repute, and an author of eminence, founded the order of the Mevlevi Dervishes, one of the most 
venerated in the Turkish Empire. It contains his tomb, and the most celebrated monastery of the community. 
Konieh retains its walls, now half in ruins, and has some interesting fragments of Saracenic architecture, 
with substnictions of the palace of the Seljirkian sultans. 

Adanaf on the banks of the Siliun, a town of 10,000 inhabitants, is in a richly luxuriant neighbourhood, 
witli vineyards around it, and intermingling groves of mulberry, olive, fig, apricot, and peacli trees. Tarsus, 
near the waters of the old Cydnus, is smaller and decayed, but has great historical distinction. It was once 
a flourishing city, coimeoted with Alexander, Cicero, Csesar, Mark Antony, and Cleopatra, but most distin- 
guished as the birthplace of the apostle Paul, who described himself on a memorable occasion as ' a Jew of 
Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, a citizen of no mean city.' 

Among the insular adjuncts of the peninsula, Cypeus, the largest, is situated opposite the sliore of Cilicia, 
and forms a separate pashalic. Its greatest extent is from north-east to south-west, upwards of 120 miles, in 
which direction two chains of mountains run respectively along the northern and southern coasts, which 
attain tlie height of 8000 feet above the sea in Mount Santa Croce. Between them lies a fertile plain exten- 
sively abandoned to neglect, but rich ivith flowering plants, myrtles, and bright-leaved shrubs, which ascend 
high up the bordering slopes, and load the air with their perfume. 

Nicosia, the capital of Cyprus, in the interior, contains 12,000 inhabitants. Tlie general population 
consists of Greeks in the largest proportion, with the dominant Turks. Tlie island has successively belonged 
to various masters, the Phoenicians, Persians, Greeks, Eomans, Crusaders, and Venetians, from whom it was 
wrested by Selim 11. in 1570. It was anciently celebrated for female beauty and licentiousness ; and had a 
famous shrine of Venus at Paphos, a site on the south-west coast, now occupied by a few fragments of 
prostrate columns and a poor village. 

PuHODES, also an island of considerable extent, the ' lovely island of the sun,' as it was fondly styled by the 
old inhabitants, is a south-easterly member of the Greek Archipelago. It enjoys a delicious climate, possesses 
great natural fertility, and has high historical distinction, though now reduced to ccnriarative desolation. 
In classical times it vias the seat of commerce, navigation, literature, and the arts, wi.„„ ^he stronghold in 
the middle ages of the Knights of St John. Many remains of both epochs invite the traveller to the shores. 
Ehodes, a town of 10,000 inhabitants, at the nortli extremity of the island, is of ancient date, celebrated 
for its brazen Colossus, reputed to be one of the seven wonders of the world, erected 288 B.C., and thrown 
do^NTi by an earthquake 227 B.C. It became the capital of the Knights of St John in 1308 A.D., an order of 
military monks founded in the crusading age, who held the island for rather more than two centuries. They 
successfully defied the arms of Mohammed II., the conqueror of Constantinople ; but were compelled to 
yield to the immense force brought agauist them by Soliman the Magnificent, after a long and terrible 
struggle. The siege is remarkable in military annals for the first use of bombs, which were employed by the 
besiegers, and the invention of counter-mines by an Italian engineer. On Christmas Day 1522, the sultan 
entered the city, and the members of the order were finally put in possession of Malta. Ehodes retams 
splendid memorials of its chivalrous defenders, and nearly perfect remains of its ancient fortifications. 
Houses still bear on their front the arms of noble families in France, Spain, Italy, and Germany, the former 
residences of the knights, which are now converted into wretched shops. Towers and gates, warlike and 
massive, but beautiful and aristocratic, survive as relics of their high-born builders. The chief field of 
battle, a plain extending from the ramparts to Mount St Stephen, is now covered -with the tombs of those 
who fell in the contest. 

The other islands of the Archipelago are beautiful, fertile, and more or less celebrated. The principal 
include Cos, the birthplace of Hippocrates and Apelles ; Samos, of which Pythagoras was a native, once 
renowned for its pottery, one of the cliief seats of ancient civilisation ; Chios or Scio, a lovely spot, the scene 
of a dreadful tragedy in 1822, at the commencement of the Greek revolution, when the whole of the 
inhabitants, 120,000, were either massacred by the Turks or sold into slavery; and Miitilene, or Lesbos, famed 
in antiquity for its wine, the native place of Alc^us, Sappho, and Theophrastus. It produced also Earbarossa, 
the pirate of the sixteenth century, who made lumself master of Algiers, and established there that system of 



612 



ASIATIC TURKEY. 



piracy of which it was the seat to a comparatively recent date. Patmos, a small rocky islet, is memorable as 
the spot to which the apostle John was banished, and as the scene of the Apocalyptic visions. 

Througliout Asia Minor, the great majority of the population consist of Turks, the 
ruling race, differing in nothing from their European lorethren except in being more 
Asiatic in appearance and hahits, while more ignorant and intolerant as Moslems. Under 
then- misgovemment, a region possessed of splendid natural resources, which iiourished 
under successive Persian, Greek, and Eoman masters, in spite of campaigns and battles, 
has had its fortunes sadly marred. They are now reviving as the effect of foreign enter- 
prise, and may be expected to improve rapidly, shoiild the scheme, often proposed, be 
adopted, of intersecting the country with a railway from Scutari to the vaUey of the 
Euphrates, thence extending to the Persian Gulf, as j)art of the great line of communi- 
cation between England and India. The wires of the telegraph stretch through it to 
Bagdad, and will shortly by extension establish daily intercourse between the two far- 
distant realms. Turkomans, a branch of the same family as the Ottomans, who speak a 
kindred dialect, but retain the nomadic usages of their ancestors, are numerous on the 
high plains, where they live ia tents during the summer, frequently shifting their camps in 
search of pasturage, and generally spend the winter in iixed villages. They possess large 
herds of camels, buffaloes, goats, and sheep, and breed horses for sale ; while the women 
spin wool, make carpets, and articles of clothing. Each camp is under the government of 
a chief, and pays a tax to the pashas of the respective districts proportioned to the number 
of tents, for the privilege of pasturing their flocks and herds. "While adhering to 
Mohammedanism, they have little acquaintance with its dogmas and precepts, and have 
no mosques or priests. The Turkomans are variously spread further east, over the high 
grounds of Armenia, the wa\7- do-svns of Upper Mesopotamia, and the northern plaias of 
the Syrian desert. 




Fishing Huts on the Bosporus. 




II. TURKISH AEMBNIA AND KDRDISTAJT. 

Arjibnia, an old liistorical coimtiy, to the east of Asia Minor, is not defined in its 
extent by any permanent natural boundaries, except on the south, where the chain of 
Taurus sinks into the plains of Mesopotamia ; and its limits have repeatedly fluctuated. 
Though probably the first peopled district of the post-diluvian world, it has seldom been 
the seat of an independent kingdom. Shortly before our era, it was the head of one of 
those vast oriental monarchies which rise and perish in a lifetime, formed by Tigranes, 
who found a conqueror in the Eoman Lucullus ; and afterwards, the Eomans and 
Parthians were engaged in constant struggles for predominance in the region, alternately 
installing and dethroning its rulers. The largest portion of the country belongs at pre- 
sent to Turkey ; another section is jncluded in Persia ; and a third in the Eussian 
dominions. Lofty plateaus, overtopped by vast ridges of granite, gneiss, and mica-schist, 
and intersected "with deep valleys, occupy nearly the whole surface, forming the grand 
nucleus of the Western Asiatic or Tauro-Caucasian mountain-system. ISTumerous traces 
of volcanic agency in past ages are met with, and stUl at present the fiery internal force 
occasionally displays its activity. 

Owing to the great elevation of the country, the winters are long and severe, attended 
with immense faEs of snow. The sufferings of the Ten Thousand Greeks from the rigorous 
temperature, while traversing the uplands, are well known to the readers of Xenophon. 
It was the French retreat from Moscow upon a small scale. The north wind parched and 
benumbed the men, which caused the priests to offer sacrifices to it. The snow was a 
fathom deep ; and many of the slaves, soldiers, and baggage-horses perished in it. Some 
of the troops contracted a disease from exposure, attended with excessive hunger and 
faintness ; others lost their sight by the snow ; and many their limbs by mortification, 
while the infuriated natives harassed them by attacks, and cut off every straggler. All 
travellers have borne testimony to the rigour of the cUmate. Mr Ainsworth left the 



614 ASIATIC TUEKEY. 

plains of Mesopotamia in. the latter end of August, -where the mid-day heat was almost 
insupportable, and the nights were passed in the open air, on the grass or on the house- 
tops ; but on reaching the talole-Iand of Mush, a fire was a welcome refuge, and on the 
road from that place to Erzerum, in the early part of September, there was keen, frost 
every night. Schulz, on his route from Trebisond into the interior, passed over districts 
covered with deep snow in tlie month of June. Tournefort found the springs thinly 
frozen over during the night in July; the corn only a foot high; and vegetation no 
further advanced than it is wont to be at Paris towards the close of April. Mr South- 
gate, the American missionary, remarks upon more temperate nights being desirable at 
Erzerum in June, and upon one great occupation of the summer — by way of preparation 
apparently for preserving warmth in winter — most of the houses have cakes of fresh dung 
plastered upon the walls and spread upon the roofs to dry for fuel. The same practice 
prevailed in the heart of England not more than half a century ago, before increased 
means of intercom m n n ication brought coal within reach of the peasantry, Xenophon 
describes the villages as consisting of underground dwellings, containing horses, cows, 
goats, sheep, and fowls, in addition to one or two families, who resorted to this protection 
from the severity of the climate, with an ample stock of provisions and fodder. There 
was a sloping entrance dug for the cattle, the owners themselves descending by ladders. 
The description applies to many Armenian villages in the present day. In exposed 
elevated situations the dweUings are uniformly imderground or semi-subterraneous, 
entered by as small an aperture as possible, to prevent the cold getting in, or rather 
the escape of heat. Domestic animals participate with the household in the warmth and 
protection afforded by them. 

The Euphrates and Tigris, sacred and classic streams, have their sources in the high- 
lands, and periodically overflow their banks in the level countries to which they descend, 
in consequence of the melting of the snow m spring. The former river has its principal 
spring on the southern slope of the Ala Tagh, or ' Beautiful Mountain,' which rises nearly 
midway between Ararat and the great Lake Van. It has a course of 1700 mUes from 
thence to its confluence with the Tigris, when the joint streams take the name of the 
Shat-el-Arab, or ' Eiver of the Arabs,' and proceed to the Persian Gulf. But the direct 
distance between the two points is not more than 600 miles, thus giving 1100 miles for 
the amount of meandering. This great development of the stream is due to the Armenian 
Mountains, which oppose its passage to the south, and give it a westward flow, as if 
making for the Mediterranean ; and also to the flatness of the country afterwards entered, 
which favoiu's a tortuous course. The Tigris rises in Central Armenia, on the southern 
slope of the Anti-Taurus, which forms the water-shed between its tributaries and those 
which descend the northern slope to feed the Euphrates. It has a course of about 
1000 miles, following the windings; a more rapid current than the sister-river; and 
brings down to the junction a greater quantity of water, as less is drawn off for the pur- 
pose of irrigation, and more received from affluents. Their total average discharge is more 
than one-third less than that of the Danube. At the Castle of Felujah, on the Euphrates, 
nearly due west of Bagdad on the Tigris, their channels are only thirty miles apart, yet the 
confluence does not take place tiU the former river has accomplished a further course of 
380 miles. Lake Van, a highland expanse more than 200 mUes in circuit, renowned 
among the orientals for its beauty, is on the frontier of Armenia and Kurdistan, and 
belongs about equally to the two regions. 

The country is in general bare of wood, and in many parts sterile. In the watered 
valleys, hemp, flax, tobacco, wine, cotton, and fruits of various kinds are raised in abund- 
ance ; but grazing husbandry is followed much more extensively than tillage. Copper, 



KURDISTAN. 615 

lend, iron, salt, and naphtha occm- among tlie minerals. Some of the mines appear to have 
boon worked from remote antiquity, and perhaps formed the chief source from which the 
metals were supplied to the ancient Assyrians, as illustrated by ornaments and implements 
found among the remains of Nineveh. Xenophon in his day noticed that the deserted 
houses encountered in the country were weU furnished with aU sorts of brass or copper 
utensils. The Tigris flows from its source in a deep valley, through a region of grand and 
rugged higlilands, to the mines of Arghana, a site as wild as imagination can conceive, to 
which a Turkish, Greek, and Armenian population has been drawn by the miaeral wealth 
of the bleak and barren mountains. Magharat, ' the Hill of Caves,' which contains the 
principal mine, has been so called from the numerous galleries carried iuto the rock. The 
annual produce of copper ores, which are sent to Tokat to be smelted, is considerable. 
jSToar the junction of the two head streams of the Euphrates, in a dreary ravine producing 
neither tree nor shrub, nor vegetation of any kind, argentiferous lead ore is obtained. 
The name of the little adjoining town refers to the site, Keban Maden, ' Mine of the 
Gorge or Pass.' 

Kurdistan is a southerly continuation of the Armenian liighlands, eastward of the 
Tigris, from which the river receives affluents equal to itself in volume, the Greater Zab 
and the Diyaleh. The former is the Lycus and the latter the Gyndes of antiquity. The 
lower slopes of the hills are clothed with different kinds of oaks, some of which furnish 
the finest gall-nuts of commerce, used in medicine, the arts, and as a chemical test. The 
district also yields the remarkable vegetable substance known to us by the name of 
manna, but expressively called in Turkish, Eudret-halvassiz, ' the Divine Sweetmeat.' 
It is found on the leaves of the dwarf-oak, the ilowering ash, and other plants. 

' The mamia on eaoh leaf did pearled lie.' 

Occasionally it occurs on the sand, rocks, and stones. The Kurds go out before sunrise, 
after rainy or dewy nights, to collect it, spreading cloths under the trees, and shaking 
down the manna from the branches. It is not only an article of food in its natural state, 
but employed in the preparation of sweetmeats, and hence carried for sale to the Mosul 
market. The castor-oil shrub, Ricinus communis, abounds near the Tigris, the region of 
the prophet Jonah's mission to Kineveh, and is probably the ' gourd ' mentioned in the 
history of it. The plant grows rapidly, attains a considerable height, has a thick hollow 
stem, yellow mossy flowers, broad palmate leaves of a deep green colour, which afford an 
agreeable shade. A sultry and ' veheijient east wind ' is also characteristic of the coimtry. 
It resembles the sirocco of Italy and the solano of Spain, but is more intense, and greatly 
dreaded in the district. The points from which it blows are east, north-east, and those 
intermediate. Hence the Ai-abs call it Sherki, or Easterly, while the Kurds denominate it 
from its painful effects, Baya-rish, or the Black Wind. It occurs by night as well as by 
day, and the singular fact is asserted by numerous authorities, that though violent, its 
influence is not felt at the same time more than two hours off in any direction. ' Last 
night,' Mr Eioh states, referring to his stay in Sulimania, ' while I was sitting with a large 
company at Omar Khaznadar's, the evening having previously been calm and warm, and 
we were all busily employed in talking, just as the moon rose about ten, an intolerable 
hot puff of wind came from the north-east. AU were immediately silent, as if they had 
suddenly felt an earthquake, and then exclaimed in a dismal tone, " The sherki has come !" 
This was indeed the so much dreaded sherki, and it has continued blowing ever since with 
great violence from the east and north-east. This wind is the terror of these parts, and 
without it the climate of Sulimania would be very agreeable.' 




Paslialics, Ciiief Towns. 

Erzerum, Erzerum, Erzinjan, Ardahan. 

KarSj Kars, Kagliiznian. 

Bayazid, Eayazid, XJch Kilisa. 

"Van, Van, Julamerk. 

Mush, Mush, Melasgerd, Bitlis. 

Diarbekr, Diarbekr, Sart, Mardin. 

Mosul, Mosul, Erha, Kerkuk, Altyn Kopri. 

Bi-zerum, the ancient capital of Armenia, occupies a central position in the country, on one side of an 
extensive plain, at the great elevation of 5S00 feet above the sea. It is protected by a citadel surrounded by 
a double wall, but the fortress is ovei-looiced by adjoining hills, and is of no gi'eat strength, having been 
built before tlie age of artillery. In the Paissian invasion of 182S — 1829 it surrendered to Paskiewitch after 
the first few guns were fired. The fortifications were probably constructed by the Genoese, when the 
enterprising merchants of tliat republic were allowed to erect buildings for the protection of their trade to 
India by the way of Trebisond, Erzerum, Tabriz, and Ispahan. In many parts of the ooimtry there still 
exist, more or less perfect, remains of khans, bridges, causeways, castles, and other buildings, of hewn stone, 
so massive and imposing m their proportions as to proclaim the energy of the traders, and the vast wealth 
derived from then- commerce. Tlie town lost great part of its population at the time of the Enssian 
campaign, omng to a large number of Armenian families being either compelled or indirced to emigrate from 
it and the surrounding district to become settlers in Georgia. But it soon recovered, contains about 30,000 
inhabitants, and profits by the transit of British and European produce, landed at Trebisond, to the nortliern 
parts of Persia. As the roads are not to any extent fit for vehicles, the usual means of transport are on 
mule or horseback, but camels, asses, and oxen are also employed. There are not less than thirty-six khans 
in Erzerum, and one of the largest custom-houses in the Ottoman empire. Kars, upwards of 100 miles to 
the north-east of Erzerum, is seated on a liigh plain more than GOOO feet above the sea, and is almost 
wholly built of black basalt. It attracted the attention of Europe in 1855 from June to December, owing to 
its heroic defence mider General "Williams, whom famine alone compelled to surrender it to the Eussians. 
Bayazid, a decayed place, is near the foot of Mount Ararat, and contains the ruins of a magnificent 
monastery. Ucli Kilisa, or the ' Three Churches,' derives its name from three Armenian monasteries, only one 
of which survives, a massive stone building surrounded by a lofty wall. 

The Armenians, properly so called, are a widely-scattered race, rivalling the Jews in that respect, while 
resembling them in mercantile character; but are still considerable in number in tlieir original seat. Though 
once of independent spirit and martial habits, ages of subjection have extinguished these qualities, and have 
rendered them passive and enduring, often servile and cringing, moulding themselves according to the will 
of their masters, whether Tm-k, Kussian, Persian, or Km'd. A somewhat cmnbrous frame, long moustaches 
and beard, a high cylindrical cap, with a flowing robe and coloiu'ed shawl, distinguish them in the towns ; 



VALLEY OF THE TIGEIS. G17 

and the attire of the peasantry is similar, but of homelier materiaL The viBagers are agricultural, and 
possess large stocks of cattle, sheep, and horses, occupying the semi-subterranean dwellings previously referred 
to, Tlio town-dwellers are commercial, and engross nearly all the trade of their respective localities. They 
frequently amass great wealth, and are generally liberal. Hence it has been said that tlie inscription might 
properly be put upon almost every tomb beneatli which sleeps tlie rich Armenian : * He hath dispersed and 
given to tlio poor.' However despised and oppressed by the Moslem, their passive fidelity and ready 
obedience are appreciated, so that they are frequently selected by the authorities to discharge offices of trust. 
The Armenians embraced Christianity soon after the commencement of the fourth century ; but towards the 
close of the fifth, a synod of their bishops rejected the decrees of the Council of Chalcedon, and by tliat act 
cut tliemselves off from communion with the rest of Cliristendom. Their patriarch and bisliops are vowed 
to celibacy, while the priests are not only allowed but compelled to marry. 

Van, in Kurdistan, on the soutli-eastern side of its great lake, much dilapidated, is locally distinguished 
as the town of Semiramis, in memory of tlie Assyrian queen, dliish, on tlie Alc-su, or ' "White River,' an 
affluent of the Euphrates, is a confused group of streets, liouses, and bazaars, with a Turkish and Armenian 
population, imder a pasha of tlie second rank. Crops of grain and tobacco are raised on the neighbouring 
plain, which is studded witli villages, built in tlie usual underground manner. Bitlis, on the south-east, not 
far from the western side of Lake Van, is very romantically seated in a mountain valley, 5156 feet above the 
sea, above wliicli limestone rocks rise on every liand to the furtlier elevation of 2000 feet. Several ravines 
converge to the valley, each the bed of a little stream, wliich unite and flow off to the Tigris. The town 
stands at the point of jimotion, and extends partly up the ravines. Its streets line the banks of the streams, 
and are interspersed with flourishing gardens and orchards. In the centre rises a perpendicular roclv, 
crowned ■with tlie ruins of a castle, formerly the residence of Kurdisli chieftains, wlio down to a recent date 
preserved tlieir independence, and struck a small copper coin, which is stiU current in the place. The 
streams are crossed by single-arched bridges built of a volcanic rock, of wliich almost all the houses are 
composed. The population consists of about 2000 Mohammedan and 1000 Armenian families. Bitlis contains 
three mosques "with minarets, large and well-stocked bazaars, several khans for tlie accommodation of foreign 
traders, wlio bring Britisli calicoes and wooUens, East Indian indigo, and Mocha coffee to this secluded spot. 
It lias manufactures of cotton cloths celebrated for their bright-red dyes. The remarkable situation of the 
to^vn, the severe aspect of the momi tains, with the contrast offered to them by the cheerful vegetation of the 
valley, combine to form a scene of singular interest. 

Diarheh; ' the tents or dwellings of Beldr,' its Arabic style, alluding to a chieftain of that name, is the 
Amida of the Romans, frequently called by the Tui'ks Kara, or the Black Amid, from tlie dark-coloured 
basalt of which the walls and houses are largely built. It stands on tlie Upper Tigris, at a short distance 
from tlie river, and elevated above it on a mass of basaltic rock. The town was formerly one of the largest 
and most flourishing in the east, had numerous cotton looms constantly at work, and an extensive trade with 
Bagdad in Indian, and with Aleppo in European produce. It is still a considerable place, tliough ruinous, 
with many batlis and caravansaries, fifteen mosques with minarets, and numerous mesjids witli domes. Tlie 
great mosque was once a Christian church, probably the cathedral of ancient Amida, the square tower of 
which is now used as a mmaret. Sert, a small town on the east, is supposed to represent tlie Tir/ranocerta 
of tlie campaigns of Lucullus, 69 B.C. Mardin, a j^lace of some importance on the soutli, occupies a 
remarkable site, being built on tlie steep sides of a high hill, the summit of which is crowned with a citadel, 
exceedingly dilficult of access. The houses are placed in ranges above each other, like the seats of an 
ampliitheatre. The streets, running round the hiU, form successive terraces, and are connected laterally by 
flights of steps like similar cross-streets at Malta. The town has produced many Mohammedan authors, who 
have been called Mardini from the place of their birth, in addition to their other names. It is deemed the 
capital of the Jacobite Christians, many thousands of whom are found witlim the circle of a few days' journey. 
They derive their name from Jacob Baradaus, who, tovrards the middle of the sixth century, propagated the 
tenets condemned by the Council of Chalcedon, united those who held them, and organised a hierarchy. 
Tliere is also a small community called Shemsiah, or, as the name implies, worshippers of the sun. They 
live principally in a distinct quarter by themselves, refuse to marry out of their own number, and practise 
some ancient rites respecting wliich the strictest secrecy is observed. In neighboiu'ing villages, Yezidis are 
found, whose religious system appears to be a monstrous combination of Sabeeism, Judaism, Manicheism, 
Mohammedanism, and Christianity. They are sometimes called Sheitan purist, or worshippers of Satan ; and 
though not perhaps guilty of the practice in the gross form, it is certain that all epithets commonly applied 
to the evil one are carefully abjured, nor will they suffer them to be used in their presence. To such an 
extent is this carried, that names are even avoided resembling Sheitan in sound, as shaf, a river, for which 
the Kurdish ave, or the Arabic ma, is substituted, in referring to a stream. Sheikh nuiazen, the exalted 
doctor or chief, is their ordinary phrase for the devil. This is the most marked peculiarity of the Tezid 
tribes. They venerate Moses, Christ, and Mohammed ; adore the sun as the symbol of the divinity ; use 
baptism, the sign of the cross, and in some instances practise circumcision ; abstain from pork, wine, and 
spirituous liquors ; and are accustomed to kindle great fires of bitumen and naphtha on the night of an 
annual festival. 

Mosul, on the western bank of the Tigris, a walled city with eight gates, and about 40,000 inhabitants, is 
the seat of a pasha, who, though of the second rank, receives investiture immediately from the sultan, and is 



618 ASIATIC TUEKET 

therefore independent of the great pashas oi Erzerum and Bagdad. It is the centre or a considerable 
caravan trade, and was formerly a great conunercial mart, Tvith some important manufactures. Those textile 
fabrics which first received the name of muslins, including gold tissue, silks, as well as fine cottons, were so 
called, either from being made at Mosul in great perfection, or because they were conspicuous in its commerce. 
Marco Polo, the Venetian traveller, who was here in the thirteenth century, says that ' all the cloths of silk 
and gold wlrich are called mosulin ' are the produce of Mosul ; but he also denominates the great merchants 
of the city mosulin, wlio imported Indian goods. Alabaster, commonly called Mosul marble, is the 
predominant formation in the immediate vicinity. It consists of calcareous gypsum, non-fossiUferous, 
disposed in solid massive beds lying near the surface, or actually protruding, and therefore easily obtained. 
The uncovered buildings of Nineveh, close at hand, shew slabs of this material Uning the interior walls, 
bearing the records of victories and triumphs in sculptures and inscriptions. Having undergone the action 
of fire in the conflagration of the palaces, the gypsum slabs, reduced to Ume, rapidly fell to pieces on exposure 
to the air, but not before the pencil of the artist had preserved faithful representations of many of the 
originals. Modern Mosul has no interest apart from its position, contiguous to the site of the once mighty 
Assjn'ian capital, in the country on the opposite bank of the river. 

Classical writers are not consistent with each other respecting the position of Nineveh. Ctesias places it on 
the Euphrates, where we know it could not have been, an error into which Diodorus Siuulus was also betrayed. 
Herodotus, Strabo, PUny, and Ptolemy assign its site to the region of the Tigris. Strabo and Ptolemy more 
pax-ticularly define it in tlie country between the Tigris and the Lyons, now the Greater Zab, one of its 
principal affluents, and not far from their junction, which takes place about eighteen mUes below Mosul, and 
is the southern limit of the pashalic. Here oriental tradition fixes it, and indicating mounds of ruins occur. 
It is remarkable that though remains of the city must long have been considerable and prominent, no 
reference is made to them by the most ancient profane writers by name, so soon and completely was it 
forgotten. Gibbon, in relating the triumph of the Emperor HeracUus over the troops of Chosroes, styles it 
'the battle of Nineveh,' because fought on the vacant site of the city, which afforded a spacious field for the 
operations of the two armies. In a note he adds that Niebuhr passed over Nineveh without perceiving 
any traces of it. An old English traveller quaintly remarks : ' Now it is destroyed, as God foretold it should 
be by the Chaldeans, being notliing else than a sepulchre of her selfe.' 

Travellers were long familiar with numerous lonely mounds, scattered through the country on the east 
of the Tigris, to some distance from Mosul. Owing to an active research directed to these sites in the 
present age, their true character has been disclosed, as the tombs of palaces, halls, and temples, containing 
works of art in admirable preservation, lutherto hid from notice by accumidated earth and rubbish. Through 
twenty-five centuries, the Greek and Roman, Parthian and Persian, Arab and Tartar, successively trod them 
imder foot with ignorant indifference, not dreaming of any memorials of powerful kings and a mighty 
empire beneath the green-sward or the corn crop on the surface. More enlightened Europeans viewed them 
witii interest and curiosity, as monumental remams of a departed race, conscious of their artificial structure, 
though wearing the semblance of nature ; but it was not deemed likely that anything would be found in the 
interior, beyond confused heaps of building materials, tiU actual excavation revealed tlieir secret treasures. 
The mounds occm' at Kouyunjik, opposite Mosul ; at Kliorsabad, about fourteen miles north-north-east ; at 
Nimrud, eighteen miles south-south-east ; at Yaramles, Husseini, Tarumjeh, Karakush, and other places 
in the neighbourhood. Excavations were first commenced by M. Eotta, the French consul, at Khorsabad, in 
the summer of the year 1843. His example was followed by Mr Layard at Nimrud in the autumn of 1845. 
Other mounds have since been subject to systematic examination. As the general result, the chambers of 
ancient palaces, long buried from the playful breeze and genial sunlight, deep beneath the verdant sod, were 
laid open, with elaborate sculptures decoratmg the walls, and inscriptions in the cuneiform character. Scenes 
of war and of the chase — monstrous combinations of the human and animal, as human-headed winged bulls 
and lions, eagle-headed winged human forms of colossal proportions — kings and great men, in costume which 
betrays the fondness for ornament characteristic of the Shemitic race — are the subjects of the sculptures, and 
intunate the barbaric pomp and power of a great old-world oriental state. The histoiy of Assyria, so long 
wanted to supersede the few unsatisfactory fragments handed down by ancient writers — the work wliioh 
Herodotus contemplated, but wliich has perished, if ever it was produced — may now be said to be in process 
of composition, from materials gathered out of the recesses of the silent hills, inscriptions containing the 
names of kings, with the records of their victories, bas-reliefs representing their regal state and martial 
prowess, and implements or ornaments illustrating the social condition of the people. 

At some distance to the south, on the right bank of the river, directly washed by its waters, there is one 
of the greatest monuments of ancient Assyria, enclosed by the jungle, but visible from afar. The Turks call 
the place Toprak Kalaa, and the Aiabs, Kalah Sherghat. Both names signify the ' Castle of the Earth.' It 
is a colossal mass which strikes every one with surprise by its vastness, as the total circumference is 46S5 
yards, or rather more than two miles and a half. Though imquestionably the min of a great city, evidence 
is wanting to connect it with any of those mentioned by ancient historians. "Westward in the desert about 
twenty-eight miles, the remains of Al-Hadr rise to view, the Atra of the Pi.omau campaigns, comparable to 
Tadmor in the wilderness, owing to their magnificent appearance and secluded site. 

Erhil, a small town, in the country eastward of Mosul, represents ancient Arbela. The name is given to 
one of the world's decisive battles, 331 B.C., which transferred the empire of Asia from Darius to Alexander 



THE BASIN OF THE ZAB. 619 

the Great. It was the nearest important place to the scene of action, which lay at an insignificant 
village from forty to fifty miles distant, called G-uagamela (the camel's house). Darius reached Arbela 
as a fugitive at midnight. The victor was there the next day, and proceeded across the Lesser Zab to the 
modem Kerlcule, a town mentioned under a different name in the narrative of his wars. Here he admired 
the perpetual fires which from time inmiemorial had issued from a spot in its vicinity. There was also 
nigh at h.ind fountains of liquid naphtha. The natives, eager to shew its powers to the conqueror, 
formed a long train of the combustible in front of the king's lodgings, and as soon as it was dark set 
fire to one end, when the whole street was illuminated by the blaze. These fountains are situated in low 
gypseous liills, about tliree mUes north of Kerkuk. They are nearly three feet in diameter, some of them 
eight or ten feet deep, emitting a disagreeable odour. The naphtha, wliich is perfectly black, liquid, and 
in quantity inexhaustible, is sent all over the comitry for various pui-poses besides that of giving light. 
The other site, where the subterraneous fire bursts forth, is a little hollow, of a cinereous aspect in broad 
daylight. The flames are only visible then upon a near approach, though distinct at night. They are 
sufficiently powerful to boil water or cook meat, and hence the place is called Abu Geger by the Arabs, and 
Korlcuk Baha by the Turks, both meaning the ' father of boiling.' 

The Kurds or Koords proper, though widely dispersed, occurring in Asia Minor, Armenia, and Syria, are 
prmcipally fomid in their old ancestral seat. They are descended from the wild mountaineers mentioned by 
Xenophon as the Karduchi, who so severely harassed the Ten Thousand Greeks during their retreat. After- 
wards they were conspicuous in history imder the name of Parthians, the formidable antagonists of the 
Koman generals ; and at a more recent date they sent forth one of the greatest of eastern conquerors, 
Saladin, celebrated in the wars of the Crusades. They have no knowledge of the name by which in Europe 
they tae distinguished, but style themselves Kermanj, and attribute their origin to the Jins, or genii of the 
ah'. There are two classes of the race, the peasantry who cultivate the soil, and are in a state of grievous 
serfdom ; and the military, who are theu' masters, conmionly disdaming mdustrial occupations, and therefore 
predatory in their habits. The military Kurds are divided into a great nrrmber of small clans or septs, 
forming separate patriarchal governments, each having an hereditary chief, often styled the derch-beg, or lord 
of the valley. The clansmen are remarkable for that blind devotion to their chiefs which distinguished the 
Scotch Highlanders in former days. They are also as strongly attached to their native mountains as the 
Swiss. ' It is true,' said the chief of Sulimauia, when offered the govcrmnent of Bagdad, ' that I should 
become a pasha of the first rank ; but one draught of the snow-water of my own mountains is worth all the 
honour's of the empire.' "Wliile mostly Mohammedans, uncivilised, fierce, and lawless, Kurdistan numbers 
among its inhabitants an interesting body of Chaldean or Westorian Christians, occupying a very difficult 
part of the country. 

In the upper part of the basin of the Zab, where narrow vales and deep ravhies are hemmed in by towering 
mountains whose summits are mantled with the storm-cloud, the members of the Cliristian community 
referred to are found, though not confined to it. In bygone ages their fathers are supposed to have fled to 
the highlands to escape the sword of the persecutor ; but heavily has it descended upon the race in modern 
tunes. In the early part of the simimer of 1843 rumoiu's of war and massacre in the moimtains reached 
Mosul, which were soon confirmed by the appearance of fugitives from the scene of conflict, whose homes 
had been destroyed and relatives slaughtered. The Chaldean patriarch was one of the refugees. Influenced 
by Mohammedan fanaticism and the prospect of plunder, the Kurdish oliiefs secretly prepared to invade the 
territory, with the knowledge, as was supposed, of the Pashas of Erzei'um and Mosul, whose connivance was 
purchased by the offer of a portion of the spoil. Taken by surprise, and assailed simidtaneously at various 
points, the unfortunate people were soon overpowered, and put to death in various ways without mercy. 
Three years before the massacre, in 1840, Mr Ainsworth visited Lizan, a village on the right bank of the Zab, 
which there flows through a valley guarded by stupendous cUifs, and is crossed by a bridge of wicker-work. 
He found a neat whitewashed church, embosomed in a grove of mulberry and pomegranate trees, with 
equally neat cottages, biult in the SavIss style, which j)resented a vei'y pleasing appearance. Three years after 
the massacre, in 1846, Mr Layard visited the same spot, descending to the vUlage through scenery of extra- 
ordinary beauty and grandeur, but exhibiting on every hand memorials of dreadful outrage. 

Eowandiz, containing about 1300 houses, defended by a wall with round towers, is one of the largest 
strongholds of the military Kurds. It occupies a naked plain, at a high elevation, only approached by 
diflScult ravines, and therefore easy to be defended against an enemy. At some distance, the peak of 
Kowandiz rises to the height of 10,568 feet, as determined by the boiling-point of water. Mr Ainsworth 
scaled its summit, after passuig over glaciers and immense piles of snow, here and there broken through by 
bold and sharp pumacles of the subjacent mass. The crest commands a view of the noble expanse of Lake 
XTrumiali in Persia, the plains spreading along the Tigris, and an intervening country of aivful chasms and 
stern declivities. ' It was with regret,' he observes, ' that we tore ourselves from this magnificent prospect, 
added to which the mountain itself had a charm which was deeply felt by aU. It perhaps more particularly 
originated in the deep silence which reigned upon this lofty summit, and which appeared as if for ever 
unbroken on the spot which thus rose up to the region of the clouds — so perfectly alone, so pure in its canopy 
of white, and with an atmosphere so substantially deep and blue, that it seemed a cloud of itself, and the 
spectator shuddered to tlxink himself upon its bosom.' 




II. AL-JEZntAH AND lEAK-ARABI. 

The region between tlie Euplu'ates and Tigris, after tliey leave the mountains, and hegia 
to wander most apart, down to the point where they approach each other, answers to the 
Mesopotamia of the Greets, or ' the country between the rivers.' Tliis is the Greek transla- 
tion of the Hebcew Ai'a7n-Naharaiin, or ' Syria of the two rivers,' called also Padan-aram, 
or ' the plain of Syria.' The region now bears the Arabic denomination of Al-Jezieah, the 
island or peninsula, referriag to its almost complete environment by water. Ieak-Arabi 
denotes the territory from thence to the confluence of the streams, stretching southward 
also along their common channel, and corresponds in general to ancient Babylonia. The 
two districts form one great geographical region, hilly and undulating where it borders on 
Armenia, clothed with forests of oak, maple, chestiiut, and terebinth, but for the most 
part consisting of a series of levels, the renowned plains of Assyria and Babylonia. The 
character of these plains varies from alluvial deposits on the banks of the rivers periodic- 
ally overflowed, to permanent marshes, sandy or stony tracts often impregnated with 
salt and bitumen — true deserts, inhabited by the roving Ai-ab, wild ass, and ostrich. The 
greater part of the territory is now included in the pashalics of Urfah (ancient Orpliali) and 
Bagdad. Throughout the whole district the summer heat is excessive, but in the northern 
part, during the autumnal and spring months, the strongly-contrasted temperature of day 
and night is the chief peculiarity of the climate. The patriarch Jacob correctly characterised 
it at these intervals, when stating his own experience in Padan-aram, while serving in the 
iields of Laban, ' In the day the drought consumed me, and the frost by night.' In 
summer, vegetation enthely ceases ; everything is burned up ; but with the moderate 
showers which descend after this period, grasses, herbaceous and flowering plants awake 
to life, to flourish till the dry and scorching season returns. So high is the temperature 



MESOPOTAJIIA. 621 

tlioii, that tlie inhabitants commonly pass tlie niglit either altogether in the oi:en air, or 
quite exposed to its iuflnence. 

P.ishiilics. Chief Towns. 

Uriah, TIrfah, Bir, Sumeisat, Eakka. 

Bagdad, Bagdad, Hillah, Kurnah, Eassorah. 

TIrfah, is one of the oldest historic sites connected with the Euphrates, apart from the main stream, 
hut in the nortliern portion of its basm. By the Je^YS and all orientals it is regarded as identical with 
Ur of the Chaldees, the birthplace of Abraham, Sarah, and Lot. A pool mthin the walls, fiUed from a 
clear and copious fountain, commemorates the patriarch by its name, Birket ul Ibrahim ul Klialil,' th.a 
Lake of Abraham the Beloved or Friend of God.' A mosque attached to it is sunilarly entitled. This is one 
of tho most elegant edifices of Asiatic Turkey, a square building, surmounted by three domes of equal size, 
with a slender minaret rising up from a grove of tall cypresses. The adjacent waters, overshadowed with 
trees, and surrounded mth structures full of Saracenic grace, ripple through clean white marble basins, 
forming a scene of peculiar beauty. Tho Pool of Abraham, about 200 yards long by 20 broad, is 
slightly thermal, beautifully clear, and has its water distributed by various chamiels through the town for 
tho convenience of the inhabitants. It contains an incredible number of fish, which are traditionally 
connected with tho patriarch. They are hence forbidden to be caught or molested, and the visitor seldom 
fails to see parties on the brink feeding them as a meritorious act. Lovely gardens are in the environs, and 
T.'ilhin tho walls there are many bazaars, khans, baths, with some manufactories, and a considerable 
population, upwards of 30,000. The houses are aU of stone ; the streets are constructed ivith a paved 
causeway on each side of a central channel for a running stream ; and trees are common in them, affording 
an agreeable shade in the hot season, of which the people avail themselves for repose, or to take ice brought 
from the smnmits of Taurus. The transit is accomplished in about twenty -four hours ; and the ice being 
cheaply sold, is within reach of the poorest classes. Urfah was known to the Greeks and Romans by the 
name of JSdessa. Seized by the Crusaders, it became the head of a principality under one of the branches of 
the house of Courtney, who took tho title of Counts of Edessa, and. from whom the Courtnoys of England are 
descended. Twenty miles to the south-east, Carrha:, now a desolation, is identified mth the Charran or 
Maran of sacred story, the home of Eebekah, of Leah and Eachel, and of Jacob during his sojoru'n in Padan- 
aram. Li its neighbourhood, the Romans were signally defeated by the Parthians, and their general, 
Crassus, was slain. 

Bir, the Birtha of antiquity, is on the Euphrates, near the point where it makes the closest approach to 
the Mediterranean, being only eighty miles distant from it. The small toivn has a fine old castle crowmng a 
perpendicular cliff of chalk by the water-side. It lies on the great line of communication between Aleppo 
and Upper Mesopotamia, and is one of the most frequented points of passage across the river. Sumeisat, a 
poverty-stricken place, higher up the stream, at its emergence from the Tauric highlands, represents Samosata, 
the birthplace of Lucian and the heretic Paul. liaJdca, a flourishing city under the califs, and the favourite 
residence of Harun-al-Raschid, of whose i:)alace there are some remains, is lower down, and now insignificant. 
At a sliort distance stood ancient Thapsacus, a site now knov/n as the ferry of Hammam or the ford of the 
Bedouins, where the river is fordable when the water is low. Xerxes, the yoraiger Cyrus, Darius, Alexander, 
and Crassus, here successively conducted armies from banlc to bank. From this point downwards, Arab tents 
are prominent in the landscapes of the Euphrates. Copses of tamarisk, poplar, white mulberry, clematis, 
line its borders, sheltering wild boars, landrails, quails, and other game, while wolves and jackals prowl 
among the ruins which bestrew its plains. 

Bagdad, on the Lower Tigris, familiar by nSme from the days of childhood as the scene of the Arabian 
Kights^ Entertainments, occupies both banks of the river, but by far tlie largest part is on the eastern side. 
A high wall of brick and earth surrounds both portions, flanked at regular distances with round towers, and 
passed by six gates, three in each division. It has a total circuit of about five miles, but is now greatly 
dilapidated. Seen from a distance the aspect of tho place is highly pleasing. Surrounding groves of date- 
trees conceal the meanness of the buildings, while lofty minarets and beautifully-shaped domes rise above 
them, ornamented with glazed tiles, painted chiefly green and white, which reflect the rays of the sun with 
brilliant effect. The interior is a labyrinth of narrow unpaved streets and crooked lanes, rendered noxious 
by the filth and offal cast into them, which a tribe of half-savage dogs, without owners, alone clear away. 
Tiiere are a few imposing mosques, some extensive khans and bazaars, the latter well stocked with 
merchandise, and open spaces devoted to the sale of particular kinds of goods, hence named after them, the 
'Thread Market,' the 'MusUn Market,' and the 'Corn Market.' The scene by the water-side is pleasing and 
animated, owing to the pahn groves which intermingle with the buildings along the banks, the number of 
keleks, coracles, rafts, and other kinds of craft afloat upon tho surface, and the constant transit of men, 
horses, camels, and caravans across the bridge of boats. But scarcely any traces of its former glory appear, 
when, as the capital of Hanm-al-Raschid, it was styled the ' dwelling of peace,' the ' tower of the saints,' 
and was in reality the Mohammedan Athens. The palace of the califs is no more, nor has the memory of 
its site survived. The celebrated medresseh or college still exists as a building, with part of it transformed 
into a khan, while another part is used as a custom-house. Though vastly decayed, the city still contains a 
population of 60,000, but it had nearly twice that number prior to the year 1831, when the triple calamity of 



622 ASIATIC TURKEY. 

plagiie, flood, and famine swept off two-thirds of the inhabitants. Bagdad was founded by the Calif 
Almansur, 762 — 766 A.D. It was greatly enlarged in the ninth centuiy by Harun-al-EascMd, who erected 
numerous edifices on the east side of the Tigris, and connected its two banks by a bridge of boats. Bagdad 
was taken by Timur in 1393, and was long a bone of contention between Tiu'ks and Persians. Considerably 
below Bagdad, the sites of Seleucia and Ctesiphon occur, on opposite sides of the river. Of the former, a 
Greek city, on tlie west bank, there are only a few insigTiificant remahis; but of the latter, a Parthian 
foundation, the stupendous Tank e Kesra, or Arch of Kliusru survives as a majestic fragment of the past, 
probably a remnant of the white palace of Khusru, which was pillaged at the time of the Arab concpiest. 

The Lower Euphrates has the town of Hillah upon both its banks, occupying a remarkable site, being 
within the area over which Babylon was spread, and built of materials derived from its ruins. The remains 
of the ancient city, once the queen of nations and mistress of the east, consist of immense masses of brick- 
work, in some instances more or less changed into a vitrified state ; of mounds of earth formed by the 
decomposition of buildings under the action of the elements, channeled and furrowed by the weather ; and 
of fragments of brick, bitimien, and pottery, strewed upon the surface. On the eastern side of the river is 
an immense confused mass called by the Arabs the Mujellibeh, or 'the Overturned,' and a moimd at some 
distance from it, with which conspicuous vestiges of building are connected, styled Al-Kasr, ' the Palace,' 
composed of the finest furnace-baked bricks. General opinion considers this a relic of the new royal palace 
of Nebuchadnezzar, ^vith which the celebrated Hanging Gardens were associated. Tliose gardens rose in 
terraces resting on immense buttresses, each of which was supplied with mould deep enough for large trees, 
and received water by hydraulic machinery from the neighbouring river. They were designed to gratify the 
queen, a Median pruicess, who wished to beliold a picture of the physical diversity of her native country on 
the flat aUuvial plain of Babylonia, and would of coui'se be stocked with exotics, ratlier tlian witli plants 
common to the region. It is a curious fact that tliere is now an ancient tree in tlie locaUty, of a species 
quite unknown in the neighbourhood, which has arrested the attention of aU travellers, owing to its unique 
character, solitariness, and venerable age. The tree is an evergreen, mth leaves like those of the pine and 
cedar, but of a lighter green, and with boughs almost as flexible as those of the willow. ' Its present 
height,' says Captain Mignan, ' is only twenty-tlu'ee feet ; its trunk has been of great circmnference ; though 
now rugged and rifled, it still stands proudly up ; and although nearly worn away, has stiU sufficient strength 
to bear tlie burden of its evergreen branches, wliioli stretch out their arms in the stern grandeur of decaying 
greatness. The fluttering and rustling sound produced by the "wind sweepuig through its dehcate branches 
has an indescribably melancholy effect, and seems as it it were entreating the traveller to remain, to unite in 
motu'ning over fallen grandeur.' The Arabs regard this vegetable relic of the past with veneration, believing 
that it flourished in ancient Babylon, from tlie destruction of wliich it was specially preserved, in order to 
afford the Calif Ali a convenient resting-place after the battle of Hillah. It is a species of tamarisk, 
frequently observed overshadowing wells in v;.rious parts of Persia. 

Besides these mounds, there is one of much larger dimensions, on the opposite side of the river, about six 
miles south by west of HiUah. It bears the name of Birs Nimrud, and is the most remarkable feature of 
the plain of Babylon. The hfll, in itself a ruin, is of oblong form, 22S6 feet in circuit, rising in a conical 
shape to the height of 198 feet, and siuTounded by a distinct quadrangular enclosure. The sides are deeply 
furrowed by the violence of the wind and rain to which for tliousands of years they have been exposed. Tlie 
summit is surmounted by a tower thirty-seven feet in height by twenty-eight in breadth, diminisliing in 
thickness towards the top where it assumes a pyramidal form. It is a solid mass of beaiitiful brick-work, so 
firmly cemented as to be inseiDarable without damage. But it has been riven or split from the top nearly 
half-way down ; and at the base there are several immense brown and black masses, of irregular shape, 
changed to a vitrified state, looking at a distance lilie so many edifices torn up from their foundations. 
Mignan took them for fragments of real rock, previous to examination. The change exhibited by these 
vitrified masses shews them to have undergone the action of the fiercest fire. The aspect of the Birs 
Nimrud is sublime, and in connection witli its isolation, the impression made by it is solemn. Clouds play 
around the summit. Its cavities are the dens of wild beasts. Tliree lions were quietly basking on its heights 
when Porter approached, and scarcely mtimidated by the cries of his Arabs, slowly descended into the plain. 
This ruined pile has been deemed a memorial of the temple of Belus, one of the wonders of the ancient city, 
though its distance from the other remains jiresent a difficulty. 

Some places famous in the annals of Mohammedanism lie in the desert westward at no great distance ; 
Kufa, for a time the residence of tlie early califs, but now totally decayed; Meshed AU contains the 
tomb of Ah, son-in-law of the Prophet, to which the town, often visited by Persian devotees, owes its origin ; 
Meshed Hussein, with the tomb of Hussein, eldest son of Ali, is likemse a venerated shrine, was ravaged 
with fire and sword at the commencement of the present century by the "Wahabi sectaries. Hamlets of 
mud huts appear on both banks of the Euphrates as it flows southerly, rendered pleasing to the eye by the 
date groves and pomegranate gardens in which they are imbedded. "Villages also of neatly-formed reed 
dwellings occur, generally surrounded with an earthen rampart, crowned with rude towers and battlements, 
intended to secure the grain and property of the inhabitants from marauding hordes. There is like\vise the 
largest permanently occupied Ai-ab town on the entire line of the stream, called Sheikh el Shmjukh, the 
' Sheikh's Market-town,' containing about 3000 houses. Soon after the influence of the tide becomes per- 
ceptible in the Euphrates, it joins the Tigris. On the peninsula formed by the confluence stands Kurnah, an 



ARAB TRIBES. 



623 



insignificant plaoo, but occupying tho aito of tlie ancient Apamea, a city founded by Seleuous Nioator in 
lionour of his wife. Tlie combined rivers form the Shat el Arab, which lias a course of 100 miles to the 
Persian Gulf, with Bassorah or Basra on the west bank, a foiindation of the Calif Omar, governed by a sub- 
ordinate of tho Paslia of Bagdad. Seated on a majestic stream, commanding an extensive navigation, this 
town soon became one of the largest and most floui'ishing places in the east, and it is still the great emporium 
of commerce between Asiatic Turkey and India. The walls have a circuit of more than seven miles, and 
enclose 50,000 inhabitants, about a tenth of the former population, with extensive gardens and date planta- 
tions. In the adjoining country, whole fields of roses are cultivated for distUlation ; large quantities of rice 
are grown in the marshes ; and tlie liquorice plant floiirishes on the borders of the river. 

The most numerous people in the region under review are Arabs, who bear a general resemblance in char- 
acter, appearance, and liabits to their brethren in the Arabian peninsula, from whence their ancestors came 
at various periods, at first luider the generals of the early califs of Mecca. They are divided into tribes 
more or less extensive, each consisting of numerous clans. The latter are kno"\vn by various names, that of 
the clan itself, the place at which it resides, the great tribe to which it belongs, as the Aniza, Shammar, 
Montefige, or Aggiel, and that of its own sheikh, which is used on ordinaiy occasions. The powerful tribe of 
Aniza, a word signifying union or assemblage, rate themselves at a million, and are spread from Ai'abia as 
far as the borders of Persia. Tlie Shammar, often at variance with the preceding, are found in almost every 
part of Mesopotamia. The Montefige are on the Lower Euphrates and the Shat el Arab. Tlie Aggiel are 
widely dispersed, as the most general carriers of the desert, enlisting also as soldiers in the service of the 
difl'erent pashas. This tribe, according to their own account, was one of those engaged in the conquest of 
Spain, and they stUl bear the standard of that nation. 

The attention of mercantile men in Europe has frequently been directed to the Euphrates, as a favourable 
channel for commerce and communication with India, via Aleppo and the Levant. In 1674, Leonhart 
Eauwolf, a German, descended the stream from Bir to Babylon with this object in view. Gaspare Balbi, a 
Venetian jeweller, followed him four years later with merchandise. In 1583, Messrs Fitch and Newbery, 
agents of the merchants of London, bearing letters of credit from Queen Elizabeth, pursued the same route. 
But attention was diverted from it by the opening of trade to India by sea, in the hands of the East India 
Company. In oiu- own time the river has been deemed a suitable channel for communicating with the far 
cast by steam navigation, and an expedition was sent out by the British government, under the command of 
Colonel Chesney (1835-1837), to try its practicability. The materials for two iron steamers having been con- 
veyed overland from the Mediterranean to Bir, a distance of about eighty mUes, the boats were built, and the 
descent of the stream was accomplished. But the ineffectiveness of the Turkish authorities in the district, 
and tho barbarism of the Arab tribes, with other disadvantages, led to the preference being given to the 
passage to India by Egypt and the Eed Sea. The Euphrates route is, however, the shortest, and has since 
been surveyed for a railway, which will probably at no distant period be executed. A vast body of informa- 
tion was collected by the Chesney expedition, of the highest interest to the geographer ; and for the first 
time the great historic streams of 'Westem Asia were fully illustrated. 





The Dead Sea. 



III. STEIA AND PALESTINE. 



This region, skirting the eastern side of the Mediterranean, is called Stria ; the southern 
portion of which, Palestine, or the Holy Land, far surpasses all other parts of the glohe in 
the interest and importance of its associations, as the promised inheritance of the seed of 
Abraham, and the scene of the birth, life, and death of the Messiah. Syria comprises a 
narrow strip of maritime lowland, expanding at intervals into spacious plains ; grand 
mountains or hilly ranges running north and south at a varying distance from the sea ; 
and the vast expanse stretching from their eastern base towards the basin of the 
Euphrates, kno^vn as the Syrian desert. The Lebanon, the name of the bold highlands, 
T,-hose towering summits are seen by mariners from the sea around Cyprus, forms a single 
chain along the coast for some distance, and then divides into two great parallel ridges, 
which enclose between them the beautiful longitudmal vaUey, called by the ancients 
Coele-SjT-ia or Hollow Syria. The western range, Lebanon proper, follows the coast, 
gradually inclines to it, and terminates at the sea a Utile to the north of Tyre. The 
eastern or inland range, Anti-Lebanon, pm'sues the same direction to the sources of the 
Jordan, where it forms the north portion of Palestine, and is continued southwards by 
the high countries which line on both sides the valley of the river. The highest point 
is the peak of Dahrel-Khotib, in the range called Jebel-Makmel, which attains an eleva- 
tion of 10,050 feet. In the crevices and crater-like hollows of Jebel Sunnim (8555 feet) 
perpetual snow lies in immense quantities, forming a compact mass ; and from May to 
November the business of cutting it up with hatchets, and conveying it to Beirout for 
cooling drinks, is actively carried on. Jebel-esh-Sheikh, the Hermon of the Scriptures 



CEDAES OP LEBANON. 



625 



(837G feet), likewise retains snow at tlie summit throughout the year. The Aiahic 
name, signifjring Old Man's Mountain, is said to be taken from the resemblance of the 
top in suiumor, clothed with snow, descending in streaks some distance down the 
slopes, to the hoary head and beard of a venerable sheikh. Ascending the mountains from 
Tripoli or Beyrout, on the way to Damascus, the traveller passes warm, temperate, and 
cold zones ; and leaves oranges, figs, vines, roses, and a profusion of flowers, for oaks, 
aspens, willows, firs, and cedars, till, at about two hours' distance from the summit, 
utter barrenness prevails. ' The Lebanon,' say the Arabian poets, with truth and 
beaut}'-, 'bears winter on his head, spring on his shoulders, and autumn in his bosom, 
while summer lies sleeping at his feet.' 

In ancient times these highlands were extensively clothed along their slopes with 
forests of cedar and other trees, which furnished materials for the Phcenioian merchant- 
vessels and the Jewish temple. A few venerable cedars remain, among a total number of 
about 400. They form a beautiful grove, one of the most picturesque productions of 
the vegetable world, on the line of route from the coast to Baalbec. IsTo cedars of the 
same antiquity are foimd in any other part of the Lebanon. The patriarchs are large and 
massy, rear their heads to an enormous height, spread their branches afar, but have a 
strangely wild aspect, as if wrestling with some iuvisible power bent on their destruction, 
while life is still strong in them all. Eauwolff, in 1575, found twenty-four standing in a 
circle. Fermanel, in 1630, counted twenty-two, and one which had recently fallen, 
having been accidentally set on fire by some shepherds. La Koque, in 1688, found 
twenty; Maundrell, in 1696, only sixteen; Pococke, in 1738, fifteen, the sixteenth 
having been blown down shortly before his visit. Two more perished during the last 
century. There are now seven representatives of ancient days standing very near each 
other ; three more, at a short distance, almost in a line with them ; and a few others of 
great age are reckoned. According to the mountameers, the cedars anticipate the change 
of seasons, and prepare to receive the coming snow by inclining their branches upwards 
the better to sustain its weight, resuming an horizontal direction as it melts. Southey 
has poetically adopted the idea : 

' It was a cedai'-tree 

That woke him from the deadly drowsiness ; 
Its broad, round-spreading branches, when they felt 
The snow, rose upward in a pomt to heaven, 
And standing in their strength erect 
Defied the battled storm.' 

Great care is now taken of these remjiants of the old forests of Lebanon. A solemn 
mass is annually performed under their shade on the feast of the Transfiguration. Lord 
Lindsay observed the names of Laborde and Lamartine cut on one of the largest trees, 
and properly deemed this customary commemoration of a visit ' more honoured in the 
breach than the observance.' 

The high countries which precipitously wall in the Jordan valley are the mountains of 
Gilead of former times on the eastern side — the mountains of Ephraim and Judah on the 
western. The latter and best known tract is continuous through the whole of Palestine 
from north to south, passing from a wooded and fertile character to one bare and sterile, 
in its southerly prolongation, where it blends with the desert. The greatest breadth is 
about thu'ty miles. This upland mass is intersected by deep valleys, and crowned with 
hilly ridges, which have echoed the voice of prophets and been the scenes of miracle. 
Most of the scenes of our Lord's life lie within its limits. It attains an elevation of 
from 1000 to 3000 feet above the sea, as in the table. 



626 



ASIATIC TURKEY. 



Feet. 

HiU of Nazareth, 1237 

Kidge o{ Gilboa, 1300 

ElMakerka, K^^.^jts of Cannel. . P^^S 
Essefia, ) ' (1725 

Little Hermon, 1S62 



Mount Tabor, . 
Mount Gerizim, . 
Mount of Olives, 
Hill of Bethlehem, 
Hill of Hebron, 



Feet. 
1905 
2000 
2398 
2705 
3029 



In tliis district the climate is temperate, for while the summer heat is great, cold is 
rendered a decided element of the -winter hy the elevation of the country. At Jerusalem 
thin ice is occasionally formed for one or two days upon the pools, though the frost 
never bites the ground. Snow is more common, hut quickly passes away. 

The maritime lowlands are mere strips of. territory in the neighbourhood of the 
Lebanon, but at its southerly termination they spread out into extensive plains, as those 




Natural Bridge of Ain-el-Lebanon. 

of Acre, Sharon, and Sephala, where the more distant hUls of Judea form the inland 
boundary. Winter is here so genial that the orange, banana, and other delicate trees 
flourish in the open air, while at Beyrout or Tripoli, in the month of January, the 
picturesque spectacle may be seen by the European of orange-trees laden with flowers and 
fruit beneath his mndows, with grand highlands in the background white with ice and 
snow. In the opposite season, along the coast, the sea-breeze relieves the high tempera- 
ture, but in the more interior districts, apart from its influence, the summer heat is 
excessive, and renders well-known figures of speech pecidiarly significant, ' a shadow in 
the daytime from the heat,' 'the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.' Ho rain falls 
during the specially hot months, or from the beginning of May to the close of August, 
and .showers are rare in September. During this interval, the mornings break without 
clouds, and the days pass away without them, except some of the wisp-like and feathery, 
or the soft and fleecy description. A few cirri occasionally spread their delicate filaments 
aloft at noon, feebly and transiently intercepting the sun's rays, but not diminishing their 
fierceness. Small flocculent masses also form, but are more common at night, appearing 
when the moon is present, 

' The beauteous semblance of a flock at rest.' 
Towards the middle of August, larger and denser masses may be seen drifting from the 



KIVEE SYSTEM. 627 

south-WGst, 1)111; witlioiifc bringing rain. These are the Nile clouds, so called from their 
supposed cause, the inundation of Egypt by the jSTile. Owing to the combined influence 
of heat and drought, the spontaneous herbage is shrivelled. Every flower fades, every 
green thing vanishes, except in the immediate neighbourhood of permanent springs and 
streams. The only verdant objects remaining are the scattered fruit-trees, the occasional 
vineyards, and fields of millet, which experience the care of man, for the foliage of the 
olive, with its dull grayish hue, scarcely deserves the name of verdure. 

The pDriod in which rain may he expected extends from the autumnal equinox to a month or six weeks after 
tlio vernal. TIio autumnal rains are tlie ' first ' or ' former ' rains of Scripture ; the vernal are the ' latter ; ' 
and are probably so called in allusion to the order of agricultural operations. The showers of autumn do not 
commence suddenly, but by degrees, and give opportunity for the husbandman to sow his wheat and barley, 
whUe the showers of spring serve to refresh and fonvard both the ripening and the sprouting products of the 
field. Prominence is given to rain falling at the two periods because of its importance to the agriculturist. 
I!ut the wliolc interval from the one to the other is the rainy season, and has no regularly recurring term of 
prolonged fair weatlier. If drought rapidly produces a marked effect upon the face of nature, so does the 
rain, especially in the spring months, when the daily accelerating heat combines witli tlie moisture to force 
vegetation. The young grass covers the plains and meadows with a mantle of the freshest verdure ; wild 
anemones, ranunculuses, verbenas, and otlier flowering plants, exhibit their varied colours by the wayside, 
in clefts of the rocks, and by the renewed rivulets ; tall thistles, with gorgeous purple hues, rise up on every 
hand; the hawthorn and jasmine put on theu- blossoms; tlie myrtle and laurel temper tlieir dark winter 
green -with leaflets of a lighter hue ; the fir-trees powerfully exhale their resinous particles ; and the so-called 
juniper bushes, witli their ahm, featliery sialics, exhibit their clusters of pendent white and yellow-coloured 
flowers, perfuming the air with balsamic odours. A thousand rUls are put in motion on the highlands, 
which, imiting in their descent, form powerful streams, and reflU the exhausted water-courses in the plains, 
AvliUe the permanent rivers, which have dwindled in theii- voliune, are swollen to overflowing by these 
temporary feeders. 

The principal rivers have their sources in the gi-eat moimtain system. From hence the Orontes flows 
northerly by Antioch to the MediteiTanean ; the Leontes runs westward to the same basin ; the Barada 
descends eastward to Damascus, losing itself in the desert beyond ; and the Jordan proceeds southerly to its 
termination in the Dead Sea, centrally intersecting the Holy Land from north to south. They are 
comparatively of inconsiderable magnitude ; but the latter, wliile imperishably linked with the memory of 
gi'and transactions, is physicaDy remarkable for the great and rapid declination of its bed. In a total course 
of about 117 miles the Jordan falls 1849 feet, and the greater part of this descent takes place between the 
Lake of Tiberias and the Dead Sea, the direct distance from the one to the other being about sixty-five 
miles. This steep decline renders the current correspondingly strong. A host of pilgrims annually 
repair to the Jordan for the pui-pose of bathing at the supposed spot of our Lord's baptism. 

The Ghor or Valley of the Jordan is bounded on both sides by a chain of steep and 
lofty highlands, from five to six miles asunder in the northern part, but receding to three 
or four times that distance in the southern, where the plain of Moab lies on the eastern, 
and that of Jericho on the western bank. There is a much narrower valley let into this 
larger, tlu'ough which the river winds its way. Eepeated allusion is made in sacred story 
to the altered level of the stream. In the account of its first passage by the Israelites, it 
is spoten of as overfloiving ' all its banlcs in the time of harvest.' An enraged enemy is 
also compared by one of the prophets to a lion coming up from the 'swellings of Jordan,' 
dislodged from his lair among the reeds and brushwood along the margin by the annual 
flood, and compelled to seek a shelter elsewhere. The river at present periodically 
overflows the banks of its immediate channel, but its highest water-mark is considerably 
below the level of the upper or great vaUey. If this was inundated in former times, the 
stream has since excavated for itself a deeper bed. In the northerly part of its course, 
the Jordan forms the Lake of Tiberias, often styled the Sea of Galilee, and also the 
Lake of Gemiesaret. It extends from twelve to fifteen miles in length by from 
six to nine in breadth, and has a mountainous shore, on which stood the cities of 
Capernaum, Bethsaida, and Chorazin, whose sites can scarcely be identified, while their 
names have entirely perished in the district. The expanse is a very lovely one. It 
abounds with fish, and is subject to sudden changes from calm to disturbance, owing to 



628 ASIATIC TUEKET. 

the strong gusts of wind wliioli rusli at intervals througli tlie gorges of the mountains. 
Msliing is now entirely conducted by castiag tlie net from the shore. Ho boat or sail 
appears upon the surface, except at very rare intervals, when some enterprising traveller 
from the west makes the venture, and provides the conveyance. The feathered tribes are 
numerously represented in water-fowl, birds of prey, and small warblers. But hours 
may be passed without seeing a human being upon the strand once occupied by 
flourishing towns. 

The remarkable expanse of the Dead Sea, which the Jordan mainly contributes to 
form, and in which it terminates, has an extent of about forty-five niUes in length, by ten 
in breadth, and exhibits generally profound depths, amounting in many places to not less 
than 1000 or 1300 feet. It has been known by various names, as the Sea of the Plain, 
in allusion to the ancient and beautiful plain of Siddim, the site of the cities of Sodom 
and Gomorrah, over which its waves are supposed to roll ; the East Sea, in reference to 
its position with respect to the Mediterranean ; the Salt Sea, from the intensely saline 
quahty of its waters ; and the Lake Asphaltites, from the quantities of bitumen found in 
it and on its borders. The Arabs of the district now style it Bahr Lout, the Sea of Lot, 
and sometimes Bahi' Mwtneh, the Stinking Sea. Its common European name, Mare 
Mortuum, or the Dead Sea, alludes to the sluggishness of the surface, which, owing to 
the density of the water, only yields to the action of violent winds, and to the absence of 
fish, with the treeless and herbless desolation of the greater part of the shores. The lake 
belongs to the class which have af&uents, but are without an outlet, yet generally 
maintain the same level, for such formations occur in regions of great heat, where the 
excessive evaporation to which they are subject, is quite sufficient to account for the 
disposal of the accessions they receive. The water is far Salter than that of the ocean, a 
quahty derived from the saline tracts which form the south-eastern shore, and have 
doubtless a subaqueous extension. It is found by analysis to contain one-fourth of its 
weight of salt ingredients. Though beautifully clear and transparent, the taste is 
indescribably nauseous, being not only saline but bitter beyond bitterness. Experimentalists 
compare it to sea-water mixed with Epsom salts and quinine, or to a solution of nitre 
mixed with an infusion of quassia. It affects the eyes pungently like smoke, irritates the 
skin, and leaves a white deposit upon the person of the bather. 

"Wild fictions have been circulated respecting the Dead Sea. It was affirmed by some old travellers to 
smoke, and exhale deleterious vapom-s, so that no bird could fly over the surface, or venture upon its bosom 
■without hazard of perishing, -while no object could be made to sink in its waters. Statements of this 
description, which led many a pUgrim to cast an eye of wonder and awe upon the lake, involve in the main 
distorted or exaggerated representations of certain physical characteristics. In common with other expanses, 
dense mists form at intervals, which the siunmer sun dispels soon after its rising ; and during the hot season, in 
the middle of the day, the active evaporation is often visible to the eye. Irby and Mangles, from a spot which 
commanded an extensive prospect of the lake, observed this effect, in broad transparent columns of vapour, 
not unlike water-spouts in appearance, but very much larger. The fresh-water fish of the Jordan, which the 
river in its floods may force doivn, must of course perish in a salt-lake, and it appears to have no fish 
whatever of its own. This circumstance would satisfactorily explain the entire absence of aquatic birds, were 
that the case. During the summer heats, when aU the vegetation, which is somewhat plentiful in places 
along the western border, is scorched, land bu-ds also are scarce or altogether wanting. The tnith seems to 
be, that at certain times of the year utter lifelessness reigns upon the shores and surface. But this is 
only a temporary seasonal effect, though the feathered tribes are nat\u-aUy rare at any time, owing to 
the general barrenness of the adjoining lands, deficiency of shelter, and the entire want of food in the water. 
Stephens saw a flock of gulls floating quietly on the waves, and when disturbed by him, they flew along the 
lake, skimming the surface tiU they were out of sight. Elliot watched some wild ducks cross the sea from 
Moab to the hills of Judah. Ii-by and Mangles witnessed a pair of Egyptian ducks and a flight of pigeons 
make the passage. Dr Eobinson speaks of the carols of the lark at .early dawn, the cheerful whistle 
of the quail, the call of the partridge, and the screaming of birds of prey on the wing about the cliffs. Miss 
Martmeaii remarks : • It is said that small birds do not fly over the lake on account of the deleterious nature 
of the atmosphere. About small birds I camnot spsak : but I saw two or three vultures winging their way 



THE DEAD SEA. 629 

obliquely down it.' Salt, deposited by the Dead Sea, collected on the western side, is now and has Ion" been 
used at Jerusalem for culinary purposes. 

Owing to the quantity of briny matter held in solution, and the great specific gravity of the water, it ia 
remarkably buoyant. Ancient representations of its capacity in this respect only require limitation. The 
testimony of all bathers is uniform and explicit. ' There is some truth,' says Paston, ' in the saying that 
it requires an effort to keep the feet and legs imder, so as to use them to advantage in swimming. I could 
lie on my back in the water, with my head, hands, and feet all out at the same time, and remain thus as Ion" 
as I pleased without making any motion whatever. This I could not do in any other water that I have been 
in.' Stephens has given a lively description of his bath. * From my own experience,' remarks the traveller, 
' I can almost corroborate the most extravagant accounts of the ancients. I know, in reference to my own 
specific gravity, that in the Atlantic and Mediterranean I cannot float without some little movement of the 
hands, and even then my body is almost totally submerged ; but here, when I threw myself upon my back, 
my body was half out of the water. It was an exertion even for my lank Arabs to keep themselves under. 
When I struck out in swimming it was extremely awkward, for my legs were continually rising to the 
sui'faoe, and even above the water. I could have lain and read there with perfect ease. In fact I could have 
slept, and it would have been a much easier bed than the bushes at Jericho.' A fruit, pleasmg to the eye 
but of deceptive appearance, ' the apples on the Dead Sea shore,' mentioned by Josephus and Tacitus, 

* Which grew 
Near that bituminous lake where Sodom stood,' 

is very probably the produce of the 'osher or asheyr tree, found in the district. It resembles extei'nally a 
smooth apple or orange, hangs in clusters of three or four upon the branches, and is of a yellow colour when 
ripe. TTpon being struck or pressed, it explodes with a. puff, and is reduced to the rind and a few fibres, being 
chiefly filled with air. 

Tlie district of the Dead Sea, and of the wliole -valley of the Jordan northward to the 
Lake of Tiberias, is quite a phenomenon in physical geography, heing below the level of 
the ocean. No other example of similar depression is known, for that of the Caspian Sea, 
if admitted, is comparatively inconsiderable. The Lake of Tiberias is 328 feet below the 
level of the Mediterranean ; and from thence the river-vaUey decHnes to the Dead Sea, the 
surface of which is very nearly 1400 feet below the same level. This is the mean of 
barometrical and trigonometrical measurements executed by the Count de Bertou in 
1838—1839, Yon Eussegger in 1838, Lieutenant Symonds in 1841, and Von Wilden- 
bruch in 1845. Owing to the great depression of the sm-face, together with the heights 
which wall in the valley, heat powerfully accumulates by the concentration and reflection 
of the solar rays, while the bordering highlands prevent the admission of external breezes 
to relieve the temperature. The climate is therefore tropical. Travellers on descending 
into this low country feel as if they had entered another zone. They confirm the accuracy 
of Josephus, who reports that winter in the plain of Jericho resembled spring, and that 
the inhabitants wore linen garments at the time when the people in other parts of Judea 
were shivering in the midst of snow. _, Snow, indeed, is almost entirely unknown in the 
valley. The mean annual temperature, in the southern and lower portions, is probably 75 
degrees, while that of Cairo, a more southerly latitude, is 72 degrees. Hence dates ripen 
earlier than in Egypt. Indigo, which requires a high temperature, grows wild, and is also 
cultivated, the product commanding a higher price than Egyptian indigo, being of superior 
quality. The balsam-tree, a tropical plant, which yields the medicinal gum, now called the 
balm of Mecca, and is now limited to Arabia, once flourished in groves near Jericho, and 
furnished the renowned babn of GUead. The vegetation is stUl luxuriant and abundant 
wherever there is moisture. Tamarisks, willows, oleanders, and tall reeds line the borders 
of the Jordan, and in many places almost hide its waters. But apart from the margin of 
the river, the surface has the aspect of a parched desert through the months of the 
summer. During the early part of May, and in the morning, a recent traveller found the 
thermometer standing at 92 degrees, in the shade of a clump of wild fig-trees overhanging 
a copious spring, and near its edge. 



630 ASLiTIC TURKEY. 

Pashalios. Chief Towns. 

Aleppo, Aleppo, Iskenderun, Antakia, Aintat. 

Tripoli, Tripoli, Latalda, Tartus, Zebail. 

Acre, Acre, Beyrout, Saida, Nazareth. 

Damascus, .... Damascus, Hamah, Horns, Jerusalem^ Hebron. 

'Gaza, Gaza, Jaffa. 

Aleppo, in Northern Syria, is an inland city situated nearly equidistant from tho Mediterranean and tho 
Euphrates. Though on the edge of the great Syro- Arabian desert, it occupies a well-watered and delightful 
locality, which has obtained the name of the Syrian Gardens from its numerous plantations of fruit and 
forest trees, with various kinds of esculent plants and flowering shrubs, blended with patches of cotton and 
tobacco. Twice desolated in the present century by terrible earthquakes, it is still one of the most busy 
commercial places of the Ottoman Empire, possesses good houses of freestone, well-supplied bazaars, numerous 
klians, baths, fountains, and mosques, a substantial wall, with a population of 80,000 ; while riven and ruined 
buildings, in every stage of destruction, proclaim the fearful nature of the visitations incident to the 
neighboui'hood. On the last occasion, August 13, 1S22, the sun went down, and the day closed peacefully ; 
but at half-past nine o'clock the ground rocked, the whole pashalic was shaken, and in a few seconds the 
city was reduced to a heap of ruins. The nest morning all the surviving inhabitants were scattered homeless 
over the open country ; while the dead, to the number of 20,000, among whom was the Austrian consul, lay 
beneath piles of prostrate masonry and brick. The plague in 1827, the cholera in 1832, and the oppression of 
the temporary Egyptian government were further disasters. But as a great centre of inland trade, the place 
has rallied from these misfortunes. The merchant-citizens are distinguished for refinement, and are hence 
styled by tlie Arabs Halcpi Ulidcbi — the 'foppish Aleppines.' Iskenderun, or Scanderoon, the port of 
Aleppo, seventy miles distant, on a fine inlet of the Mediterranean, has considerable trade, but is a wretched 
toivn, surrounded with swamps, notoriously unhealthy. Antakia, on the left bank of the Orontes, about 
twenty miles from the sea, is the poor modem representative of the vast and splendid Antioch of former 
times. This city, for several centuries the favourite residence of the Syro-Macedonian kings, and afterwards 
of Eioman governors, was built partly on the plain through which the river winds its way, and partly on tho 
rugged ascent towards Mount Casius, the slopes of which were once covered with vineyards. It was as largo 
as Paris, celebrated for stately buildings and luxurious embellishments, which won for it the style of ' Antioch 
the Beautiful,' ' the Crown of the East.' The Jews were partial to it, owing to the jus civitatum, or right of 
citizenship, which the founder, Seleucus, gave them, in common with the Greeks. In the early history of 
Cliristianity it is noted as the place where the name of Christians was first applied to its professors. In 
later times, it was commonly denoted the 'Eye of the Eastern Church,' and witnessed ten ecclesiastical 
councils held within its walls. The Temple of Daphne stood in the neighbourhood, embosomed in thick 
groves of laurels and cypresses, through which numerous streams were led, forming a cool summer retreat for 
the inhabitants of the city. But nothing now remains of the glory of Antioch, beyond what history relates, 
except the fragments of massive walls which lie around the crazUy-buUt houses of Antakia, and those gifts of 
nature in fruits, flowers, and foliage to the site which wars and earthquakes may ravage, but cannot 
permanently destroy. 

Tripoli, on the coast, is one of the chief ports, with 18,000 inhabitants, and an important shipping trade in raw 
sUk, and other produce. The name, signifying ' three cities,' refers to its origin as the offspring of colonies 
from the three cities of Tyre, Sidon, and Aradus. The town is environed with delightful gardens, has many 
agreeable features, and contains striking architectural monuments of tlie age of the Crusades. Latakia, ancient 
Jioodicea, another seat of maritime commerce, is a smaller place on the nortli, with a flourishing trade in the 
export of tobacco and sponge of the finest quality. Beyrout, on the south, the port of Damascus and Central 
Syria, is magnificently situated, the blue sea on the one hand, the lower slopes of the Lebanon on the other, 
with the higher parts of the range in the backgi'ound, wliose snow-covered peaks are in view of the inhabit- 
ants. The town is walled on the land-side, and surrounded with mulberry groves for the cultivation of silk, 
along with rich gardens of fruits and flowers, divided generally by hedges of the prickly pear. It prospered in 
former times under the name oi Berytus, sunk for ages into obscurity, and has only recently gained consequence 
ov.'ing to tho extended growth of sUk and wine in the neighbourhood. The population, about 12,000, con- 
sists chiefly of Christians, many of whom represent European mercantile firms, or are connected with 
Protestant mission establisliments. Coal and iron occur in the vicinity, and hills of red sand are prominent 
on the shore. Prom some examples of the latter, a small stream to tlie northward, the Nahr Ibrahim, Adonis 
of antiquity, probably derived a real discoloration wliich mythology interpreted in the manner described by 
Milton : 

* Thammuz came nest behind. 

Whose annual wound in Lebanon alUuxd 

The Syrian damsels to lament his fate 

In amorous ditties all a summer's day ; 

^Vhilc smooth Adonis from his native rock 

Ran purple to the sea, supposed with blood 

Of Thammuz yearly wounded.* 
The coast of Syria, with a narrow strip of territory inland, the breadth of which perhaps nowhere exceeded 



COAST TOWNS OP SYRIA. 



631 



twenty miles, corresponds to the limits of Phoenicia Proper. This region was early studded with flourishing 
cities, for the most part well fortified, and situated on islets adjacent to the shore. The insular position 
rendered theni'more secure, and was suited to the habits of a maritime people. They were equally the abodes of 
industry and the arts, celebrated for their fleets, and for naval and commercial enterprise. The more important 
had a section of the neighbouring country under immediate control, with an independent government, which, 
though monarchical, was so strictly limited as to be almost republican. Aradus, the Arpad of sacred history, 
on the north, occupied the small island of Ruad, about two miles from the coast, of which cisterns cut in the 
solid rock and some masses of masomy are the principal remains. The few islanders now rear poultry and 




Eeyrout and Mount Lebanon, 

vegetables, and are engaged in the sponge-fisheries, a laborious and perilous calling. Tliey dive tor the product, 
remain under water for a wonderful length of time, and are often in a state of complete exhaustion on regain- 
ing the Stti'f ace. The best season tor the fisheryjs during the most of August and September, when the regular 
sea-breezes are to be depended on. The sponges are bartered to merchants for grain, clothes, and other neces- 
saries of life. Only very few of the best quality find their way to the markets of "Western Europe, as the home 
demand for them at a remunerating price is very great, owing to the frequent use of the bath. Turkish ladies 
are as fastidious respecting the shape and size of the sponge, as the men are in relation to the mouth-pieces of 
tlieir pipes. Tartus, an insignificant place on the adjoining mainland, is the Tolosa of the middle ages, the Ant- 
aradus of the Greeks, with Phoenician antiquities and Gothic remains, which bespeak its former consequence. 
Sidon, the mother city of the country, celebrated in the time of Homer for the artistic skill of its inhabitants, 
and often mentioned in the Scriptures, exists as a small town on a southerly part of the coast with the name of 
Saida, but has had its commerce transferred to the northern ports. There are very few traces of the Phoenician 
past at the spot, but many memorials of the Crusaders. SUr, further south, towards the border of Palestine, 
little more than a mean hamlet, is all that survives of Fpre. This ancient daughter of Sidon soon surpassed 
the parent in prosperity, and became the greatest commercial mart of the ancient world. 

The position of Tyre was originally confined to the mainland, but gradually its buildings were extended to 
a rocky isle, separated from it by a narrow arm of the sea. Eventually, for the sake of security, the inhabit- 
ants became wholly insular, and strongly fortified their home. It fell into the hands of Alexander the Great 
after a long siege, 332 B.C., owing to his construction of an enormous causeway or pier from the main shore to 
the island, over which his troops marched with their engines to the assault of the walls. Though sacked, the 
city revived, and was populous at the commencement of the Christian era. It was taken by the Saracens in 
the seventh century ; recovered by the Crusaders in the twelfth, and made an archiepiscopal see, of which 



632 ASIATIC TIJEKET. 

William of Tyre, an Englishman, the well-known chronicler, was the first prelate. Mastered finally by the 
Turks, it sank rapidly into complete insignificance, and became by the seventeenth century a miserable village, 
inhabited by a few fishermen. Stir, its present Arab name, now occupies a peninsula, accumulations of sand 
having converted the causeway of Alexander into an isthmus more than a quarter of a mile in width. The ruins 
of an old church — some tottering walls of ancient date, and towers that mark the time of the Crusades— a white 
domed mosque— a few imconnected houses, jumbled together on the sea- washed rock — and rising above all, 
some waving pahns, whose plumy tops seem to mourn over the surrounding desolation, are all the objects 
that now present themselves to the traveller on a spot once ' glorious in the midst of the seas,' whose ' merchants 
were princes, and whose traflSckers were the honourable of the earth.' 

Damascus, locally called El-Slmm, is an inland city, situated on an extensive plain at the eastern base of 
Anti-Lebanon, highly fertile, being watered by numerous streams which descend from the mountains, of which 
the Barada and Awaj are the most important, representing ' Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus,' men- 
tioned in the Jewish annals. Completely encompassed with gardens and orchards, the distant view of the place 
from the mountain slopes is very charming. It is one of the oldest of existing cities, and also one of the very 
few which has not dwindled from its ancient importance, nor changed its aspect for centuries, remaining 
thoroughly oriental in the appearance of its houses and inhabitants. The population exceeds 100,000, 
consisting chiefly of Turks, who have not yielded to modem influences, who cling Uke their ancestors to the 
dignity of liigh turbans and flowing robes, and are strongly tinctured with Moslem pride and fanaticism. There 
are an immense number of coflee-houses and cook-shops, of smiths and jeweUers, but mamifactures of leather 
are the most extensive, with coarse wooUen. cloths for the cloaks universally worn by the Syrian peasants. 
Formerly the artisans were famed for the production of sword blades, which appear to have been made of 
thin sheets of steel and iron welded together, so as to unite great flexibility with a keen edge. Tamerlane 
carried off the workmen into Persia ; biit sabres of inferior quality continue to be made. The mosques 
amount to two hundred. One of the finest was once a Christian structure, built upon the site of a pagan 
temple, some columns of wliich are extant. Damascus, under the Saracens, was the head of a califate, and 
several of the mosques were erected as mausolea for the califs. It was taken by the Tiurks in 1516, and is 
now the true capital of Syria, and head-quarters of the army, with a pasha who is always one of the highest 
officers of the empire. Samah, the Hamath of Scripture, and Horns, the Emesa of the Greeks and Eomans, 
are considerable towns on the north, in the direction of Aleppo. Baalbec, or HeliopoUs, ' City of the Sun,' in 
the great valley between the ranges of Lebanon, now a mere village, is remarkable for splendid remains of 
a huge temple of the sun-god, the erection of which is commonly ascribed to the Emperor Antoninus Pius. 
Sino-le blocks of stone lying prostrate are of colossal proportions, amounting in one instance to sixty-nine feet 
in length, and in some others to fifty-three feet each. Palmyra, ' the City of Pahns,' exhibits an equally 
striking spectacle of fallen grandeur. It was originally founded by Solomon as Tadmor in the wilderness, 
'for the accommodation of caravans,' and became in the Roman age the capital of the renowned Queen 
Zenobia, conquered and taken captive of the Emperor AureHan. The site is an oasis in the desert, nearly 
midway between the Mediterranean and the Euphrates, about 120 miles north-east of Damascus, Here are 
now a few mud-built cottages, by the side of perennial springs and shady pahns, along with sixty Corinthian 
columns of white marble, and other ruins covering an extensive space, which surprise the visitor by their 
appearance in a wUdemess destitute of a single building, and contrast strikingly in their snowy whiteness 
with the yellow sands. English merchants at Aleppo first made known the remains of Palmyra to the 
western nations. The Arabs stiU apply the name of Tadmor to the spot. 

Acre, ancient Acco-PtoUmais (now Akka), a small seaport, marks the southern limit of old Phcenioia, 
and the northern border of the Holy Land. It occupies the shore of a semicircular bay, the only prominent 
inlet of the whole coast-line. Its position, walls, and fortress rendered it the key of Palestine when a 
vigorous ruler was its lord, like Djezzar Pasha at the commencement of the present century. Fierce have 
been the struggles tor its possession between the Christian and Mohammedan powers. Fortifications and 
town are now utterly dilapidated, but exliibit evidences of former strength. The place, though stUl 
containing 10,000 inhabitants, belongs essentially to the past, and has a history memorable for its many 
sieges — ^by Baldwin, Saladin, Eichard Cojur de lion, Napoleon, Ibrahim Pasha, and Sir C. Napier. The 
peculiarity belongs to its annals that at the close of the Crusades, within the narrow circuit of its walls, 
between the hosts of the Saracens on the one hand and the waters of the Mediterranean on the other, there 
were cooped up a greater number of chieftains, exercising authority, than ever appeared at the same time in 
any other stronghold. Vithin that circuit, destined to be driven from it, having lost every other part of 
Palestine, ' the kings of Jerusalem and Cyprus, of the House of Lusignan ; the princes of Antioch ; 'the counts 
of Tripoli and Sidon ; the grand masters of the Hospital, the Temple, and the Teutonic Orders ; the chiefs of 
the republics of Venice, Genoa, and Pisa ; the Pope's legate ; and the kings of France and England, each 
assumed an independent command. Seventeen tribunals exercised the power of life and death.' 

The Bay of Acre has Mount Carmel on the southern side, a range of hills from four to five miles in 
breadth, and running eighteen miles inland, bounding on the south-west the great plain of Esdraelon. 
Through this plain ' that ancient river, the river Kishon,' winds its way to the sea, skirting the foot of the 
range — an inconsiderable stream in the dry season, with its upper channels dry, but a furious and overflowing 
torrent after heavy rains. Ascending from the lowlands, where the summer heat is oppressive, the traveller 
meets with a cool and bracing air on the hiUs, especially on the brow of the terminating headland— a bluff 



COAST TOWNS OF SYRIA. 633 

promontory hiUy exposed to the refresliing sea-breeze. This summit is completely devoid of verdure. 
But, further inland, beautiful vegetation clothes the slopes and fills the dells, giving them a garden-like 
appearance. There are copses of the evergreen oak, with dense underwood of hawthorn, myrtle, and acacia ; 
picturesque green glens spangled with bright flowers, and fragrant with aromatic plants ; while wild vines 
and olive-trees remain amid the spontaneous produce of the soil to bear testimony of ancient cultivation. 
This fertility constituted the ' excellency of Carmel ' in former times, the evidence of wliich has survived the 
neglect of ages ; and tho hand of industry is alone needed to renew it in aU its glory on the spot. On the 
Bide of the sea, half-way up the hill, stands the convent, a foundation of the celebrated order of the 
barefooted monks who have carried the name of Carmelite to the extremities of Europe. The building is 
quite new, a handsome structure of three stories, with nine windows looking towards Acre, and thirteen 
towards the Mediterranean, containing rooms fitted up for the reception of European visitors. The view 
from the roof is very extensive, but fatiguing from its uniformity, as a sail but rarely appears on the 
adjoining waters. But occasionally the cloud is seen, as aforetime, not 'bigger than a man's hand,' which 
increases in volume, overspreads the sky, and discharges itself in deluging torrents. In this manner the 
commencement of the autumnal rains in Palestine is often announced. "When sailing along the coast on a 
bright and beautiful morning, the approach of a squall was intimated to Mr Emerson. On looking out he 
saw no indication of it till his attention was directed to a small black cloud on the verge of the horizon, 
which every instant drew nearer the vessel, and enlarged its bulk. Orders were immediately given to take in 
sail, and prepare the ship for scudding before the hurricane. It came on with tremendous violence ; the 
rain poured down in torrents iipon the deck ; and in little more than a quarter of an hour, the sky cleared, 
the sun shone out, and aU was peaceful except the rough and billowy deep. 

Southward on the coast some thirty-six miles, masses of masonry and prostrate columns, partly washed by 
the waves, are the only remains of Cwsarea, the capital of Roman Palestine. No village, habitation, or hovel 
marks the site, but the Arabs preserve the memory of the city in the equivalent name of Kaisaria, applied 
to the spot. About the same distance in the like direction leads to Jaffa, or Joppa, a town of 5000 
inliabitauts, the old port of Jerusalenl, from thirty to forty mUes north-west of the city. It stands directly 
on the beach, and answers to the meaning of its name, ' Beautiful,' occupying a little rounded hill which dips 
on the west into the waves, and is encompassed on the land-side with orchards of oranges, lemons, 
pomegranates, and apricots, scarcely sui'passed in tlio world. Steamers are occasionally in sight plying 
between Alexandria and Beyi'out, but they rarely stop, as there is Uttle or no accommodation for the landing 
and embarkation of passengers, while the harbour is nearly sanded up. The site has been occupied from a 
very remote antiquity, and been the scene of many interesting transactions. To this port the cedar and 
pine woods of the Lebanon were brought on floats which were used in the building of Solomon's Temple. 
Here for a time the apostle Peter resided with Simon the tamier, whose house is described as ' by the 
sea-side,' on the fiat roof of which he saw the vision which corrected his Jewish prejudices against the 
Gentiles. The prominent incident in the modem history of Jaffa is the infamous massacre of his prisoners 
in the neighbourhood by Napoleon. 

Jerusalem, the modern representative of the city of David and Solomon, of Herod and Pilate, is situated 
between the shores of the Mediterranean and the head of the Dead Sea, nearer the latter than the former, 
in latitude 31° 46' north, longitude 35° 13' east, a place now humbled and forlorn, no longer the capital of a 
kingdom, though in one sense the metropolis of the world. It stands on the edge of a rocky plateau, part of 
the extensive table-land or backbone of Judea, wliich is broken into several eminences, and nearly surrounded 
by valleys, or rather deep ravines. On the north the site is open to the high plains. But eastward it is 
limited by the Valley of the Kedron, the bed of a winter torrent, completely dry for the greater part of the 
year, wliich separates it from the Mount of Olives. Southward is the Valley of Hinnom, likewise traversed 
by a stream in the rainy season, which joins that of the Kedron, and is itself a continuation of the shallower 
Valley of Gihon on the western side. The ground thus enclosed on three sides by natural fosses includes the 
two hills known by the names of Acra and Zion, the last of which is only embraced in part by the present 
walls. The highest point of Zion, the south-western brow, is about 300 feet above the lowest portion of the 
adjoining valleys, 2535 feet above the level of the Mediterranean, and 3835 feet above that of the Dead Sea. 
The Gothic embattled wall around the city is about two miles and a half in circuit, and is passed by four 
principal gates. It encloses narrow, unpaved, and irregular streets, gloomy prison-like houses, and a 
population of perhaps 20,000, consisting of Moslems in the proportion of full one-half, with Jews, Armenians, 
Latin and Greek Christians. The most conspicuous edifice, the so-called Mosque of Omar, occupies the site 
of Solomon's Temple, and is considered by the Mohammedans as only inferior in sanctity to the Kaaba at 
Mecca. Latin, Greek, and Armenian Christians venerate the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, believing it to 
stand on the veiy site of the Messiah's death, burial, and resurrection. They have their separate chapels in 
the Byzantine building, re-constructed in the present century; but have often been involved in the fiercest 
quarrels by the clashing of their respective pretensions. A Protestant bishopric, with a church on Mount 
Zion, is jointly sustained by England and Prussia, the appointment to which rests alternately with the two 
governments. The only prominent industry in the city is the manufacture of crucifixes, beads, artificial shells 
and reUquiaries, which are disposed of in immense quantities to the crowds of pilgrims. 

In the view of Jerusalem, looking westward, northward, or southward, it is seen on an elevation higher than 
the hills in the immediate neighbourhood, with its walls and towers projected against the sky. But facing the 



634 



ASIATIC T0EKET. 



east, the ridge of tlie Mount of Olives forms a background, the highest peak of which rises to 2724 feet above 
the Mediterranean, or nearly 200 feet above the top of Mount Zion. These summits are familiar objects in 
every view from the roofs of tlie city, and so near are they as to seem almost -within its bounds. The olive, 
from which the name of the first is derived, still grows in patches at the base, but must have clothed the 
slopes more completely to have originated the distinctive title. The Eoman general, Titus, cut down all the 
wood in the vicinity of the city in order to facilitate operations during his famous siege ; but there would 
seem to have been constantly springing up a succession of the denominative trees. As spontaneous produce, 




unmterruptedly resultmg from the ongmal growth, the 
eiistmg venerable examples are of high mterest It ippeais 
from allusions that the site had once myrtles, figs, pines, 
and palms, all of which have passed away except the fig, 
1 Inch lingers here and there along with the ohve Thus 
clothed with shady vegetation, and close at hand Ohvet 
was the favourite resort of the old inhabitants — their 
open ground to ancient Jerusalem, it was as the Campus 
Martius to ancient Kome, oi as the Prater is at present to Vienna, and the Parks to London. The ridge 
has four distinct summits distinguished by traditional names. The first in order, proceeding from north 
to south, is the lowest, called the 'Galilee,' from the supposition that the angels appeared over it who 
said, ' Ye men of Galilee.' The next is tlie ' Ascension,' so entitled as the presumed scene of that event, 
which has the site indicated as the Garden of Gethsemane at its base. The third is the ' Prophets,' with 
a catacomb called the ' Prophets' Tombs ' on its side. The last is the ' Mount of Offence,' so styled from 
Solomon's idol worship. The third summit is the most elevated, and has the dii'ect route to Bethany and 
Jericho on its southern shoulder. This is a rough, broad, and well-defined mountain-track, winding over 
rock and loose stones, undoubtedly the path followed by the Saviour on his triumphant progi-ess to the 
city. Lieutenant Lynch, who approached by this tract, coming up from his adventurous expedition in the 
Valley of the Jordan, was sm-prised at the magnificence of the first view. Eartlett, who beheld the same 
prospect at eventide, which no other modern traveller seems to have done, owing to the gates being closed at 
sunset, remarks : ' Beautiful as this view was in tlie morning, it was far more striking when the sun, about 
to sink into the west, cast a rich slanting glow along the level grassy area and marble platform of the 
Temple enclosure, touching mth gold the edge of the Dome of the Eock, and the light arabesque fountains 
with which the area is studded ; while the eastern walls and the valley below are thrown into a deep and 
solemn shadow, creeping, as the orb sinks lower, further and further toAvards the summit (of Ohvet), 
irradiated with one parting gleam of roseate light, after ail below was sunk in obscurity.' Most visitors 
confess to a strong feeling of disappointment at the first sight of Jerusalem, as Richardson, Buckingham, and 
Chateaubriand, owing to their arriving cither from the west or south, by the road from Jaffa or Hebron. 
It is from the Olive nioimt on the east, the road from Bethany and Jericho, the approach by which the 
army of Pompey advanced, that the appearance is grand, though all, upon further acquaintance, will be 
disposed to say : ' How doth the city sit solitary, that was full of people ! How is she become as a widow ! 
she that was great among the nations, and princess among the provinces !' 



JERUSALEM. 035 

Caoso to the city of the living there is a city of the dead, a long series of ancient sepulchres, chiefly on the 
sloping sides of the adjoining ravines. The gi-eat majority of the tomhs exhibit the same general mode of 
construction. .A, small doorway, usually simple and unadorned, has been cut in the face of the rock, leading 
to one or more chambers excavated out of it, commonly upon the same level with the entrance, though some- 
times having a descent of several steps. In some instances advantage has been taken of a spot where the 
stone has been quarried for building purposes, in order to obtain a perpendicular face for the door. Many of 
the doors and fronts have been broken away by violence, so as to leave the interior of the chambers quite 
exposed. Most of the sepulchres seem to have been simply secured by large stones or blocks at the doors, 
easily removed and replaced upon a fresh tenant being brought to the family grave. It was the general 
custom to deposit the body in a chamber, or in a niche, without any sort of coffin, but wrapped round with 
grave-clothes, tliough, in the case of the noble and wealthy, stone coffins with scidptured lids, or sarcophagi, 
were used. In striking contrast with the habits of the Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans, from whose funereal 
monuments whole acres of inscriptions have been gathered, not a single letter has been found in any ancient 
sepulchre of Palestine. There are a few remarkable exceptions to this description of the old abodes of the 
dead contiguous to Jerusalem. One called the ' Tombs of the Judges,' a name supposed to refer to the 
members of the Jewish Sanhedrim, presents a portico surmounted mth a fine pediment, sculptured with 
flowers and leaves. Another, styled the ' Tombs of the Kmgs,' consists of a large square court smik in the 
solid rock. A portico on one side leading to many excavated chambers, with crypts, is ornamented with 
carved clusters of grapes between groups of flowers, intermingled with Corinthian capitals, and forms the 
finest specimen of ancient scidpture extant in the neighbourhood. Tliis sepulchre, from its extent and 
magnificence, has most likely been a royal burial-place, perhaps of the princes of the line of Herod. 

An account of the relative position of the renowned city, 'written by Henry Timberlake/ in 1601, is 
quaint and curious. 

' TSTow concerning how the country about Jerusalem lyeth, for your more easy and perfect understanding, I 
will familiarly compare their several of our native EngUsh towns and villages, according to such true 
estimation as I have heard made of them. 
The river Jordan, tlie very nearest part thereof, is from Jerusalem as Epping is from London. 
Jericho, the nearest part of the plains thereof, is from Jerusalem, as Lowi^on Hall, Sir Robert Wrath's 
house, is from London. 
The lake of Sodom and Gomorrah is from Jerusalem as Gravesend is from London. 

The fields where the angels brought tidings unto the shepherds, lye from Jerusalem as Greenwich doth 
from London. 
Mount Olivet lyeth from Jerusalem as Bow from London. 
Bethania is from Jerusalem as Blackwall is from London. 
Bethjihage is from Jerusalem as MUe End is from London. 
The valley Gethsemane is from Jerusalem as Katcliffe Fields lye from London. 
Brook Cedron is from Jerusalem as the ditch ■without Aldgate is from London. 

The distances of Bethlehem, Beersheba, Gaza, Joppa, Samaria, and Nazareth, from Jerusalem, are similarly 
cstunated by those of Wandsworth, Alton, Salisbury, Aylesbury, Eoyston, and Norwich from London.' 

Nazareth, or En Sfasireh, included in the pashalic of Acre, is a small inland town of 3000 inhabitants, fidl 
two thirds of whom are Greek, Latin, and Maronite Christians. This place has an enduring high association. 
It was the residence of ' Jesus of Nazareth,' before he entered upon his ministry, the abode of his parents 
Joseph and Mary. The site is a sweetly sequestered vaUey enclosed by barren hiUs, but clothed itself with 
rich grass, dotted with fig-trees and small gardens lined with hedges of the prickly pear. A spring outside 
the town, arched over vntli stone, is traditionally regarded as havuig been visited by the Virgin to draw 
water, one of the legends wliich may be received mthout distrust, for daily at present, women and girls with 
long white vaUs and bands of coins over their heads may be seen at the spot fjling their graceful water-jars. 
Nazareth is on the northern side of the plain of Esdraelon, about twenty miles west of the Lake of Tiberias. 
Between the two, the wooded and conical Mount Tabor rises boldly, from the summit of which the eye 
overlooks the lake and the greater part of Galilee, hails the snow-capped heights of Hermon, and catches 
sight of the country of Bashan and Gilead beyond Jordan, where primeval oak forests alternate with rich 
pastures and fertile corn-lands. Safed, a neighbouring to\vn, is buUt round the slopes of a mountain, the 
brow of which is crowned by the massive ruins of a castle. It had formerly a large Jewish population, with 
many learned rabbis and celebrated schools, but was dreadfully injured by an earthquake in 1837. Nearly 
every house was overthrown, and more than haK of the inhabitants perished. ITahlous, southward in 
ancient Samaria, is the Shechem and Sycliar of the Scriptures, called in later times Neapolis, of which the 
present name is a corruption. It occupies a narrow, watered and luxuriant valley between Mounts Ebal and 
Gerizim, but is chiefly built at the base of the latter, and has a population of 8000, mostly Mohammedans. 
The town is one of the prosperous places in Palestine, with the production of cotton fabrics, soap, and oUve 
oil for its industries. A few Samaritans remain at the spot, the old metropolis of their faith, who revere 
the summit of Gerizim as the place where ' men ought to worsliip.' In the vicinity is Jacob's Well, the scene 
of a memorable interview, an excavation in the rock usually furnishing an abundant supply of water. 

BaliUlicm, ' House of Bread,' in which the royal line of David dwelt, and the Messiah was born, is six miles 
from Jerusalem on the south, reached by a dreary road. It stands upon a limestone ridge, the slopes of which 



636 ASIATIC TUBKEY. 

have the vine, the fig, and the olive flourishing in the dark-red loam tound in clefts and furrows of the rock. 
The place is simply a village of about 2000 inhabitants, busy with the manufacture of beads, crucifixes, and 
rosaries, vended to the pUgrims who repair to it as a sacred shrine. A monastery of great extent accommo- 
dates Greek, Latin, and Armenian monks, who have the joint use of the church. They profit by offerings 
from visitors of their own communions, to whom a crypt beneath the building, paved and lined with marble, 
is shewn as the Grotto of the Nativity, with the very spot where the birth took place indicated by a Latin 
inscription on the floor. Hebron, in the same direction, 21 mUes from Jerusalem, is a town of 5000 
inhabitants, almost all Moslems. It has the modern name of Sl-STiuUl, ' the Friend of God,' in allusion to 
the patriarch Abraham, who was here interred, along with Isaac, Jacob, and other members of the 
patriarchal family. The principal mosque, once a Byzantine church, contains the so-called tombs. No 
Christian in modern tunes has entered this building, except one or two, in disguise or by stealth, tUl the 
Prince of "Wales's visit in 1862, when curiosity was gratified, but no result of interest appears to have been 
gained. ' We passed,' says one of the party, ' without our shoes, through an open court into the mosque. In 
the recess on the right is the alleged tomb of Abraham, on the left that of Sarah, each guarded by silver 
gates. The shrine containing the tomb of Sarah we were requested not to enter, as being that of a woman. 
The shrine of Abraham, after a momentary hesitation and a prayer offered to the patriarch for permission to 
enter, was thrown open. The chamber is cased in marble. The tomb consists of a oofBn-like structure, like 
most Moslem tombs, built up of plastered stone or marble, and hung with carpets — green, embroidered with 
gold. The three which cover this tomb are said to have been presented by Mohammed XL, Selim I., and the 
late Sultan Abdul Medjid. I need hardly say that this tomb (and the same remark applies to all the others) 
does not profess to be more than a cenotaph, raised above the actual grave which lies beneath.' "Within the 
area of the mosque were shewn, in like manner, the tombs of Isaac and Eebekah, in separate chapels, and 
closed with iron gates. 

Gaza, or Guszek, the head of a pashalio in the south-west of Palestine, contains a population of 15,000, and 
enjoys considerable trade both by land and sea, being on the caravan route to Egypt, while only about three 
miles from the Mediterranean. The present town is not upon the spot once occupied by the lordly city of 
the Philistines, connected with the story of Samson. The ancient site is desolate. Scarcely a shrub, plant, 
or blade of grass interrupts and relieves its monotonous barrenness, or anything but the jackal stealing over 
it, with a few ruins half buried in the sand. 

The population of Syria and Palestiae consists of Turks, Aiahs, and Greeks, in the 
largest proportion, with examples of nearly all the races found in Asiatic Turkey, forming 
a supposed total for the whole region of Ottoman Asia of 16,000,000, of whom the great 
majority are in Asia Minor. But two communities in close proximity, yet of different 
habits and religion, the Maronites and Druses, are peculiar, or nearly so, to the Lebanon, 
and at deadly variance "with each other, engaged in. a horrible civil war in the year 1860. 
The Maronites occupy the hill-country between Beyrout and Tripoli, live in villages on 
spots apparently inaccessible, perched on the edges of ravines and frightful chasms, many 
of which, though within pistol-shot of each other, are separated by hours of toilsome 
march. The great valley which extends like a funnel from the sea-shore at Tripoli, to 
the snow above the mountain-cedars, is their principal home. They are Christians by 
profession, deriving their name from Maron, who advocated opinions denounced in the 
fifth century as heretical ; and hence his followers were compelled to seek a retreat from 
persecution in the difficult highlands. Though now in communion "with the Church of 
Eome, they are allowed by the papacy, as the price of adhesion in general, to elect their 
own ecclesiastical chief, reject the ceUbaoy of the priests, and have the sacrament in both 
kinds administered. They have many convents, "vsdth which villages are commonly 
associated. Kanobin, fifteen miles on the south-east of Tripoli, is the seat of their 
patriarch. The Maronites cultivate the "vine and mulberry, raise raw sUk at a fixed price 
for the merchants of Marseille and Lyon, and are considered to be under the protection 
of France. 

The Druses are chiefly found in the higher parts of the Lebanon between Beyrout and 
Acre, and round the roots of Mount Hermon, and the interior tract of the Hauran, a vast 
level plain on the south of Damascus. They are heretical Mohammedans, but their 
tenets and practices are involved in as much mystery as possible by a priestly class. 
With them, Hakem, the calif of Egypt, in the early part of the eleventh century, is 
honoured as the last medium of communication between the Deity and mankind. Darazi, 



POPULATION OP SYRIA. 



637 



a zealous supporter of his pretensions to tWs character, proclaimed them in the Lehanon ; 
and his disciples, hy a natural and easy change in etymology, obtained from him the 
distinguishing epithet of Druses. The origin of these mountaineers is uncertain, though, 
with some probability, they are supposed to be descended from the ancient Iturei, 
who possessed the district in the time of the Eomans. Their long standing may be 
inferred from some beautiful usages of primitive times, in strict accordance with the 
law of Moses. Thus, in the season of fruit-gathering, when a man has once descended 
from a tree, having shaken off as much of the produce as his strength permitted, he 
will upon no consideration shake the tree again, however much fruit may tenaciously 
adhere to the branches. What is left falls to the lot of the poor and the gleaner. 
' When thou beatest thine olive-tree, thou shalt not go over the boughs again ; it shall 
be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow.' In the same spirit they 
never reap the fields without leaving a full measure for the gleaners; rarely muzzle 
the ox that treadeth out the corn; and wUl not yoke a bxdlock and a mule together. 
Owing to the feuds between the two races, the Lebanon was constituted a special govern- 
ment in 1861, and placed under the charge of Davoud Pasha, an Armenian — the first 
Cliristian raised to the rank of pasha by the Turkish sultans. 




Natural Pyramids of Eoumbet, in the Forest of Kasrif Paclia Khan. 




Aden. 

CHAPTEE III. 

ARABIA, 

HE island or peninsula of the Arabs, Jezira-al-Arab, so called 
by the natives in allusion to its extended enclosuie by the 
sea, is the Arabistan of the Turks and Persians, a great south- 
T.'estern peninsula of Asia, connected with Africa on the 
north-west by the narrow Isthmus of Suez. The name is 
variously derived by etymologists from Semitic roots referring 
either to its physical features, the habits of its inhabitants, or 
its relative position, as Arabali, a bairen place or wilderness, 
Eher, a nomade or wanderer, and Areb, to go down, that is, 
the west, or to the region in which the sun appeared to set to 
the early dwellers on the Euphrates, which would, however, 
only be true of the most northerly portion of the country. It 
extends about 1500 miles from north to south, by 800 miles, at the greatest breadth, from 




THE RED SEA. 639 

cast to west, and comprehends an area of more than 1,000,000 square miles, considerahly 
exceeding one-fourth of the entire area of Europe. The Syrian Desert lies on the north, 
the Persian Gulf on the east, the Indian Ocean on the south, and the Eed Sea on the 
west. This vast peninsula is of sacred celebrity, as the land of Ishmael, whose predicted 
lawlessness and independence is now reflected by the tribes within its bounds ; and as 
the scene of the great transactions which immediately followed the exodus of Israel. It 
is of historical fame, as the original seat of those fanatical hosts sent forth by the early 
successors of Mohammed to propagate his faith with the sword, who finally extended 
their conquests, religion, and language to the shores of Spain, the banks of the Ganges, 
the wilds of Tartary, and the heart of Africa. It is, too, of interest in the annals of 
literature, for wliile Arabian learning followed the decline of letters in Europe, it 
stimidated their revival ; and its influence is decisively indicated by the fact that the 
nomenclature of modern science is largely indebted to the Arabic for its terms in almost 
every department. » 

The Eed Sea is the prime maritime feature of the country, for the greater part of its 
coast-line belongs to the peninsula, and hence it is still frequently styled the Arabian 
Gulf, Sinus Arabieus, after the example of the ancients. At a more remote antiquity, the 
historian of the exodus referred to it as the 'weedy sea,' or 'sea of rushes,' Yam Supli, an 
allusion to the patches of reedy vegetation which apijear on the northern shores. Its 
present common name is one out of many instances supplied by the nomenclature of seas 
and shores, of a general title being grafted on very partial and evanescent features, or 
upon appearances which are by no means peculiar to the localities they denominate. 
Thus, the "White Sea is not whiter than at the same interval is Baffin's Bay; the 
Vermilion Sea is not more rosy than parts of the Levant ; the Black Sea is not duskier 
than all other expanses under a darkened sky ; the Eed Sea is not ruddier than portions 
of the Persian Gulf ; and the Pacific Ocean roars just as terribly as the Atlantic, and 
quite as often. Such epithets are unfortunate, as they make a false impression upon the 
mind ia early Hfe, which subsequent knowledge may correct, but seldom entirely effaces. 
Most travellers have described the Eed Sea as exhibiting the brightest blue. But a 
pilgrim of the olden time has the discriminating remark, ' The Eede Sea is not more rede 
than any other sea, but in some places thereof is the gravelle rede, and therefore men 
clepen it the Eede Sea.' Coralline formations line the shores. Within their range, 
especially in the spring months, animalculss are developed in patches of varying extent, 
which give to the coral below, of itself chiefly white, a blood-red hue, as well as to the 
superincumbent water. But distant from land, where the water is deep, the colour is the 
intensest blue imaginable, varying to greenish-blue, green, and light-green, as the shallows 
increase. 'Through the bright blue and pellucid water,' observes a voyager, 'we could 
discern the minutest objects at an immense depth, and the secrets of the deep thus laid 
open to us afforded the most magnificent spectacle which can be conceived. Although 
there were neither 

" "Wedges of gold, vast anchors, heaps of pearls, 
JSTor other treasures of the vasty deep," 

yet the productions of nature, valueless but far more beautiful, were before us. Every 
formation of the coral was exposed to view. On the one hand we had a huge and 
shapeless pile formed by their horizontal layers, on the other a ponderous and widely- 
spread mass, like a huge blossoming plant supported by a thin cylinder or stem. 
Successive circular fragments reared themselves aloft, or assumed the fantastic tortuous 
forms of gnarled and knotted forest-trees. How varied, how beautiful was their 
colouring ! sometimes appearing of a brilliant red, blue, or purple ; sometimes gorgeously 




The Bed Sea, from Eas Mohammed. 

diversified witli orange, crimson, or the deepest black. By a ■well-known delusion, as we 
glided along, the vast ocean caverns seemed to pass away from beneath us. liTow they 
were partially illumined hy the heaios of the sun glancing thereon from the undulations 
of the waves, and at the next moment sinking into their former gloom.' 

The basin of the sea is a rocky cavity, long and narrow, extending about 1400 miles 
from north to south, but never exceeding 200 miles in breadth, and averaging much less. 
It does not receive a single tributary stream. The navigation is highly dangerous near 
the coasts, owing to the coral-reefs ; but centrally, through its entire course, there is a 
hoUow, about forty miles wide, with a mean depth of a hundred fathoms. Islands are 
numerous, all near the shores, and of unimportant size. One, towards the south, Jebel 
Tor, exhibits volcanic appearances, and continually emits smoke. The prevalent direction 
of the wind is from north to south for eight months of the year, and from south to north 
through the remaining four. This is of great importance to the Egyptian side of the 
channel, for a strong prevailing breeze from the east would enable the vast locust armies 
of the Arabian peninsula to pass over it, to the destruction of the crops in the Valley of 
the Nile. At the north extremity the sea divides into two branches, the westernmost 
and largest of which is the Gulf of Suez, Sinus Heroopolites, and the eastern the Gulf of 
Akaba, Sinus ^lanites, enclosing between them the region of Sinai. Burckhardt makes 
the curious remark, that the coral in the'western branch is chiefly white, and red in the 
eastern. At the south extremity, the inland sea communicates with the Indian Ocean by 
the Strait of Bab-el-Mandeb, an Arabic phrase signifying the Gate of Tears, and alluding 
doubtless to maritime disasters in the neighbourhood. In the narrowest part, the strait 
is about seventeen miles wide, but is divided into two channels by the small, bare, and 
rocky island of Perim, now a station of the British. It lies much nearer the Arabian 
than the African coast. The latter has a cluster closely adjoining its wall-like strand, 



INLAND ARABIA. 641 

called from tlie numlior the Eight Brothers. As the great thoroughfare of passengers 
between England and India, some sketches of the features of sky, sea, and shore, at 
different hours of a summer's day, will be read with interest. The sketcher is Captain 
Burton, coasting the northern waters on the Arabian side in a native vessel. 

'Morning. — The air is mild and balmy as that of an Italian spring; thick mists roll down the valleys along 
the sea, and a haze like mother-of-pearl crowns the headlands. The distant rocks shew Titanic walls, lofty 
donjons, huge projecting bastions, and moats full of deep shade. At their base runs a sea of amethyst, and 
as earth receives the first touches of light, their summits, almost transparent, mingle with the jasper tints of 
the sky. But morning soon fades. The sun bursts up from behind the main, a foe that will compel every 
one to crouch before him. He dyes the sky orange, and the sea "incarnadine," where its violet surface 
is stained by his rays, and mercilessly puts to flight the mists and haze, and the little agate-coloured masses 
of cloud that were before floating in the firmament ; the atmosphere is so clear that now and then a planet 
is visible. For the two hours following sunrise, the rays are endurable ; after that they become a fiery 
ordeal. The morning beams oppress you with a feeling of sickness ; their steady glow, reflected by the 
glaring waters, blinds your eyes, blisters your skin, and parches your moutli ; you now become a monomaniac; 
you do nothing but count the slow hours that must " minute by " before you can be relieved. 

' Nuon. — The wind, reverberated by tlie glowing hills, is like the blast of a lime-kiln. All colour melts 
away with the canescence from above. The sky is a dead milk-white, and the mirror-like sea so reflects the 
tint that you can scarcely distinguish the line of the horizon. After noon the wind sleeps upon the reeking 
shore ; there is a deep stillness ; the only sound heard is the melancholy flapping of the sail. Men are not 
so much sleeping as lialf senseless : they feel as if a few more degrees of heat would be death. 

'SuiKct. — The enemy sinks behind the deep cerulean sea, under a canopy of gigantic rainbow which covers 
half tlie face of heaven. Nearest to the horizon is an arch of tawny orange ; above it, another of the 
brightest gold; and based upon these, a semicircle of tender sea-green blends with a score of delicious 
gi'adations into the sapphire sky. Across the rainbow the sun throws its rays in the form of spokes, tinged 
with a beautiful pink. The eastern sky is mantled with a purple flush, that picks out the forms of the hazy 
desert, and the sharp-cut hiUs. Language is a thing too cold, too poor, to express the harmony and the 
majesty of this hour, which is evanescent, however, as it is lovely. Night falls rapidly, when suddenly the 
zodiacal light restores the scene to what it was. Again the gray hills and the grim rocks become rosy or 
golden, the palms green, the sands saffron, and the sea wears a lilac surface of dimpling waves. But after a 
quarter of an hour all fades once more ; the cUfis are naked and ghastly under the moon, whose light taUing 
upon this wUdemess of white crags and pinnacles is most strange — most mysterious. 

'Night. — The horizon is all of darkness, and the sea reflects the white visage of the moon as in a mirror of 
steel. In the air we see giant columns of pallid light, distinct, based upon the indigo-coloured waves, and 
standing with their heads lost in endless space. The stars glitter with exceeding brilliance. At this 
hour — 

"River, and hill, and wood, 
With all the numberless goings on of life. 
Inaudible as dreams " — 

the planets look down upon you with the faces of smiling friends. You feel the " sweet influence of the 
Pleiades." You are bound by the bond of Orion. Hesperus bears with him a thousand things. In 
communion with them your hours pass swiftly by, till the heavy dews warn you to cover up your face and 
sleep. And with one look at a certain little star in the north, under which lies all that makes life worth 
living through — surely it is a venial superstition ±p sleep with your face towards that Kiblah !' 

Inland Arabia is still very imperfectly Icnown in detail, no European having traversed 
either its entire length or breadth ; but its general characteristics appear to be ascertained. 
A narrow belt of ilat ground, chiefly of sand, with saline incrustations at intervals, called 
the Tehama, or ' Low Land,' runs round the whole coast, and forms an intensely hot region. 
This is backed, at the distance generally of from ten to thirty miles from the shore, by a 
range of mountains, which in some places attain a very considerable elevation. These 
highlands are the walls and crests of lofty interior plateaus, scantily covered with grasses 
and other herbage, serving as pasture-grounds, while the intervening mountain-tracts 
contain cultivable soil in watered valleys and on terraced districts, which exhibit the 
verdure of date groves, orchards and gardens, grain crops and spice plants. In many 
parts rain is so rare that the surface is condemned to eternal sterility, but along the west 
coast, for a brief season during our summer months, it periodically descends, converts the 
dry wadys into real water-courses, and originates for the time powerful torrents. Storms 
of great violence are also common in this region, occasioning destructive inundations, 



642 ARABIA. 

several of wMch are mentioned by the historians of Mecca. But a constantly serene sky 
overlianging utterly barren tracts of rock or sand is mucli more general. No river -wortliy 
of the name exists, only temporary streams and perennial springs, few and far between. 
No forests appear even in the watered districts, only groves and coppices. In the 
cultivable localities, tobacco, indigo, cotton, and coffee are raised, with many aromatic and 
spice plants, as opobalsamum, yielding the balm of Mecca, the acaoia, produciag gum- 
arabic, and the frankiacense-tree. 

Scantily supplied with water, and without forests or jungles, large wild animals are rare. Tliey include the 
panther, hyena, wolf, and jackal, gazelles and ostriches, with the ibex on the rocky heights. Flights of 
locusts occasionally make sad havoc with the vegetation, but they are eaten by the natives, both dried and 
roasted ; and are devoured in immense numbers by a, species of thrush. Tardus Seleucus, a migrant from 
Persia, for the purpose of partaking of the repast. The country seems to be the special home of the ass, wild 
and domesticated ; the camel, both poetically and justly styled ' the ship of the Desert ; ' and the horse, the 
pride of the Arab. Some breeds of camels are famed for their beauty and swiftness, as those of Yemen, a 
southern district, and of Oman in the east. They have not the uncouth appearance or shuffling gait common 
with their congeners, but carry their heads erect, tlirow out the legs with as much freedom and boldness as 
the horse, and their progress, at what appears their natural pace, according to Wellsted, cannot be less than 
twelve or fourteen mUes an hour. Breeds of horses, cultivated for several thousand years, celebrated for 
fleetness, sagacity, and attachment to their masters, are of almost fabulous price. In fact, nothing but the 
direst necessity will induce an owner to part with a thoroughbred steed; and no event diffuses greater joy 
through a family than the birth of a colt or a camel. Goats are common ; poultry scarce ; oxen extremely 
rare and poor. Sheep are numerous, and it is not unusual to find gazelles mingling with the flocks, and 
being gradually tamed by the association. Thin succulent grasses, sprinkled with aromatic herbs, on the 
interior plateaus, form excellent pasturage for sheep and horses. 

The old geographers made a triple division of the peninsula into Arabia Petrsa, Arabia Deserta, and 
Arabia Pelix, the credit of which is usually assigned to Ptolemy. The first comprised the north-west ; the 
second, the centre ; and the third, the south-west. The denomination applied to the latter, Felix or Happy 
— ' Araby the blest,' in the style of the poet— arose out of the unfounded idea that precious commodities of 
India, which the European nations received through the medium of Arab traders, were the growth of their 
own soil The arrangement is vague and arbitrary ; and was never recognised by the native geographers. In 
fact, the country has never had any systematic civil divisions. But certain portions of territory, with very 
indefinite limits, are distinguished by particular names. The principal districts are as follow : 1, Bahr-el- 
Tour Sinai, Desert of Mount Sinai ; 2, El-Hejaz, Land of Pilgrimage ; 3, A group of independent states, 
such as Yeman, a south-western tract ; Hadmmaut, extending along the southern coast ; Oman, the kingdom 
of Muscat, a south-eastern territory ; M-Sassa or Zahsa, on the Persian Gulf ; Nedjed or Nejd, the high 
plains of the interior. 

L BAHR-EL-TOUR SINAI. 

This region is a triangular peninsula, lying between the two northern arms of the 
Eed Sea, and embraces also the country from thence to the borders of Palestine. 
Eastward is the Gulf of Akaba, long a deserted channel, but once traversed by the fleets 
of Solomon and Jehoshaphat. "Westward is the Gulf of Suez, to which the commerce' of 
the former was diverted upon the rise of Alexandria, now the great thoroughfare of 
communications between England and India. The interveniag space and its northerly 
continuation, a desert of rocks, pebbles, and gravel, with but few tracts of drifting sand, 
has been the scene of events perfectly unique ia the history of nations, for it is the actual 
wilderness in which the host of Israel wandered after the departure from Egypt. Yet 
though desolate, it is not altogether barren. A few living perennial springs are the 
centres of verdure ; aromatic shrubs grow on the high hillsides ; and a thin coating of 
vegetation is seldom entirely withdrawn. 

In an interesting passage Dean Stanley refers to the botanical products, which are still those mentioned in 
sacred annals relating to the district. ' The wild acacia, Mimosa Nilotica, under the name of " sont," 
everywhere represents the " seneh" or "senna" of the Burning Bush. A slightly different form of the tree, 
equally common under the name of " sayal," is the ancient " shittah," or, as more usually expressed in the 
plural form, from the tangled thickets into which its stem expands, the " shittim," of which the tabernacle 
was made— an incidental proof, it may be observed, of the antiquity of the institution, inasmuch as the 
acaoia, though the chief growth of the Desert, is very rare in Palestine. The " retem," or wild broom, with its 
high canopy and white blossoms, gives its name to one of the stations of the Israelites (Bithmah), and is the 



I 



TRADITIONAL MEMORIALS. 643 

very shnib tmder which — in the only subsequent passage which connects the Desert with the histoi-y o£ 
Israel— Elijah slept in his wanderings. The " palms," not the graceful trees of Egypt, but the hardly less 
picturesque wild pahns of imcultivated regions, with their dwarf trunks and shaggy branches, vindicate by 
their very appearance the title of being emphatically the " trees " of the Desert ; and therefore, whether in 
the cluster of the seventy palm-trees of the second station of the wanderings, or in the grove which still 
exists, at the head of the Gulf of Akaba, were Icnown by the generic name of " Elim," " Elath," or " Eloth," 
"the trees." The "lasaf" or "asaf," the caper plant, the bright-green creeper which climbs out of 
the fissm'es of the rocks in the Smaitic valleys, has been identified on grounds of great probability with the 
"hyssop" or "ezob" of Scriptiu'e, and thus explains whence came the green branches used, even in 
the Desert, for sprinkling the water over the tents of the Israelites.' 

The northern portion of tho peninsula is a tahle-land of limestone, sldrted by horizontal 
ranges of hills of the same formation, to both of which the name of Tih, the 'Wandering,' 
is attached by the Arabs, in memory of the pilgrimage of a long bygone era. The 
southern portion is almost entirely fiUed up by the remarkable cluster of the Sinaitio 
Mountains, which are of primitive rock, granite, or porphyry, flanked with sandstone, both 
of which are of a deep red or reddish-brown hue, which gives a very peculiar character to 
the landscape. These two sections of the peninsula, thus geologically distinct, are 
separated by a belt of pure yeUow sand, which the roaring wind drives before it in clouds, 
compelling the traveller to halt till the storm is over. The southern section is the 
region specially celebrated in Hebrew poetry. 

' God came from Teman, 
And the Holy One from Mount Paran — 
He stood — and measured the earth. 
He beheld — and drave asunder the nations, 
And the everlasting mountains were scattered. 
The perpetual hills did bow — 
The eternal paths were trodden by Him.' 

The whole land is rife with traditionary memorials of the exodus. Besides the plateau of 
the Wandering, there are the 'Wells of Moses,' Ayoun Moiisa, on the shore of the 
Gulf of Suez, and the 'Baths of Pharaoh,' Hammam Farouan, lower down on the 
same coast. The guK itself is called by the Arabs the ' Sea of Destruction,' 
Balir-el-Kolzoum, in whose roaring waters they pretend still to hear the cries and wailings 
of the ghosts of the drowned Egyptians. There is a valley styled the 'Path of the 
Israelites,' Tiah-Beni-Israel ; and a bold ridge bears the name of the ' Mountain of 
Deliverance,' Jehel Attalca. There is the ' Seat of Moses,' in the Wady Penan ; 
the ' Mormtain of Moses,' in the cluster of Sinai ; the ' Cleft of Moses,' in Mount 
St Catherine ; the ' HiU of Aaron,' -at the base of the traditional Horeb ,• and the 
'Tomb of Aaron,' at the top of the 'Mountain of Aaron,' overhanging Petra; with the 
' Island of Pharaoh,' in the Gulf of Akaba. A romantic story was told to Burckhardt of 
a pass leading down to that gulf. In summer, when the wind is strong, a hollow moaning 
sound is sometimes heard, as if coming from the upper country. The natives say that 
the spirit of Moses then descends from Sinai, and in flying across the sea, bids a sorroivful 
farewell to his beloved mountains. 

The Wells of Moses are small springs of indifferent water lying close along-shore, which are speedily lost 
in the sands, but form an agreeable halting-place, having several palm-trees scattered around them. The 
sea, from eight to ten miles wide, is here overlooked westward to the heights of Africa, and northward to 
the roadstead of Suez. Tlie route usually followed by modern ti'avellers from this point, and doubtless 
that taken by the emancipated people, lies along the shore. It is alternately a stony and sandy track, 
with the sea of the deepest blue on the right, overhung with an azm-e and spotless sky, the plateau of the 
"Wandering on the left, and a vast ampMtheatre of mountains gradually rising up on the southern horizon as 
progress is made in that direction. At the distance of about forty miles, the "WeU of Howara is commonly 
identified with the bitter "WeU of Slarah, which was sweetened by Moses. It rises within an elevated mound, 
sm-rounded by sand-hills, and two smaU date-trees grow near it. The Arabs never drink of it themselves, 
and there is said to be no other water on the whole coast absolutely undrinkable. Lord Lindsay tasted, and 
at first thought it insipid rather thaji bitter, but held in the mouth it became excessively nauseous. Tho 



644 ARABIA. 

complaints of its quality made by the Israelites, who had been accustomed to the sweet water of the Nile, 
as Biirckhardt observes, are such as may be daily heard from the Egyptian servants and peasants who travel 
in Arabia. Familiar with it from their youth, there is nothing which they so much regret as its loss. 
Further on, "Wady Gharandel, with its springs, tamarisks, acacias, and palms, is probably the Elim of Scrip- 
ture, with its twelve wells and seventy palm-trees. The country here assumes a more picturesque character, 
becomes rugged, and the grandest of the sacred mountains is soon in full view. This is Jebel Serbal, a vast 
mass of granite, with five column-like peaks, which, like its fellows, is streaked from head to foot as if with 
boiling streams of dark red matter, really the igneous fluid squirted upwards as they were heaved from the 
ground. Stanley thought it one of the finest forms he had ever seen. ' The Serbal,' says Professor Lepsius, 
' here rises at once majestically several thousand feet. Its splendid peaks towered up to heaven like flames 
of fire in the setting sun, and made upon me an almost overpowering impression. It is impossible to describe 
the sublimity and majesty of these black mountain masses — rising, as they do, not in a -wild and irregular 
form, but on a grand and imposing scale — at the foot of which I was standing, not separated from it by any 
projecting promontory or ledge, so abruptly does the whole body of the mountain start up from this point.' 
It has been ascended by Burckhardt, Biippel, and Stanley ; and has claims to be regarded as the mount on 
which the law was delivered, to which Dr Kitto, with some others, has given the great weight of his 
authority. Though for many centuries, certainly since the age of the Emperor Justinian, another height, that 
of Jebel Mousa, has been invested with this distinction, yet prior to that date tradition pointed to Jebel 
Serbal as the true scene of the event, and it was then a place of pilgrimage. Hence Sinaitic inscriptions are 
found on the top of the mountain, and a ruined edifice appears on its central summit. EUppel states that 
the Bedouins who accompanied him deemed the summit a sacred place, to which at certain times they 
repaired with sacrifices. 

These highlands, the Alps of Arabia, have been styled ' the Alps unclothed,' in allusion to the general 
absence of vegetation, which is so characteristic of the Swiss mountains up to the snow-line. They present a 
very distinct contour when seen from a distance, but are really a confused and intricate asseniblage of jagged 
peaks and tortuous ridges. Sir Frederick Henniker states that if he had to represent the end of the world, 
he would take the view from Jebel Mousa for a model, adding, that ' it would seem as if Arabia Petrsa had 
once been an ocean of lava, which, while its waves were literally running mountains high, had been suddenly 
commanded to stand still. In a region which is without the roar of torrents, the trickling of brooks, the 
rustle of leaves, and the cries of animal life, the stillness is profound and impressive, causing the human voice 
and other noises to be heard with unusual distinctness at a great distance. Hence a slide of sand or the 
fall of a stone, arrest attention, and become to the superstitious Arabs sounds of mysterious origin and 
significant import. To the south of Serbal, at a short distance from the sea, the remarkable mountain of 
Nakus, or the Bell, is so called from the sounds emitted from it, which the Arabs believe to be produced 
by the bell of a convent entombed in the interior. They are variously soft and loud, sometimes resemble 
the tones of musical glasses, and at other times are like the clang of pieces of metal struck against each 
other. Some refer the phenomenon to the rush of difierent quantities of sand down the slopes. Others, 
perhaps ivith greater probability, conceive of interior cavities communicating with each other, and with 
the atmosphere, by means of small apertures, through which, under control of considerable changes of 
temperature, currents of air pass with sufficient velocity to produce sonorous vibrations. Striking features 
of the landscape are the wadys, or valleys, which separate and surround the mountains. For a few days in 
winter, or a few weeks, they have their thundering torrents, then become absolutely dry and waste, but 
still give tantalising indications in their deeply-cut channels, rounded pebbles, and fringe of shrubs and 
rushes, of 

' Water, water everywhere, and not a drop to drink.' 

The most important sites in the peninsula are as follows : Convent of St Catherine, 5452 feet above 
the sea ; Jebel Serbal — Mountam of Myrrh (ser) — Sinai of old tradition, also of Kitto and Lepsius, 6759 
feet ; Jebel Mousa — Mountain of Moses — Smai of modern tradition, 7564 feet ; Jebel Katerin — Momi- 
tain of St Catherine— Horeb of Euppel, 8705 feet ; Um-Shomer— the Mother of Fennel, 8850 feet. 
None of these particular points answer to the Scriptural account of the giving of the law ' on the top of the 
mount,' 'in the eyes of the children of Israel,' 'in the sight of all the people.' There is not space enough in 
the narrow precipitous ravines immediately adjoining for the vast host to have encamped with the order and 
comfort so clearly intimated, though undoubtedly these are the mountains which quaked when Jehovah came 
down in fire to make known his will, and these are the valleys which then heard his voice. But a site every 
way suited for the assemblage is found in the plain of Er-Eaha, a noble expanse, and the only large con- 
venient area in the entire district. This is overlooked by a northerly prolongation of Jebel Mousa, the cliffs 
of the Eas Sasafeh, or the ' "Willow Head,' which rise with great magnificence, and have the yellow plain 
sweeping down directly to their base. ' That such a plain,' observes Stanley, ' should exist at all in front of 
such a cliff is so remarkable a coincidence with the sacred narrative, as to furnish a strong internal argument, 
not merely of its identity with the scene, but of the scene itself having been described by an eye-witness. 
The awful and lengthened approach, as to some natural sanctuary, would have been the fittest preparation 
for the coming scene. The low line of alluvial mounds at the foot of the cliff exactly answer to the " bounds " 
which were to keep the people off from " touching the mount." The plain itself is not broken and uneven and 
narrowly shut in, Uke almost all others in the range, but presents a long retiring sweep, against which the 



MOUNT SINAI. 



645 



people could " remove and stand afar ofif." The cliff, rising like a huge altar, in front of the whole congrega- 
tion, and visible against the slty in lonely grandeur from end to end of the whole plain, is the very image of 
" the mount that might he touched," and from which the voice of God might be heard far and wide over the 
stillness of the plaui below, widened at that point to its utmost extent by the confluence of all the con- 
tiguous valleys.' Eas Sasafeh is literally ' the nether part of the mount,' m relation to Jebel Mousa, as the 
spot is described, to which Moses brought forth the people ' out of the camp to meet with God.' 

In early Christian times the soli- 
tudes of the Sinaitic district drew to 
a site invested with such sanctity a 
large number of anchorites. A host 
of cells and convents arose in clefts 
of the rocks and at the base of tlie 
mountains; the town of Peiran was 
founded in the wady of that name, 
close to the precipices of Jebel Serbal, 
and became the seat of a bishopric, 
and not less than GOOO monks or 
hermits were in the neighboui-hood at J 
the time of the Saracen conquests. 
Some riiins of the town, overgrown 
with tarfa-trees, crown a lofty rock 
in the middle of the valley, and on 
both sides of it are seen deserted 
houses, several perched at a great 
height, -with ancient excavated tombs. 
Wady Feiran, the most pleasant spot 
in the peninsula, and possibly the 
scene of the long halt of Israel prior 
to the one at Sinai, has a generally 
constant brook, and therefore vegeta- 
tion of luxuriant pahns and feathery 
tamarisks. ' For two hours and a 
half,' writes Lord Lindsay, ' every 
winding of the valley revealed new 
loveliness ; it would be beautiful even 
without a single tree. At the first 
tui-ning, after passing the ruined 
town, a most superb view of Jebel 
Serbal opened on us— every crag and 
pinnacle of liis five peaks relieved 
clearly against a sky of the most 
deUoious blue, and perfectly cloudless 
— the pale moon, about half full, 
sailing in the pure ether above us — 
the eye could pierce far beyond her. 
Jebel Serbal was of a bluish-gray, but 
the jagged rocks of the valley, form- 
ing the foreground of the picture, 
were black, the bright lights and 
deep broad shadows rendering them 
perfectly beautiful. I sat on my 

dromedary under a tarfa-tree, enjoying the shade and a delightful breeze, and talked with the Bedouins.' Of 
all the establishments of the old Christian population of the highlands, the only important one remaining is 
the convent of St Catherine, its vice-patroness, but really dedicated to the Transfiguration. It stands at the 
base of Jebel Mousa, and partly on its steep slope, in a valley so narrow that little room is left between its 
walls and the mountains opposite. It was founded by the Emperor Justinian, at the traditional site of 
Jethro's Well and the Burning Bush. According to a stupid legend, one of its early inmates was informed 
in his sleep that the body of St Catherine, who suffered martyrdom at Alexandria, had been conveyed by 
angels to the top of the highest peak in the vicinity. The monks therefore ascended in procession, found the 
corpse, and deposited it in their church ; and hence arose the common name of the convent, with that of Jebel 
Katerin. The building is a regular monastic fortress, being enclosed with high and solid walls of granite, 
surmounted with smaU towers, and defended by guns against the Arabs. In the interior are several courts 
planted with flowers and vines. Balconies with wooden balustrades nm round each area, on which the doors 
of the several apartments open. The inmates, from twenty to thirty in number, are all foreigners, chiefly 




Defiles of Mount Sinai. 



646 ARABIA. 

from the Greek islands, and are employed in some profession— baking, slioemaking, or carpentry — in addition 
to their religious duties. ISTo natives of the wilderness are allowed to enter the convent, except those who 
are retained as servants, but a supply of bread is lowered down to them from the walls as often as it is 
demanded; and as there is no door, visitors from distant lauds are hoisted up to the battlements by a 
windlass. The interior of the church has a richly-ornamented roof, supported by rows of granite pillars ; 
walls himg with portraits of saints ; and a floor paved with beautiful slabs of marble. Trom 5000 to 6000 
wandering Arabs constitute the present population of the Desert of Sinai, some of whom are engaged in 
furnishing travellers with guidance and safe-conduct, while the rest subsist by flocks and herds, claiming at 
pleasure the hospitality of the monks. 

l!Tortliward from the liead of the Gulf of AJiaha a broad valley extends, 'bounded on the 
eastern side by a belt of hills, the Biblical mountains of Seir, the tallest summit of which 
is Mount Hor, or Jebel Haroun, the ' Mountaia of Aaron,' as it is now called, from being 
the scene of his death and burial, and of the inauguration of his successor in the high-priest- 
hood. This is one of the few sites connected with the wanderings of the Israelites, the 
identity of which admits of no reasonable doubt. It is a conspicuous landmark from afar 
to the wayfarer, remarkable for its double summit, the upper rising from the lower in the 
form of a huge castellated building. A small and plain Mohammedan chapel marks the 
supposed sepulchre, in which the Arabs suspend ragged shawls, ostrich eggs, and beads 
as Yotive offerings. The view — the last landscape overlooked by Aaron, as that from 
Pisgah was afterwards to his brother — is very extensive, but consists chiefly of bald 
sandstone rooks and intervening ravines. ' If I had never stood on the top of Mount 
Sinai,' says Mr Stephens, ' I should say that nothing could exceed the desolation of the 
view from the summit of Mount Hor, its most striking objects being the dreary and 
rugged mountains of Seir, bare and naked of trees and verdure, and heaving their lofty 
summits to the skies, as if in vain and fruitless effort to excel the mighty pile on the top 
of wliich the high-priest of Israel was buiied.' But aU is not really barren. There is 
freshly beautiful vegetation in the deep-shaded ravines, where there is the sound of 
running waters. This is the case with the remarkable Sik, or ' Cleft,' forming the entrance 
of Wady Mousa, or Valley of Moses, so called from the belief of the Arabs that the gorge 
was made by the rod of the legislator, in order to accommodate the brook that ripples 
through it. In this valley are the extraordinary remains of Petra, the rock-hewn capital 
of ancient Idumea, enclosed as in a kind of cul de sac, to which the usual approach was 
by the Cleft. 

This famous defile, perhaps the most magnificent in existence, is about a mile and a half long, and so 
narrow that there is in general not more than sufficient space for the passage of two horsemen abreast. 
Through the bottom winds the brook that watered the ancient city. It follows now its own wild way, but 
was formerly protected and regulated in its course, as of vital importance to the inhabitants. The channel 
seems to have been covered by a stone pavement, vestiges of wliich remain, and parapets at intervals gave 
the current a proper du-ection, as well as prevented it from running to waste. On each side of the ravine 
rises a wall of perpendicular red sandstone rocks, varying fi-om 100 to 500 feet in height, often overhanging 
so as to intercept the sky, and leave but little more light below than that of a cavern. Nourished by the 
rivulet, and protected by the shade, the tamarisk, the wUd-fig, the oleander, and the green caper plant, with 
grasses and flowers, flourish with a luxui"iance that almost chokes the path. Near the entrance of the pass a 
bold ruined arch is thrown across it at a great height, meant apparently to indicate the immediate boundary 
of the city. Without changing much its general direction, the chasm winds as if it were the most flexible of 
rivers, so that the eye sometimes cannot penetrate more than a few paces forwards. At every step, as the 
traveller proceeds, the solitude is disturbed by the screaming of eagles, hawks, owls, and ravens, soaring 
aloft, alarmed by the sound of his footfall or his voice. ' The character of this wonderful spot,' remarks Dr 
Robinson, ' and the impression which it makes, are utterly indescribable, and I know of nothing which can 
present even a faint idea of them. I had visited the strange sandstone lanes and streets of Adersbach, and 
wandered with delight through the romantic dells of the Saxon Switzerland, both of which scenes might be 
supposed to afford the nearest parallel, yet they exhibit few points of comparison. All here is on a grander 
scale of savage yet magnificent sublimity.' Passing on, the Cleft widens into Wady Mousa, containing the 
remains of Petra. These consist of temples, habitations, and tombs cut out of the sm'rounding chifs ; a 
theatre similarly excavated, with complete rows of benches capable of seating above 3000 spectators ; vast 
heaps of hewn stones, fomidations of buildings, fragments of pillars, and vestiges of paved streets. All visitors 



/ 



MOUNTAINS OP SEIE. 



G47 



mention witli wonder and admiration the rich and variegated colouring of the rocks. ' They present,' 
according to Robinson, ' not a dead mass of dull monotonous red, but an endless variety of bright and living 
hues, from the deepest crimson to tho softest pink, verging also sometimes to orange and yellow. These 
varying shades are often distmctly marked by waving lines, imparting to the surface of the rock a succession 
of brilliant and changing tints, like the hues of watered silk, and adding greatly to the imposing effect of the 
sculptured monuments.' Stephens makes a similar remark. ' The whole stony rampart that encircled the 
city,' he states, ' was of a peouUarity and beauty which I never saw elsewhere, being a dark ground with veins 
of white, blue, red, purple, and sometimes scarlet and light orange, running through it in rainbow streaks ; 
and within the chambers, where there had been no exposure to the action of the elements, the freshness 
and beauty of the colours, in which these waving lines were drawn, gave an effect hardly inferior to that 
of the paintmgs in the tombs of the kings at Thebes.' These descriptions, though correct in the mam, 
have a tinge of error. Observing apparently with greater precision, Stanley objects to bright hues being 
spoken of, and mentions as the two predominant colours a gorgeous though dull crimson, streaked and 
suffused with purple, with an occasional veining of yellow and blue, Of tlie three comparisons usually 
employed by describers to iUuatrate the appearance — " mahogany, raw flesh, an4 watered silk"— he deems the 
last the best.' 

The origin of Petra dates from the very infancy of commerce. It was a flourisjiing emporium seventeen 
centuiies before the Christian era, a central point to which all the trade pf the vast Arabian peninsula tended, 
and from which it branched out to Egypt, Palestine, and Syria. The caravans of India threaded its defile, 
and the precious commodities brought by them were thence diffused through the countries of the Mediter- 
ranean. It was the impregnable nature of the site that rendered it so celebrated as a commercial dep6t ; for 
while it admitted of easy access to beasts of burden, it could defy the attacks of marauders and enemies. 
Eoman generals assailed the place, and failed to capture the formidable stronghold. But it was reduced 
under the later emperors, and continued to be the seat of wealth till the fall of the empire. Buring the wars 
of the Crusades, its possession was fiercely contested by the Saracens and Christians, The Latin kings of 
Jerusalem were for a time its masters, and it became the seat of a Latin bishop. It then ceased to be the 
mart of nations, obscurity covered its ruins, and the very place where it stood became a subject of 
controversy. Its site was first ascertained by Burckhardt in 1812. Eepeated failures in gaining access to this 
remarkable spot, or in being permitted to examine at leisui'e its monuments, owing to the extortion or 
hostility of the surrounding tribes, add not a little to the interest which the place inspires. ' It is Hterally,' 
as Stanley remarks, ' paved with the good intentions of travellers unfulfilled. There was Mount Hor, which 
Eobinson and Laborde in vain wished to ascend ; there the plain half-way, where Burckhardt was obliged to 
halt without reaching the top ; here the temple, which Irby and Mangles only saw through their telescope ; 
here the platform from which the Martineau party were unable to stir without an armed guard ; and, lastly, 
on the very plain of our encampment, at the entrance of the pass, travellers with our own dragoman were 
driven back last year, without even a glimpse of the famous city.' 




Moimtains of Seir. 




n. EL-HEJAZ. 



Tliis district, the Land of PUgrimage to tlie followers of Mohaiiimed, lies on the 
eastern side of the Eed Sea, and is somewhat centrally intersected by the line of 
the northern tropic. It is the Holy Land of the Moslem, Belled-el-Haram, containing 
the two sacred cities of Mecca and Medina, respectively the hirthplace and hurial-place of 
the Proi^het, with their ports, Jiddah and Yamho, which specially enjoy the title of 
' Gate of the Holy City.' Jealously guarded against the intrusion of unhehevers, 
the territory has heen penetrated by very few of the Western Europeans, who have only 
sacceeded in the adventure either under extraordinary circumstances, or by adopting the 
most complete disguise, at the hazard of life from the fanaticism of the natives, in the event 
of the imposition being detected. The region has no natural inland boundary, nor has it 
any definite political limits ; and though claimed as a dependency by the Turkish 
government, its authority is only respected in the towns, and would be resisted if exercised 
over the wandering population in the country. 

' Our notions of Mecca,' observed Gibbon in his day, ' must be dra'wn from tlie Arabians. As no unbeliever 
is permitted to enter the city, our travellers are silent.' The historian was not aware of two visits having 
been paid to the place long before his time, one by an Italian, the other by an Englishman, both of whom 
published brief narratives of the journey on their return home. The iirst of these, Lodovico Bartema, 
' gentleman of the citie of Rome,' in April 1503, made the pilgrimage with the caravan from Damascus, ' in 
familiaritie and friendshyppe with a certayne captayne Mameluke,' and in the garb of a renegado. His 
account appeared at Milan in 1511, and was ti-anslated into English in 1555. Tlie next visitor was 
Joseph Pitts, a native of Exeter, about the year 1690. Going to sea in early life, he had the misfortune to be 
captured by an Algerine pirate, and was sold into slavery. His master, a profligate ruffian, having determined 
to proselytize a Christian as an atonement for his past iniquities, succeeded in making him profess himself a 
convert to Mohanmfiedanism, by mercilessly applying a great cudgel to his bare feet. Pitts afterwards 
attended him to Mecca and Medina, but made his escape on his return, and reached Exeter safely, where he 
compiled an account of his wanderings, with a description of the pilgrimage. It closes with the prayer, in 
allusion to his enforced apostasy, which he ever regretted, ' God be merciful to me a sinner.' 



i 



PILGEIMS TO MECCA. 649 

During the present centiiry all mystery lias been removed from the sacred cities, chiefly by M. Badliia, a 
Spaniard, who travelled tliither in 1807, under the name of Ali Bey, and was everywhere received as a true 
Mussuhnan; by Burokhardt, the able and enterprising Swiss traveller, in 1814, who adopted a similar 
disguise ; and by Captain Burton, in 1853, in the service of the Eoyal Geographical Society, London, who 
professed himself to be an Indian physician and dervish, with the title of Sheikh Abdullah. The latter took 
gi'eat pains to qualify himself to act in character, but did not escape suspicion, being pronounced to be an 
Ajemi, or a kind of Mohammedan, not a good one, but still better than nothing. He mentions M. Bertolucci, 
Swedish consul at Cairo, as the only European who ever visited Mecca without apostatising, but adds that, 
though in disguise, his terror of discovery prevented him making any observations. 

The haj, or pilgrimage, is obligatory upon all the faithful, according to the law of the 
Koran, at least once in their Hves. But it is only binding in relation to Mecca, though 
being at no great distance, and an equally sacred city, Medina is commonly visited, and 
additional repute acquired thereby. The first instance occurred under Abubekr, in the 
ninth year of the Hegira, who proceeded at the head of 300 believers from Medina 
to Mecca, and purified the city by the expulsion of all idolaters and infidels from it. The 
jom-ney may be made at any time, but the great concourse of travellers takes place in 
Zu'l Hijjah, the pilgrimage month. Two great caravans are formed. One is popularly 
known as the Haj El-Shami, or ' Damascus Pilgrimage,' where contingents assemble from 
Constantinople, Smyrna, Erzerum, Bagdad, and places further east, starting thence in a 
common body. The other is the Haj El-Misr, or ' Cairo Pilgrimage,' a main stream from 
that city in which the minor African currents are united. Trade, quite as much as religion, 
has long been an impelling motive to the expedition. Almost all the pilgrims convert it 
into a matter of speculation. On leaving their own country, they load themselves with its 
peculiar products, either to sell on the road, or at the end of the journey. Carpets and silks 
are brought by the Turks of Asia Minor ; amber, hardware, embroidered stuffs, trinkets, 
shoes and slippers, by the Turks of Europe; shawls and silk handkerchiefs by the Persians; 
precious stones, muslins, and costly manufactures by the Hindus ; woollen cloaks and 
red bonnets by the Mogrebbins. The strange association, with the change of scene, has 
not contributed to good manners, judging from a current Arab proverb : ' Distrust thy 
neighbour if he has made a haj ; but if he has made two, make haste to leave thy house.' 
In former times the number of devotee tourists was enormous, but for a considerable 
period it has been annually decreasing. At Constantinople the starting of the caravan 
was once one of the great ceremonials of Islamism. The sultan was present, and with his 
own lips deputed to the Sunni Emiri, or chief of the pilgrims, an ofl&cer appointed 
by himself, the task of conducting the faithful to the sacred shrines. The late sultan, 
Abdul Medjid, observed the custom "nf his forefathers tiU the year 1855, when he 
was absent without pretence of indisposition, and the ceremony excited comparatively 
little interest. But his successor, in January 1862, the first year of a new reign, deemed 
it prudent to revive the practice. 

Mecca, the cradle and capital of Mohammedanism, sixty miles inland from the Eed Sea, is situated 
in a narrow sandy vaUey, bounded by rocky hills of moderate height, perfectly treeless and barren. 
The city is without walls ; the houses are generally substantially built of dark-gray coloured stone. 
The streets are nnpaved and nnlighted, choked with dust in dry weather, and with mud after rains. No trees, 
gardens, or pleasure-groimds enliven the neighbourhood ; the desert forms the precincts; and though described 
by native writers under a variety of imposing titles, as the ' noble,' the 'mother of towns,' no public building 
exists with any pretensions to architectural grace. The Beitullah, 'House of God,' the great point of 
attraction, consists of an oblong court, with a covered colonnade on one side, and of the Kaaba, a kind of holy 
of holies, in the centre. This is simply a massive structure of rough stone, containing at the north-east 
corner the famous ' black stone,' said to have been brought from heaven by the archangel Gabriel, a lava-like 
block, smoothed by the millions of touches and kisses it has received from the faithfuL The Kaaba is 
covered with curtains of black silk stuff along the sides, which are renewed at the expense of the Turkish 
sultans. Not being tightly fastened down, the slightest breeze causes them to move in slow undulations, 
which are hailed with rapture by the congregation around the building as a sign of the presence of its 
guardian angels, whose wings, by their motion, are supposed to cause the wavuig of the covering. Seventy 



650 ARABIA. 

thousand angels are said to have charge of this spot, and to he under orders to transport it to Paradise when tho 
last trumpet shall he sounded. A copious and never-failing spring rises within the enclosure of the mosque, 
the "Well of Zemzem, to which a small building is appropriated, the interior of which is beautifidly 
ornamented with marbles of various colours. Pilgrims eagerly drink the water as a sacred beverage, 
regarding it also as an infallible cure for all diseases ; and there is scarcely a family in the town that 
does not send a jar daily to be filled. It is reserved for drinking and ablutions. 

The ordinary population of the city is perhaps under 30,000, of a most mongrel description, consisting 
chiefly of the descendants of pilgrims from various countries, who have been induced to settle permanently 
and intermarry. The most numerous class refer their paternal ancestry to Yemen and Hadramaut ; next 
are the Meocawys of Hindu, Egyptian, Syrian, Mogrebbin, and Turkish origin; with some of Persian, 
Kurdish, Tartar, and Bokharian extraction. In short, representatives are to be found of every part of the 
Mohammedan world. The greatest number of passengers is seen in the Mesaa, the longest and best bcult 
street. This is the scene of the ' holy walk,' one of the duties of the haj ; and the place where capital 
offenders are put to death, in a less barbarous manner now than formerly. Here, during Burckhardt's stay, 
a man was beheaded for robbery by order of the cadi. But in 1624, in this street, two thieves were flayed 
alive ; and a few years later, a imlitary chief of Yemen had his body perforated, and lighted tapers put into 
the wounds till he slowly expired. AH the streets abound with pigeons, and especially the great mosque, 
which are considered to be the inviolable property of the temple. Hence no one harms them even when 
they enter the private houses, but small stone basins are regularly filled with water for their use, and 
women expose for sale corn and dourrha on straw mats for the pilgrims to purchase in order to feed the 
birds. Under the pretence also of selling corn for the sacred pigeons, the public women exhibit themselves. 
Streets and mosques resound with the cries of beggars, who address their appeals to strangers, as the ordinary 
inhabitants are not disposed to give alms, though enjoined by the Koran to do so as one of the first duties of 
religion. Mecca has been called the paradise of the fraternity. They lay hold of the foreigner with the 
injunction of the Prophet, as if resolved to enjoy the full benefit of it. A few are modest, simply accosting 
the passenger with ¥a Allah! ya Kerim — 'O God, O bounteous God' — ^repeating the words if refused, and 
passing on. But the majority foUow the profession witli matchless importunity and impudence. ' Think of 
your duty as a pUgrim,' cries one ; ' God does not like the cold-hearted. "Will you reject the blessings of the 
faithful? Give, and it shall be given unto thee.' 'I ask from God fifty dollars,' exclaims another, 'a suit 
of clothes, and a copy of the Koran. O faithful, hear me ! I ask of you fifty dollars.' ' brethren,' shouts 
a third, ' O faithful, hear me 1 I ask twenty dollars from God to pay my passage home ; twenty doHars 
only. You know that God is aU-bountiful, and may give me a hundred doUars ; but it is twenty dollars only 
that I ask. Eemember that charity is the sure road to paradise.' "When successful, alms wiU commonly be 
received without a word of thanks, 'It is God, and not you, who gives it me.' 

About the time of the equinoxes at Mecca, occasionally at other intervals, the sky is often suddenly overcast, 
and violent storms of thunder, lightning, hail, and rain give rise to destructive floods. The native chroniclers 
record many dreadful inundations, when the whole place was laid under water, houses were destroyed, and 
lives lost. In 1039 of the Hegira, answering to the year 1626 of our era, a torrent rushed so rapidly down 
into the valley that 500 of the inhabitants were drpwned ; the great mosque was filled ; three sides of it 
were swept away, and every human being within perished. When Burckhardt and his party were on the 
road to the city a tempest came on which speedily covered the "Wady Noman with water three feet deep, 
while furious streams, crossing the route before and behind, rendered it impossible to advance or retreat. 
They took refuge on the side of a mountain till the flood subsided. On the 16th of December 1861, a 
dreadful storm visited the city, and inundated it to such an extent that the inhabitants were obliged to seek 
their upper rooms. Great numbers fled for safety to the mosque, but that too was invaded, and eighteen 
were drowned. The library was almost entirely destroyed. Gold and silver vases, with other valuable 
objects, were carried away ; 30O houses were thrown down ; and the flood did not entirely liisappear till tho 
third day. 

Jiddah, the port of Mecca, is built on rising-ground washed by the sea, and enclosed by the desert in other 
directions. The town has a small population of traders, some of whom are wealthy, and who export coffee, and 
import products from Egypt, Abyssinia, and India. The Moslem inhabitants are fanatical They rose 
against the Christian residents, British and French, in 1858, murdered several of them, for which they were 
chastised by the British fleet. Yaiiibo by the Sea, the port of Medina, on the north, is so called to distinguish 
it from an inland vUlage, Yambo of the Palm Grounds. The place profits by the pilgrimage, and has a 
regular shipping trade of importance. Medina, containing the tomb of the Prophet, is 130 miles inland, 
seated upon the liigh plateau of Arabia, 250 miles nearly due north of Mecca. It is a much smaller town, 
contains a similar great mosque, in which the tomb is an object of veneration. The place has an agreeable 
appearance as it comes suddenly into view, being surroimded with date groves. Medina is enclosed by a strong 
wall, provided with towers and loopholes, passed by four gates. Its great mosque contains four tombs — ^those of 
Mohammed, his daughter Fatima, and his two immediate successors, Abubekr and Omar. They are screened 
from vulgar gaze by a curtain of brocaded silk, supplied from Constantinople as often as one is needed. Owing 
to the high situation of the town, the winter is very cold, while the summer is hot. Storms are as common 
and violent as at Mecca. The date-trees in the neighbourhood are of large size, very productive, and the fruit 
is highly esteemed. Packets of the best dates are sent as presents to the remotest parts of the Moslem world. 



DAY OF AEAFAT. 651 

A groat day is the Day of Arafat. The place named is a granite hill about fourteen miles 
on the east of Mecca. The time is the close of the annual pilgrimage, when, having gone 
through the prescribed ceremonies in the city, attendance at the spot completes the ritual 
observances, constitutes every man a perfect hadj, authorises him thenceforth to assume 
the title, and return to his home, it may be to the shores of the Bosporus, the rose 
gardens of Shiraz, or the burning sands of JSTubia, to receive the congratulations of his 
friends. The hill is rather more than a mile in circuit, and rises gradually from the 
plain to the height of 200 feet. At one point of the ascent, Moslem tradition says that 
Adam was instructed by the archangel Gabriel how to adore his Creator. It therefore 
bears the name of Modaa Seidna Adam, or ' Place of Prayer of our Lord Adam.' At 
another point, the Prophet is said to have addressed his followers, a practice in which he 
was imitated by his successors, the early caHfs. The hill is therefore an object of 
special veneration, to which the whole concourse of visitors repair at an appointed time 
from the city. Some are on camels, others on mules or asses, but the greater number 
walk barefooted, which is esteemed the most pious mode of traveUing. The chief 
ceremonial of the day commences about three o'clock in the afternoon, when a sermon is 
preached from a stone platform near the top of the hill, while the multitude are on the 
slopes, and at the base. The discourse lasts till sunset, but is wisely interrupted at 
intervals by the preacher stretching forth his hands to implore blessings on his hearers, 
while they rend the air with shouts of Lebeik Allahuma lebeik — ' Here we are at thy 
command, God.' The spectacle is wild and striking, but not without its disorderly 
scenes. Burckhardt, when he was present, counted about 3000 tents; computed the 
camels scattered over the plain at upwards of 20,000 ; and estimated the whole number 
of persons at 70,000, speaking more than forty different languages. 




Han o£ the Prophet's Mosque, Mecca. 

xhcdc, Minarets ; 1 to 19, Babs or gates ; a, Kaaban ; b u, Cloisters ; c c, Gravel ; d, Bab-cl-Salein ; E, Outer step ; y f f p, 

Makam Hauafy, north— M. Maleky, west— M. Kanbaty, south— M. Ibraliam, east ; G, Oval circuit; h, Irak corner; i, Yemani 

corner; j. Black stone ; K,Shamicorner;L,Door;M,Maajan; u, El Daraj ; o, Zemzem; p, Staircase; Q, Raised pavement. 



652 



rH. YEMEN — ADEN — HADRAMAUT — OMAN — ^LACHSA — ^NEDJ. 

Yemen, an extensive district in the soutlL--west of tlie peninsula, consists of a low, arid, 
and burning coast region, with interior higMands at no great distance fi'om the shore, 
rising up in successive terraces to a considerable elevation. On these uplands the tem- 
perature is more moderate ; rain descends violently, though long intervals often elapse 
between the showers ; and there is a rich natural vegetation, embracing fine timber, fruit- 
trees, and gum-yielding plants. The coffee-bush is here the principal object of culture, 
with the fig, plantain, orange, citron, and indigo, frequently in the same plantation. 
This region forms a native sovereignty, under the government of an imaum or sultan, who 
has a standing army and a regular revenue. 

Sana, the capital, is an inland town situated in a teautitul valley on the table-land, and contains two 
royal palaces, many good houses, nmnerons gardens and fountains, with a population of 40,000, in the centre 
of the coffee district. The merchants of the town are rich ; but they affect the appearance of poverty, 
especially the Jews, who are about 3000 in number, and live, a despised and ill-treated race, in a special 
district of the town. Mocha, the most strongly fortified port on the low coast of the Eed Sea, has about 
5000 inhabitants, and gives its name to the best coffee, the great article of export. About 10,000 tons are 
shipped annually, besides large quantities of dates, gums, senna, bahn, ivory, and gold-dust. 

The coffee shrub is not a native of Yemen, but was transplanted thither from Abyssinia in the early part of 
the fifteenth centm-y. The berry was not known at Mecca until the year 1454. Into Turkey the beverage 
was introduced during the reign of Soliman the Magnificent, 1520-1566. It was first made known in Italy in 
1615, and in England during the closing years of the reign of Charles I. It came through the medium of 
Turkish subjects. Hence the name, ' coffee,' is a form of the Turkish Icahve, derived from the Arabic kahwah, 
both signifying the same thing, ' wine.' One of the first coffee-houses in London, in Exchange Alley, had the 
sign of the Great Turk, with the inscription, ' Morat the Great,' a corrupt abbreviation of the name of the 
sultan, Amurath IV., who died in 1640. 

Aden, a small peninsula of Southern Arabia, rather more than a hundred miles east of 
the entrance to the Eed Sea, consists of a range of barren and wild hills, connected with 
the mainland by a narrow sandy isthmus. It does not include more than an area of 
eighteen square miles. The hills are of conical shape, composed of a bluish coloured 
rock, and are evidently of volcanic origin. One of the highest, Signal Hill, used as a 
signalling station, rises to the height of about 1770 feet above the sea. This is a British 
possession, obtained in 1839 from a neighbouring sultan or sheikh, in the first instance 
by cession, but secured by force of arms, with the view of facilitating steam communicar 
tion between England and India. 

The town of Aden occupies a remarkable site. It stands in a valley or hollow enclosed with rocky walls, 
which is really the crater of an extinct volcano. The place is of great importance as a coaling station for the 
steamers passing to and fro between Suez and Bombay, the Mauritius, and the further East. Sailing vessels 
take out immense quantities of coal from England, and then pass on to India or AustraUa in search of home- 
ward freights. Upon the arrival of steamers in tlie offing, boats manned by red-haired, wild-looking Arabs 
are at hand to carry passengers ashore whUe the vessels receive their lading, who make their frail craft skim 
the surface with astonishing celerity. A good hotel on the sandy beach offers accommodation, consisting of 
one immense ground-floor with a verandah around it. The town, recently a village, now contains a popula- 
tion of 40,000, of a most miscellaneous description. It is defended by a garrison in a fortified camp in tho 
vicinity, and has generally one or two men-of-war at anchor in the roads. Considerable trade is carried on 
with the interior of Arabia by means of asses and camels. Though disposed to be predatory, the native 
tribes bring fruit, rice, mutton, coffee, and other articles from the mainland to the peninsula. Aden, signify- 
ing Eden, or Paradise, received the name from the sons of Ishmael, in allusion to the climate and the rich 
conmierce it once commanded. In the middle ages, before the maritime route to India was known, it was a 
large and wealthy place, as a chief mart for the produce received from the Oriental world by the "Western 
nations ; but gradually declined to a wretched hamlet upon the passage by the Cape being discovered. Vast 
cisterns for collecting the rain-water, constructed centuries ago, have been restored, and are applied to their 
original purpose. The climate is salubrious ; the summer heat great, but pleasantly tempered by the sea-breezes. 

The remaining portion of the south coast region, which passes under the general name 
of Hadbamaut, is a territory of immense extent. Hardly anything is known of its interior, 
but it appears to be scantily occupied by small settled tribes and wandering Bedouins, with 



MUSCAT DERAYEH. 653 

fisliomien on the shores, who are ichthyophagi, exclusively subsisting upon the produce 
of their calling. Oman, a maritime district on the east, at the entrance of the Persian 
GuK, is a regularly constituted and powerful state, under an imaum or sultan, with a 
mixed patriarchal and despotic form of government. Apart from a helt of land on the 
coast, the country is a desert, but interspersed with watered valleys or oases, of which a 
glowing account is given by the natives, founded chiefly upon their rarity, though really 
productive. The same description applies to Lachsa, a tract on the western side of the 
gulf, held by a number of petty sheikhs, the shores of which are besprinkled with islands, 
the seat of a valuable pearl-fishery. Nbjd, or the vast interior of Arabia, is a region 
which has only been subject on its skirts to limited European observation, but may be 
inferred from report to be generally a wilderness of rocks and sands, in many parts utterly 
sterile, and with only a scanty desert vegetation in the most favoured sites. 

Muscat, the capital of Oman, a highly-important port, is perhaps the largest city in Arabia, containing 
about 60,000 inhabitants, who belong to various nationalities — Arabs, Persians, Kurds, Syrians, Indians, 
Belochees, Afghans, are attracted to the spot by maritime commerce, as well as by the security which a stable 
and generally just government offers to person and property. 'Wliile the master of a fleet and army, the sultan 
is bound to attend to the summons of any inhabitant who calls him to a court of justice. Muscat stands at the 
head of a cove, which commimioates with the sea by a narrow entrance, and is girded by bare rocks of 
considerable height, so as to overhang the town and harbour. Thus shut out from every breeze except the one 
blowing directly into the mouth of the inlet, there is seldom a breath of air, and the summer heat is oppres- 
sive, while the reflection of the sun from the naked hills is distressing. Couunercial activity is the prominent 
feature of the place. Silk and cotton sashes, canvas, and arms are manufactured; hides, horses, asses, 
dates, and salt are exported ; cloths and various kinds of grain are imported. A northerly headland, Kas 
Mussendum, at the narrow entrance of the Persian Gulf, is ' Selama's sainted cape,' on passing which the 
native seamen throw offerings of fruits and flowers into the sea to propitiate a favourable voyage. "Within 
the Persian Gulf, the Bahrein islet group, close to the shore of Lachsa, is the centre of the pearl-fishery. 
It has been carried on from early times, and is mentioned by Pliny. A considerable niunber of vessels and 
small-craft are employed, in the hot season of the year, chiefly by merchants resident at Manama, the chief 
town of Bahrein, who reap the profits of the fishery, giving only a miserable pittance to the divers. Its 
annual value is said to be about £150,000. The pearl-oyster occurs generally along the whole coast of 
Arabia, but can only be obtained where the water is comparatively shallow. 

Derayeh, the chief town of Nejd, in the heart of the country, seventeen days journey from Medina, is prin- 
cipally known from its connection with the "Wahabees, the Puritans of Mohammedanism. They derive their 
name from the founder, Abdel "Wahab, a Bedouin sheikh, who, towards the close of the last century, having 
travelled extensively, declared that the faith of Islam had become corrupted in practice, assumed the 
character of a reformer, and brought entire tribes, with their chiefs, to adopt his views. While believing in 
the divine mission of the Prophet, they objected to pay religious veneration to him ; deemed it specially 
sinful to honour the tombs of saints ; denounced luxury in food and dress ; forbade the use of spirituous 
liquors, smoking tobacco, and wearing silk ; and proceeded to enforce this creed by the sword. Mecca was 
taken after a long siege in 1803 ; Medina fel]L,in the following year ; and nearly the whole of the peninsula 
was reduced. But the power of the Wahabees was finally broken by Mohammed Ali, the pasha of Egypt, 
whose army recovered the holy cities, and penetrated to Derayeh in 1819, which was nearly destroyed. The 
sectaries remain in the remote interior of the country. 





Falls of Bwia-a-Mer. 



CHAPTEE IV. 



IRAN OR PERSIA. 




east and north-east, nor 



EAN is tlie name wHcli the Persians give to their country, 
and which has heen in use from remote antiquity j it 
formerly denoted the whole region hetween the hasins of 
the Tigris and the Indus, which, at more than one period, 
has been comprised within the hmits of a single empire. 
The eastern portion of this extensive district is now held 
hy various independent trihes, and niodern Iran, the 
Persia of European geography, is confined to the western 
division. Its boundaries are formed by Eussian Armenia, 
the Caspian Sea, and Turkestan, on the north ; the 
Persian Gulf and part of the Arabian Sea on the south ; 
Asiatic Turkey on the west ; Afghanistan and Beloochistan 
on the east. ISTo natural landmarks form a border on the 
can any artificial frontier line there be draVn, for the surface is 



VEGETATION. 655 

largely a desert waste in those directions, freely wandered over hj nomadic hordes. But 
tho extreme extent is defined by the parallels of 26° and 40° north latitude, and the 
meridians of 44° and 61° east longitude. "Within these bounds, direct linear distances of 
from 700 to 800 miles may be traversed, while an area, roughly estimated at 500,000 
square miles, is included. The Persian Gulf, the chief maritime feature of the country, is 
an extensive arm of the Indian Ocean, closely land-locked, forming the only inland sea, 
properly so called, which exclusively belongs to the Asiatic continent. This expanse 
sweeps in the form of a crescent through 600 miles from its mouth to the far extremity, 
and has a breadth varying from 100 to 230 miles. It is numerously studded with islands, 
one of which, at the entrance, a few miles from the mainland, is the historically famous 
Ormuz, to which llilton refers : 

' High on a throne of royal state, which far 
Outshone the wealth of Ormnz or of Ind ; 
Or where the gorgeous east, with richest hand, 
Showers on her kings barbaric gold and pearl, 
Satan exalted sat.' 

This was in the hands of the Portuguese from 1507 to 1622, who founded the 
town of Ormuz as a commercial emporium, where the produce of Persia, India, and 
China was exchanged for the manufactures of Europe. They were dispossessed in the 
latter year by Shah Abbas, assisted by the English ; the town and port were ruined ; 
and the island is now nearly desolate, and would be entirely so but for its rock-salt 
and sulphur. 

The interior of Persia varies in its aspect from stern desolation to luxuriant beauty ; 
but sterile features so far preponderate as to be characteristic of the surface. The 
maritime region is low, flat, and arid, subject to excessive heat, where the date-palm is 
almost the only sign of vegetable life, and cultivation is limited to the neighbourhood of 
a few springs. Centrally and easterly, embracing the vast proportion of the area, the 
country consists of an enormous highland or plateau, ranging from 3000 to 4000 feet in its 
mean elevation, baked by a burning sun in summer, and swept by piercing winds in 
winter. It comprises deserts of sand, gravel, and clay, covered with salt and nitre, doomed 
to everlasting barrenness; with landscapes in other parts exhibiting masses of bare 
rock, and intervening valleys, streamless, treeless, and uninhabited, league after 
league, where an encounter with a single caravan in the course of a day's journey is as 
much evidence of human life as is ordinarily met with. ITorthward, the lofty chain of 
Elburz hems in the plateau; and from thence to the Caspian a narrow lowland tract 
extends of a totally different character. Here an exuberant vegetation appears, fostered 
by the combined influence of humidity and heat. "Westward, the table-land is also walled 
by high ranges, the Zagros Mountains of the ancients, from which streams and rivers 
descend into the adjoining valleys and plains, where a prodigal display is made of the 
riches of vegetative nature. The Elburz chain culminates in the Peak of Demavend. 
This is the highest point of the country, the summit of which is described by the 
national epic poet, Firdousi, as ' far from the abode of man, and near to Heaven.' It 
rises capped with eternal snow to the height of 21,500 feet above the level of 
the sea. The mountaki is a conspicuous object from Teheran, and a noted land- 
mark to seamen on the Caspian, the subject of many a wild legend. High up amid 
rocks and snow, as the worshippers of fire believe, dwells Zohak, the most wicked of 
kings, surrounded by a court of magicians and sorcerers. From the top, says 
tradition, the arrow was shot with such miraculous prowess as to reach the banks 
of the Oxus, which caused the whole of the intervening country to be ceded to Persia, 



656 PERSIA. 

and led the followers of Zoroaster to institute the annual 'Festival of the Arrow,' in 
commemoration of the event. 

Scarcity of water is the great natural disadvantage of the country. The hydrography 
embraces a number of streams with short courses generally, which discharge into the 
Caspian, and some important tributaries flowing to the Tigris and the Shat-el-Arab. But 
tracts of immense extent are either entirely waterless, or are only supplied with salt-lakes, 
while a large proportion of the running streams are not perennial in their flow, but dry 
up during the heat of summer. Hence the ' bed of a stream,' rood-khaneli, is the common 
phrase for a river in Persia, an idiom which has probably arisen from the fact stated. 
Forests are therefore only prominent in the humid lowland tract, between Elburz and the 
Caspian, where the oak, beech, elm, walnut, Cyprus, and box are found, while the 
mulberry, sugar-cane, and vine are cultivated. More sparingly, timber-trees clothe the 
slopes of the western mountains, and adorn the irrigated plains and valleys at their base. 
But in tliis last region, every species of fruit-tree known to Europeans grows in wild 
luxuriance; roses of many varieties occur in profusion, from which the well-known otto of 
roses is prepared ; and the loveliest flowers, tulips, anemones, hyacinths, ranunculuses, 
pinks, jasmiues, and violets flourish untended by the wayside and in the flelds. In the 
dry districts the vegetation consists principally of the date, the camel's thorn, saline and 
gum-yielding plants, among which the perennial Ferula assafcetida is very abundant. 
From the mUky juice of the root the gum-resia called after it is obtained, and forms an 
important article of commerce. The wild animals include the lion, panther, bear, hyena, 
jackal, wolf, wild boar, and wild ass, with various kinds of antelopes, and other game, which 
sportsmen pursue with hawk and hound. Among the domesticated stock, several breeds 
of horses are highly valuable, some for their beauty, others for their speed and power of 
endurance. Thoroughbred Arab steeds are distinguished as of ' pure veins,' regee pah, 
and receive as much attention to preserve the original blood as could be shewn in the 
first race-studs in England. The Persians are admirable horsemen, and will despise the 
foreigner unable to ride well more than for any other failing. There is considerable 
mineral wealth in the country, but very little developed. Besides the useful metals, it 
comprises celebrated mines of turquoise, a beautiful sky-blue gem, of very rare occurrence 
elsewhere. 

Ancient Persis, called in the Old Testament Paras, is represented in its general limits by the modem 
province of Pars. This is Persia Proper, and the present name is simply Paras or Pharas abbreviated into 
Phars or Pars. The word in the Zend, or old Persian language, is said to signify ' clear,' ' bright,' ' pure as 
ether,' and the particular region designated by it probably received the name from its generally pure 
atmosphere and clear serene sky. 

Though modem Persia is a state of very subordinate political consequence, it has been the central seat of 
powerful and widely-extended emph-es. Cyrus, about 559 B.C., united his native Persians with the 
neighbouring Medes, and fotmded the Medo-Persian monarchy, which included the whole of TVestern Asia, 
subdued part of Northern Africa, aspired to conquest in Southern Europe, and was overthrown by 
Alexander the Great, 331 B.C. A Parthian empire soon afterwards succeeded, which resisted the attacks of 
the Romans, and inflicted upon them some signal reverses. During the early centuries of the Christian era, 
under several of the Sassanide sovereigns, the monarchy was again extended from the Red Sea to the Indus. 
In modem times, 1586 — 1628, under a Mohammedan dynasty, represented by Shah Abbas I., a magnificent 
barbarian, Persia was once more formidable. Two Englishmen, brothers. Sir Anthony and Sir Robert Shirley, 
at the head of some followers, presented themselves at his court as soldiers of fortune, and were graciously 
received. By their instructions an army was disciplined after the European model ; the use of artillery was 
introduced; and the Shah triumphed over the Portuguese and the Turks. 'The Persian,' curiously remarks a 
contemporary writer, 'hath learned Shirleyan arts of war, and he which before knew not the use of 
ordnance, hath now 500 pieces of brass and 60,000 musketeers ; so that they which at hand with the sword 
were before dreadful to the Turks, now also in remoter blows and sulphurean arts are grown terrible.' 
In the last century Nadir Shah reduced the Afghans, and extended his power over part of Northern 
India. But by the rise of small independent states eastward, and successive losses of territoiy to the Russians 
in the direction of the Caucasus, the Persian monarchy has been reduced to its present limits. There is 



IRAK-AJEMI — TEHERAN. 657 

little in the present state of the country to inspire hope of civilisation advancing, or to interest the mind 
apart from the monuments of ancient times. The government, administered by a Shah, or emperor, is perfectly 
despotic, though controlled by the apprehension of revolts. 

The political divisions of Persia haye repeatedly fluctuated iu numlDer and extent. 
Nino provinces are generally enumerated, but their limits are not strictly defined. 



Provinces. 


Cities and Towns. 


Irak-Ajemi, . 


, Teheran, Kasbiii, Kashan, Ispahan, Hamadan. 


Azerbijan, . 


Tabriz, Maragha, TJnuniah, Miana. 


Ghilan, . . 


. Eesht, Lahijan, Enzeli. 


Mazanderan, 


Sari, Balfurush, AmoL 


Kliuzistan, . 


. Shuster, Dizful, Hawiija, Mohammerah. 


Fars, . . 


Shiraz, Bushire. 


Laristan, 


. . Lar. 


Kerman, 


Kerman, Gombroon. 


Khorasan, 


. Meshid, Nishapur, Astrabad, Yezd. 



Each of the provinces has a governor, usually a prince of the blood-royal, vrith the style 
of beglerberj, who is represented in districts by subordinates, and by still more inferior 
officers in the towns. The chief business of these officials is not so much to maintain 
order, and see to the proper administration of justice, as to extract as large a revenue for 
the crown as possible from the people, not forgetting their own profit. 

Irak-Ajemi, one of the most extensive of the sectional divisions, and the first in rank 
from containing the former and the present capital, is central and western in its position, 
and has very different natural features in the two directions. The central portion, though 
not without many fertile tracts, consists principally of desert table-lands, where the streams 
lose themselves in sandy wastes, and intermit their flow in summer, and where ridges of 
naked rook on the borders of verdureless valleys offer a dismal diversity to the monotony 
of the scene. On the route from Ispahan to Teheran the traveller passes through a series 
of stony ravines, so utterly desolate and frightfully savage as to be caUed the VaUey of the 
Angel of Death, traditionally said to be one of the resting-places upon earth of the dread 
minister, where ghouls attend upon him, whose voices are heard in the howl and sighing 
of the wind. But the western portion of the province, traversed by the Zagros Mountains, 
is rife with scenes of luxuriant beauty in the glens, perennially watered by streams from 
the highlands, which unite to form rivers in the plains, and render them spontaneously 
fruitful. Of these streams, the Holvan, which finally reaches the Tigris, is a lovely 
example. It flows through the romantic dell of Eijab, wlaich contributes copious 
rivulets to its current. This dell, exteSding through a distance of nearly eight miles, 
has a medium width of not more than a hundred yards, and is shut in on both sides by a 
wall of tremendous precipices. Yet from one end to the other it is filled with gardens 
and orchards, through which the stream rushes impetuously, until it emerges into the 
plain below. The dell takes its name from that of a little village in it, occupying a nook, 
where the defile widens into something like a dale. The peaches and figs, which are the 
produce of its gardens, are celebrated throughout Persia. Their excellence has given 
rise to a proverbial saying, ' The figs of Holvan are not to be equalled in the whole 
world.' 

Telieran, the present capital, in latitude 35° 40' north, longitude 51° 30' east, stands on a barren elevated 
plain, near the southern base of Elburz, about seventy miles from the Caspian. It is almost entirely 
contained within an embattled mud wall, four miles in circuit, flanked by numerous round towers in very 
tolerable repair, preceded by a ditch. The four gates are ornamented with figures of tigers and other animals. 
Eoyal palaces and gardens of great extent and beauty occupy a considerable space in the interior. The 
bazaars are large, surmounted with domes, and roofed with variegated coloured tiles. But the dwelling- 
houses are chiefly mud-bmlt huts. The population, at its greatest about 120,000, fluctuates remarkably, for, 
owing to the intolerable heat in summer, the court, with all who have the means, retire to a cooler site, and 
encamp on the plain of Sultaniah. Teheran became the capital of the kingdom in 1788, owing to its proximity 

2p 



658 PERSIA. 

to the native possessions of the reigning dynasty. About twenty-five miles distattt, on the east, are the 
extensive ruins of Bhagce, a city contemporary with Persepolis and Eohatana, the metropoBs of the Parthian 
kings, and the birthplace of Harun-al-Raschid, still important in the middle ages. Kashin, one of the 
trading towns on the north-west, about ninety miles from Teheran, is celebrated for its grapes, pistachio-nuts, 
and manufacture of ornamental tiles. Before the time of Shah Abbas, it was for a brief period the capital 
of Persia, and had a population of 200,000, but has now probably not more that a fifth of that number. Kum, 
on the south, ancient and once populous, now almost a mass of ruins, is venerated as one of the holy cities, to 
which many of the wealthy are conveyed for interment on their death, in coffins carried on the backs of mules 
and camels, from distant parts of the country. The place has gardens luxuriant with fruits and flowers ; storks 
sitting on their nests on the roofs of the buildings ; nightingales singing day and night, so domesticated as 
freely to approach the houses ; and the custom is observed by the inhabitants of strewing the apartment with 
roses destuied to receive a welcome guest. Kaslian, further south, liighly uidustrial, is famed for the 
manufacture of silk brocades for garments, shawls of the same texture, of exquisite design, and also velvets. 
Scorpions, large and venomous, are here numeroxis, but rarely injure the natives. 'May you be stung by a 
scorpion of Kashan' is a common malediction in Persia. The silk- weavers, along with the artisans of Ispahan, 
are reputed to be poor warriors. Population, 30,000. 

Ispahan, once a splendid metropolis, is situated in the southern part of the province, 226 miles from 
Teheran. It stands on a fertile and beautiful plain, watered by the Zenderud, a broad river crossed by 
three noble bridges, the banks of which are lined with groves, avenues, gardens, and spreading orchards, 
wliich intermingle with the buUdings, and render the distant view of the place extremely delightful. The 
city is, however, a wreck, presenting on almost every hand the melancholy spectacle of deserted palaces, 
ruined houses, tenantless streets, and neglected parterres ; yet still exhibiting scenes of animation along with 
the evidences of decay. The most noteworthy building is a palace, called the Chehel Sitton, or 'Forty 
Columns.' The pillars are inlaid with mirrors, and the walls and roof are profusely decorated with glass 
and gilding. In the days of its prosperity, under Shah Abbas I., the walls had a circuit of twenty-four 
miles, and the population was so great as to be proverbially accounted 'half the world.' It no doubt 
considerably exceeded half a mUlion ; and Ispahan is still the largest city of Persia, and of 'Western Asia, 
containing upwards of 180,000 inhabitants. Manufactures are extensively conducted of woven fabrics, rich 
gold brocades, calicoes, chintzes, and other cotton goods, from the cotton raised in the neighbourhood, with 
firearms, sword-blades, glass, and earthenware. Stone and seal cutters are famed for their workmanship. 
Many bazaars are crowded with all kinds of goods, and daily thronged ivith merchants. In the vicinity 
immense flocks of pigeons appear, bred for the profit derived from their manure, which is prized for rearing 
melons of the finest quality. Samadan, in the western part of Irak, ISO miles west-south-west of Teheran, 
is a mean-looking but important commercial town, with a considerablo transit trade, as the centre to 
which caravan routes converge, from Teheran, Ispahan, Bagdad, and Erivan. It occupies a high site at 
the northern base of Mount Elwund, and has therefore an agreeable summer, with a very cold winter. 
Hence the Medo-Persian kings selected the spot for their usual summer residence, for Hamadan stands 
on the same ground where stood the Median Echatana, the AcJimetka, of the sacred writings. Nothing of 
interest remains of the ancient capital ; but a sepidchre exists reputed to be that of Esther and Mordecai, 
venerated as such by a resident Jewish remnant. 

KcTTfiansliah, a modem town of 30,000 inJiabitants, is on the south-west of Hamadan, rendered of some 
political importance as the seat of a government frequently held by princes of the blood-royal. It has manu- 
factures of carpets, swords, and firearms. About twenty miles distant on the east, the little hamlet of Bisitun, or 
Behistun, adjoins a locality veiy remarkable on account of its natural aspect, and as a memorial of ancient times 
in sculptures and inscriptions. A range of barren limestone mountains, presenting on their sides and summits 
the boldest and sharpest outlines, here terminates so abruptly as to form a naturally scarped precipice 1700 
feet high, in appearance as if the hand of man had been employed in giving a perpendicular face to the mass. 
On this surface a very perfect piece of sculjiture appears, accompanied by cuneiform writing. It represents 
a line of nine persons united by a cord tied round their necks, and having their hands bound behind them, 
obviously captives. They approach a personage of more majestic stature, who, holding up his right hand, 
treads upon a prostrate body, evidently a king or commander. Behind him stand two warriors as his body- 
guard, with long spears in their hands. Above all, in the centre, floats as if in the air, the winged personage, 
so often seen at Persepolis, the attendant guardian angel of the monarch. The position of the sculpture 
proclaims the care taken by the author to insure the permanence of the monument. It is at least 300 feet 
above the groimd, and could only have been executed with the aid of scaffolding. The inscriptions are 
trilingual, or engraved in the three great classes of the cuneiform character, the Babylonian, Median, and 
Persian. Sir H. BawUnson has deciphered the Persian record, from which it appears that the principal 
personage sculptured is Darius Hystaspes. The prostrate body represents Gomates, a Magian pretender to the 
throne. The nine captives are rebel leaders who raised the standard of revolt in the empire, and were sub- 
dued. This monument is referred to about the year 516 B.C. Bisitun is the Baghistan of ancient history, 
or ' Place of Gardens,' where Alexander lingered for thirty days while on his march from Susa to Ecbatana. 
It had a palace, park, pleasure-grounds, and reservoirs, traditionally ascribed to the Assyrian Queen 
Semiramis. 



AZBEBUAN — TABRIZ. 659 

AzERBiJAN, a north-western province, 'borders on Eussian Armenia, from wHch it is 
separated by the river Aras. The name, signifying ' Land of Fire,' refers to the fire-fields 
of Baku, now heyond the frontier, as well as to the circumstance of the district having 
been the origiaal seat of the Giiehres, or fire-worshippers. The surface is very strikingly 
diversified with mountain and lake. It rises in the peak of Savalan to the height of 
13,000 feet, and embraces the remarkable lake of Urumiah, the largest in Persia. This 
expanse measures from eighty to ninety miles in length, and has a medium breadth of 
twenty-five miles, but with only an average depth of about twelve feet. The water is 
very clear, intensely salt, and has a sulphureous smell. Owing to its great specific gravity, 
the winds have comparatively little effect upon the surface, and the waves are speedily at 
rest after the strongest gale. No fish can live in it, but zoophytes are abundant and 
curious. 




Tower of Tezed, near Teheran. 

Tabriz about thirty miles from the norfch-eastem shore of the great lake, and built on very high 
ground, is a city of 160,000 inhabitants, surrounded with fruitful gardens and orchards. It is the emporium 
of the trade of Persia with Europe through Turkey, which amounted to the value of nearly £2,000,000 
in 1859, and has silk and cloth manufactures. British calicoes were formerly extensively imported, then 
dyed blue, and sent out as native products. Indigo, an article of great consumption, is obtained direct 



660 PEKSIA. 

from India. Several streets are devoted to the sale of particular goods, as one for saddlery, another for silks. 
The climate is remarkable for extremes of temperature, great heat in summer, severe cold in winter. 
According to a register of the weather, Fahrenheit's thermometer, which stood frequently at 94 degrees in 
June, never rose above zero when exposed to the open air at night, from the middle of December to 
the close of January, and was seldom above 18 degrees within doors at mid-day. But Tabriz is accounted 
healthy, and has therefore been rebuilt after repeated demolition by earthquakes. It is rarely free for 
a twelvemonth from slight shocks, and lost nearly all its inhabitants by a tremendous convulsion in 1792. 
Maragha, eighteen miles from tlio south-eastern shore of the lake, was once more important, as the 
capital of Hulagu, grandson of Ghengis Klian, where he relaxed from warlike toils, and assembled men 
of science around him. The foundations of the observatory may be traced on the top of a hiU, where the 
astronomer of the thirteenth century, Nasir-ud-Deen, watched the heavens. A white marble is obtained 
in the neighbom-hood, which, when cut thin, is capable of being used as a substitute for window glass. 
Uriimiahj a few miles from the western side of the lake, a considerable to"\vn and an American mission 
station, has also some Nestorian Christians among its inhabitants, found in the adjoining villages, employed 
as agricultural labourers on the estates of Mohammedan landholders. Two of this interesting community, 
called the 'Protestants of Asia,' Priest Yohanan and Deacon Yishlak, travelled on foot nearly all 
the way from the plain of Urumiah to London in 1862, and were hospitably entertained during their stay 
in the Home for Asiatics at Limehouse. Miana, a small place towards the southern border of the 
province, is remarkable for its poisonous bug. This pest is not known apart from the town and its immediate 
environs, and only causes ordinary annoyance to the natives. But tlie bite is usually mortal to strangers, 
sometimes causing speedy death, but generally prodxicing a fatal wasting of the frame. Eussian embassies, 
having had occasion to pass, have pitched their tents at the distance of three miles, on account of the terrible 
bugs. Azerbijan has near its extreme southern frontier an extraordinary structure, called Takhti-Suleinidn, 
or ' Solomon's Throne,' consisting of a hoary mass of crumbling walls and buildings on the top of a hilL They 
enclose a small sheet of water of the deepest azure, and are bounded by a strong line of wall supported by 
numerous bastions. These ruins have not been identified with the least certainty as those of any known place. 

Tte districts of Ghilan and Mazandbean are of very small extent, lying on the 
soutliern shores of the Caspian, with the range of Elburz in the hackgroiuid. They differ 
in every respect from the rest of the country, being low and swampy, drenched with sum- 
mer rains, and covered with wood and jungle. The clouds, home along by the prevading 
north-west winds, are arrested by the high mountain rampart, and discharge themselves in 
violent showers, and the surface being a dead level, the streams rapidly overflow, origin- 
ating extensive marshes. Hence this region is notoriously insalubrious, rife with fever 
and ague, to which a common proverb refers, ' Whoever is tu-ed of his life, let him go to 
Ghdan.' StiU, it contains large and flourishing towns, owing to the exuberant vegetable 
produce. Eice is grown on the moist soil ; the sugar-cane thrives ; and the mulberry-tree 
is cultivated in extensive plantations for the silkworm. 

Besht, in Ghilan, at a short distance from the Caspian, is a well-built town, possesses many bazaars, and 
contains 50,000 inhabitants, in commercial communication with Russia, but is one of the most unhealthy 
spots in Persia. Sari, the capital of llazanderan, similarly situated, has good brick houses, neatly tiled, ivith 
paved streets, and about 20,000 inhabitants ; Balfurush, straggHngly built over an extensive woodland area, 
has a total population of at least 60,000. Both places were formerly more populous, but have suffered 
from cholera and the plague. 

Khuzistan, on the south of Irak-Ajemi, extends thence to the head of the Persian 
Gulf, and is a beautiful and higlily-fertile district naturally. The surface rises inland into 
lofty hUls and mountains, but consists of great alluvial plains in the maritime region, 
suited to the cultivation of rice, cotton, the sugar-cane, and indigo. It is traversed by 
the Kerkah and the Karun, both of which flow to the Shat-el-Arab. The Kerkah, the 
largest river, is the ancient Choaspes, so celebrated for the excellence of its water, that 
the Persian monarchs generally carried a sufficient quantity of it with them when 
journeying, so that recourse might not be had to any other supply. Hence Milton's 
reference, 

' There Susa by Clioaspes' amber stream, 
The drink of none but kings.' 

The. province is historic ground. It represents generally the Susiana of antiquity, which 
comprised within its limits Susa, the Shwslian of the Books of Esther and Daniel — one of 



SHUSTER — SHIEAZ. 



661 



lilio old royal cities of tlio Persian kings, and chosen as their winter residence, owing to 
tlio warmth of the climate. 

Shustcr, tho present provinciiil capital, stands on the Karun, enclosed liy a wall of unbumed bricks, and is a 
decayed place, largely depopulated in 1832 by cholera and the plague. It is supposed to have been founded 
by Sapor, the second of tho Sassanide dynasty, who is stated to have had it biult under the direction of his 
prisoner, the Konian emperor Valerian, and to have employed the captive soldiers as tho workmen. Its 
castle, seated on a bluff hUl of sandstone, was the reputed abode of the unhappy emperor. Part of the 
ancient structui-e is still standing, and h.as a gate in tho Koman fashion, furnished with a drawbridge, still 
entire. The Karun here is crossed by a bridge of forty-four arches, called PuU-Kaisar, or ' Cesar's Bridge ; ' 
and at a short distance from it, the summit of a hill is crowned by the ruins of an edifice, named Takhti- 
Ivaisar, or ' Cajsar's Throne' These works have doubtless been so styled from a traditionary remembrance of 
the unfortunate Roman. Disful, seated on an affluent of the Karun, is a larger town of the same date, with 
about 15,000 inhabitants. 

Of ancient Susa tliere aro no remains but the mounds of Sus, on tho Kerkah, which is very closely 
approached at tho spot, within a mile and a half, by another river, the Shapur, believed to be the TJlai of the 
Book of Daniel. The mounds cover an immense space, are high and imposing. They extend not less than 
twelve miles from one extremity to tho other. Large bricks aro observed among the rubbish, both sun- 
dried and burned, with bitumen as cement, and pieces of marble inscribed with cuneiform characters. A 
plain dome-like building, comparatively modern, shaded by very graceful palm-trees, stands on tho edge of 
tho Shapur, and has received the name of the Tomb of Daniel. It has usually a dervise for a tenant, who 
shows tlie spot with as much reverence as if it contained the bones of Mohammed himself. The entire 
vicinity is now a gloomy wilderness. Lions, hyenas, and jackals haunt the tall reeds and thickets by the 
rivers. But Sir H. Eawlinson noticed the beautiful natural herbage of the whole district. It was difficult 
to ride along the banks of the streams owing to the luxuriance of the grasses, and the entire plain was 
covered With a carpet of tlie richest verdure. Hence, perhaps, the designation of the city, Sus being the 
Hebrew and Persian namo for the lUy, a flower which aboimds in the neighbourhood, and has always been 
considered the emblem of purity. The Jews applied the name to their daughters, and it is with us a familiar 
female denominative ; Susan, 'white lily ;' Susannah, ' my white hly.' 

Pars and Laeistan are districts on the eastern side of the Persian Gulf, embracing a 
considerable interior space, which agreeably changes its aspect as the hot arid region of 
the shore is left behind. At the distance of from iifty to sixty miles from the coast, an 
ascent by successive terraces, through watered, fertile, and wooded valleys, leads to the 
high table-lands, on the surface of which the features of sterUity are agaia presented. 
Here occurs Lake Bakhtegan, sixty miles long by an average of eight broad, from which a 
considerable quantity of salt is obtained. The towns of importance are few, but many 
are the sites of interest. 

Bhiraz, the chief city of Fars, and at one time the capital of the kingdom, 118 miles inland from Bushire, 
stands on a site elevated 4200 feet above the sea, in a lovely neighbourhood. The walls are four miles in 
circuit, but the place has little consequence at present in comparison with its past renown. It was fonnerly 
celebrated for its grapes, wines, and rose gardens ; its commerce and manufactures ; and had a large 
population. But the inhabitants had dwindled to 20,000, when nearly half of them perished by earthquake 
shocks on five successive days in the year 1S53, and many of its finest features were utterly destroyed. It 
W01 be long before the effects of this blow disappear. About two mUes from tho city is the tomb of Hafiz, 
the native lyric poet of the fourteenth century, sumptuously adorned, and frcqirently resorted to by pilgrims 
from a distance. On the swampy solitary plain of the Merdasht, twenty-five mUes to tho north-east, 
are the striking fragments of Persepolis, one of the royal cities of Persia, and its capital, when ' Macedonia's 
madman,' Alexander, entered it as a conqueror, to revel in its halls, and fire the palace with his own hand. 
Here there is a terrace or platform of masonry, faced with enormous blocks of dark-gray marble, exquisitely 
polished, and without cement. It rises above the plain from twenty-five to fifty feet, according to the 
inequalities of the gi'ound. Tho west side is moro than a quarter of a mile in length, and is ascended by a 
magnificent staircase formed of a double flight of steps, of so easy an inclination that Sir E. K. Porter rode 
his horse up and down it. ITrom the first terrace there rises a second, ascended by a corresponding staircase, 
but remarkable for a superb display of bas-reliefs of colossal bulls and other objects. This platform supports 
what is now called the Cliehol Minar, or Palace of Forty Pillars, consisting of a series of columns, still erect, 
sixty feet high, mth finely-fluted shafts. Delia Valle, in 1621, saw twenty-five pillars standing ; Herbert, in 
1627, and Olearius, in 1638, saw nineteen ; Kempfer in 1696, and iSTiebuhr in 1765, saw seventeen. Only 
thirteen remain at present. But judging from the fragments that lie prostrate in the accumulated dust of 
ages, as well as from indications of structure respecting the edifice, the total number belonging to the 
original building is estimated at upwards of 200. At fifty miles on the north-east of Persepolis, the plain of 
Monrgaub has remains identified as those of Pasargadse, the city founded by Cyrus on the scene of his victory 
over the Modes, where he caused his own tomb to be erected, which was visited by Alexander and rifled by 



662 



PERSIA. 



his officers. A particular structure, now called by the natiyes Musjed Madre-i-Suleiman, the Tomb of the 
Mother of Solomon, is generally recognised as the mausoleiun of Cyrus. Bushire, ' father of cities,' the 
principal port on the Persian Gulf, trades chiefly with British India, and is a station of the Anglo-Indian 
telegraphic line. It occupies the extremity of a sandy peninsula, and is nearly surrounded by the sea, 
fortified with towers or forts on the sea-wall. The town looks well from the roadstead, being built of 




Bushire. 

a whitish sandstone, while skirted with taU palm-trees and the dark-blue water. But the interior is only a 
collection of mean low dwellings. The inhabitants are almost aU of Arab race, with a few Persian and 
Armenian merchants. Though tempted by the hope of gain to the shore, the Persians of all classes have 
an imconquerable antipathy to the sea, while the Arabs delight in it. 

Keeman and Khoeasan embrace between tliem the entire east of the country, and 
are jointly as extensive as the united area of the other provinces. But a vast proportion 
of the surface is a frightful wilderness, where not a blade of grass is to be seen, consisting 
of plains of shifting sand, or of sea-like plains white with crystallised salt, across which 
communication by caravan is rare and difficult. Mules are seldom permitted to travel by 
theu' owners, being less enduring than the camel. "Wliere springs occur on the leading 
routes, they are usually met with covered in with a dome-like roof, and an entrance-door 
is at the side. Small towers at intervals are significant of other dangers besides the 
natural. They are built as a protection against the marauding Turkomans, and have a 
confined hole at the base, which allows only one man to enter at a time. Not content 
mth plunder, the robbers, when successful, secure captives also for the slave-markets of 
Bokhara. The Desert of Kerman, the Great Salt Desert of Khorasan, are appropriate 
titles. The country improves in the northern part of the last-named province, owing to 
spurs of the Elburz Mountains running through it, among which the valleys are water- 
courses. Artificial channels are connected with them, constructed in past ages to lead off 



rOPDLATION. 



6G3 



supplies for the irrigation of distant plains, but these works of industry have now 
become for the most part unserviceable, from the neglect incident to an insecure social 
condition. 

Kcrman, centrally placed in its province, occupies one of the exceptionally fertile tracts, and is a walled 
town of 30,000 inhabitants, with manufactures of shawls, coarse woollens, and matchlocks. Gombroon, its 
port, is on the Persian Gulf, opposite the isle of Ormiiz. It attained great prosperity for a time, succeeding 
to the Portuguese insular settlement, in becoming the chief seat of maritime conuneroe. But it has now 
declined to a small place, owing to the foreign trade being transferred to Eushire. Town and isle are subject 
to the sultan of Muscat. Meshid, in the noi'thern and favoured part of Khorasan, is seated on a fruitful 
plain, enclosed by strong walls about seven miles in circuit. But the interior embraces gardens, cornfields, 
and ruins ; the population is 100,000. The tomb of Imam Eiza, with the gilded dome and minarets of the 
mosque adjoining, is a striking object. As the chief seat of the great sect of the Shiites, Mesliid is of nearly 
equal importance with Mecca, the sacred city of orthodox Mohammedans, and hence it abounds in ' holy ' 
men, arrayed in green turbans and sashes, who instruct the pilgrims visiting the city. The town carries on 
manufactui'es of wooUen goods and metal wares, especially sword-blades, gold-work, and articles of jewellery. 
Ifishapnr, fifty miles on the west, occupies likewise a well-watered and cultivated plain, celebrated for its 
fine clunate and fruits, and has the tui'quoise mines in its vicinity. Astrabad, at the south-east corner of the 
Caspian, some miles inland, fluctuates in the number of its inhabitants owing to the mihealthiness of the site. 
It was once important as the seat of the Kajar princes, from whom the present royal family of Persia 
descend, which led to the establishment of the capital at Teheran, as a proximate position across the Elbxiiz. 
Yezd, in the southern part of the province, is situated in an oasis of the Great Salt Desert, and is an 
important commercial station between Central and 'Western Asia. Caravans meet here from the east and 
west for the exchange of commodities. The town is the only place in Persia where the fije-worshippers are 
at all numerous. 

Persia is supposed to contain! a population of at least 10,000,000, consisting of two 
great classes, the one iixed, the other erratic. The fixed class reside in cities, towns, 
and villages ; and are conceived to amount to 7,500,000 of the whole. The erratic 
class change their locality according to the season, or other exigencies of their condi- 
tion. These two divisions of the people differ further on religious grounds, while both 
adhere to the creed of Islam. The stationary inhabitants are Mohammedans of the 
Shiah sect, who reject the authority of the first three califs, Abubekr, Omar, and 
Osman ; stigmatise them as usurpers, and begin the true ecclesiastical succession with the 
fourth, Ali, who, they consider, ought to have been immediately chosen to follow the 
Prophet, as the commander of the faithful. But the wandering tribes are generally 
Mohammedans of the Sunni community, which embraces the Turks and Arabs, A?ho 
recognise what the others repudiate. - 

The erratic class includes various nationalities, as Kurds, Arabs, Turkomans, Uzbeks, 
and Afghans; but they are all comprehended under the general name of Illyats, signifying 
'families' or 'tribes.' However various their origin, they agree in being pastoral, martial, 
and more or less predatory, constituting the strength of the government, when friendly, but 
its plague and terror, if hostile. They claim the lordship of certain uninhabited districts — 
are completely uninstructed — enjoy a consideration in their own community which they 
would not have if merged in the mass of society — derive subsistence principally from then' 
flocks, and eat hard black bread of barley or rye with their cheese and ciwds. But some have 
departed from the habits of their ancestors ; and hence the distinction has arisen among 
themselves denoted by the terms Sliehr-nisliin, ' dwellers in cities,' referring to those who 
have adopted a changed life, and Sahra-nialiin, or ' dwellers in the field.' The latter 
abide in tents all the year round, and despise the former as a degenerate race. They keep 
in the winter to tracts which enjoy a warm cHmate, or to low grounds, then journey to 
the boimdary between the hot and the cold region, ascend in summer to the high lands 
where they fijid pasture, and as the season advances, return to then* former location to pass 
the winter. These are regularly defined tracts to which particular tribes claim exclusive 
right, open of course to appropriation by the shah, the princes, and nobles. Intrusion by 
their compeers would lead to a fatal feud. A patriarchal kind of government is recognised 



6C4 PERSIA. 

among tliem, disputes being submitted to the decision of elders, Risltsefeeds ; literally 
' wMte beards.' 

The fixed class represent the old inhabitants of the coimtry, but •with a strong 
admixture of foreign blood. These are the Persians proper, a remarkably handsome race, 
lively, affable, and courteous — Whence styled the French of the east — but insincere, 
treacherous, and cruel, vices with -which cowardice is commonly allied. Among no 
people are the forms and ceremonies conceived to be proper, more strictly observed on 
public occasions, as well as in the intercourse of private life. Etiquette has the rank of a 
science, denominated Kdida-e-nisJiest-oo-herJcJidst, or ' the art of sitting and rising,' in 
which is included a knowledge of the manners of good society. Instruction commences 
in early life, and hence a mere boy wiU receive visitors of distinction with surprising 
manliness and grace in the absence of his father, using the same delicately-worded phrases 
of compliment and inquiry which the head of the household would have employed. 
Where to ride in a procession, and to stand or sit within doors, when to rise, and how far 
to advance to meet a guest are points of importance, along with the time and manner of 
smoking and taking coffee. A welcome, and its opposite, may be signified by the mode 
in which these favourite refreshments are offered. Court ceremonials are specially prolix, 
as well as offensive to western notions of propriety. British envoys have had stoutly to 
resist their observance, and have only conquered by accepting the alternative of refusing 
to approach the footstool of royalty rather than comply with them. The Shah is 
honoured by his subjects as Kihla-e-Alem, wliich some render ' centre of the universe,' 
and others, ' point of the world's adoration.' He possesses a pair of bracelets valued at 
nearly a miQion sterling. One is remarkable for the Deria-e-Nur, or ' Sea of Light,' a 
diamond said to be of unequalled lustre, but nearly rivalled by the Taj-e-Mah, or ' Crown 
of the Moon,' upon the other. His peacock throne, one of the spoils of India, carried off 
by Nadir Shah, is an object of barbaric magnificence. Yet with all their respect for 
forms, the Persians are not a formal people, but highly cheerful and social, applying 
themselves to recreation with an appetite apparently sharpened by the occasional restraints 
to which their customs condemn them. They delight in flowers and gardens, which are 
commonly plantations of shady trees and ornamental shrubs, particularly roses — are 
refreshed by streams or fountains, and have elegant garden-houses. Their language, 
founded upon the ancient dialects of the country, and the modern Arabic, is distinguished 
as the Italian of Asia, owing to its harmony of sound, facility of versification, and 
adaptation for the lighter forms of poetry. 




Persepolia. 




CHAPTEE V. 



BELOOOHISTAN — AFGHANISTAN — TUEKESTAN. 




HE teiTitory wliich forms the northern shore of the Arahian 
Sea, or Indian Ocean, is known hy the general name of Beloo- 
CHISTAN, referring to a portion of its inhabitants, and has 
Persia on the west, India on the east, and Afghanistan on the 
north for its inland frontiers. Though of considerahle extent, it 
is, with th&,exception of a few limited spaces, rough with barren 
highlands, blighted with intervening sterile plains, and there- 
fore very thinly peopled, whUe imperfectly known to Europeans. 
The Hala Mountains on the eastern side — 'paraUe] to the 
course of the Indus — separate the district of Cutch Gundava, 
which lies in the valley of the river, and has some weU-watered 
tracts where rice and cotton are cultivated, from the larger portion of the country. This 
range, lofty and of considerable breadth, is intersected by narrow defiles, through which 
communication is maintained between the borders of India and the regions westward. They 
are occupied by small streams which swell to overwhelming torrents when rain falls on the 
heights above, and altogether interrupt transit for a time, or render it difficult and dangerous. 
One of these clefts, the Bolan Pass, was traversed by a column of the British army, with 
artiUery, when on its way to Cabul, in the year 1839. The crest of the pass is 5793 feet 
above the sea ; its total length, about fifty-four mUes ; the average ascent, ninety feet in 
the mile ; and six days were required for the troops to march through. ' The minutest 
descriptions,' says Lieutenant ConoUy, ' could hardly convey a just idea of its strength. 
It is a defile which a regiment of brave men could defend against an army.' There are 



666 BEIiOOOHISTAN. 

points wliere the opposite walls approach each other so closely at their bases as to leave 
scarcely room for but a few men to pass abreast ; and there are other points where the base- 
ments of the cliffs are more apart, while the summits so far overhang as to render the path 
below gloomy in the extreme by excluding the light of day. The other mountain-ranges 
run in an inverse dhection, or parallel to the coast, and have tracts of loose red sand 
between them, furrowed by a. few water-courses, which are visited by sudden torrents in 
the rainy season, but remain dry through the greater part of the year. These sandy levels 
are terraces or table-lands, which become more elevated with their distance from the coast. 

The maritime region, to which the name of Makran is given, is one of the hottest 
portions of the globe. Between March and November the heat is overpowering on the low 
grounds and in the valleys. According to the natives, the unburned bricks are made red 
by the scorching rays of the sun. This district is the Gedrosia of the ancients, me?norable 
in history, owing to the march of Alexander through it, with part of his army, on return- 
ing from India ; while another portion sailed along the shore under the admiral, Nearchus. 
The accounts given of the country and people by the historians of the expedition are fully 
verified by the reports of modern travellers. Both will become better known, as Gwadel, 
on the coast of Makran, is the station to which the Anglo-Indian telegraphic line passes 
by submarine cable from the Persian Gulf, and is from thence conducted by land to 
Kurrachee in Soinde, 

Several lialf -barbarous tribes occupy this region, mostly nomadic and pastoral, all Mohammedans, but refer- 
rible to two principal branches, called Belooches and Brahooes, who differ in language, appearance, and habits. 
The former are tall and well proportioned, martial and predatory, excellent marksmen, fond of field-sports, 
and speak a corrupt Persian dialect. The latter are of shorter stature, milder disposition, and speak a dialect 
of Sanscrit origin. A miserable race of ichthyophagi, sparingly occupy the coast. INo chieftain aspires to 
paramount authority, or is more than very locally influential, except the Khan of Kelat, whose territory is in 
the north-east, towards the Afghan border. 

Kelat, a town of mud-built houses, surrounded by a mud wall, occupies a high plain, upwards of 7000 feet 
above the sea. It contains about 12,000 inhabitants, and is the seat of a considerable transit trade, carried on 
by Afghan merchants. A watered and cultivated tract in the neighbourhood supplies very fine fi-uits. Melons 
of extraordinary size are raised, with almonds, apricots, peaches, pomegranates, and figs. The place was taken 
by the British after emerging from the Bolan Pass in 1S39, when the Klian fell fighting bravely in defence 
of his capital. Left with a small Sepoy garrison, it was captui'ed by the Belooches in the following year ; 
re-occupied before its close by the army imder General Nott ; and relinquished with the retirement of the 
troops to the banks of the Indus. 

Alexander commenced his march through Beloochistan towards the close of the summer 325 B.C., when the 
earth had been baking for months under the fiery sim ; and according to the unanimous testimony of the 
soldiers, aU former labours and privations were surpassed by the perils and hardships of this homeward expe- 
dition. Nature shewed a wild vigoiu- in the districts immediately bordering the Indus. Ai'omatic trees and 
shrubs, particularly the niyrrh-bearing plants, and the nardus, from which spikenard was extracted, floui'ished 
in great abundance and perfection. A grateful fragrance was diffused through the air as the plants were 
crushed by the tramp of the advancing coluimis. But as the country further west was penetrated, all vegeta- 
tion disappeared, and perfectly desert plains of fine soft sand alone met the eye, so hot by day as to blister the 
feet. The sand -was perpetually shifted by the wind, and drifted into ridges, obliterating aU traces of a road, 
and the guides were compelled to steer their course by the stars. Sir H. Pottiuger, in modern times, hasdes- 
cribed the high waves of sand which he had to cross in this region for a distance of seventy miles. The army 
marched in the night owing to the tremendous heat, but it often happened that they were far from a watering- 
place at daybreak, and had to travel to it, exposed to the full solar glare. The beasts sank beneath their 
burdens and perished ; the baggage was abandoned ; the men in great numbers died of fatigue and thirst ; and 
but for the indomitable bearing of the commander, despair would probably have seized upon the whole force 
to its destruction. On one occasion a smaU quantity of brackish water was carefidly brought in a helmet 
for his refreshment. Alexander accepted the offering,' and thanking those who had procured it for him, poured 
the water out on the sand. The action, it has been justly said, marks not only the great man, able to control 
the cravings of nature, but the great general, for every soldier who witnessed it would receive a far stronger 
stimulant to endurance than if he had himself partaken of the draught. 

The admiral, Nearchus, on his part, found the shore he coasted utterly destitute of supplies. No meat or 
corn could be obtained, and but little water. Famine thus threatened the crews. Fine turtle were to be had 
in abundance, but the Greeks never conceived it possible to feed upon such a creature, and the natives of the 
shore at present reject the diet. The habits of the race are precisely as they were nearly twenty-two centuries 



MOUNTAINS AND RIVERS. 667 

ago, both as to their food, the fodder of their cattle, and the construction of their cabins. They live entirely 
upon fish, as described by the historian, chiefly crabs, oysters, and other molluscs. These are picked up on the 
recession of the tide in hollows on the beach, for proper sea-fishing is beyond their art, owing to the want of 
boats and implements. In the absence of meadows and grass, the cattle have much the same food as their 
owners, or a compound of dried fish and dates. When the Greeks arrived at a part of the coast clothed with 
date-trees, they expressed their joy at the prospect of obtaining vegetable diet, 

Afghanistan, the land of the Afghans, a people -whose name revives the memory of a 
sad disaster to the British arms, is situated immediately north of the preceding district, and 
is a more extensive territory, with very varied physical features, and a climate remarkable 
for its strongly-contrasted seasons. It measures about 450 miles from north to south, a 
distance which is sHghtly exceeded by that from east to west ; and comprehends an area 
of at least 210,000 square miles. On the west and south-west the country is a sandy 
wi].derness, comparable to the most sterile parts of Beloochistan and Persia, yet studded 
with a few smiling oases. But on the east and north-east, the surface rises in a series of 
elevated terraces, from which majestic mountains ascend to the region of the ever-during 
snow, and send down streams into the subjacent valleys, clothiag them with beauty and 
fruitfulness. The Sulaiman Mountaius, on the eastern border, form the frontier on the side 
of India. The grander chain of the Hindu-Kush, a westerly continuation of the Hima- 
laya, extends over the north-east, and forms the boundary from Turkestan. Many peaks of 
this range exceed the height of 18,000 feet, while the only pass across it practicable for 
artUlery ascends to 13,000 feet. These protecting highlands, with scarcely passable deserts 
on the borders in other directions, render the country peculiarly difficult of access, and give 
it the character of a strong natural citadel. This consideration mainly induced the Anglo- 
Indian government to make its unfortunate attempt to place an ally upon the Afghan 
thi'one, in the person of Shah Sujah, in the year 1839, in order to guard against the 
bulwark of India towards the west being held by an enemy. The mistaken poUcy had 
a brief term of success, but led to a general rising of the natives, the murder of the British 
representatives, the winter retreat of the occupying army, and its wholesale massacre 
by the way, when the troops were paralysed by the cold and impeded by the snow ia the 
savage wilds of the Khm-d-Cabul defile. 

None of the rivers are of important magnitude, though numerous and higlily valuable. 
The Cabul, which passes the city of that name, flows with a strong current beyond the 
frontier, and joius the Indus nearly opposite the tovni of Atak or Attock. The Helmund 
has a longer course, chiefly through the" western desert region, where it is lost in the large 
salt-lake of Hamoon, more properly a brackish, shallow, and reedy morass. While varying 
with differences of elevation, the climate is everywhere distinguished by extremes of heat 
and cold. In the oases of the sandy wUderness on the west, the date-palm flourishes, and 
in the deeper valleys of the mountains on the east, cotton and sugar are raised. The 
summer heat admits of the cidture of the viae with great success, on the high terraces. 
Fine fruits of various kinds, tobacco, rhubarb, asafoetida, and other aromatic plants, with 
the mulberry-tree in vast plantations, are grown in the watered higliland vales, where also 
an extraordinary variety of roses, stocks, jessamines, hyacinths, and tulips, both wild and 
cultivated, display their beauty. The loftier uplands are well clad with pines, oaks, 
cedars, cypresses, pistachio, and walnut trees. At Ghizni, though at the elevation 
of 7700 feet, the high summer temperature is indicated by the common saying, ' Great 
God, why hast thou made hell, when there is Ghizni?' But it alternates with the 
severest cold in winter, marked by 20° below the zero of Fahrenheit, when the inhabit- 
ants rarely quit their dweUtngs. Snow falls in heavy showers, and lies deeply upon the 
ground, sometimes remaining till the vernal equinox has passed. Three times, according 
to tradition, the place has been visited with tremendous snow-storms, when most of the 




The Kliyber Pass. 

houses were covered, and the people perished. The lion is found in the warm valleys, 
but is not often seen ; tigers and leopards are more numerous ; the bear is common in all 
the wooded mountains ; the wolf, hyena, and jackal are generally distributed. The 
country is rich in minerals, iron, copper, and lead, but the natives neglect these resources, 
and are so jealous of strangers that they will admit of no mining attempts being made 
by them. Whole cliffs of lapis lazuli occur among the rocks. 

The political divisions of Afghanistan include tliree states without any definite Hmits, 
under rulers respectively at Cabul, Kandahar, and Herat, whose authority is merely 
nominal over tribes in their immediate neighbourhood. 

Cabul, in the north-east, on the river of the same name, is seated on a' plain 6400 feet above the sea, 
EuiTounded by ramparts which are said to enclose a population of 60,000. It possesses a citadel, called the 
Bala Hissar, which contains within its circuit the residence of the Khan, and has several bazaars, with an 
extensive transit trade. Orchards and gardens in the vicinity are very celebrated for their fruits. In the 
centre of one of the gardens, two erect slabs connected with a chaste mosque of marble, mark the grave of 
Baber, the founder of the Mogul Empire in India. The native outbreak against the British, in ISil, 
commenced in this city, when Sir "W. Macnaughten and Sir A. Burnes were murdered, and 4700 troops, with 
7500 camp-follow.ers, perished in the retreat. Fresh forces poured into the country, re-occupied the capital, and 
ravaged the citadel and the great bazaar, as a punishment for the treacherous proceedings. The Cabul Kiver 
descends to Jelalahad, 78 miles distant, a small place distinguished by Sir E. Sale's successful defence of it during 
the insurrection. Further east is the Khyber Pass, leading through slate mountains to the plain of Peshawur, 
within the limits of British India. This pass is a ravine about thirty miles in length, the bed of a torrent, in 
places very narrow, with high and almost perpendicular rocks on either hand. Ghizni, south-west of Cabul, 



CANDAHAR HERAT. G69 

a fortress and small town, is remarkable for its site, climate, and Iiistory. It stands on a very elevated plain 
and occupies a scarped rock wliiclx rises 2S0 feet above the general surface. High walls and a wet ditch add 
to the natiu-al strength. Its strongly-contrasted summer and winter has been already mentioned. The 
place was once a large and splendid city, the capital and stronghold of the Ghiznevides, a line of princes who 
held it from about 901 to 1150 A.D., whose emph-e extended eastward to the Ganges and westward to the 
Tigris. Among its famous buildings was tho ' Palace of Felicity,' and a mosque called the ' Celestial Bride.' 
Sultan Mahmoud, conqueror of India, the greatest of the Ghiznevide sovereigns, reigned from DOS to 1030. His 
tomb remains. From its doorway, tlie sandal-wood gates, brought from the temple of Somnauth, were taken 
by order of Lord EUenborough in 1812, and returned to Gujerat, after an absence of seven centuries. Ghizni 
was captured by storm by the British imder Lord Kane in 1839, then recovered by the Afghans, but retaken 
by General Nott, and restored With the fortifications dismantled. The citadel has since been rebuilt, but 
the town itself has gone to decay. 

Kandahar, about 280 miles south-west of Cabul, is of considerable extent, surrounded by a mud wall, fortified 
with towers and bastions ; and is further defended by a fortress in the vicmity, which crowns the summit of 
ft precipitous rock. It is regularly built, has intersecting canals which bring water to the inhabitants from a 
neighbouring river, and serve to irrigate the orchards and gardens, which are very fruitful. Manufactures 
of arms, silks, and woollens arS carried on, and the trade is considerable with Persia, Bokhara, and India. 
From the latter comitry, the approach is through the Bolan Pass in Beloochistan, before described. The 
poprdation is variously estimated from 25,000 to 100,000, and probably fluctuates greatly. The place is 
of ancient date, is said to have been founded by Alexander tho Great, and has had a checkered history. 
It was taken by Tamerlane in 1384, and by Shah Abbas in 1620. The adjoining fortress was held by the 
British through the whole of the Afghan war. Great pai-t of the present town was built in the middle of 
the last century by Alimed Shah, whose tomb is one of the principal public buildings. 

Herat, in the north-west, 390 miles from Cabul, is a town of perhaps 45,000 inhabitants, protected by a 
wall and ditch. The site is very delightful, though it can only be gained by the traveller from any direction 
by passing over miles of desert. This is a valley watered by several streams, irrigated by many canals, 
abounding with villages, gardens, and vineyards. The place itself is highly industrial, producing carpets, 
cloaks, caps, and leather goods, with saffron and asafoetida, extensively grown in the vicinity. Herat was 
formerly the capital of princes of the house of Tamerlane, and has not lost its political importance. 
Situated near the Persian province of Khorasan, it is considered the key to Afghanistan from the west, 
which itself affords the only route by which a military force can advance by land towards India. Hence its 
conquest by the Persians, who might let in the Eussians, has always been resisted by the British government, 
and was the occasion of a brief war in 1856. 

Afghanistan is not without its remarkable monuments of antiquity, which the natives call 'topes,' an 
equivalent expression to oui* own barrows or mounds. They are most numerous in the north-eastern 
districts, towards Cabul and Jelalabad, and from thence to the banks of the Indus. These monuments are 
round towers of stone, or of brick with a stone or stucco facing, the largest of which have a circuit of about 
200 feet at the base, and rise to the height of 60 feet. The favourite sites selected for them are at the skirts 
of hills, on elevations separated from each other by ravines. Li the neighbourhood are invariably found a 
number of caves, varjTng as to extent and arrangement, but all originally lined with cement, and doubtless 
occupied by persons in charge of the buildings. Water is always to be found at a convenient distance, piu'e 
and flowing from the rock. Upon the topes being opened, small square chambers are met with in the 
interior, containing vases of copper, brass, and^teatite, some of globular form, others cylindrical. Li these 
appear ashes, coins, rings, and other relics. Sir A. Burnes considered these monuments to be the tombs of 
princes, either of the Bactrian kings, or of their Indo-Scythio successors, but most probably they are 
Buddhist memorials. 

One of these, "with sculptured colossal figures, occurs at Bamian, upon which no gleam of light can be 
thrown. The place gives its name to the principal pass across the Hindu-Kush. Here the hills on each 
side consist of a conglomerate, composed of indurated clay and pebbles, which renders their excavation a 
work of easy performance. For about eight miles, innumerable caves have been scooped out, in which the 
greater part of the present population dwell. A detached hiU in the middle of the valley is honeycombed 
by them, and is called the city of Ghulghula. The deserted oaves, partially choked up with accumulations 
of rubbish, are occasionally dug into by labourers, who find rings, coins, and other relics of theu" former 
occupants, which generally bear Cufio inscriptions, of a later date than the age of Mohammed. The 
mass of these cave-houses have no pretensions to architectural ornament, being only squared holes in the 
hiUs. Some of them are finished in the shape of a dome, and have a carved frieze below the point from which 
the cupola springs. The inhabitants, says Burnes, tell remarkable tales of the caves of Bamian ; one in 
particular, that a mother had lost her child among them, and recovered it after the lapse of twelve years. 
The tale, he remarks, need not be behoved, but it will convey some idea of the extent of the works. At one 
point, two colossal figures, a male and a female, are cut in alto-relievo on the face of a hill, with excavations 
around them in which half a regiment of soldiers might find quarters. The male is the larger of the two, 
about 120 feet high, and is somewhat mutilated. The lips are very large, the ears long and pendent, and 
there appears to have been a tiara on the head. The female figure is more perfect, and about half the size. 
There is nothing in the e.-ccution of the sculpture indicative of much advance in the arts. Neither images 



670 TURKESTAN. 

nor oaves are mentioned by the annalists of Alexander's expedition, •who certainly passed this way. But they 
are noticed hy the historian of Tamerlane. 

The country is supposed to contain a population of at least 5,000,000, consisting of a 
proportion of Hindus ia the east, Persians in the west, and Huzarehs — an inoffensive 
pastoral race, apparently of Mongol descent — in the north, in. addition to the proper Afghans. 
The latter are strangers to the name hy which they are known to foreigners, and style 
themselves Pushtaneh ; they are divided into numerous clans or tribes, and resemble in many 
respects the Scottish Highlanders. But their attachment is to the community rather than 
to a chieftain, and forms a strong bond of union for common defensive purposes. They 
are proud of their race, carefully keep their genealogies, and will think lightly of the man 
who cannot prove at least sis descents. Of fiery temper, they are capable of acting the 
part of fiends under strong excitement, but contrast favourably with the majority of 
orientals in various traits of character. They are completely indifferent to rank, treat 
women with respect, pay reverence to age, have in general the virtue of truthfulness, 
and are tolerant Mohammedans. Their features are harsh, strongly aquiline, but not 
unpleasing. They delight in all kinds of field-sports, especially falconry. Many are 
nomadic, live in tents, chiefly occupied with flocks, but the greater number are house- 
dwellers, foUowing various pursuits, and supplying the tanks of the army. The Afghan 
language, called the Pushtu, is allied in its vocabulary both to the Sanscrit and the 
Persic. It has a literature of lyrics and ballads, mystical, amatory, and moral. Poems 
of the latter class correspond to the sayings of the Preacher in the Book of Ecclesiastes : 

' Since thou axi occupied in giving ear to envy and covetousness, 
Though thou shouldst the possessor of treasures hecome, a poor beggar art thou.' 

' Safety from hell's burning flames cannot be effected by this, 
That thou shouldst gay clothes don, eat delicacies, and extol thyself.' 

Afghanistan was included in the Persian Empire under Kadir Shah, but became 
independent on his death in 1747, when the dynasty of the Dourani princes was 
founded, one of whom was the exiled Shah Sujah, in whose cause a British army 
perished. 

TuKKESTAN, or INDEPENDENT Taetary, a region of immense extent, but of little natural 
interest, and no political importance, is enclosed by Afghanistan and Persia on the south, 
and has Asiatic Eussia on the north, with the Caspian Sea on the west, and the high lands 
of Central Asia, included in the Chinese Empire, on the east. These limits are separated 
by linear distances of nearly 1000 nules, and comprise an area approaching to 1,000,000 
square nules. Towards the eastern and south-eastern borders, the surface is varied by 
spurs and offsets from the high ranges of the Thian-Shan, the Bolor-Tagh, and the Hindu- 
Kush, where there are watered valleys smiling with luxuriance and beauty. Apart from 
these limited spaces, the country consists of low, open, unwooded, and undulating plains, 
declining westward to the great cavity occupied by the Caspian, but chiefly north-westward 
to the Sea of Aral, in which direction the two principal rivers proceed. These are the 
Amu and the Syr, which respectively represent the Oxus and the Jaxartes of the 
ancients. The Amn is the largest of the interior rivers of Asia, and descends from the 
lofty lake Sir-i-Kol, on the table-land of Pamir, at the height of 15,600 feet. Its banks 
were visited by Alexander the Great, in the early summer of 329 B.C., when the snow was 
melting in the highlands towards its source. The channel of the river was tolerably full, 
the current rapid, and the water deep. Sir A. Burnes, who saw it for the first time in 
June, and who was in the line of the conqueror's route, describes it rolling in the grandeur 
of solitude, about 800 yards wide and 20 feet deep, the flow swift, and the water loaded 
with the soil of the uplands. The Macedonians lighted fires on some elevated ground. 



BOKHARA. 671 

that tlio distressed in the reai might perceive they were not far from their conu-ades ; and 
sand-hillooks are still common along its course, with outer banks, wliich limit the extent 
of the immdations. ITo boats or lafts being procurable, nor materials for constructing 
them, the soldiers passed over by means of floats made of the tent skins stuffed with dry 
grass and reeds. The hazardous operation was safely performed in five days. Burnes 
made the passage in a singular manner, now common, but quite peculiar to the^ country. 
A pair of horses swam across, drawing a boat after them, to which they were yoked by a 
rope fastened to the hair of the mane. The description of the population of the river in 
remote ages, given by Arrian, correctly pictures the habits of the wandering tribes on its 
banks hi the present day — ' they exercised robbery and lived by spoil.' 

Tall reeds and sedges, with patches of woodland, Hne both the rivers, but apart from the 
borders of lakes and streams, a tree is rarely met with, and the only vegetation is the thin 
grass common to a desert region. Wastes of loose sand contuiually shifting with the winds, 
small salt-pools, and saline marshes are characteristic of the general surface. Between the 
Amu and the Syr, extends the desert of KizU-Kum, or ' red sand,' with that of Kara-Kum, 
or ' black sand,' northward of the latter river, each of which is several days' journey across. 
The climate is dry and healthy ; the sky is usually clear, and of the brightest azure ; but 
great extremes distinguish the temperature, and hurricanes of tremendous violence sweep 
over the plains, driving the sand or the snow along in clouds, according to the season. In 
summer the thermometer rises to 108° in the shade, and to 144° in, the sun; in winter it 
sinks to from 12° to 25° below zero, and the cold is aggravated by strong blasts, and the 
general want of wood for fuel. The troops of Tamerlane were frozen to death on the banks 
of the Syr ; and in 1839 a Eussian expedition against Klhiva was completely frustrated by 
the climatic rigour. Most of the camels and many of the soldiers perished, while the entire 
armament was lost. The inhabitants are a medley of races, Kirghis in the north, Turko- 
mans in the west and south-west, Uzbeks in the east and south-east, all Mohammedans, 
with whom Persians, Arabs, Afghans, Jews, and others, are variously associated. Many 
lead a wandering life, rear sheep, goats, and horses, and are addicted to slave-dealing. 
Others are stationary, attend to agriculture, are highly commercial, and have various 
manufactures. The districts of Bokhara, Khiva, and Kokan form separate political 
divisions, without any precise limits, each under the government of an Emir or Khan, 
subject to no restrictions in the exerciae of authority, but the influence of the Mohammedan 
priesthood. 

Bokhara, a large, ancient, and celebrated city, is the head of an extensive territory on the middle course of 
the Amu, watered also by several streams wliich are absorbed in the sands, or terminate in small salt-lakes. 
The inhabitants, at the lowest estimate, are stated to mimber 70,000, which is only half the return made by 
some authorities. It has a circuit of more than eight miles, and is surromided by a wall of earth, about twenty 
feet high, pierced by twelve gates. Few important buUdings are to be seen from the exterior, but when the 
gates are passed, massive structm'es appear, colleges, mosques, bazaai's, and caravansaries for the merchants of 
different nations frequenting the place. The city is styled the ' Treasury of Sciences,' and contains upwards of 100 
large colleges, besides small schools, attended by some thousands of students from a distance. They are only 
open for half the year, impart no instruction except on Mohammedan dogmas, and when closed, the students 
add to their means of living by working in the fields. The mosques are equally numerous. A dome distin- 
guishes the largest, of very costly appearance, being covered with enamelled tiles of an aaure-blue colour. 
Attached to it is a lofty minaret, from which criminals are thrown. The priesthood are fiercely fanatical. 
They control the Khan, and probably induced liim to order the execution of Colonel Stoddart and Captain 
ConoUy, while on a political mission, on the ground of difference of religion. Dr Wolff, in 1845, sent to ascer- 
tain their fate, narrowly escaped sharing it. Bokhara is a place of immense commerce, visited by merchants 
from Cabul, India, China, Russia, and Turkey. Water is conveyed by a canal from the river of Samarcand, 
six miles distant, but it is often dried up in summer, and the inhabitants suffer greatly. They are subject to 
ophthalmia, and to the attacks of the guinea-worm, which inserts itself in the flesh, and causes extreme dis- 
tress. Samarcand, 120 miles on the east, the capital of the vast empire of Tamerlane, is now insignificant, 
with scarcely 10,000 inhabitants. The tomb of the conqueror remains, an octagonal building paved with 
white marble, as well as the observatory of the astronomer Ulugh Begh. BalJch, on the south-east, of high 



672 TURKESTAN. 

antiqiiity, venerated as the ' mother of cities,' consists of a small town in the midst of ruins — those of mosques, 
tombs, aqueducts, and dwellings — which extend over a circuit of nearly twenty miles. Under a mud wall, 
outside the to^vn, lie the remains of the English travellers, Moorcroft and Guthrie. Merve, towards the frontier 
of Persia, formerly a capital of the Seljukian princes, is more completely fallen, having scarcely a single stated 
inhabitant. 

Khiva, the head of a Khanate on the lower course of the Amu, is a small wretched place surrounded with 
an embankment of earth. The neighbourhood is well cultivated and fruitful, forming an oasis along the river. 
The Khans have long been notorious for slave-dealing in the unfortunates kidnapped by the roving Turkomans. 
But in 1854 a treaty with Kussia stipulated for the abandonment of the practice, in the case of Russian 
subjects. 

Khohan, the capital of a district on the Syr, is a large tpwn on the river, with a population of 60,000, 
upwards of 300 mosques, many bazaars and baths, some sUk and cotton manufactures, and a considerable trade 
in cattle. Khojend, lower down the stream, contains 30,000 inhabitants, and has active commerce with the 
Kussian dominions ; so has Tashkend, a somewhat larger place, surroimded with cotton and mulberry planta- 
tions. The Khanate borders on Chinese Tartary, in which direction the country is mountainous, contains 
many well-watered valleys, in which the finest fruits are produced. The vine and mulberry-tree are cultivated 
generally; water-melons of enormous size are raised; and sheep are extensively reared. In the opposite 
direction, the whole surface is a frightful sandy waste. 

Turkestan, the ' land of tlie Turks,' may not have been the original home of the great 
race, hut it was the locality from which they issued to make their power formidahle and 
their name notorious. Passing westward, they came into contact with Mohammedanism, 
gradually embraced it, entered the service of the califs, swelled their armies, and at length 
compelled them to resign the temporal supremacy. The first chief who became a convert 
called his people Turk-imams, or Turks of the faith, to distinguish them from those who 
contiuued in heathenism, a name since corrupted into Turkomans. The first tribe con- 
spicuous m history, the Seljukian Turks, founded an empire embracing nearly the whole 
of Western Asia, which broke up into minor princedoms, and paved the way for the rise 
of the Ottoman branch of the race to dominion. 







• *' ">^S^-cj&5^SMarga»>. ^ 




Valley of the Yarkand. 




Government House and Oohterlony Monument, Calcutta, from Chouringliee. 
CHAPTER VI. 

INDIA OR HINDUSTAN. 

NDIA, in. tlie widest acceptation of tlie term, denotes an 
immense region of Southern Asia, embracing tlie two peninsulas 
separated by the Bay of Bengal, with an enormous number 
of insular appendages. The easternmost of these tracts is 
commonly distinguished as Further India, or India beyond 
the Ganges, in allusion to its position relative to western 
nations, and is also known as the Indo-Chinese Peninsula, 
^^ whUe its islands constitute the great Indian Archipelago. 
■*■ ■• The western portion is Hither India, situated within the 
river-boundary named, and is often called Hindustan, the 
Country of the Hindus. This territory, the subject of the 
present chapter, is remarkable aUke for its magnificent 
scenery and rich natural productions, its early civilisation 
and wonderful antiquities, as well as for its modern history. Few facts in the annals of 
nations are more surprising than the rapid subjection of its native empires and states, 
populous and once powerful, to British authority and influence, effected by a company of 
British traders, whose first visit to the land dates no further back than the beginning of 
the seventeenth century, and whose means were long limited to a handful of ships, forts, 
and factories. A queen reigned on the banks of the Thames when the East India 
Company received its charter of incorporation ; but Elizabeth had gone to the grave at 
"Westminster before her subjects themselves had imported an ounce of spice, a stick of 
cinnamon, or a yard of silk. Akbar the Great, greatest of all the Mogul emperors, ruled 

2 Q 




674 INDIA. 

on tlio banks of the Jtinina ; but he too had been borne to a mausoleum at Agra before 
his people had any dealmgs with the visitors from the far-away west. ' The most 
enlightened EngUslimen,' observes Macaulay, referring to the views of distant 
contemporaries at the period, 'looked on India mth ignorant admiration. The most 
enlightened natives of India were scarcely aware that England existed. Our ancestors 
had a dim notion of endless bazaars, swarming with buyers and sellers, and blazing with 
cloth of gold, with variegated silks, and with precious stones ; of treasuries where 
diamonds wore piled in heaps, and sequins in mountains; of palaces, compared with 
which WliitehaU and Hampton Court were hovels ; of armies, ten times as numerous as 
that which they had seen assembled at Tilbury to repel the Armada. On the other hand, 
it was probably not known to one of the statesmen in the Durbar of Agra that there was, 
near the setting sun, a great city of infidels, called London, where a woman reigned, and 
that she had given to an association of Prank merchants the exclusive privilege of 
freighting ships from her dominions for the Indian seas. That this association would 
one day rvile aU India from the ocean to the everlasting snow, would have seemed to the 
wisest of European or of Oriental politicians as impossible as that inhabitants of our 
globe should found an enipu-o in Venus or Jupiter.' 

India or Hindust4n consists of an extensive section of the main mass of the continent 
on the north, to which both terms are restricted by the natives ; and of a triangular 
peninsula, called from its relative position the Deccan, or the 'south,' which has the 
large island of Ceylon off the south-east extremity. On the south-western side are the 
Laccadive and Maldive Archipelagoes. The country has strongly-marked natural frontiers, 
formed by the lower course of the Brahmaputra and the Bay of Bengal on the east ; the 
Sulaiman Mountains and the Arabian Sea on the west ; and the range of the Himalaya on 
the north. Southward the opposite coasts of the peninsula converge, and meet at the 
same point, breasting the Indian Ocean at Cape Comoriu. These limits lie between 
latitude 8° — 35° north, and between longitude 67° — 92° east. The extreme linear extent 
amounts to about 1900 miles from north to south, by 1500 from east to west; the coast- 
ILiie measures 4000 miles; the whole external boundary is estimated at 11,260 miles; 
and the area, as deduced from the trigonometrical survey, contains 1,309,200 square 
miles. This survey, suggested by the late Duke of WeUington, and commenced shortly 
after the fall of Seringapatam, has recently been brought to a conclusion, and is without 
a parallel for extensiveness and accuracy. It has been carried on frequently under 
considerable physical difficulties, arising from the necessity of occupying unhealthy 
swamps and jungles nearly at the sea-level, and of ascending and encamping on snowy 
mountains of great elevation. Out of sixteen principal trigonometric stations connected 
with the Himalaya, fourteen were above 15,000 feet, and two exceeded 18,000. 
Occasionally, in consequence of clouds and storms, the sm-veying party had to remain 
pitched upon the snow for upwards of a week together. Another difficulty arose on the 
Pir Punjal peaks in Cashmere, where the electricity was frequently so troublesome, even 
when there were no storms, that it was found necessary to carry a portable lightning- 
conductor for the protection of the theodoKte. 

IfoETHBEN India, the more strictly continental portion of the country, is comprised 
between the river Herbudda on the south, and the chain of the Himalaya. It has very 
varied superficial features — mountain, plateau, and lowland — ^forest, river, and waste — 
each developed upon a scale of great magnitude. There are plains of the richest alluvial 
soU, intersected by a net-work of grand streams, refreshed seasonally virith abundant rains, 
bathed in the intensest sunshine, and clothed with brightly-green verdure ; and there are 
sandy or stony tracts, flats of haid-baked clay, where the mirage is often observed, and 



GEOGRAPHIOAIi FEATURES. 



675 



the wild ass has its dwelling, with salt-morasses, the haunt of porcupines and vast flocks 
of aquatic birds. 

The high moiuitaias are on the horders, as the Himalaya, the natural boundary between 
India and Tibet. These are the loftiest highlands of the globe, culminating at the height 
of nearly five miles and a half, or 29,000 feet, above the level of the sea. A grass-covered 
marsliy tract, followed by a belt of dry forest land above it, mark the approach to the 
outer edge of the elevated region. Both districts are extremely unhealthy, inhabited by 
countless wild animals. They skirt the Siwalik HiUs, and other sub-Himalayan ranges, 
of moderate elevation, on which are placed the sanitaria for troops. Passing these, the 
surface ascends rapidly, but 
the stupendous heights of the 
great northern barrier are 
eighty or niuety miles from 
the exterior ridge. Their 
aspect in the distant view is 
often not more magnificent 
than extraordinary, owing to 
clouds completely hiding the 
lower slopes from sight. 
Hence the peaks appear pro- 
jected against the clear blue 
sky without a visible solid 
basement, either wholly sil- 
vered with snow, or partly 
patched and tipped, or, where 
the inclination is too preci- 
pitous for snow to find a 
resting-place, their naked pyra- 
midal masses of gneiss and 
granite are exhibited. Other 
important highlands, but of 
far inferior elevation, the 
Sulaiman Mountains, run from 
north to south beyond the 
Indus, with the Hala range, 
and form the western bound- 
ary of the country from the 
Bcloochee and Afghan terri- 
tories. Their loftiest summit, 
Taklit-i-Sulaiman, or ' Solo- 
mon's Throne,' rises to 11,000 
feet. On the southern side, 
parallel to the river ISTerbudda, 
the Viiidhya Mormtains form a line of separation between Northern and Southern India, 
but nowhere exceed the height of 6000 feet. These natural boundaries, respectively 
on the north, west, and south, enclose ndnor ridges, with the table-lands of Malwa and 
Eajasthan, and the vast lowland plains which stretch in a huge cmTe between the mouths 
of the Ganges and the Indus, along the course of the rivers. Of these plains, the 
Gangetio is a region of exuberant fertility, while that of the Indus has a very varying 




Bridge at Biram Gliati, near the Source of the Ganges. 



676 INDIA. 

character, and embraces the sterile district of the Indian desert, extending from the 
Punjab to the Eunn of Cutch. 

Among the rivers, the first place is due to the Ganges, as weU from its utility as its 
magnitude, and from being within the limits of India from source to mouth, while the 
rival systems of the Brahmaputra and the Indus have a foreign origin. It chiefly 
traverses a north-eastern alluvial flat, stretching from the Punjab to the Bay of Bengal, 
on which the great water-course and its numerous tributaries, some of which exceed the 
'Rhine in length and volume, are spread out like the intersecting veins of a leaf. Its 
basin is the best cultivated and most densely-peopled portion of the whole country. The 
river is deemed specially sacred by the natives, whose dreams of an auspicious future 
existence are closely connected with the consignment of their ashes to its bosom. It 
issues from a bed of snow in the Himalaya, at the height of 13,800 feet above the sea, 
and makes a very rapid descent to a low level. This is gained at Hurdwar, upwards of 
1300 mUes from the month, where the river begins to be navigable for the light passenger- 
boats, and for larger craft about 100 mUes lower down. But the navigation is carried on 
with difficulty, owing to rapids and shifting shoals, to avoid which, as weU as to irrigate 
a district which has often been scourged with drought and famiae, the great Ganges 
Canal has been constructed. At Allahabad, 840 mUes from the sea, where the stream 
receives the Jumna, it is about a mile across, but varies greatly iu breadth and depth 
through the whole of its course according to the season. At about 280 mUes from the 
coast, branches are thrown off on the right bank, several of which unite to form the 
Hooghly, on which Calcutta is seated, while the grand trunk passes on to link itself with 
the system of the Brahmaputra. The two great rivers commingle in a highly complex 
manner, ramify in numerous channels over an extensive area, divide it into islands by 
their intersection, and discharge themselves by at least twenty mouths. This deltoidal 
region is swampy and unhealthy, densely clothed with trees and jungle, hence called the 
Sonderbunds, or Woods. In these the tiger prowls, the rhinoceros roams, while the waters 
swarm with huge crocodiles. The Brahmaputra, 'offspring of Brahma,' has the upper 
part of its coittse in Tibet, and only forms in the lower the eastern frontier in relation to 
India Proper. Owing to the periodical rains, and coincident meltings of the snow in the 
Himalaya, both rivers are annually in flood, inundate vast tracts of country, and briag 
down an enormous quantity of sediment, which discolours the sea to the distance of sixty 
mUes from the shore. It has been calculated that the Ganges annually discharges an 
amount of earthy matter equal in bidk to forty-two such structures as the Great Pyramid 
of Egypt. 

The Indus traverses the north-western side of the country, and has a longer flow than 
the Ganges, with a less extensive basin, somewhat prominently distinguished by arid 
features. It rises on the northern side of the Himalaya, at the height of 18,000 feet, 
proceeds at first to the north-west, but breaking through the mountains, inverts its course 
to the south-west, receives the waters of the Punjab, or ' five rivers,' collected into a single 
channel, and descends to the Arabian Sea through several mouths. The river has a 
lengthened navigation, but, owing to its inconstancy and general want of depth, its 
navigable value is far inferior to that of streams of scarcely half the magnitude. The 
lower course is invested with interest from having been traversed more than 2000 years 
ago by the hastily-constructed galleys of Alexander. Upon his fleet gaining the delta, 
great dangers were experienced from the violence of the waters. The monsoon blew from 
the sea, and drove up its billows against the impetuous current of the river, producing an 
angry swell, while the rapid flow and ebb of the tide astonished and alarmed the 
Macedonians, whose maritime experience had been solely acquired feom the Mediterranean, 



EIVER SYSTEMS. 677 

where tidal influence is scarcely perceptible. Into tlie modem as into tte ancient Indus 
the flood-tide rushes with impetuosity, and forms a bore, owing to the confined space. 
The water rises in a ridge of several feet, which is swept along with great violence, 
endangering craft on the surface, and inundating the low grounds on the margin. The 
ebb takes place as suddenly ; and thus vast tracts are rapidly converted into navigable 
expanses and flats of mud. Quintus Curtius states, that the fields skirting the stream 
were overflowed, and only ' tops of knolls ' were seen on either hand, like ' little islands.' 
This is exactly the appearance now presented by the mangrove patches on the banks at 
high-water. Parallel with the river on the eastern side, and diverging from it hundreds 
of mUes, is the Indian Desert, which embraces Tij)wards of 150,000 square mUes. 
It is not entu'ely sterile, but contains at intervals tracts of crdtivable land ; and the sandy 
portions are generally overgrown with coarse grass and jungle slirubs after the rains. But 
this vegetation perishes completely in the hot months, and the true desert aspect is 
exhibited. Southward lies the Eunn of Cutch, a remarkable flat district bordering the 
Gulf of Cutch, arid through the greater part of the year, without weeds or grass, 
sustaining only a few tamarisks. Eut during the monsoon, when the sea runs high, its 
waters are driven over it, leaving shallow salt-lakes behind; and the general sm-face 
receives a saline incrustation from the subsequent evaporation. 

Southern India, the peninsular poi-tion of the country, consists of an immense central 
plateau, broken by river-valleys into a series of table-lands, which range in elevation from 
2000 to 3000 feet. They advance in height from north to south, and have a gradual 
slope from west to east, in which direction the important rivers have their course. 
Between this high country and the sea are lowland tracts, commonly distinguished as the 
coast of Coromandel on the eastern side, and the Malabar coast on the western. The 
plateau has chains, of mountains on its edges, called the Eastern and Western Ghauts, 
which run parallel to the shores, and converge southerly in the wild tract of the 
NeUgherries, or Blue Mountains. This district contains the highest point of the 
peninsula, the peak of Dodabetta, which rises to 8760 feet, and is the seat of the 
principal sanitarium owing to the temperate climate. Purther south, the highland region 
is broken by the sharply-defined valley or gap of Palghat, beyond which hilly ridges rise 
again, clothed mth woods, and are continuous to Cape Comoria. The word gJiaut, ' gate,' 
is of Sanscrit origin, and refers to the terrace-like passes by which the ranges are crossed. 
The upland country is denoted by th^ phrase, Bala-gliaut, ' above the passes,' and the 
maritime lowlands by Payan-gJiaut, 'below the passes.' The Western Ghauts form a 
lofty and persistent chain, through which no streams of the slightest consequence find 
their way from the central region to the sea. They present a very steep face towards the 
ocean, press closely to its border at various points, and contribute to give a bold character 
to the coast-line, which has many convenient harbours. The Eastern Ghauts are lower, 
and are much less continuous, ofiering channels through which nearly all the drainage of 
the interior is poured. They are also at a much greater distance from the shore, which is 
uniformly low and without harbours, exposed to the roU of a violent and dangerous surf 
The Godavery (Godavari), the largest river, has a course of rather more than 850 miles. It 
rises on the inland face of the Western Ghauts, and passes to the Eastern, flowing through 
them with such a gentle descent that the navigation is not interrupted, either up or 
down. The Kistna and the Kaveri are next in importance, following the same general 
du'ection. The K"erbudda, on the north border of the peninsula, is the largest 
westward-bound stream, entering the Gulf of Cambay after a course of 800 miles. 
Neither Northern nor Southern India have any extensive lakes, and the number of 
smaU. size is few compared with the magnitude of the area. This is the chief exception 



678 INDIA. 

to the oft-repeated lemark, tliat tlie country may he regarded as ' an epitome of the 
whole earth.' 

The valleys and mountain-slopes are profusely adorned with splendid vegetation, 
varying from tropical to alpine forms according to the elevation, and combining aU the 
materials requisite for utility, beauty, and luxury. The cocoa-nut palm, the palmyra palm, 
the betel palm, and other varieties of the tribe, with shady mango topes, tall bamboos, 
jungle grasses, tree-ferns, arborescent flowering-plants, and the members of the fig family, 
which include the banyan-tree, are eminently characteristic of the flora at the lower levels, 
where teat and humidity combine their influence. Timber of the highest value is supplied 
by the teak, sandal-wood, satin-wood, ebony, and sappan trees ; and in the belt of forest 
which skirts the southern base of the Himalaya remarkably handsome forms appear. The 
eye marks with dehght ' the esquisitely-cut foliage of the acacias and moringa, the grace- 
fully-drooping clumps of bamboo, the saul with its tall erect trunk and brOliant dark- 
green leaves, the semal with its deep red cup-shaped flower and curiously-buttressed stem, 
and the Jmldoo with its magnificently-drooping branches spreading from the summit of its 
huge columnar trunk, while from the limbs of these lords of the forest trail gigantic 
climbers.' The greatest botanical variety is of course seen in the grand mountain-region, 
owing to the different climates met with ascendingly. It is not, however, so strikuigly 
exhibited on the exterior face of the highlands as in the iuterior, where the valleys are 
watered, deep, and warm. Here a tropical flora is carried up to intermiugle with the 
temperate forms of vegetable life, and a strangely-contrasted picture is produced by the 
admixture of pahns with piues, orchids with oaks or maples, and bamboos with ivy. 
Prom the height of 5000 to 8000 feet, oaks and rhododendrons compose the main mass of 
the forest — ^the latter, not shrubs, as with us, but trees of considerable size bearing their 
splendid piu-ple flowers. In association with them are the cypress, ash, birch, ehn, holly, 
hornbeam, alder, and several lamels. Still higher, up to 11,500 feet, most of the 
preceding occur, but other objects are more prominent, as pines, yew, horse-chestnut, 
walnut, several maples, hazel, and the magnificent deodar. At a gTeater elevation, a few 
trees struggle for existence in a stunted condition, and mth a deformed aspect. Shrubs 
go up to 15,200 feet, with herbaceous plants to a loftier altitude, till all vegetable life 
ceases, and the eternal snow and azure sky alone are present. 

The objects of cultivation to supply the daily wants of the natives, and meet the 
demands of commerce, illustrate by their diversity the bounty of nature in supplying vast 
tracts of deep black vegetable soU, with the other conditions of seasonal rains and a high 
temperature to render it prolific. They include rice, the staple food, with other cereals ; 
the sugar-cane, cotton plant, mulbeny-tree for the silkworm, poppy for opium, tobacco, 
indigo, coffee, and cinnamon; various medicinal shrubs, and flowering-plants for per- 
fumes ; with an immense variety of fruits, among which the pine-apple, custard-apple, 
pomegranate, plantain, guava, melon, mango, banana, and cocoa-nut are the most common. 
Several of these are known ancient products of Indian agriculture. The Greeks of 
Alexander's expedition noticed that garments of fine cotton were ordinarily worn by the 
great men of the coimtry, either wrapped round the shoulders, or enveloping the head as 
turbans. The general food, pillaus made of rice, attracted attention, as weU as the mode 
of planting the rice in water, with the distillation of a strong spirit from it, the arrack of 
the natives. They remarked also the sugar, caUing it honey, made from canes, without 
the assistance of bees. We have the word ' sugar ' from its Sanscrit name suMhar, as 
also ' sugar-candy ' from suJeMiar Tcund. In our own time the objects of culture have 
been increased by the growth of tea on the southern face of the Himalaya, with a success 
which has changed the aspect of entire districts, and is likely to convert a belt of country 



ANIMALS AND MINERALS. 679 

along the -vvliole range into a large tea-plantation. The plant there occurs in the wild 
state, and was noticed in ITepanl as far hack as the year 1816, hut was pronounced hy 
some to he a camellia. It is prohahly the parent stock of all the varieties raised in the 
old tea-iJroducing districts, China and Japan, since the wild shrub is not known in either 
of those countries. More recently, the Peruvian hark trees have been introduced, in 
order to secure a supply of quinine independent of South America, where the woods are 
in danger of bemg totally destroyed by the ruthless habits of the natives. The planta- 
tions, on the M'eilgherry Hills, succeed perfectly ; and the bark thus artificially grown is 
found to contain precisely the same alkaloids as the natural produce on the slopes of the 
Andes. 

The fauna, hke the flora, is distinguished by a great number of species, and the profusion 
of individuals. It includes also a remarkable proportion of animals of large size, and of the 
dangerous class. The elephant roams wUd, but is very generally domesticated, carrying 
rajahs on state occasions, and obediently drudging in the service of the humblest menials. 
The rlunoceros is found in the secluded forests of Bengal ; the lion occurs chiefly in the 
north-western provinces, Eajpootana and Guzerat ; the tiger is general, from the jungles 
of the lowest levels up to the region of the snows and glaciers. Leopards, panthers, 
bears, hyenas, wolves, lynxes, and jackals are the more ordinary beasts of prey. The 
wild ass, shy and fleet, inhabits the great sandy desert, with varieties of antelopes j and 
the camel is there the usual beast of burden, an office which the ox performs elsewhere. 
Monkeys abound everywhere, being held in religious respect by the natives, a distinction 
enjoyed also by the buffalo, wild and tame. The goat of Cashmere, a variety of the common 
species, but chiefly in the adjoining highlands, is renowned for its very long, fine, and 
silky hau', of which the high-priced shawls are made. EeptUes comprise the poisonous 
cobra da capello, or black-hooded snake, the formidable python in the woods, and the 
gavial, or Gangetic crocodile. The bhds, many of which are noted for splendid plumage 
or curious habits, are extremely numerous. The argala, commonly called the adjutant, 
is one of the most useful, and enjoys protection as a scavenger, visitiog the towns on the 
look-out for offal, in the absence of snakes and lizards ; this bird, a kind of heron, with 
very long legs, is full five feet high ; and stands like a sentinel on the watch for prey, 
furnished with an enormous bDl and a voracious appetite, quite competent to make a 
mouthful of a stray cat or a leg of mutton, if the chance is afforded. Insect life is 
intensely developed as a consequence "of the profuse vegetation, and includes myriads 
of the annoying or destructive class, such as locusts, white ants, and mosquitoes ; the 
butterflies display the most gorgeous colours and forms. 

From the earliest historic date India has been renowned for its mineral wealth, but 
enthely in relation to the possession of gold and gems. The precious metal occurs in a 
state of minute diffusion in many aHuvisd soUs and in the sands of many rivers ; and some 
richly-auriferous reefs of quartz rock are known. Precious stones of great beauty and variety 
are also occasionally found, as diamonds, rubies, amethysts, chrysolites, the topaz, beryl, and 
many others. But these valuables, while they excited the cupidity of orientals and westerns, 
in ancient and modem times, are of inferior importance as regards public prosperity in com- 
parison with homeUer products, the useful metals and coal. Both icon and copper ores 
appear to be abundant along the base of the Himalaya. Iron of the finest quahty is widely 
diffused, as well as lead. Eock-salt is plentiful in the Punjab. Coal is obtained in seven 
different locahties, but the only field of importance at present known is the Burdwan, in the 
lower part of the valley of the Ganges, ifo field has yet been discovered in the E"orth-West 
Provinces, or in Oude, the Punjab, or the Presidencies of Bombay and Madras, where it 
will be prudential to conserve the forests in the absence of native fossil fuel. But it is 



680 INDIA. 

not unlikely that tlie geological survey of the country, now in progress, will develop 
within its limits a coal-producing power in some degree commensurate with its area, and 
adequate to the supply of its wants. The annual consumption at present, chiefly in 
manufactures and by vessels leaving the ports, may ho estimated at 800,000 tons, towards 
which India contributes rather more than one-half, and the remainder is sent out from 
England. 

The climate generally is distinguished by three well-marked seasons, the cool, the hot, 
and the rainy, which divide the year. The cool season extends from October till towards 
the close of February ; the- dry hot season follows, and continues till the beginning of 
June ; the great rainy season succeeds, and lasts with occasional intermissions till October. 
But during the cool period the heat is still great by day, though slight frosts occur in the 
elevated districts for an hour or two before sunrise, and a thin ice is formed. The 
greatest heat prevails on the lowlands of the Coromandel and Malabar coasts, and through 
the north-western sandy region. At Bombay the mean annual temperature is 84° ; at 
Madras, 83°; at Calcutta, 79°; and at DeUii, 72°. The monsoon winds are the peculiar 
features of the climate, but are common to the neighbouring regions from Africa to the 
Malay peninsula. They blow periodically from the south-west and north-east, maiutaia 
the same direction for nearly half the year, and regularly succeed each other. The south- 
west monsoon commences about the middle of April, but later from south to north, and 
continues tUl September. It brings on the great raiay season to the Malabar coast and 
the Gangetic plain, owing to the masses of vapour blown up from the ocean being arrested 
by the Western Ghauts and the Himalaya Mountaias. The showers descend ia deluges, 
and commence with violent thunder-storms. The north-east monsoon foHows with less 
decided features, and brings a rainy season to the Coromandel coast, usually lasting about 
two months. At different stations the rain-fall varies greatly in its amount. In the 
valley of the Ganges it does not differ much from that of Great Britain, being 64 inches 
annually at Calcutta, 41 at Benares, 27 at Allahabad, 20 at Delhi, and 32 inches at 
Meerut. But the quantity in other situations is enormous, amounting at Darjeeling, 
among the sub-Himalayas, to 122 inches, and at Mahabaleshwar, a sanitarium connected 
with Bombay, to 250 inches. Among the Cossya Hills, in the vaUey of the Brahma- 
putra, but beyond the bounds of India Proper, the annual fall is ascertained to be 610 
inches, equal to fifty feet ! 

The political divisions of this great region, though extremely numerous and complex, 
may be arranged in five main sections : 1. The British Territory under the direct govern- 
ment of the Crown ; 2. Protected or Tributary States, which have native rulers, but are 
entirely subject to British control ; 3. Independent States ; 4. French and Portuguese 
Possessions ; .5. The island of Ceylon, a separate colony of Great Britain. The territory 
subject to dheot British rule embraces considerably more than half the entire area of the 
country. It is distributed into the three Presidencies of Bengal, Bombay, and Madras, 
each of which is under a governor appointed by the Crown, whose supreme representative 
is the governor of Bengal, with the style of Viceroy. Each presidency has a certain 
number of the Protected States attached to it for purposes of superintendence ; and hence 
the first and second of the sections may be merged in one grand division, constituting 
British India, which comprehends the whole region from Cape Comorin to the cyclopeau 
walls of the Himalaya, with the exception of the comparatively insignificant tracts which 
are independent, or held by the Prench and Portuguese. 

The modern history o£ India commences with the Mohammedan conquest under Mahmoud of Ghizni in 
1001, who permanently established the profession of that faith in the comitry. After the extinction of his 
dynasty three Mongol invasions occurred, followed by the inroad of Timur in 1397. Baber, the fifth in 
descent from him, appeared as an invader in 1525, established himself upon the throne of Delhi, and founded 



BENGAL PRESIDENCY. 



G81 



the empire of the Great MogiJs. It attained great power and splendour under a few vigorous sovereigns, to 
whom succeeded princes who abandoned themselves to a life of indolence and luxury in their palaces. 
Meanwhile, western commerciaHsts, Portuguese and Dutch, made their appearance in the land, and the 
English, represented by the East India Company, who founded their first settlement at Madras in 1639. 
This body, powerful as it afterwards became, held its first meetings in the room of an obscure inn, opposite to 
Bishopgate Church, London. In the early stages of its history, while proprietors at home amassed wealth, 
then- agents abroad were confined to the precincts of a factory or fort, where they were viewed as pedlers 
trading on sufferance, obliged to approach the native princes with lowly salaams. But circumstances rapidly 
changed after the middle of the last century, when Lord Clivo drew the sword in the service of the 
merchants, followed by Coote, ComwaUis, and others. Showers of prize-money from the sack of treasuries 
ensued upon conquest ; vast sums were obtained in the shape of indemnifications ; an imtold amount of 
' barbaric pearl and gold ' was accepted from frightened rajahs as the price of amicable relations ; and at 
length the original foreign tenants of a few acres became lords of the soil over more than 1,000,000 of square 
miles. Grievous -wrongs were imquestionably committed, and -with little scruple too by the corporate body. 
The British govermnent, in 1773, identified itself with the Company, and appointed the first governor- 
general, Warren Hastings. In 1833 its commercial monopoly terminated, and the trade to India was 
thro\vn open. In 1857-185S the Indian mutiny, a rebellion of the native troops, occurred, upon the 
suppression of which the political existence of the Company terminated, by the administration of affairs 
being transferred to the Queen, now practically Empress of Hindustan. 



I. PEBSIDENCT OP BENGAL AND ITS DEPENDENCIES. 

The Bengal Presidency, with the dependent states attached to it, enihraces nearly 
the whole northern and central region of the country. The following are the main 
divisions ; 

General Divisions. Cities and Towns. 

Presidency Proper. The Lower Provinces, . . . Calcutta, Serampore, Murshedabad, Patna. 

r; » The North-West Provinces, , Agra, Cawnpore, Allahabad, Benares, Delhi. 

ir n Oude, ...... Lucloiow, Fyzabad, Oude. 

II !■ The Punjab, .... Lahore, XJniritsir, Mooltan, Peshawur, Attock. 

Nagpui', or Berar, .... Nagi^ur, Chanda. 



Attached Dependencies. Hydrabad Territory. 

11 II Holkar's and Scindia's Dominions, 

II II Territory of Dhar and Bhopal, &c., 

II i; Bundelcund States and Eewah, . 

II ti Kajpootana, . , , . 

II i: Bahawalpore Bahawalpore. 

II II Small Sikh States, . . . Puttiala, Sii'hind, Belaspur. 



Hydrabad, Soounderabad, Aurungabad. 

Indore, Mhow, Gwalior, Jhansi, Oojein. 

Dhar, Bhopal, Bhurtpoor. 

Band, CaUinger, Eewah. 

Jhodpore, Kotah, Boundee, Jeyjjur. 



The Lower Provinces are so caUed_froni l)eing situated on the lower course of the 
Ganges. They consist of Bengal Proper, which embraces the delta of the river, and of the 
district of Behar, higher up the stream. A large portion of Orissa is also included, 
extending southward along the coast to the Chilka Lake, a shallow expanse separated 
from the sea by low ridges of sand, which forms the northern border of the Madras 
presidency. Noble water-courses intersect Bengal. The most commercially important, 
the Hooghly, is formed by the junction of two arms of the Ganges, and is ascended to 
Calcutta by the finest merchantmen in the world. During the south-west monsoon, it 
remarkably displays the phenomenon known as the Bore, caused by the impetuosity with 
which the tidal wave enters the estuary. Upon reaching the more confined part of the 
channel, the water accumulates in a ridge from five to eight feet in height, and the liquid 
wall rushes up violently at the rate of twenty miles an hour. Ships often part their 
cables. SmaU-craft make for the deep centre of the stream, where the wave does not curl 
and break over. Both in the dry and in the rainy season the banks of aH the rivers are 
richly verdant, displaying the gracefully drooping bamboo, and the magnolia with its 
flowers, while the babool fills the air with its fragrant perfume. The luxuriant foliage of 
a tree, and the welcome shade it offered to a travelling party of commercialists, led to the 



682 INDIA. 

establisliment of a factory at tlie spot, •wMoli has now grown up into Calcutta. Periodic- 
ally, towards the close of July, the rivers are in flood, and more or less overflow. A vast 
portion of the delta of the Ganges is then a sheet of water, interspersed with villages and 
trees, among which are craft of every description. Eice is the product most extensively 
cultivated, hut large quantities of sugar, cotton, indigo, tohacco, and opium are raised. 
The more maritime portion of the Orissa province is low and sterile. Hills rise in the 
interior covered with dense hamhoo and other jungle, inhabited hy the wild tribes of the 
Khonds, among whom, after the abominable rite of Suttee had been suppressed, and 
Thuggism hunted down, the. practice of infanticide and of human sacrifice was found to 
exist. The discovery of these crimes was made in the year 1836. Owing to a sUly 




View from the simunit of Pierre-pahar, near Mongliyr, looking towards Jumalpore. 



superstition, every female infant was stifled at birth, and women were imported from 
abroad. It was quite common, with the view of securing a favourable crop and averting 
calamity, to obtain a victim by kidnapping, an adult being preferred, and propitiate the 
earth-god by a public barbarous immolation. AU the energy of the British government 
was at once exerted to put an end to these horrors. !N"o less than 1506 victims had been 
rescued by the year 1854, when it was believed that the abolition of the frightful practice 
had been secured. 

Calcutta, the capital of Bengal and of British India, ig situated on the east bank of the Hooghly, about 100 
miles from the sea, in latitude 22° 35' north, longitude 88° 30' east, and is supposed to contain nearly 500,000 
inhabitants, chiefly Hindus, but with a considerable number of other Asiatics and Europeans. The river, 
about half a mUe broad, has well-wooded banks on both sides, which shut out the view of the city on 
ascending the stream, till the steamer approaches its anchorage, when the prospect is magnificent. Fort 
"WiUiam is seen on the margin, constructed by Lord Clive, capable of containing a ganison of 15,000, with 619 



NORTH-WEST PROVINCEg. 683 

gims aiij 80,000 stand o£ arms. JSTorthward, beyond the esplanade, ig the Government House, a splendid 
pile. Eastward, is the quarter occupied by European and native merchants, with its_ "Wellesley Street and 
Hastings Place, lined with stately residences, worthy of the title of the ' City of Palaces.' But a far larger 
portion, forming the native or ' black to^vri,' is repulsive from its filth and noise. The public institutions are 
numerous, and the commerce immense. Ice and pale ale figure largely among the imports. The ice arrives 
in large blocks from America. Yachting, horse-racing, wild-boar huntmg, antelope coursing with the cheetah 
or hunting leopard, and bustard shooting are the amusements of the Europeans. On the opposite side of the 
river, the suburb of Howrah is rapidly becoming a large town. It contains the Custom House, through which 
merchandise of the value of £20,000,000 passes annually ; and also the East Indian Eailway Station, a Une 
noM-ly open throughout to Delhi, a distance of 900 miles. The name of Calcutta is compoimded of ICali, that 
of a goddess, and cuttah, 'a temple,' once at the spot. The first English factory was established at the site in 
the year 1690, by permission of the reigning Mogul emperor Aurungzebe. In 17S6 it was taken by Suraja 
Dowla, a Bengal prince, who caused 146 of its defenders to be confined in a small close dungeon, which 
accniired the name of the Black Hole, for only twenty-three survived till the morning. Serampore, a short 
distance liigher up the rivei', on the west bank, is a small beautiful town with a well-known name, as a 
mission station of the Baptists, from which many translations of the Scriptures into the languages of India 
liave issued. It was a possession of the Danes down to the year 1S45, when it was purchased from them for 
£120,000. Barrackpore, opposite, with a military cantonment, is the country-seat of the viceroy. The 
park, which offers a pleasant display of turf, tree, and flowering shrub, contains the remains of Lady 
Calming, interred there by lier o^vn request. I'lassi/, eighty miles north of Calcutta, a small place, is 
memorable as the scene of Olive's decisive victory in 1757, which established British supremacy in Bengal. 
Murshedatad, further north, a large but unhealthy native town, contains 147,000 inliabitants, who produce 
silks, carpets, and embroidery. Monghyr, the capital of a district of the same name, with a population of 
800,000, carries on extensive manufactures of firearms and hardware of an inferior quality, Dacca, on a 
branch of the Brahmaputra, has a reduced population of 60,000, and is rapidly becoming a heap of ruins. 
It was foi-merly the principal seat of the native muslin manufacture, and of light cotton fabrics, industries 
stiU carried on by a race of patient weavers. 

The East Indian Eailway, which runs up the valley of the Ganges, with its continuations in the Punjab, 
will have a total length of 1364 miles. A sliort branch from the grand trunk in the Bengal division runs 
from Bui'dwan to the most important of the coal-fields at Eanigunje, and brings down its produce to 
Calcutta, distant 121 miles. The whole of this district formerly swarmed with bears, which have been 
largely driven away by the cutting down of the jungle. There are about thirty collieries, with as many 
steam-engines at work. Men and women belonging to a tribe native to the locality are chiefly employed. 
The pits descend to the depth of 134 feet, and pass under the bed of the river Damuda, which joins the 
estuary of the Hooglily. The coal-bearing strata consists of beds of coal and iron ore, with limestone 
suitable for flux, and hard sandstone for building purposes. The field is supposed to extend over an area of 
500 square nules. 

Patna, the chief town in the province of Bahar, is an immense assemblage of mud huts, mth 280,000 
inhabitants, on the south bank of the Gauges, a great emporium of the trade in rice, opium, indigo, saltpetre, 
sugar, and other products. Gaya, a town on the south, is a noted place of pilgrimage on account of its 
connection with Siddartha, known in Indian history as Buddha, the founder of the Buddhist religion, either 
as liis birthplace, or the scene of his ascetic life. Modem inquirers deem his existence as certain as that of 
Confucius or Socrates, and agree in fixing his dfeath about 543 B.C. Juggernaut, a town on the coast of 
Orissa, is another great place of pilgrimage, on account of the temple of Vishnu, one of the objects of Hindu 
idolatry, at the spot. 

The N'oeth-West Provinces extend along the middle and upper course of the Ganges, 
include the country hetween it and its afiiiuent the Jumna, called the Do-ab, or 'two 
rivers,' and embrace also some high grounds towards the Himalayan border. They 
consist, from south to north, of the districts of Benares, Allahabad, Agra, Delhi, Meerut, 
and Eohilcund, which form a lieutenant-governorship. Through the whole of this region 
the soil is much less damp than in Bengal, and there are large tracts of sandy surface in 
the northern portion, while the two rivers are of little avail for irrigation, owing to the 
depth of their channels. Hence any deficiency ia the seasonal rains is a calamity to the 
crops, and occasionally the people have severely felt the scourge of famine. The Mogul 
emperors caused canals to be constructed to promote the water supply, but their works 
were inadequate at the best, and speedily became unserviceable from neglect. The same 
object, with more convenient navigation also in view than that afforded by the fluctuating 
streams, is now contemplated by the great Ganges Canal, opened in 1854, but not 
completed. This stupendous undertaking commences at Hurdwai', near the issue of the 



684 INDIA. 

river from tlie mountains, extends througli tlie country on the right bank, and has 
numerous branches, one of which returns to the channel again at Cawnpore, while 
another communicates with the Jumna. The total length measures 810 miles, of which 
350 miles belong to the grand trunk, and 460 miles to the offsets. In the upper part of 
its course, the canal is carried over the river Solani by one of the most magnificent 
aqueducts in the world, consisting of an earthen embankment about three miles long, 
protected throughout with walls of masonry, and of a bridge of fifteen arches, each of fifty 
feet span. Owing to the general aridity of the surface, it becomes parched, brown, and 
grassless in the dry months, while Bengal remains green as an emerald. The temperature 




forms another point of difference. It takes a wider range, being intolerably high during 
the hot winds of May and June, while sharp night-frosts occur in January, though the 
thermometer may mark great heat at midday. But in the appearance of the cities, the 
ITorth-West Provinces have the decided advantage. They are largely built of stone, while 
those of Bengal are masses of soft brick and plaster, to which the heavy periodical rains 
speedUy give an unsightly or ruinous aspect. Bright, gay colours are also worn by the 
inhabitants, which are more picturesque than the unvarying white clothing of the Bengali. 
To the vegetation of these districts the tallow-tree of China has of late years been 
extensively added. It grows equally well in sandy soils, on the rich mould of canals, on 



NOBTH-WEST PEOVINCES. 



685 



low alluvial plains, and on the acclivities of mountains. From its seeds tallow and oil 
ai'o procured; the leaves yield a black dye; the wood is hard and durable j and the culture 

is likely to bo commercially worthy of attention. 

Benares, a fine, lai-ge, and remarkable city, containing 186,000 inhabitants, is seated on the left or north 
bank of the Ganges, .and occupies it for ne.irly three miles. The river makes a picturesque bend at the site, 
which gives a crescent shfipo to tho mass of houses and temples grouped on the border. A bridge of boats 
crosses the channel. Such are the fluctuations of the stream, at different times of the year, that it ranges 
from 1400 to 3000 feet in breadth, .and from 35 to 78 foot in depth. The city side is lined with ghats, 
buildings erected to give bathers convenient access to the w.itcr, which are almost peculiar to the rivers of 
Northern India, .ind .are specially disthictive of tho sacred Ganges. They consist of several flights of steps, 
suiTOOunted at the top by a roofed structure for protection from the rays of the sun, which serves as a 
loiuiging-plaoe, and has commonly one or more little temples attached to it. ' Upon these ghlts are passed 
the busiest and happiest hours of a Hindu's day. Escaping from the narrow unwholesome streets, it is a 
lirxury for him to sit upon the open steps, and taste the fresh air of the river ; so that on the ghits are 
concentrated the pastimes of the idler, the duties of the devout, and the necessary intercourse of business.' 
Many have been erected by rajahs and powerful natives as a meritorious act, and with the view also of being 
brought themselves in old age or sickness to expire by the side of the heaven-sprvmg stream. 

From the water's edge the ground on which the city is built rises gradually, and is crowned at the summit 
by the great mosque built by the Emperor Am-ungzebe, on the site of a former temple of Vishnu. The whole 
number of mosques is 333. Still, Benares is not Mohammedan but Hindu, and the head-quarters of Hinduism, 
possessing 1000 temples, large and small. It is visited, as one of tho holiest places in the world, by crowds of 
pilgrims, many of whom are rich and aged, and who come on purpose to die within its prechicts. Beggars and 
priests swarm, who subsist upon their offerings. Huge Brahman bulls are its other inhabitants, protected and 
reverenced as sacred anim-ls. They freely roam the streets and bazaars, take what they like from the 




k I* 



^i0^^^^^. 











680 INDIA. 

vegetable stalls, butt whom they choose, and are certain of expiring only of old age, unless kidnapped by 
some unscrupulous Mohammedan butcher to be turned into beef for the English. These are the peculiar 
features of the place. It is the seat of extensive general industry, and has numerous bankers and diamond 
dealers. Many of this class, who have risen to great wealth, commenced life as money-changers of the 
humblest grade, sitting cross-legged upon old rugs in the bazaars, with piles of copper coins before them, and 
rupees upon their persons. This is borrowed capital generally in the first instance, upon the exchange of 
which for gold or notes a small commission is charged. There are two great colleges in which natives are 
instructed, one connected with the British government, and the other administered by the Church Missionary 
Society. This last is called Jay Narain's, from a rich Hindu, who inclined to Christianity, but was never 
baptised, and founded the institution in 181S for the benefit of his countrymen. Benares, like all the other 
Anglo-Indian towns, consists of the city proper, occupied by the natives, and the station in which tha 
English are settled. The two parts are quite distinct, and generally but at a short distance, though sometimes 
it amounts to two or three miles. Each station, if upon a large scale, is divided into civil lines, where the 
commissioner, judge, magistrate, with other ofScials reside ; and into cantonments, furnished with barracks 
for the troops, hospitals, magazines, parade-grounds, and rows of white bungalows or houses for the officers, 
enclosed with gardens. During the great Indian mutiny most of the outbreaks commenced in the 
cantonments. Mirzapur, twenty-seven miles above Benares, on the opposite bank of the river, contains 
about 80,000 inhabitants, and is a great mart for cotton, and a place of extensive general commerce. 

Allahabad, ' God's house,' at the confluence of the Jumna with the Ganges, another of the sacred cities of 
the Hindus, is resorted to annually by a host of pilgrims, as one of the prayagas, or holy junctions. It is a 
great military dep6t, and contains a population of 72,000. Oawnpore, 140 miles further up the great river, 
has about the same number of inhabitants, but including the cantonments, with which a large native town 
is associated, 108,000. The Ganges here varies, according to the season, from 500 yards to more than a uule 
in breadth. Though at an inconsiderable elevation above the sea, water exposed at night in shallow vessels 
freezes in winter, and a large quantity of ice is collected for use in the hot season. Oawnpore will be ever 
memorable in Anglo-Indian history as the place where Nana Sahib, after the murder of his English captives, 
consummated his treachery by the massacre of the women and children, when he heard of Havelock's advance 
from Allahabad. 

Bareilly, the chief town of the old province of Eohilcund, now divided into tliree districts, is an important 
site of manufactures, with more than 100,000 inhabitants, producing hardwares, carpets, cabinet-work, and 
embroidery. The province Kes eastward of the Ganges, and embraces a sub-Himalayan region within its 
limits. It is bordered by the territory of Kumaon, the greater part of wliich is a mass of mountains and 
forests, where upwards of thirty peaks rise to heights varying from 18,000 to 26,000 feet. But the lower 
slopes have been covered in our own time ivith the leaves and silver blossoms of the tea-shrub, and only 
roads are wanted as an outlet for the produce to enable the growers to compete successfully with others in 
the markets of the world, their tea being of the finest quality. A district westward contaias the small town 
and station of Simla, 7866 feet above the sea, with a delightfully temperate and invigorating climate, the 
favourite temporary residence for many years of the governors-general, and likely to become their permanent 
home. The place is not far from the south bank of the Sutlej, 170 miles north-east of Dellii, and 900 miles 
in a direct line from Calcutta. 

Agra, on the west bank of the Jumna, is the seat of the lieutenant-governor, 783 miles above Calcutta, and 
139 miles below Delhi. It is built of the red sandstone of the neighbouring lulls, has a clean appearance, 
and contained previous to the mutiny a population of 70,000. As the early capital of the Mogul emperors, 
it retains several monuments of their magnificence, with ruins which extend far beyond the limits of the 
present city. "Within the walls of the fortress, built by Akb?.r, now the British Kesidency, are the palace 
and audience-haU of Shah Jehan, and the Pearl Mosque, so called from its great beauty. Inmiediately 
without the city, on the bank of the Juimia, is the Taj -Mahal, a mausoleum which the emperor last named 
erected for himself and his favourite wife. This is one of the most splendid specimens of Mohammedan 
architecture extant, Tavernier, the traveller, who saw the work while in progress, states that 20,000 men 
were employed upon it for twenty-two years. The building is constructed or overlaid, outside and in, with 
white marble ; and the sepulchral apartment is adorned with mosaic work of precious stones, especially of 
lapis-lazuli. The fort of Agra, more than a mile m circuit, accommodated thousands of refugees dm-ing the 
late rebellion, besides the usual European residents, who held it through the whole struggle, while the city 
itself was in the hands of the mutineers, and was sacked by them. 

Dellhi, the Mogul capital after Agra, stands on the right bank of the Jumna, in a sandy district studded 
with many remains of a more extensive city, the precursor of the ju-esent, which was chiefly built by Shah 
Jehan, subsequent to the year 1631. It remained the residence of his feeble descendants, as the titular 
sovereigns, pensioned by the British, down to the time of the late revolt. Upon its suppression, the 
representative of the Great Moguls was transported beyond seas as a felon, for his share in the mutiny and 
massacre. The city, after being for several months in the hands of the insurgents, was taken by storm in 
September 1857. It is surrounded by walls, contains the imperial palace, close to the river, now shattered, 
with many mosques, among which the Jmnma Musjid, a royal foimdation, is conspicuous. The population 
numbered 160,000 prior to the disturbances, engaged with the production of cotton cloths, shawls, jeweUeiy, 
and other manufactures. In the vicinity a handsome Saracenic structure marks the grave of Humayun, the 



NORTH-WEST PROVINCES, 



687 



Boooiid of the Mogul omporors, and father of the celebrated Akhar. A graceful circular tower, the work of 
an ^lnkno^vn designer, called the Cuttub Minar, rising to the height of 265 feet, is also a prominent object. 

Mcerut, 32 miles north-east of Dellii, is a chief military station, and the head of a district, with 29,000 
inhabitants. It was considered one of the most agreeable and cheerful residences in India, when an 
unhappy notoriety was acquired. At tliis place, after a few premonitory symptoms of rebellion in other 
quarters, the first terrible outbreak occurred, on the 10th of May 1857, when the native troops shot their 
officers, and the station was surrendered to bloodshed and desolation. Hurdwar, close to the emergence of 
tho Ganges from the mountains, on the right or west bank of the river, is deemed from its position one 
of the most sacred sites on tho stream, and clianges its aspect remarkably by an annual influx of visitors 
under tlio twofold influonco of religion and trade. At tho end of Marcli and the beginning of April a great 
fair is held ; and this being accounted the season most proper for ablutions, there is a prodigious gathering 
of pilgrims, merchants, podlers, and beggars from a wide area of Asia. The ordinary attendance averages 
from 200,000 to 300,000. But every twelfth year, when a particular festival is held, the niunber is said to 
mount up to 2,000,000. Tho merchandiso coUeoted is of the most varied description, embracing tho 
products of European and Asiatic industiy ; and a vast number of animals are broiight both for sale and 
oxliibition. 

Cmonpore, a district of tho Doab, ocoupying its entire breadth, touching at once on tlio Ganges at the city 
of tho same name and tho Jumna at Gulpee. Besides these two mighty rivers and theii- tributaries, it is 
traversed by the Ganges C.inal for about sbcty miles, tlirough alluvial plains of great fertility, where the vino 
is cultivated .and the indigo grows wild. The city is on the right bank of the Ganges, about 140 miles above 
Allahabad, with a population of about 50,000 in the city, and a similar niunber connected with the canton- 
ments ; the whole population of the district is estimated at a million. 




Bridge between the Palace and Selimghm-, Delhi. 




Chandy Cliout or Bazaar, Luokno-w. 

OuDE, a territory included between tlie middle course of the Ganges and the high 
mountain region, of Nepaul, is well watered with afHuents of the river derived from the 
highland border. It smiles with refreshing verdure in every season through the greater 
part of its extent like Bengal, and forms one of the gardens of India. Though not 
without brown and dreary tracts, yet day after day the traveller may pass through park- 
like scenery, and repose in the shade afforded by the wide-spreading branches of mango- 
trees, screened from the burning sun. This fine district was a province of the Mogul 
empire, long under the government of lieutenants with the title of Subahdar, then with 
the style of Nawab Wuzeer, with wHch we are familiar in the sUghtly-altered form of 
ISTabob, formerly applied to all Englishmen who returned from India with long full purses 
and sallow complexions. The lieutenants assumed the name and state of kings, abandoned 
themselves to misrule, selfish luxury, and outrageous licentiousness, became dependents 
on British influence, tiU the last was deposed by the Marquis DaUiousie in 184:7j and his 
country absorbed m British India. 

Lucknew, the capital, 53 miles north-east of Cawnpore, is situated on the Gumti, an affluent of the 
Ganges, surrounded by a belt of fine wood-land country, and contains a population of 300,000. The city is 
spread over an immense space of ground, and is as purely Mohammedan in its aspect as Benares is Hindu. 
No pagoda-shaped spires meet the eye in the distant view, but minarets, domes, and other outward 



THE PUNJAB. 



689 



expressions of Islam. It is remarkable for the size of its palaces, which are of a light and elegant, 
but fantastic stylo of architecture, and of extremely showy appearance. Each sovereign seems to have 
shared tho absiu'd passion common to oriental potentates of perpetuating his name by some building 
larger and costlier than any precursor. The Kaiserbagh, erected by the last king, is an enormous mass of 
stucco, longer than the palace of Versailles, and consists of many courts, with gardens, basins, fountains, 
water-courses, now dry, silent, and useless. 'Let us mount some good height,' says a visitor, 'and look 
domi upon Lucknow, which has been created by the Nawiibs and kings. It is of immense size, as 
large as Paris, and also, lilio Paris, of fairy-like beauty, spreading itself out mainly on the right bank 
of the Gumti, but with a few striking buUdings on the left. From the midst of a mass of green trees 
of glorious foUage, rise domes, towers, and minarets; some white, some golden, some painted in many 
colours, gleaming in the setting sun, and displaying a light vision of oriental splendour. But our 
impression of the magnificence of Lucknow was diminished, when we got into a carriage, and made 
a closer investigation of the actual buildings, for they are deficient in strength, solidity, reality : brick, 
plaster, and other gimcrack materials take the place of stone and marble; they are the work, not of 
the great days of Akbar and Shah Jehan, but of a degraded and effete dynasty, who had no thought 
beyond the selfish shams wliich would most conduce to present splendour and seK-indulgence. Their style 
is generally bad, a mixture of French, Italian, and Turkish ; but they are redeemed by theu' fine position, 
their admirable grouping, their size, their number, and their variety.' The siege of the British Residency by 
a swarm of rebels in 1857, the unconquerable energy displayed by the garrison through three months of hope 
deferred, the first relief by Havelock and Outram, the renewed siege of the victorious army, and the final 
deUverance by Lord Clyde in 1S5S, clouded by the death of Havelock, are memorable passages in the story of 
the Indian mutiny. The city has since been much improved, by the removal of useless buildings, the 
constiTiction of good streets, lined with bazaars, English built, but in the true eastern style, while a wise 
statesmanshij) has been displayed in opening posts of honour and influence to the natives, and training them 
to independent action. Oude, the ancient capital, from which the coimtry took its name, is now utterly 
decayed, but the site is reverenced by the Hindus from its being the residence of the famous E^ma of 
pre-Christian times. Ft/zabad, the second capital, though still retaining a considerable population, is said to 
be rapidly declining. 

Tke Punjab, ox country of the 'five rivers,' is a large north-westem district, formerly 
the kingdom of tlie Sildis, from wliom it was -wrested after severely-contested battles in the 
com-se of a provoked struggle, and annexed to the Anglo-Indian Empu'e in the year 1849. 
The name refers to the number of principal streams by which it is watered, aU descending 
from the boundary mountains of the Himalaya, and following a south-westerly direction to 
the great current of the Indus. These affluents, enumerated from north to south, are the 
Jhelum, the Chenab, the Eavi, the Beas, and the Sutlej, which successively represent 
the Hydaspes, the Acesines, the Hydraotes, the Hyplmsis, and the Hesudms of ancient 
geography. The first and second unite ; tho third flows into the joint stream ; the fourth 
and fifth blend their waters ; and then merge in the common channel of the other three, 
which, under the name of the Ghara, enters the grand trunk of the Indus. The country 
intersected by these rivers was traversed by Alexander the Great; but the Sutlej, the 
southernmost, was the limit of his extraordinary advance. A district not naturally 
part of the Punjab is incorporated with the province, \jmg west of the Indus, and 
formerly included in the kingdom of Cabul. The surface embraces large tracts of 
sand and clay, but though not so fertUe generally as the basin of the Ganges, 
the soil is highly productive on the borders of the rivers. A wavy ridge of hills 
between the Indus and the Jhelum is distinguished as the Salt Eange from the 
abundance of the mineral. This last-named stream, the 'cedar-fringed Hydaspes,' 
deserves the epithet in the uj)per part of its course, where it breaks from the 
Himalayan valley 'of Cashmere, through one of the grandest defiles in the world. The 
bed is a succession of rapids and a mass of foam, offering a fine contrast to the dense 
forests and thick Tindergrowth of jungle clothing the banks, from the edge of the 
water to a high elevation. Oaks, pines, and the gigantic deodar or cedar are prominent 
up to 11,500 feet, above wliich a low bushy juniper is the chief variety of tree foliage 
met with. These forests supply the Punjab with timber ; and furnished the materials for 
the fleet of Alexander, which were floated down the river to the spot where the vessels 



690 INDIA. 

■were 'built. The Hstorian slates tliat, in felling the timlDer, troops of monkeys and 
baboons were disturbed in their haunts, and congregated on the summit of a hill, which 
the 'workmen mistook from a distance for a detachment of hostile natives. 

Lahore, the chief city, stands on the left bank of the Eavi, the central one of the five rivers, and contains 
about 100,000 inliabitants. It is surrounded by a bricic waU seven miles in circuit, whicli encloses magnificent 
gardens and numerous wcUs. The place has no prominent feature besides the citadel. It was one of the 
favourite residences of the Mogul emperors, under whom it is said to have contained 1,000,000 inhabitants, 
and it is surrounded for several mUes with extensive ruins. At the close of the last century it became the 
capital of the Sikhs, under Eunjeet Singh, but declined upon his court being established at Umritsir. This 
town, thirty-two miles east of Lahore, and connected with that city by rail, is more wealthy and commercial, 
possesses manufactures of cottons,' silks, and fine shawls, carries on a great transit trade with Central Asia, 
and contains 90,000 inhabitants. It is the head-quarters of the Sikh religion, but the inhabitants are 
mostly Hindus or Mohammedans. Fcrozepore, south of the Sutlej, ancient and once ruinous, has been 
renovated under British mle ; possesses convenient streets and bazaars ; and is an important military station. 
It contains a monumental church in memoiy of the ofiicers and privates who fell in the coiirse of the 
SUdi campaigns. The fiercely-disputed battles of Ferozeshah, Moodkee, Sobraon, and AKwal were fought in 
the adjoining country; and northward, between the Chenab and the Jhelum, the decisive victories of 
Gujerat and ChUlianwaUah were gained, all named after the nearest towns or villages. Jlidnm, a British 
cantonment on the north bank of that river, marks the site of Bucephalia, the city which Alexander 
founded in honour of liis celebrated charger. Many interesting relics have been found in the vicinity. The 
steed died of fatigue or wounds received in the action with the native prince. Poms, the scene of which is 
fixed, according to recent surveys, where the Jlielum debouches from the mountains into the plains. The 
river there fiows through a rocky bed, which has so little changed its aspect that the description given of the 
site by the Greek historian Arrian and present features correspond almost minutely. 

Mooltan, near the left bank of the Chenab, in a south-western district, is the third city of the Punjab in 
population, having 80,000 inhabitants. It formerly possessed a strong fortress, taken by the British after 
an obstinate defence in 18d9. Tlie name is a corruption of MaUi-than, ' place of the Malli,' in local use at 
present, referring to an ancient people through whose territory Alexander marched on leaving the coimtry. 
The tribe assumed a hostUe attitude, and military preparations were necessary to secure a passage. In the 
neighbom-hoocl an officer killed the largest snake which the Greeks saw in India, a python, twenty-four 
feet long. It is remarkable that the tiger was not seen by them, though the skin of one was shewn, 
and many reports were heard of the ferocity of the animal. Fcshawur, on the north-west, in the trans- 
Indus region, is an important frontier town towards Afghanistan, containing a population of nearly 60,000. It 
stands a few mUes south of the river Cabul, and east of the great Khyber Pass. The grand trunk road from 
Calcutta, broad, and excellently constructed, extending tlirough a distance of 1400 mUes, has here its northern 
terminus. Between Peshawur and Lahore, 264 miles, ' it passes upon 103 great bridges, and 459 smaller ones, 
penetrates the height of six mount.\inous chains, and crosses on immense embankments the morals of two great 
rivers.' AtaJc (or Attock), a fort, with an adjoining mean small town, is situated on the left bank of the Indus, 
nearly opposite the entrance of the river Cabul, and marks the site where the great stream has been crossed 
for ages by invading armies. It was here passed by Alexander in the spring of the year 326 B.C., as also by 
Timiir in 1398 A.D., N"adir Shah in 1738, and Eunjeet Singh in his Afghan wars, who maintained constantly 
a fieet of thirty-seven boats, ready to be thrown across when required by his troops. The river is contracted 
at this point to a breadth of not more than 260 yards before its periodical rise. The current is then strong, 
but not tumultuous, the water very deep, and of an azui-e-blue colour, wliile the rocks which confine it are 
black, and polished Ulie marble by the action of the stream. Kalabagh, lower down on the opposite bank, 
presents an extraordinary spectacle. Tlie Indus cuts through the Salt Eange for about two mUes, and is 
bounded on each side by steep cliffs. The town is built up on their face, street rising above street in terraces, 
connected by steps. Brine springs issue from the base of the rocks, and inorust tlie gTound. These 
incrustations are brilliantly white, while the general colour of tlie earth aroimd is almost a blood red, and the 
river is blue, or of a dusky yellow, according to the season. Blurri, the principal sanitarium in the Punjab, 
is pleasantly seated on a liUl of the sub-Himalayas, at the height of more than SOOO feet above the sea. It was 
established in 18.51, and has attracted a considerable population. The lieutenant-governor, most of the 
higher officials, and numbers of the military, resort to it in the hot season. The scenery is very beautiful, 
and the wild-flowers in the spring are lovely, especially the roses, which, after a shower, fill the air with their 
perfume. There are barracks for the reception of invalid troops, a neat English church, besides a chapel for 
the use of the soldiers. A reading-room, club, and baU-room are among the other appointments of the place, 
with archery, picnic, croquet parties, and bear shooting in the adjoining Black Forest, for the amusements. 
The Lawrence Asylum, for the children of the European soldiers in India, founded in honour of the 
lamented Sir H. Lawrence, who fell at Lucknow, is biult on a spur of the hiU on which Murri stands. 

The territory of Nagpdr, an extensive province of Central India, is almost wholly 
within the plateau of the Deccan, and generally level, except on the northern side, which 
is penetrated by spurs of the Vindhya Mountains. The upper course of the Mahanadi 



N AGPUR — HYDERABAD. 691 

lies witliin its limits, but the chief part of the drainage is carried off by an afiltient of the 
Godavari, and conducted by both channels to the Bay of Bengal. A considerable 
proportion of the surface on the south-east, covered with the densest jungle, the haunt of 
numerous tigers, is occupied by an aboriginal race, the Klionds, before mentioned, 
addicted to human sacrifice, as a propitiatory rite. The smaU adjoining district of 
Berae, on the western side, is watered by a tributary of the Tapti, flowing to the 
opposite sea-board. It raises a large amount of cotton, and has railway communication 
with Bombay, either wholly completed or nearly so, for its transport to the coast. The 
Sagar and ISTeebudda territory, on the north of IsTagpur, extends partly along the upper 
course of the river Nerbudda, in the valley of which there are workable coal-fields, and 
belongs partly to the basin of the Ganges. 

Nagpur, ' Town of Serpents,' 430 miles north-east of Bombay, is an unhealthy town of 115,000 inhabitants, 
with manufaotnres of hardwares, and various textile fabrics. The houses are mostly huts of earth, thatched 
with straw. Kmnpti is a large British cantonment, ten miles distant. Ellickpur is ofScially the chief town of 
Berar, but a smaller place than Amrawati, the principal depot for its raw cotton. Sagar, on an affluent 
of the Ganges, is a town of 50,009 inhabitants, with a fort, military cantomnent, and government school. 
Jahalprir, on the Nerbudda, contaiiis a population of 30,000, and is on the noi"thern branch of the Great 
Indian Peninsular Kailway, extending from Bombay to the East Indian Ime from Calcutta. 

The territory of N'agpiir was governed by native rajahs down to the year 1S53, when the dynasty became 
extmct. That of Berar was ceded by the Nizam, as a part of his dominions, for the maintenance of 
his contingent. These two districts, with the Sagar and Nerbudda Territory, now form a single province 
governed by a British commissioner. 

Dependencies of the Presidency. — The kingdom of Hyderabad, under a native ruler 
called the Mzam, is the largest of the Protected States, separately considered. It embraces 
a central portion of the Deocan, watered by the Godavari, with its numerous tributaries, 
and has the Kistna flowing along the southern frontier, to which several afiluents are 
contributed. This region contains some of the most wonderful monuments of Hiudu 
antiquity. It is renowned for its diamonds and other gems, but has a more valuable 
possession in the famous black soil, so favourable to the growth of cotton, which forms a 
large proportion of the surface to a very considerable depth. In the last century the 
Nizams, in alliance with the celebrated Hyder Ali and his son Tippoo Sultan, aided by 
the ITrench, exercised a dangerous influence against the British power in the peninsula, 
but afterwards promoted its ascendency iu the campaigns of Cornwallis and Wellesley. 

Hyderabad, ' Lion's' Town,' the capital, is seated on the right bank of the Mussi, a tributary of the Estna, 
and contains a population of 200,000, including the suburbs. It is a Moslem city, distinguished by a mosque 
built after the model of the Kaaba at Mecca. Among the artisans are lapidaries noted for their sldll in 
cutting precious stones. On the opposite side of the river, spanned by a granite bridge, stands the British 
Residency, a large handsome building, with apartments for state receptions hung with scarlet cloth, bordered 
with gold, ornamented with gorgeous chandeliers and gigantic mirrors. Each step of the grand staircase is 
formed of a block of the finest granite. In the days of the old Company's power and pride, on a single 
reception night, the lighting of the whole establishment used to cost £1000 ; and at entertainments, Nauch or 
dancing gMs were commonly introduced, some of whom have been known to wear jewels of the value of 
£30,000. The city has been called the Sodom of India, from the beautiful gardens in the neighbourhood and * 
the depravity of the inhabitants. A late Nizam maintained a regiment of females, accoutred as soldiers, who 
were paraded, and trained in all the evolutions of the men. Sikandarahad, four* miles on the north, is a 
British cantonment, and chief military station. Golconda, seven miles westward, is simply a strong fort where 
the treasury of the Nizam is kept, but directly adjoins the ruins of an ancient city, once the metropolis of an 
independent kingdom, which was absorbed by the Mogul empire under Aurungzebe. Mausolea of the 
sovereigns, dome-crowned structm-es of gray granite, each with a mosque attached to it, are the conspicuous 
remains. Tliough proverbially famous for diamonds, Golconda was merely the place where they were cut, 
polished, and stored. The diamonds themselves were principally found at the base of the Nelha Malla 
Mountains, a part of the Eastern Ghauts. Though occasionally met with in that neighbourhood, the 
celebr.ated mines are exhausted and deserted. Aurungahad, ' Throne Town,' on the north-western side of the 
territory, has 60,000 inhabitants, but is supposed to be declining. The name is derived from Aurungzebe, 
' Ornament of the Throne,' the powerful Mogul, mth whom it was a favourite residence. His palace is in 
ruins. The tomb of his daughter remains. Ellora, a little rural village, twenty miles on the north, is 
remarkable for its rock-temples, ranged along the side of a gently-sloping crescent-shaped granite mountain, 



692 INDIA. 

about a mile in length, resembling a desolate religious city. Some are cave-temples, properly so called, being 
excavations cut in the rock, one of which, styled the Dumarheyna, or the ' Nuptial Palace,' derives its name 
from a sculpture supposed to represent the marriage of Siva and Parivati. The roof, 19 feet high, is 
supported by 28 pillars and 20 pilasters. The area is larger than that of Westminster Hall by upwards of 
7000 square feet. Others are huge monolithic buildings cut out of the rock, furnished with chambers, 
pillars, and colossal elephants, having an advanced and rich exterior architecture. Assaye, a hamlet, claims 
notice as the scene of the decisive overthrow of the Mahratta power by 'WeUington (then 'Wellesley) in 
September 1803 by a very inferior force. 

The principalities of Indoee and Gwalioe, respectively Holkar's and Scindia's 
dominions, consist of several detached tracts, partly in tlie valley of the river 
Nerhudda, but chiefly on the northern side of the adjacent Vindhya Mountains, and 
are ruled hy the representatives of two powerful Mahratta families, with the style of 
Maharajah. The petty district of Dhae, and the territory of Bhopal, are in the same 
part of Central India, with the Bundelcdnd states, thirty-two in number, and those of 
Eewah, belonging to the basin of the Jumna and the Ganges. More northerly, 
adjoining the province of Agra, are the small chieftainships of Dholpue and Bhuetpue. 
On the north-west, enclosed by the old province of EohUcuud, is the territory of Eampde. 

Indore, on the elevated plain north of the Tindhya Mountains, 2000 feet above the sea, is a modern mean- 
looking town of 15,000 inhabitants. The principality contains many of the Bheels, one of the most savage of 
the aboriginal tribes of India. Holkar, the reigning prince, educated under the direction of the British 
government, took the field in its support on the breaking out of the mutiny, but could render no assistance 
owing to the revolt of his troops, who held him in durance, while they massacred many of the Europeans. 
The fia'st of the family who reigned, Mulha Kao Holkar, was a native of the Deccan, and died in 1768. 
Mhow, a small town and British cantonment, acquired some notoriety as the scene of the proceedings which 
led to the Crawley court-martial, belongs to this state. 

Cfwalior, the capital of Scindia, about 60 miles south of Agra, has a population of 50,000, grouped around a 
rock -fortress of remarkable strength, said to have been a stronghold for more than a thousand years. The 
rock rises almost perpendicularly to the height of 300 feet, and is completely isolated. The spacious summit 
is crowned by a citadel, which can accommodate a garrison 15,000 strong, and is provided with large tanks of 
water. It is hence impregnable to native troops. But their revolt during the troubles of 1857 — 1858 placed 
it in the hands of the rebels, and the rajah was compelled to fly to Agra. It became for a tune the head- 
quarters of the notorious Tantia Topee and his coadjutor, the Ranee of Jhansi, a princess of high spirit and 
dauntless courage. The place was recovered by Sir Hugh Kose. Upon the approach of his troops, the 
Kanee, with an attendant lady, both in military attire, mounted their horses and fled. Their sex, being 
concealed, she received a shot in the side, and a sabre-cut on the head, but rode on tUl she fell dead from the 
saddle. Her guards raised a funeral pyre, and burned the body according to custom. Jhansi, recently the 
head of a small protected state, now transferred to the rule of Scindia, is a fortified town on the south of 
Gwalior, with considerable trade, and a large population. Upon the death of the rajah in 1853, he left a 
letter written to the governor-general, entreating that his adopted child might be accepted as his successor, 
while the Banee might officiate as regent during the minority, according to the custom of the country. A 
recommendation to comply from the British agent was forwarded along with it. The appeal was rejected, 
upon which the disappointed woman made a vow of vengeance, and kept it. All the Europeans fell by the 
hands of the native troops in 1857, men, women, and children, not one being left alive to tell the story of 
their fate. The to^vn was taken by storm in the following year by Sir H. Eose, after a desperate defence. 
■Women were seen carrying ammunition to the batteries, one of which was fought under the black flag of 
the fakirs. The Eanee escaped by night to Gwalior. Oojein, or Ujein, an ancient capital, in a southern part of 
the country, contains 130,000 mhabitants, and has many mosques, mausolea, and temples, with extensive 
trade. It is one of the seven sacred cities of the Hindus. 

Dhar, about 30 miles south-west of Indore, and 25 west of MIiow, is the cliief town of a princedom not so 
large as the county of Durham, the interests of which have recently been the theme of speeches in the 
British parliament, and of sundry pamphlets. Eelations remained amicable with this little state down to 
the year of the mutiny, when the old rajah died, and his troops joined the revolt. On this groimd, his heir, 
a boy-prince, was set aside by the Bengal government, and the confiscation of the state decreed. The 
supreme home authorities, represented by Lord Stanley, reversed the decree, and directed the restoration of 
the prince, a youth of very good abilities, but the counter-order had not been executed in the year 1864. 

Bhopal, near the northern base of the Vindhya range, is the seat of a Mohammedan government, under- 
stood to be well admuiistered, but the mass of the people are Hindus. The Ranee controlled her subjects 
with remarkable sagacity during the insurrection. The town is enclosed by a decayed wall, two miles in 
circuit, exterior to which is a fort on a huge rock, in which the court resides. Enormous tanks are in the 
neighbourhood, formed apparently by the damming up and embankment of streams. The largest measures 
four and a half miles in one direction by one and a half in another. Bhurtpw, thirty-one miles on the west 



BAJPOOTANA — ^PBESIDENOT OP BOMBAY. 693 

of Agra, is said to contain 100,000 inhabitants, within a circuit of ahout eight miles, and was once strongly 
defended by an earthen wall and a wet ditch. The town long baffled the assaults of Lord Lake in 1805, but 
finally capitiilated. In 1826 it was taken by storm out of the hands of a usurping chief by Lord Combermere, 
and the fortifications destroyed. An extensive trade is carried on in salt obtained from a neighbouring lake. 
Eajpootana, a region of great extent, consists of tlie country between the basin of the 
Jumna on the east and the border of Scinde on the west, and is nearly equal in size to the 
area of the United 3Singdom. The chain of the AravuUi HiUs is included within its 
limits, culminating in Mount Abu at the height of 5000 feet. But the vast proportion of 
the territory belongs to the Indian desert, with only sand-hilloobs for its superficial 
diversities, which shifb their position and change then- shape under the direction of the 
winds, and are often seen in the dry season, when the gale blows strong, moving in huge 
columns over the surface. Villages of small wretched-looking huts occur at intervals, 
grouped in the neighbourhood of wells, from which only a scanty supply of brackish 
water can be obtained. The wild ass is met with, solitary and in droves, with antelopes, 
foxes, and the desert rat in prodigious numbers. The latter resembles the squirrel, and 
has the habit of sitting upright like the kangaroo. In many parts the ground is so 
perforated with the burrows of the animal that the surface yields to the slightest pressure, 
impedes progress on horseback, and distresses the steed. Tliese features distinguish the 
western and northern portions of the country. In the opposite directions are productive 
districts, being watered by affluents of the Jumna, and streams which descend to the Gulf 
of Cambay. Eajpootana embraces fifteen states, ui which the dominant people are the 
Eajpoots, ' sons of kings,' haughty and warlike, who occupy the more favoured localities ; 
while the lower classes and the dwellers in the sandy wastes are a puny race of Jauts. 
Bahawalpoee, a considerable district further north, extends along the banks of the Ghara, 
the liver formed by the junction of the Sutlej and the Beas, with the stream of the 
Chenab, which is caUed the Ghara, thence to the Indus. This territory is mainly a 
contiauatiou of the desert region, iireclaimably barren, but has a remarkably productive 
alluvial soil, on the borders of the rivers, on which cotton, sugar, tobacco, indigo, corn, 
fruits, and provisions in general are raised in large quantities. The ruler is a Mohammedan 
prince with the style of Khan. 

Jcypore, the capital of the most populous Rajpoot state, large and regularly buUt, is said to be the 
handsomest native town in India. It forms a rectangle, has a palace and gardens in the centre, contains 
many mosques and temples, an arsenal, and a fully-equipped native observatory. The other principal towns 
are Kotali, on the right bank of the Chumbul, strongly fortified; Bundi, possessing a palace of great 
beauty ; Joudpore, distinguished by an immense' citadel ; and Bikanir, of stiiking external appearance from 
being Availed and battlemented, while situated in one of the dreariest parts of the desert. 

Bahawaipur, a few mUes from the soutli bank of the Ghara, is a prosperous commercial town, with 
manufactures of chintzes and other cottons, scarfs and turbans, and a^ gi'eat trade in provisions. It has a 
population of 20,000, and spreads over an extensive space, owing to groves of trees being intermingled with 
the houses. Grain, butter, fruits, and other agricultural produce, sas ifaised in tke neighbourhood for export. 

n. PKESIDENCT OP BOMBAY. 

The Bombay Presidency is the smallest of the three main divisions of British India, 
and wholly confined to the western side of the country. It has a coast-line extending 
from the territory of Canara on the south to beyond the mouths of the Indus on the 
north, including that of protected states, or from 16° to 25° of north latitude ; and 
stretches uiland from 200 to 300 mUes from the searboard. The northern half of the 
"Western Ghauts is included within its limits, along with the lower course of four important 
rivers, the Indus, the Mhye, the iN'erbudda, and the Tapti. Different races and languages 
are numerous among the population, while extensive tracts are uninhabited, covered with 
jungle, and tenanted by wild beasts. In this part of India the Parsees are principally 
found, settled in considerable numbers in most of the towns, especially on the coast. 



694 INDIA. 

Tliey are descended from the ancient fire-worsliippers of Persia, who were driven from 
thence hy Mohammedan intolerance ; and are distinguished hy their mechanical skill, 
mercantilG habits, general probity, and unbounded munificence. Many are extensive 
shipowners, who have risen by their own industry to the rank of merchant-princes, and 
are represented by partners or agents on the Exchanges of London and Liverpool. The 
late Sir Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy, the first native of India made a baronet of the United 
Kingdom, eminent in the annals of philanthropy, belonged to this body. Its members 
adhere to the religious faith and habits of their ancestors. They venerate the fiery 
element kept constantly burning in temples, being fed with sandal-wood; and pay 
adoration to the solar luminary, assembling in groups by the sea-shore at sunrise and 
sunset, to make prostrations and repeat prayers before the ascending and declining orb. 
The Parsees are far outnumbered in the presidency by the Mohammedans, while the 
great majority of the people are Hindus. Males preponderate over females, but not so 
conspicuously as in other parts of India, a disparity between the sexes occasioned partly, it 
is to be feared, by the practice of female infanticide. 




iluct on the Bhore Ghaut Incline. 



CONCANS — BOMBAY. 



695 



' General Divisions. Cities and Towns. 

Presidency Proper. Norl;h and South Concan, , . . Bombay, Tannah. 

n » Districts of Punah, Ahmednuggur, &c., Punah, Alimednuggur, Bijapur, Sattara. 

If II Kliandesh, and part of Guzerat, . . Sxirat, Baroche, Alimedabad. 

II II Scinde, Hyderabad, Tattah, Kuraciiee, Shikapore. 

Attached Dependencies. Guzerat States, Guicowar's Dominions, Baroda, Cambay. 

11 II Cutch, Bhooj, Mandavi, - 

ri u Kolhapur, Kolhapur. 

The two CoNCANS embrace tlie narrow strip of country between tlio ridge of the Ghauts 
and the ocean, the coast of which supplies several excellent harbours, and is begirt with 
small rocky islets containing monuments of ancient India — cave-temples and rock- 
sculptures — in close connection with those wonderful expressions of modem civilisation and 
commercial enterprise, railways and canals. 



r 




Somhay, the capitaJ, is seated on the southern side of the island so called, a name which originated with 
the Portuguese, and is a compound of iom, ' good,' and lahia, ' harbour,' in allusion to the splendid anchoring 
ground, available for vessels of the largest class, extending over an area of fifty square mUes. The island 
passed to the English by cession in 1661, as part of the dowry of the Infanta Catherine, the bride of Charles 
II., who surrendered it to the East India Company. It is concnected with adjoining islets, and with the 
mainland by artificial causeways. At one time the site was so unhealthy that three years were reckoned the 
average duration of European life at the place. But the gradual recession of the ocean, the exclusion by 
artificial means of the tidal water, and an improved system of drainage, have rendered the surface dry, and 
the rate of mortality at present is said not greatly to exceed that of London. The city has rapidly enlarged 
since the establishment of communication with England by the Bed Sea route, as the first port of India 
reached by outward-bound steamers, and the last left on the homeward voyage. It consists of a strongly- 
fortified European town, and a much larger native or black town at a little distance, with the villas of 
merchants on heights in the suburbs, commanding fine views of the sea and of the distant Ghauts. The 
total population exceeds 600,000. In the dockyard, which embraces 200 acres, and is in a high state of 
cfSciency, frigates and line-of-battle ships are built. Ship-bmlding is aJso extensively prosecuted in private 
yards. Engineering establishments and other factories are large and numerous. The principal exports are 
raw cotton, shawls, opium, cofiee, pepper, ivory, and gums ; the imports are chiefly cotton twist, piece goods, 
metals, wine, pale ale, tea, raw silk, and timber. Motley groups are to be seen walking about in the cool of 
the day, in their national costume, conversing in a variety of tongues, English, French, Germans, Americans, 
Portuguese, Chinese, Parsees, Arabs, Armenians, Hindus, Greeks, and Persians. Bombay, by the route of 
the Peninsular and Oriental Company's Steamers, is 1636 miles from Aden, 2977 mUes from Suez, and 6167 
miles from Southampton. The Great Indian Peninsular JElaUway diverges from it in two branches, north-east 
and south-east, to communicate with lines respectively from Calcutta and Madras. Great works have been 



696 uroiA. 

requisite to effect the ascent of the mountain barriers from the b-w sea-coast, and there are stUl gaps at the 
Bhore and the ThuU Ghauts, but in process of being filled up by steep inclines. The first turf for the first 
raUway in India was turned up at Bombay on the 31st of October 1850. In preparing the permanent ways, 
cobras and other deadly snakes, lurking among stones and grass, have endangered the workmen. 

Picnic-parties frequently proceed from Bombay to the small and beautiful island of Elephanta, celebrated 
for its cave-temples, about seven miles distant from the city. The name refers to the colossal statue of 
an elephant cut out of the soUd black rock on the acclivity of a hiU, wliich the religious zeal of the early 
Portuguese led them to mutilate, and which is now a complete nun. Three temples have been excavated 
the largest of which is 130 feet long by 123 broad. Fluted columns, arranged in rows, some of which are 
broken, support the roof, and bulge out in the middle, as if under the weight of the superincumbent rock. 
Prom forty to fifty colossal figures appear on the sides without being quite detached from the wall. But 
the principal object is immediately opposite the entrance, consisting of an enormous bust with three faces, one 
of which fi-onts the spectator, while the others look to the right and left. This is a representation of Siva, 
to whom the temple is supposed to have been dedicated, the whole carved out of a dark-gray basaltic rock. 
Though stUl frequently visited by devotees, it has no establishment of priests, nor is any care bestowed upon its 
preservation from injury and decay. Brushwood and wild shrubs overhang the entrance, and pools of water 
coUeot upon the floor. Caves of sinulax character, but of larger size, are found in the island of Salsette, 
with which that of Bombay is welded by a causeway, situated in a wild country of great beauty. They 
contain boldly-carved colossal statues of Buddha, placed iu arched recesses, and represented both standing 
and sitting, with liis legs bent under liim, and his hands joined as if in prayer. Around are jungles in which 
the tiger lurks, and the animal sometimes visits these deserted shrines, leaving his footprints on the floor. 

The district of Punah, and other adjoining collectorates, ■with the province of Sattaba, 
form part of the table-land interior to the Ghauts. They enjoy a more temperate climate 
than the coast region, and remarkably contrast with it in being liable to droughts, while 
deluges of rain descend on the maritime lowlands. This arises from the liigh mountains 
intercepting the inland passage of the vapours of the south-west monsoon. The country is 
watered by the upper course of the Godavari, but chiefly by the Kistna and its affluents. 
Funali, formerly the capital of the Mahratta Empire, is a large and important town of 75,000 inliabitants, 
on the south-eastern railway from Bombay, at the distance of 112 nules. It possesses a Sanscrit college, 
founded for the cultivation of the ancient literature of India, a government law school, an engineering and 
mechanical school, and is the principal military cantonment of the Deccan. Its water-works were con- 
structed at great cost by Sir Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy. A botanical and medicinal garden, established by the 
government, is at Dapiu'i, in the neighbourhood. It yields colooynth, croton and castor oils, senna, taraxa- 
cum, and other drugs for the use of the public hospitals. In many parts of the adjacent country the lull- 
forts, often mentioned ia the annals of Indian warfare, are to be seen. In 1S16, by the treaty of Pimah, the 
head of the Maliratta confederacy was reduced to a state of vassalage, and in the following year he was 
compelled to retire into private life with an allowance of £80,000 a year. Alimednv.ggur, seventy miles on 
the north-east, once the head of a native kingdom, still prosperous, preserves the mould used for casting the 
largest piece of brass ordnance iu existence. This is shewn as one of the wonders of Bijapur, a deserted 
city on the south-east, called, from its vast and grand remains, the ' Palmyra of the Deccan.' It was the 
metropolis of an independent state for centm-ies, under Hindu and Moliamniedan rulers, tiU it was captured 
by Aurungzebe in 1686, and thenceforth began to dwindle to its present condition. In the days of its 
prosperity it is said to have contained 100,000 dwellings, and was divided into quarters of several miles in 
extent. Massive and lofty walls of hewn stone remain entire. They enclose temples, tombs, palaces, and 
mosques, abandoned to sUence, more or less ruinous, but now preserved by order of the British government 
as much as possible from further decay. The fort has a circuit of six miles, and an imier citadel containing 
the colossal piece of ordnance. Sattara and Bdgaum are principally military stations. The former was the 
head of a protected native princedom down to the year 1S4S, when it was annexed on the death of the rajah. 

KJEANDESH, a territory on the middle course of the Tapti, and Guzerat, which 
embraces the mouth of the river, with that of the B'erbudda and the Mhye, extending 
round the Gulf of Cambay, are rich alluvial tracts, largely cotton grounds, from which 
the finest Indian staple is procured. The three rivers are crossed by the Baroda and 
Bombay Eailway. Being broad and rapid, subject to sudden floods, which have been known 
to raise the level fifty feet in a single night, the bridges and viaducts required involved 
great engineering difficulties in their construction, are of extraordinary magnitude, and 
rank with the finest structures of the kind in the world. 

Surat, near the outlet of the Tapti, a large and meanly-built city, contains a population of 135,000, but is 
declining, having been superseded extensively in its commerce by Bombay. It has a remarkable feature in a 
hospital for sick, maimed, and aged animals. At this place the East India Company had their first mercantile { 



80INDE — BAEODA. 697 

establishment. TIio Mogul Emperor Jehangire granted the imperial permission to settle at Smrat in 1612, 
when Captain Best formed the factory, and left ten persons there, with £4000 for the purchase of goods. 
Baroche, near tho mouth of tlio Nerbudda, a celebrated commercial emporium in ancient times under the 
name of Barygaza, is stUl a sliipping port for grain and cotton. An island in the river is distinguished by a 
banyan-tree which must havo stood for ages. It has a circiut of more than 2000 feet, measured around 
the subsidiary trunks, and overshadows several acres. 

The extensive province of Scinde forms the most ■westerly part of India, and em^braoes 
the lower portion of the Indus vaUey, from a short distance below the influx of the waters 
of the Punjab to the mouth of the river. Along its hanks, and within the area of its 
inundations, the soil rewards the labours of the cultivator with rich crops of rice, barley, 
and other grain, with indigo and sugar ; but apart from these districts the surface is 
sandy, and faUs on the eastern side withia the limits of the irreclaimable Indian desert. 
Buffaloes are reared in large herds in the swampy tracts, and a considerable number of 
camels are bred. The population is everywhere thin, but varied in character, very wild in 
some localities, and consists of a larger proportion of Mohammedans to Hindus than is 
found in any other part of India. 

Hyderabad, the former native capital, about four miles from the east bank of the Indus, and 120 miles from 
the sea, has a military appearance, standing on a steep height surrounded by a rampart flanked by round 
towers. It was military also in the chief occupation of the inhabitants, who number 24,000, the manufacture 
being swords, spears, and matchlocks. Six miles on the north is the village of Meeanee, the scene of Sir C. 
Napier's decisive defeat of the Ameers of Scinde, as its old rulers were called, in 1843, which led to the 
annexation of the i^rovince. Tattah, at the head of the delta of the river, is an ancient place, once 
important, now decayed, apparently on or near the site of Pattala, a city existing in tlie time of Alexander, 
wliich he strengthened, and intended to make a great naval station. Shikarpoor, in the northern part of 
the province west of the Indus, is the most populous town, containing 30,000 inhabitants, in active 
commercial intercourse with Afghanistan and Bokhara tlirough the Bolan Pass. Kurachee, the only seaport 
of Scinde, and the most western port of India, has advanced rapidly from an obscure to an important town 
since it became British in 1839. It will probably rise to great prosperity, as the seat of tlie provincial govern- 
ment, the principal military station, and the focal point of telegraj)hic communication between England and 
India. A railway extends from the place to Kotah on the Indus, near Hyderabad, 105 mUes ; and thence the 
traffic is extended to Mooltan in the Punjab, by means of a regular bi-monthly postal line of steamers. 

Among the dependencies attached to the presidency, Guzbrat is by far the largest and 
the most important. It is accounted one of the gardens of India from its general produc- 
tiveness, has cotton for its staple, but possesses an iinhealthy climate. The territory extends 
around the Gulf of Cambay, but has little direct communication with it owing to interven- 
ing districts. On the Arabian Sea an extensive coast-line is supplied by the peninsula of 
Kattywar. In this province a large nu^mber of petty chieftains, who reside in villages, 
exercise authority. Many of them are tributary to a ruler styled the Guicowar, who 
represents one of the old Mahratta families, while all are subject to British control. 

Cambat, at the head of the gulf, forms a smaU native principality. Cutch, an extensive 
peninsula, has an ocean boundary on the south in the Gulf of Cutch, with the singular 
tracts of the Eunn, which are alternately, with the dry and rainy seasons, sandy and watery 
wastes, separating it from Guzerat and Scinde. Earthquakes, permanently altering the 
face of nature, occur in this region, and numerous traces of volcanic action are met with. 
It is politically held by feudatories under a chief called the Rao. Kolapore and Sawunt- 
"Waeree, each under a native rajah, are remains of the Mahratta confederacy, bordering 
each other on the southern side of the presidency, and nearly enclosed by it. 

Baroda, the capital of the Guicowar, is a populous trading city, in the country between the two rivers, the 
Mhye and Nerbudda, said to contain upwards of 140,000 inhabitants. It is connected by the Central Indian 
Kailway, in course of extension to Bombay, with Ahmedabad on tlie north and Surat on the south. Insur- 
rectionary movements, of frequent occurrence in the Guicowar's territories, led to the general disarmament 
of the natives, in 1858, by Sir E. Shakespear. From 8000 villages there were taken 160 cannon, 21,000 fire- 
arms, about 118,000 swords, and 307,000 weapons of a miscellaneous description. Cambay, on the estuary of 
the Myhe, formerly celebrated for its manufactures of silk, chintz, and gold stuffs, exlubits evidences of bygone 
prosperity in ruinous palaces, mosques, and tombs. The gradual growth of incumbrances to its maritime 



698 INDIA. 

communications led to the decline of the city. But it is still a shipping port, and is noted also tor the cutting 
of precious stones. Blwoj, the chief to mi of Cutch, in the heart of the peninsula, contains a population of 
20,000, and is widely renowned for its manufactures in gold and silver. It is seated on a plain at the foot of a 
fortified hiU, remarkable for having a temple erected to the cobra da capello. Pagodas, mosques, and inter- 
spersing palms, give a pleasing appearance to the town at a distance. 

III. PRESIDENCY OP MADRAS. 

Tlie Madras Presidency embraces the whole southern part of the Indian peninsula from 
sea to sea, with the exception of three insignificant tracts held by the French, It extends 
northward along the western coast to the latitude of 14°, or to the border of Iforth Canara, 
belonging to the Bombay territory ; but reaches on the eastern side of the country to nearly 
latitude 20°, or to the Chilka Lake, which forms the division from Bengal. Though a 
dreadful act of sepoy mutiny transpired within its limits, at Vellore, as far back as the 
year 1806, yet during the recent outrages in Bengal, both the military and the civil 
population remained remarkably peacefrd and loyal, while the sister-presidency of Bombay 
was agitated. The opposite coast regions remarkably contrast in their climate. On the 
eastern side there is more contiuuous and iutense dry heat than in almost any other part 
of India. At the midnight hour the thermometer is not unfrequently above 100°. Wood- 
work shrinks and warps ; nails are loosened, and fall out of doors and tables ; glass globes 
and shades are cracked. But on the western shore, while the temperature is not so fierce, 
the humidity is immense, and anything like protracted drought is unknown. Owing to 
the incredibly heavy raias which dash against the Western Ghauts, that singular feature 
of the coast has been formed called the ' backwater.' This is an enormous lagoon, 120 mUes 
in length, and of every width from a few hundred yards to ten miles, from one to two feet 
deep after the longest suspension of a shower, communicating at only three points mth 
the ocean. Intervening table-lands have the genial climate of the temperate zone, varying 
from warm to cool, according to the elevation. The people differ in character and appear- 
ance in harmony with these cHmatic diversities. In general, the complexion is of the 
deepest black on the low burning eastern coast, but on the highlands it is not uncommon 
to meet with countenances as fair as many Spaniards or Portuguese ; and the women 
especially have pleasing features, with finely-proportioned figures. 

General Divisions. Cities and Towns. 

Presidency Proper. The Carnatic, .... Madras, Ai-cot, Tanjore, Triohinopoly, Madura. 

II II Northern Ckcars, . . . Ganjam, Cliicacole, MasuKpatam, Coringa. 

II II South Canara and Malabar, . . Mangalore, Cannanore, CaUcut, Crangauore. 

ir II Counbatoor Coimbatoor, TJtacamund, Jackatalla. 

» II The Mysore, Mysore, Bangalore, Seringapatam. 

II II Coorg, Mercara. 

Attached Dependencies. Cochin, Cochin. 

II 11 Travancore, .... Trivandrum. 

II u Jeypoor and the HiU Zemindars, Jeypoor. 

The Carnatic, though no longer a recognised geograpMcal division, is a familiar term 
from its historical use for the greater part of the presidency, or that portion which was the 
battle-ground of the French and English for ascendency in India in the last century. It 
may be defined to extend from Cape Comorin along the eastern shore to near the mouth of 
the Kistna, but with a very uncertain inland limit, though embracing two naturally distinct 
regions, called the Upper and Lower Carnatic, or the country above and below the Ghauts. 

Madras, the capital of the presidency, is seated on the Coromandel coast, in latitude 13° 4' north, longitude 
80° 14' east, 763 miles south-east of Bombay, 1063 miles south-west of Calcutta, and contains a population of 
720,000, including the suburbs, according to the return for 18G2. It bears the native name of Chennapatanam, 
the ' City of Chennappa,' an Indian prince, who granted the site to the British, on which a settlement was first 
planted in the year 1639. The number of Europeans, excluding those employed in the service of the govern- 
ment, or in connection with the railways, is very small ; and the variety of races is less than in Calcutta and 



HABEAS — AECOT. 



699 



Bombay. Fort Sfc George, tlio citadel, directly on the shore, has the sea flowing ivithin a few feet of the ram- 
parts. It is defended by heavy guns on the coast face, has bomb-proof fortifications on the land-side, and 
i;sually contains a large garrison. Northward, beyond a broad esplanade, on which stands the light-house, is 
tho native or black town, occupying a low site, but protected by a strong stone bulwark from the high-water 
waves. Southward, along the beach, are public ofiices and residences of the wealthy, with intervening gardens 
which have a pleasing effect. A good road, shaded with trees and lined with handsome villas, leads to the 




Madras. 

cantonment on St Thomas's Mount, a gentle rising-ground about six miles distant. The public edifices and 
institutions include a government house, a mint, a university, with library and museum, a botanic garden, an 
astronomical and magnetic observatory in working-order; schools, asylums, .and hospitals; a club, which super- 
sedes the necessity of hotels; eleven places of worsliip belonging to the Clnu'ch of England, and many dissent- 
ing chapels. The oldest church, St Mary's, connected with the Fort, dates from the year 1680 ; but this was 
preceded by the Roman Catholic cathedral, in the native town, founded in 16^2. A People's Park, provided 
with aviaries, enclosures for deer and other ivild animals, walks, trees, and green-sward, has been opened since 
1859. The climate renders a large supply of ice essential to the health and comfort of the inhabitants. It 
has been hitherto furnished by America, to the amount of from 2000 to 3000 tons annually ; but war having 
rendered tho import precarious, an Ice Company has been formed for its ai-tificial production after the 
example afforded at Calcutta, Bombay, Suez, and Melbourne. Eleven newspapers are pubUshed, nine of which 
are EngUsh, and include three dailies. Tho other two are in Telugu and Tamil. 

No city in the world of equal extent and commerce is so xmfavourably situated as Madras, especially for 
maritime trade. It stands on no navigable stream, has only soil of moderate fertility in the neighbourhood, 
and occupies a harbourless strand upon which the surf rolls ■with tremendous violence. Barge vessels can 
anchor in the roadstead, but it is exposed to every wind except from the west, and upon the occurrence of a 
sudden squall they have to make in all haste for the open sea. Passengers and goods are landed in light 
craft, dexterously handled by native boatmen, but not without frequent danger m addition to the incon- 
venience. An attempt to construct a breakwater was unsuccessful. But at the commencement of 1864, a 
screw pile-pier, running out to an extreme length of 1000 feet, was nearly complete. The Madras Railway 
has its station on the beach, and extends in a single line across the peninsula to Eeypore on the Malabar 
coast, a distance of 405 miles, open throughout. About thirty mUes on the south, Malmhalipom; ' City of 
the great Bali,' utterly rtdned and partly engulfed, presents an extraordinary spectacle. It contains seven 
monoUth pagodas, of which only one at present is on dry land, the other six being visible at low- water, rising 
up like rocks, and extending a considerable way into the sea. Every building of this enormous town, whose 
remains are spread over an extent of twelve miles, was hewn out of the rock, and then the interior of each 
was excavated, a work which involved the cutting up of a whole mountain into temples, palaces, and houses. 
It is conjectured, from a great rent in one of the temples, that an earthquake occurred, which let in the sea, 
and destroyed tliis city of giants. 

Arcot, an inland city on the railway from Madras, the former capital of the Camatic, has its name associated 
with that of Lord CUve, as the place where his military reputation was iirmly established. It was taken by 
bun with a very small force in 1751, and then successfully held through nearly two months against a host of 



700 INDIA. 

assailants, under ciroumstanoes of the greatest hardship. The adjoining country is bestrewed with tanks 
many of which are of immense size, oonstraoted to afford a water-supply in the dry season when the streams 
fail. The largest measures eight miles in one direction by three in another. Vellore, a neighbouring town, 
is chiefly noticeable as the scene where the native troops rose against their European officers in 1806, owing to 
the issue of regulations which interfered with their prejudices. Tanjore, on a branch of the Kaveii, 212 
miles south of Madras, is a large manufacturing city, with a population of 80,000, distingiiished also as a seat 
of Hindu learning and religion. It is particularly celebrated for its great pagoda, dedicated to the god )Siva 
considered the finest specimen of the pyramidal temple in India, and is resorted to by vast multitudes on days 
of public festival. The building, about 200 feet in height, stands within an area enclosed by high walls, the 
top of which, along their whole extent, is decorated with buUs sacred to the divinity. The interior contains 
a chamber or hall, which has no light except from lamps. Tanjore is passed by the Great South of India Rail- 
way from Ncgapatam, 49 miles distant on the coast, which runs along the Valley of the Kaveri. It proceeds 
further west to Trichinopoly, a fortified town of 30,000 inhabitants, noted for its hardwares, jewellery, and 
cheroots of the finest quality. Madura, a smaller place further south, is the head of a district containing 
the Pulney or ' Fruit ' HUls, the highest peaks of which are supposed to rise more than 8000 feet. The 
general summit is an extensive undulating plateau, covered with grass, and fine woods appear in sheltered 
hollows and ravines. Elk and bison abound. The scenery resembles that of the Scottish Highlands; 
European fruits, flowers, and vegetables flourish ; and the nettle stings, which it will not do at Simla on the 
Himalaya. These hills are now occupied by a sanitary station, which is 7200 feet above the sea, where the 
sweltering heat of the plains is exchanged for a climate in which good fires, carpets, and curtains are often 
acceptable. 

Tlie JSToETHERN CiECAES consist of a narro-w tract continuing the coast region of the 
Carnatic from the southernmost outlet of the Kistna to the Chilka Lake. This district 
includes the mouths of the Godayery. It has a low and generally insalubrious shore, 
but the surface rises in bold hUls in the interior, and the chain of the Eastern Ghauts 
forms the inland boundary. 

Ganjam, once a maritime to\vn of consequence, with very handsome buildings, has fallen into complete 
decay, owing to the imhealthiness of the site. Fatal fevers in 1815 led the British residents to retire from 
the place ; and the public establishments being removed, the fort and cantonments speedily became ruins. 
Ghicacole, southward on an inlet of the coast, profited by the decline of Ganjam, and has now a population of 
50,000, exclusive of military and European civilians. Mlamlijoatam, a fortified town near the mouth of the 
Eistna, has long been celebrated for its chintzes and richly-worked muslins. 

South Canaea and Malabar are continuous tracts on the opposite coast, between the 
Western Ghauts and the sea. The mountains occupy a large extent of the surface, and 
have slopes richly clad with teak-trees, sandal-wood, and other valuable timber. They 
enclose many weU-eultivated valleys, while a sandy plain forms the immediate shore. 
Betel and cocoa nuts, rice and other grain, with various spices, as pepper, ginger, and 
cardamoms, are the principal products. The latter, known in commerce as Malabar 
cardamoms, are the capsules of plants native to the highlands, the seeds of which form an 
aromatic pimgent spice, with stimulant properties and an agreeable taste, hence used in 
medicine and confectionary. The plants require careful cultivation ; and great vigilance 
is necessary on the part of the natives to secure the crop, which ants, and snakes 
especially, are eager to devour. 

Mangalore, a small town in South Canara, is the principal shipping port for rice, inconvenienced by the 
silting up of the harbour, witli a healthy cantonment adjoining, on an elevated site, open to the Gea-breeze. 
Calicut, on the Malabar coast, is historically distinguished as the first spot in India touched at by Vasco de 
Gama. It was then a populous and powerful city imder a native ruler, with stately pagodas, and twice 
repulsed the Portuguese. Owing to vrar, the competition of other localities, and a gradually sand-choked 
harbour, the town became a miserable ruin. It has somewhat recovered, and now contains a population of 
25,000, but large vessels cannot approach nearer than two or three miles from shore. The fabric calico is 
supposed to have derived its name from that of the town. Beypore, the terminus of the Madras Railway, is 
in the vicinity. Cannanorc, a place of great antiquity, and a considerable shipping port, occupies the head 
of a bay which forms a convenient harbour, fifty mUes north of Calicut. Spices, grain, and vast quantities 
of cocoa-nuts raised in the neighbourhood, are exported. A headland on one side of the bay is the site of a 
military station. 

The province of Coimbatoor, wholly inland, lies between Malabar and the Carnatic, 
and has some interesting natural features. It embraces the great gap of Palghat which 



OOIMBATOOR — MYSORE. 701 

cuts througli the Ghauts, opens a free passage for the monsoon ■winds from either of their 
seasonal directions, and is now the route of the Madras EaUway between the opposite 
coasts. On the northern side of the gorge, the Neilgherries, or Blue Mountains, rise 
abruptly in miu'al precipices, form a plateau broken by ridges and eminences, which 
declines gradually into the table-land of Mysore. The soU of the plateau is highly pro- 
ductive ; the surface is grassy, interspersed with patches of woodland ; and the climate is 
famed for its salubrity and for remarkable evenness in its seasons. Cooeg, a small terri- 
tory on the north-west, formerly a native principality of ancient date and larger propor- 
tions, lies almost wholly in the bosom of the Ghauts, and is beautifully diversified with 
weU-oultivated valleys, and hills crowned with forests. This district is singularly 
traversed by artificial ramparts, from fifteen to twenty-five feet in height, with ditches in 
front from eight to ten feet wide, and the same in depth. In many places they are 
double, triple, and even quadruple ; and are estimated to have a total linear extent of not 
less than 500 miles. These ramparts, obviously constructed for defensive purposes, like 
the Picts' WaU in Britain, are of great antiquity, being at various points crowned with 
enormous trees. 

Coimhaioor, a small town near the gap of Palgliat, is one of the stations on the Madras Eailway where 
passengers for the whole route of 405 miles have to remain a night. Utacamund, abbreviated by Anglo- 
Indians into Ooty, founded as a sanitarimn iu 1822, is visited both from Madras and Bombay. The 
settlement is on the NeUgherries, 7300 feet above the sea. In the wannest period of the year, April and 
May, the thermometer rarely reaches 75°. In the coldest months, December and January, the mercury 
descends to the freezing-point. The mean temperature for the year is 57° ; and the average rain-fall about 
sixty inches. A Lawrence Asylum for the children of the European soldiery, founded in honour of Sir H. 
Lawrence, was established here in 1858. There are also private high and middle class schools for the English, 
and a benevolent scholastic foundation for natives. Two minor stations, each 6000 feet above the sea, afford 
a different cUmate, and a third recently planted at JackataUa, now 'Wellington, occupies a well-sheltered 
valley, exempt from the cutting north winds which are frequently felt at Ooty. 

Menard, the chief town of Coorg, is among the mountains, more than 4000 feet above the sea, and was 
long the seat of a line of native sovereigns. The priiicipaUty is mentioned by the historian Ferishta as an 
independent state in 1583. Its people contrast favourably with other Hindus in appearance and habits, being 
a handsome, athletic, warlike race of mountameers, usually above the middle size, cleanly in their persons 
and habitations, and very industrious. In 1792 the Eajah of Coorg marched with Lord Cornwallis agamst 
Seringapatam. The last prince, deposed in 1834 by the British authorities, who then took formal possession 
of the coimtry, would not allow his subjects to fight against the powerful allies of his ancestors, but quietly 
submitted to Iiis fate. In 1850 he came to England to obtain restitution of money invested in the govern- 
ment funds, and died in 1859 at London without having succeeded in his suit. 

The territory of Mtsoee, ruled in the last century by the renowned Hyder Ali and his 
son Tippoo Saib, is an extensive central province, larger than the mainland of Scotland. 
It consists of a triangular-shaped plateau, skirted by the Ghauts on the east and west, and 
by the convergence of the two ranges on the south. The enclosed district has generally 
a considerable elevation, which renders the climate temperate through a great portion of the 
year. Isolated rocks, called droogs, rising up abruptly from the table-land to the height 
of 1000 or 2000 feet, with broad bases, are strikiug features of the surface. These 
gigantic columns are composed of granite, gneiss, and hornblende ; and were in former 
times crowned with nearly inaccessible fortresses. Exposed by altitude to the influence 
of both monsoons, the annual rain-faU is heavy, and favours agricultural pursuits, in which 
aU classes of the population are engaged. In 1832, upon the plea of incompetency, the 
native ruler was set aside, but received an ample stipend, and the country has since been 
governed directly by a British commissioner. 

Mysore, the capital of Hyder Ali, contains the British Eesidency, the palace of the deprived rajah, and a 
large number of teak-built dwellings, with probably a population of 55,000. Seringapatam, made by Tippoo 
Saib the capital of his kingdom, and strongly fortified by him, occupies an island in the river Kaveri, and 
has declined from its former consequence. It was taken by storm by the British in 1799, when Tippoo fell 
fighting bravely in its defence. His descendants receive a pension. The deprived Maharajah is also allowed 



702 INDIA. 

a stipend of £35,000 a year, -with a fifth part of tlie net revenues of Mysore, which made his income £lli,000 
in 1860-61. Banijalore, the largest town, has 60,000 inhabitants, an extensive trade, -with some silk and 
cotton manufactures. It is nearly due west of Madras, at the distance of 205 miles, and is much visited by 
Europeans on account of its comparatively cool climate, being 3000 feet above the sea. 

The protected states of Cochin and Teavancore are contiguous, and form tlie extreme 
south-western section of peninsular India. They are naturally among its finest regions, 
abound with picturesque scenery, have vast forests of teak and pine on the hOls and 
mountains, luxuriant rioe-grounds in the valleys, with a large assortment of wild animals 
in the woods. The population is remarkable for its variety. It includes Hindus, 
Mohammedans, White and Black Jews, Native Christians, with outcasts who are fisher- 
men on the coast, and Hill-people who are described as so degraded as scarcely to deserve 
the name of human, and may bo regarded as descendants of the aborigines. 

Cochin, a seaport, is included in the British province of Malabar, while the territory is ruled by a native 
prince. It contains a population of 30,000, is highly commercial, and the only port south of Bombay where 
large ships are built. The teak forests supply abundant materials, and the peon, a kind of pine, is as well 
adapted as the Norwegian species to be 'the mast of some tall admiral.' Not only merchant-vessels but 
men-of-war have been constructed here. The harbour labours under the disadvantage of being obstructed by 
a bar, which is open to the south-west monsoon, and often renders ingress and egress impossible durmg its 
prevalence. Cochin was occupied by the Portuguese in 1503, their first station in India. It was taken by 
the Dutch in 1663, and fell into the hands of the British in 1796. 

Trivandrum, the chief town of Travancore, is on the coast at the outlet of the Karamany, over which a 
handsome stone bridge was thrown by the late rajah. This prince, a very remarkable man, was well 
acquainted with European science, a good practical chemist, and maintained for many years in complete order 
an astronomical and magnetical observatory. He presented a splendid ivory throne to the Queen, which 
attracted attention at the Great Exhibition of 1S51, and illustrated the skill of the native carvers. The style 
of his successor is thus given in the Madras Almanac for 186i : ' His Highness Sree Palmanabha Dausa 
Vunchee Baula Eama Vunnah Koolashagara Kireeda Padu Munnay Sultan Maharanj Eajah Eama Bajah 
Bahadur Shamsheer Jung, Maha Eajah of Travancore ; born I4th March 1832 ; ascended the Musnud 19th 
October I860.' He appears on state occasions in a magnificent car, in comparison with which the old regal 
carriages of Versailles and the Lord Mayor's coach are puny vehicles. Troops of elephants attend His 
Highness. 

The native Christians of Cochin and Travancore are of three denominations : first, Syriac, who refer their 
origin, but without authority, to St Thomas the apostle, and recognise the Patriarch of Antioch as their 
ecclesiastical head ; second, Eoman Catholics, the descendants of converts made by the Portuguese ; third, 
Protestants, descended from converts made by the Dutch. The "White Jews spring from true immigrants of 
the race, settled in India at an early period. The so-called ' Black ' Jews are Hindu proselytes, who venerate 
their white brethren as the genuine sons of Israel 





Caslunere Lake. 



IV. INDEPENDENT STATES. 



Casliniere, 
Nepaul, 



Area in 
Square Miles. 
2,000 . 
54,000 



Bhotan, 64,500 



Principal Towns. 
Serinagur, Islamabad, Baramula. 
Khatmandu, Ghorka. 
Tassisudon. 



Cashmere, in tlie extreme north of India, borderirig tlie Puxijab, consists of an elevated 
valley, and a belt of enclosing mountains, among ■wMch are some of the loftiest sununits 
of the Himalaya, It is one of the most interesting and beautiful portions of the earth, 
embracmg almost every variety of scenery and cUmate, rich in fruits and flowers, while 
offering objects on every hand to arrest the attention of the man of science, whether 
botanist, geologist, or antiquary. The valley itself is of a somewhat oval form. It extends 
about ninety miles from north-west to south-east, and has a breadth varying from ten to 
thirty-five miles. The lowest part, occupied by the WuUer Lake, is 5189 feet above the sea, 
but the average height is 5500 feet. Thrice that altitude is attained by several peaks of the 
mountaui-wall immediately adjacent, but in the distance northward rises the magnificent 
mass of Nanga Parbat, or ' ISTaked Mountain,' so called from being bare of snow, owing to the 
remarkable steepness of the sides. It attains the elevation of 26,629 feet above the sea, and 
ranks fourth among the highest measrured summits on the globe. There are several passes 
by which this secluded region is reached from the plains of the Punjab, but with one 
exception, that through which the Jhelum effects its escape, they are too lofty to be 
practicable in winter, and this single opening wUl not admit of a wheeled vehicle. The 
river named drains the whole valley. Its remotest source is a small pool on the further 
side, from which it flows with a gentle current in snake-Uke curves, spreading out in 



704 INDIA. 

places into several lakes, the largest of ■wHoh, Lake WiiUer, is about ten miles iu length 
by five in breadth. The low grounds have the mulbeny, chestnut, walnut, pojalar, and 
plane tree, groves of which were planted by the Mogul emperors, who made this region their 
summer residence, adorned it with palaces, gardens, summer-houses, and luxurious 
retreats, the ruins of which attest their taste by the pioturesqueness of the sites. 
Orchards of apples, pears, and cherries abound ; and almost every variety of fruit knn-^yn 
in Europe flourishes, with the exception of the orange, the lemon, the fig, and the olive. 
Eice and maize are the principal objects of cultivation. The wild animals include the 
ibex, stag, and bear, the first of which is found only in the wildest and most inaccessible 
parts of the country. In various localities the shrill whistle of the marmot is almost 
constantly heard over the barren rocks. The beautiful menal and other pheasants are 
abundant, with the red-legged and snow partridge. In winter the temperature is severe, 
and the snow lies deep. In summer the heat is occasionally oppressive, but generally 
moderate. Leather manufactures, weaving the famed Cashmere shawls, and the prepara- 
tion of ottar of roses, with bee-keeping, are prevailing industries. In recent times the 
story of this highland district has not been that of the Happy VaUey. It fell under the 
power of the Siklis in 1819, and was soon afterwards terribly desolated by an earthquake, 
a pestilence, and a famine caused by the failure of the rice harvest. Upon the conquest 
of the Sikh kingdom by the British, it was ceded by them as a separate state to Gholab 
Singh, who had conquered an adjoining portion of Tibet. The people are a fine race in 
personal appearance, and consist chiefly of Mohammedan Hindus. 

Serinagur, the capital, often called Cashmere, near the centre of the valley, is seated on both banks of the 
Jlielum, and contains a population of 40,000. Immediately eastward, the hUl of Tiikht-i-Sulaiman rises 
abraptly, the summit of which is crowned by an ancient temple, still in an almost perfect state of preserva- 
tion. It commands a view of snowy mountains, grassy plains, river,',lake, forest, and almost every element 
of the fine landscape, exhibited on a grand scale. Islamabad, higher np the river, is a seat of the shawl 
manufacture, producing also chintzes, coarse cottons, and woollens. Baramula, a small place, stands on the 
inner side of the pass by which the Jlielum breaks through the outer range of the Himalaya. This is a 
grand cleft, upwards of 7000 feet in depth, with almost perpendicular sides, very narrow at the bottom, 
which is almost wholly occupied by the river. The natural sluice extends from twenty to thirty miles, and 
presents successive scenes of strikmg grandeur. It can only be traversed by the foot-passenger. 

The entire Valley of Cashmere is traditionally believed to have once been a great upland lake, a persuasion 
which various natural appearances confirm. Small lakes are numerous at present, especially around the 
capital, liable to inundation from the joint effect of the melting of the winter's snow and the copious spring 
rains. To counteract in some degree this disadvantage, the curious expedient is resorted to of forming 
floating gardens on the surface of the water, which rise and fall mth it, and thereby place the produce out of 
danger from any overflow. They are made by cutting through the reeds, sedges, lilies, and other aquatic 
plants, about two feet below the surface, which are pressed into, closer connection, become matted together, 
are arranged into a niunber of small beds, upon which a thin coating of mud is laid. The beds float, but are 
kept in place by willow stakes, which admit of a change of level according to the action of the water. These 
gardens are cultivated by men in boats, who iii the same manner gather the crop, chiefly cucumbers and 
melons, though they are often compact enough to bear the weight of a man. 

Genuuie Cashmere shawls, though not in such demand as formerly in Europe, owing to excellent French 
and other imitations, are still in repute, and furnish employment to a large proportion of the population. 
The niunber annually produced, plain and variegated, fine and inferior, is stated to be 30,000, the work of 
16,000 looms. Those of the best quality, which have realised prices of £100 and upwards, owe their supe- 
riority to the fineness of the texture, the firmness of the colour, and the patient industry of the workmen, for 
they are woven in rudely-constructed looms. Three or four men will be engaged a whole twelvemonth in 
weaving a single pair. Tlie shawl-goat which yields the material in its long silky hair inhabits the high 
table-lands of Tibet, and is distinguished by horns of great length, flattened, and wavy. Our word ' shawl ' 
is a corruption of the native name of the fabric duschala. 

The history of Cashmere goes back to an early age. Herodotus states that it formed, along with a portion 
of Upper India, the twentieth satrapy of the Persian Empire in the reign of Darius Hystaspes. It is 
mentioned by Strabo, Pliny, and Ptolemy. The last very accurately describes the position of the valley. It 
appears to have long remained the seat of an independent Hindu kingdom, and had next a series of 
Mohammedan rulers, who held possession do^vu to the year 15S6, when it was reduced by the Mogul 
emperor, Akbar, and added to the empire of DelhL That prince, and his consort, the peerless Noor Mahal, 




Kiinchinjimga Peak. 

favoTired tlie district, and strove to render it paradisiacal, as did their siiccessors. Shah Jehan constructed 
the celebrated Shalimar Gardens, eulogised by poets and travellers. Serais, or halting-places, were established 
on the way at convenient distances. The royal progresses required providing for. Bernier, the French 
physician, who accompanied Aiu-ungzebo in ICG-i, states that the imperial coi"tege consisted of 35,000 horse 
and 10,000 foot, with 70 pieces of heavy cannon, and from 50 to 60 pieces of stirrup artillery, as it was 
called. The route commonly taken was that of the Pir Punjal Pass, the most direct, but one of the loftiest, 
11,400 feet above the sea, yet the most freqxiented in summer. A good road across the mountains is said to 
have existed in those days. The route is still called the ' Emperor's Highway.' At present there are no 
roads in Cashmere, nor anything in the shape of a wheeled conveyance in the valley. 

ISTepaul, a sovereign state, is a long and narrow territory on tlie soutliem slope of the 
Himalayas, intervening between the British province of Kiiniaon on the west and tlie 
protected district of Sikldm on the east. It is about 500 miles in length by 100 miles 
in average breadth. A region of grassy downs, and a belt of forest, form the border 
towards the j)lains of India, apart from which the country is everywhere rugged with 
stupendous elevations and deeply-cut valleys, which admit of an ascent, within limited 
areas, from tropical heat and luxuriance in the hollows, to icy cold and the sternest barren- 
ness on the towering heights. Dhwalagiri, the ' White Mountain,' rises on the western 
side, with tho highest mountain mass of the globe. Mount Everest or Gaurisankar, on 
the eastern, while the Kunchinjunga (28,620 feet high) dominates over Sikkim. 
Numerous streams, descending from tho glaciers of the Himalaya, form considerable 
rivers by uniting in the valleys, render them in the highest degree fruitful, and 
pass through the plains to the Ganges. Nepaul was formerly subject to several petty 

2s 




Temple and Priest's House in Ehotan. 

princes, biit Jung BahacTur, the chief of the Ghurkas, a "warlike trihe, who was made a 
Knight Grand Cross of the Bath for his services against the mutineers in Oude, is now 
the sovereign of the whole country. Bhotan embraces the southern face of the Himalaya 
eastward from Sikkim. to the intersection of the range by the Brahmaputra. It is a 
corresponding tract in its natural features, being mountainous, long, and narrow, but has 
fewer fertile valleys, while a more direct offshoot of Tibet as to its inhabitants, their 
religion, and form of government. 

Khatmandu, the capital of Wepanl, contains a mean palace, narrow and dirty streets of wooden houses, 
many brick-built Buddliist temples, with 50,000 inhabitants. The predominant tribe in the country, the 
Ghurkas, are a very diminutive race, but remarkably agile, strong, and warlike. They appeared under Jung 
Eahadiir at the siege of Lucknow ; but as most of the fighting was over before their arrival, they could only 
take part in the ' looting.' At this work they proved so indefatigable, that Lord Clyde was compelled to 
request the Nepaulese chief to lead off his men before anything like order could be restored. When they 
departed, it was with an enormous baggage-train containing the spoil of the city. The Begum of Oude, when 
her cause became desperate, with Prince Feroze Shah of Delhi, and thousands of the sepoys, feU back upon 
the skirts of Nepaul, where many perished of jungle fever, while others were slain in fight with the Ghurkas, 
or were captured, and delivered up to the British aiitliorities. Tassisudon, the chief town of Bliotan, is near 
the western frontier, but is prmcipaUy a summer capital, being deserted in winter on account of the cold. 
It contains a fortified palace, in which the Deb Eajah, the head of the executive government, resides. This 
functionary is elected only for three years, and is obliged by the terms of the constitution, along with all 
other ofiicials, to separate himself for the time from all domestic ties. He is chosen by a council of eight, 
and completely controlled by the oligarchy. Tlie supreme head of the state nominally, the Dherma Eajah is 
regarded more as a god than a sovereign, being reverenced as a bom Buddh — that is, a cliild into whom 
the spirit of a deceased Buddh has been transmitted. Such an one is discovered in extreme infancy by a 
preference for cows' milk to that of his mother, as well as by other signs, and is forthwith installed till death 
as the religious ruler of the country. He resides at Poonaklio, with a large number of monastic religionists, 
who practise celibacy, and devote themselves to the ritual observances of Buddhism. During the present 
year, 1864, a British mission to Tassisudon has been treated there with gross indignity and outrage, and 
Bhotan is now in collision with the Indian government. 

V. FOREIGN SETTLEMENTS. 

Portuguese, Prenoh, Dutch, and Danes have alike held territory in India, but only the 
two former powers retain any possessions at present, and these are of imimportant extent. 



GOA — OETLON. 707 

Tho Dutch occvipiod Climsura on the Hooglily a century and a half, and had their 
gardens and country-houses in the home style, to which they repaired for recreation when 
the heat of the day was over. But ia 1824 it was ceded to the British, along with some 
other places, in exchange for possessions ia the island of Sumatra. The Danes held 
Scramporo, on the same river, ninety years, and sold it to the British government in. 1845, 
along with Tranquebar, a coast town on the south of Madras. Portuguese and French 
Lidia, after embracing considerable territories, is now limited to a few detached sites of 
an insignificant collective area, 

liocality. 

Portugueso India. . . Goa, . . . Westom coast. 

II II ... Damaiin, . . Concan coast. 

II " . . Island of Diu, . . South coast of Kattywar. 

French India. . . . Cliandemagore, . On the Hooghly river. 

II II . . Earical, . . . Coromandel coast. 

II n ... Pondicherry, . Coromandel coast, 

n II . . Tanon, . . . Orissa coast. 

II 11 ... Mahe, . . . Malabar coast. 

T!i6 Portuguese were the first Europeans who established themselves in the country, 
arriving on the 20th of May 1428, but making then no permanent stay. Under a 
succession of able viceroys they rapidly acquired great power and prosperity, but their 
fortunes as quickly declined from various causes, not the least influential being the 
intrigues of the Jesuits, the Inquisition, and its concomitant, religious persecution, and 
marriage alliances with natives of the lowest castes. In the middle of the last centm?y, 
the French gained ascendant influence by levying native troops, and disciplining them in 
the European manner. But with the recall of the Governor-general Dupleis, in 1754, 
their prestige vanished, and the opportunity for founding a Gallo-Indian Empire was lost 
for ever. 

Ooa, tho city and dependent territory, on the west coast, intervene between tho limits of the presidencies 
of Bombay and Madras. The town, some miles inland, once wealthy and magnificent, has a name in history, 
having been for a long period after its foundation the head-quarters of the Jesuit missions in the east. It 
was superseded as the seat of government, in 1753, in consequence of a dreadful pestilence, and is now 
iitterly decayed. The present inhabitants are chiefly ecclesiastics, the place retaining its rank as the see of 
an archbishop, who is the primate of the Portuguese Indies. ' Old Goa,' remarks Captain Burton, ' has few 
charms when seen by the light of day. Tlie places usually visited are the cathedral, the nunnery of Santa 
Monaca, and the churches of St Francis, St Gaetano, and Bom Jesus. The latter contains the magnificent tomb 
of St Francis Xavier. Altogether we reckoned about thirty buildings. Many of them were falling to ruins, 
and others were being, or had been, partially demolished. The extraordinary amoimt of havoc committed 
during the last thirty years is owing partly to the poverty of the Portuguese. Like the modem Eomans, 
they found it cheaper to carry away cut stone than to quarry it.' Panjim, or New Goa, nearer the sea, to 
which the viceroy removed his residence at the time mentioned, the present seat of govermnent, is a well- 
built town, of 10,000 inhabitants, with one of the best harbours on the west coast of India. 

Pondicherry, the capital of the French settlements, 85 miles south of Madras, is a maritime town with a 
population of 30,000 and important commerce. Indigo, sugar, and the mulberry-tree are cultivated hi the 
vicinity. In 1761 it was taken by Sir Eyre Coote, and the fortifications razed. The present. town, in Sir C. 
Trevelyan's Minutes of a Tour, 1860, is pronounced to be ' more European than any Anglo-Indian place. It 
is like a small continental town transported to the shores of the Indian Ocean. It is teeming with intelli- 
gence and enterprise.' Ckandernagore, on the Hooghly, an unportant place when Calcutta, 21 miles distant, 
was only a cluster of mud huts, is now rapidly falling into decay. A mound, ditch, and ruined fort are the 
only remains of its once formidable fortifications. The entire French settlement extends two miles along the 
bank of the river, and one and a half inland from it. Just beyond the boundary is the station of the East 
Indian Eailway. 

VI. CETLOIf. 

The large and valuable island of Ceylon, remarkable for magnificent woods, unsur- 
passed fertility, and stupendous antiquities, is situated on the south-east of the Indian 
peninsula, at the distance of about sixty miles from the mainland, at the nearest point. 
A northerly section of the separating channel has the name of Palk Strait, derived from a 




Adam's Peak, Ceylon. 

Dutch, navigator. A larger soiitlierly division is called the Gulf of Manaar, after an islet 
in its basin. Tlie two are divided by a chain of isles and sand-banks, which obstructs 
completely the passage of large vessels, bears the name of Adam's Bridge, and figures in 
Hindu mythology as the route by which the demi-god Eama invaded Ceylon. This oval 
or pear-shaped island has a length of 271 miles from north to south, by an extreme 
breadth of 137 mUes in the opposite direction, and includes, with some insular depend- 
encies, an area of 25,742 square miles, being about one-sixth smaller than Ireland. The 
shores almost everywhere rise gently from the water, are verdant tliroughout the year, 
and the contrasted colour of the perennially green foliage, with the yeUow strand, and the 
sea, blue as sapphire, never fails to excite the admiration of the voyager, fresh from the 
less variegated and more sober livery of European scenes. At a short distance from the 
beach, the surface pleasantly undulates with riclily-wooded hills, but the general elevation 
is moderate, except in a central southern zone occupied by a plateau, from Avhich the 
PedrotallagaUa Mountain, the highest point, shoots up to the altitude of 8280 feet. 
Adam's Peak, in the same district, the subject of many a wild legend and a place of 
pUgrimage, attains to 74-20 feet. On the summit, Buddha himself is believed to have 
.otood, leaving there the imprint of his sacred foot. This is a depression in the rook, five 
feet long and two broad, around which a ring of brass has been placed, ornamented with 
a few gems of trifling value. The mountain is therefore ascended as an act of homage by 
his followers, and is locally distinguished by a name signifymg 'the footstep of fortune.' 
In its vicinity the principal river has its source, called the Mahawelli-ganga, which flows 
to the north-east coast, and enters the splendid Bay of Trinoomali. The chmate is 
governed entirely by the monsoons like that of the mainland, but the island enjoys a 
more equable temperature. Its mineral products include carbonate of iron in great 
abundance, rich veins of plumbago, precious stones found in the alluvial plains, as 
sapphires and rubies, and a valuable pearl-fishery which has been prosecuted from time 
immemorial in the Gulf of Manaar. This fishery in some years yields a revenue to the 
government of £20,000. The divers inhale a fuU breath, descend rapidly to the bottom 
of the water weighted with a sinkmg stone from which they immediately liberate them- 
selves, fill their baskets with the pearl shells, and are then quickly hauled up to the 



CEYLON — COLOMBO. 



709 



surfaoo. From sixty to seventy feet is tho greatest depth to wlucli they doscend, and 
eighty-seven seconds the longest time they can remain submerged. 

Tho vegetation is singularly exuberant and splendid. Forests yielding useful and 
ornamental timber, teak, ironwood, ebony, and satin-wood, are extensive and dense, 
enlivened ■with flowering slirubs and climbing plants of prodigious magnitude. Many of 
the latter literally cover the trees with a blaze of gorgeous crimson flowers, and spread, by 
shedding them, a carpet of scarlet on the ground at the base. One enormous creeper, 
caUed the great hollow climber, forms pods, some of which are five feet long and six 
inches broad, containing beautiful bro^vn beans, which the natives adapt to ornamental 
purposes. The palmyra, taliput, jaggery, and cocoa-nut palms are specially prominent in 
the northern part of the island. It is estimated that the number of cocoa-palms amounts 
at least to 20,000,000, the fruit of which contributes largely to food, while almost every 
part of the tree is employed for some domestic service, and the oil is extracted from the 
nut for export. Members of the fig family are planted near the temples, especially the 
peepul, Ficus religiosa, some of which are of vast sizo and great age. In the elevated 
southern district the cinnamon-laurel is grown in greater abundance than in any other 
part of the world, supplying three principal articles of commerce, the aromatic buds called 
cassia buds, the dried bark of the plant or cinnamon, and the essential oil used in 
medicine obtained by distillation. In this region many of the mountain forests have 
been superseded by cofiee plantations, the cultivation of which is increasing. Ceylon 
coiTosponds generally to India in its forms of animal life, but has not the tiger, the 
cheetah, the wolf, or the hyena. 

The Portuguese were the first European visitors to Ceylon in 1505, and founded a permanent settlement in 
1517. They were driven away by the Dutch in 1658, after a war of twenty years, who, in their turn, were 
compelled to cede all their possessions to the British in 1796. The island now forms a colony of the cro-\vn, 
wholly unconnected with the Indian presidencies, and the affairs of which are administered by a governor 
nominated by the sovereign, assisted by a cabinet and a legislative council. Native kings continued to reign 
over the mountainous part of the interior, with Kandy for their capital, down to the year 1815, when the 
last, a frightful tyrant, provoked war with the British, was taken prisoner, and formally deposed with the 
consent of his chiefs. 

Colombo, the capital, on the west coast, bordered by a lake or lagoon, contains a population of 40,000, and 
is the principal centre of the foreign trade. The harbour is small and can only be entered by light craft, but 
large vessels anchor safely in the offing, except during the south-west monsoon. E«sidences of the British and 
government offices are within the enclosure of the fort. Exterior to its walls are modest-looking houses of the 
Dutch and Portuguese, with the quarter occupied by the native races, whose dwellings are of wliite- washed mud, 
either covered with tiles, or thatched with the plsited fronds of the cocoa-nut palm. The town is the seat of 
a colonial bishopric and of the supreme court of justice. In the latter the eminent Tamil advocate jsractises, 
Coomira Swamy, who was called to the English bar at Lincoln's Inn in 1863, being the first non-Christian 
Hindu-Enghsh barrister, and who is also a member of the Legislative Council. Civil and military anthorities, 
native and Em'opean merchants, resort to tho neighbouring hamlet of Calpitty for recreation, surrounded by 
cinnamon gardens and cocoa-nut groves. A magnificent mountain road connects Colombo with Kandy in the 
Ulterior, and is thronged with bnUock-carts laden with coSfee for the port, or carrying up rice and stores to 
the hiU-country. Another road diverges southward through exquisite scenery to Point de GaUe, seventy 
miles long, literally an avenue of pahn-trees. Eailways are now in progress. The first turf was cut by the 
governor. Sir H. "Ward, August 13, 1858. Point de Galle, the 'Cock's Point' of the Portuguese, the Galla, 
'rock,' of the natives, is on tho south-west coast, a station for the Peninsular and Oriental Company's 
steamers, 213-t miles from Aden. The mail arrives by the overland route from England in thirty-one days. 
Passengers embark the same day in steamers for Calcutta or Singapore, and the further East, according to 
then destination. The place consists chiefly of public buildings, which include the fort, about a mile in 
circuit, the post-office, barracks, Ught-house, a Dutch church, and hotels. Groups coUeoted at the landing-j)lace 
on the arrival of steamers offer a picturesque sight from variety of costume. The private houses are one 
story high, furnished with verandahs which rmi along the entire frontage. Except for about four months in 
the year, the harbour is unsafe, being exposed to sudden squalls of tremendous violence. Ceylon, having 
been visited for trading purposes from remote antiquity, many authorities are inclined to identify Point de 
GaUe with the Tarshish of the Hebrew Scriptures, from which Solomon's ships returned bringing gold, silver, 
ivory, apes, and peacocks. Trincomali, a fortified commercial port on the north-east coast, contains 30,000 
inhabitants, and possesses a capacious haven, secure in aE seasons, landlocked and cahn as a mountain 



710 INDIA. 

lake. Jaffnapatam, a small seaport at the north extremity of the island, is of Dutch origin, contains a 
considerable number of persons of Dutch descent, with learned Tamils, and has long been an American mission 
station. 

Kandy, the old native capital, is beautifully situated in the mountainous region, on the margin of a small 
lake, overhung on all sides by hiUs. But besides the commandant's residence, and some dilapidated temples, 
it is little more than a collection of huts. The Malegawa temple here contains the most sacred relic in the 
counti-y, which attracts pilgrims from the remotest parts of India, Burmah, and Siam. This is the Delada, 
reputed to be the tooth of Buddha, which is preserved in a costly shrine, and guarded with jealous care. But 
it is well known that a reKc so called was destroyed by the Portuguese. The substitute is only a piece of 
discoloured ivory, about two inches in length and one in diameter, slightly curved. Natives regard it as the 
palladium of the country, and believe that whoever possesses it acquires the right to govern Ceylon. So 
strong in general is this persuasion, that in 1815, when the British forces captured the place, further resistance 
ceased. Chiefs and people united in submitting to the English as the proper masters of the island, as they 
had obtained possession of the Delada. Devotees lay oflferings before the shrine by which the priests profit. 
Meuera Ellia, fifty miles on the south, connected with Kandy by an excellent road running through coffee 
plantations, is entirely modem, and is used by Europeans as a sanitarium. The place occupies a table-land 
6210 feet above the sea, in the neighbourhood of which Pedrotallagalla rises 2000 feet higher, and overlooks a 
magnificent landscape. The climate is temperate, owing to the elevation. Almost all kinds of European 
fruits and vegetables are raised. Here the governor may generally be found, with military and civil officers, 
invalid soldiers, and other visitors, in the season between January and May. 

Monuments of antiquity of extraordinary magnitude are met with in the northern parts of the island, 
buried in the depths of the forests. They consist of ruined cities, with pagodas, sculptured figures, and a few 
rock-hewn temples, which proclaim the existence of a departed race far superior to the mass of the present 
natives. Keservoirs for purposes of irrigation also remain, more or less dilapidated, of which 30 of colossal 
size are reckoned, with not less than 700 of small dimensions. The restoration of some of these useful works 
is in progress. 

Ceylon, contains a population of libout 1,698,000, of whom those of European descent 
form a very small proportion. By far the most numerous body, called the Singalese, 
are found chiefly in the southern and central parts of the island. They are Buddhists in 
religion, ingenious workers in metals, and in manufactures of cordage, matting, and 
baskets j of effeminate and cowardly spirit, except those in the highland region, who are a 
sturdy race, and bravely defended their hills against the intrusion of the Portuguese, 
Dutch, and British. In the northern districts are numerous Tamils, descendants of 
invaders or immigrants from Southern India, who adhere to Brahmanism, are physically 
and mentally a superior people, widely spread by their mercantile enterprise, and 
extensively familiar with the advantages of English education. I:Tot a few have shewn 
themselves accomplished in mathematics, mechanics, and jurisprudence. A Tamil 
engiaeer has been employed ia the construction of the Madras railways; nor would it be 
difficult to find men among them who can correctly predict an eclipse, explaia the 
calculus of Newton, and propound the laws of gravitation. The Moormen form another 
section of the population, who are Mohammedans, supposed to be of Arab descent, 
everywhere energetic traders. Probably the aborigines are represented by a remnant in 
the eastern part of the island — the Veddahs — ^but little above the wild animals of the 
forests, except in inoffensiveness, now subject to improving influences supplied by the 
British government. 

Vn. MALDIVES AND LAOCADIVB ISLANDS. 

Two groups of islands, tlie Maldives and the Laccadives, north and south of each other, 
are situated off the south-west coast of India. They consist chiefly of low coral formations, 
densely clothed with cocoa-nut trees, which contribute to the support of the inhabitants 
by the use and export of the produce. The Maldives, the most southerly cluster, include 
upwards of a thousand isles and reefs, imder the rule of a native chief, who pays tribute 
to the governor of Ceylon. The Laccadives, seventeen in number, are occupied by a race 
of Ai-ab descent, who profess a kind of mongrel Mohammedanism, and have their own ruler, 
subordinate to the presidency of Madras, 



POPULATION OF INDIA. 711 

India, even in those parts under direct Britisli control, has not yet been subject to a 
complete census of the people. This was to have been taken in the year 1861, but owing 
to the general agitation occasioned by the mutiny, its execution was deemed inexpedient, 
lost the vast population should misconceive the motive of the government, and be excited 
by the designing to insurrectionary movements. Official estimates return the number of 
strictly British subjects at about 155,000,000. To these, it is supposed, must be added 
40,000,000 for the inhabitants of protected states and independent territories, thus making 
a grand total for the entire population of nearly 200,000,000. In classifying this immense 
aggregate, Mr Montgomery Martin conceives that aboriginal races, known by various 
names, and greatly scattered, number 20,000,000. The Mohammedans he reckons at from 
12,000,000 to 15,000,000; the Sikhs, on or near the Sutlej, at about 2,000,000; the 
Jains or Buddhists, widely diffused, at 5,000,000; HiU tribes and sundry others, at 
8,000,000 ; the remainder, 150,000,000, being Hindus of the Brahmanical creed. 

At an unkno^vn period, but many centuries prior to the Christian era, the Hindus are 
believed to have migrated from a northerly chme, probably in large bodies and in rapid 
succession, entering the country from the north-west, and establishing themselves first in 
the Punjab, In that district they were found by Alexander as the master-race, evidently 
long settled ; being in possession of regular government, arts and manufactures, with trained 
cavahy and infantry, war-chariots, and disciplined elephants, over whom he obtained a 
hardly-won victory. They were also spread over the whole of Northern and Central India, 
yet are supposed only to have extended in small numbers into the Deccan. The 
conquering immigrants reduced the primitive inhabitants to serfdom, or drove them to 
escape the lot to the hill fastnesses and woodland heights, where many of their descend- 
ants have remained to the present day, while others are dispersed far and wide. These 
aboriginal races are known by the various names of Konds, Bheels, Santals, Mairs, Koles, 
Bengies, Domes, and Bhats. They are found in jungles, forests, mountainous districts, 
and the outskirts of towns ; were formerly prone to live by plunder, and com m itted 
frightful excesses to obtain it ; but many have been reclaimed by the care of the govern- 
ment,'and now faithfully serve it as efficient soldiers and armed police. The numerically 
dominant people, the Hindus, had in their turn to succumb to Mohammedan invaders, 
and were reduced to a condition of iaferiority, varying with the ability and disposition of 
the conc[u.erors. These victors eventually shared the lot of the vanquished in the loss of 
pohtical predominance ; and the overthrow of both Hindu and Mohammedan power may 
in no slight degree be referred to a suicidal abandonment to the intoxicating influence of 
opium and the enervating pleasiu'es of the zenana. 

Under the modifying influence of different' climate, food, and other external circum- 
stances, operating for ages, the Hindus have ceased to be a homogeneous people. Their 
diversities in appearance, character, habits, and language are now as great as those which 
exist among the various nations of Europe. 'The native of the cool, dry, elevated 
regions of Malwa and the Deccan is as unlike the denizen of the hot and moist plaius of 
Bengal and Tanjore, as the hardy Swiss to the voluptuous inhabitant of the banks of the 
Tiber, or the industrious Englishman to the slothful Portuguese.' In general, the figure 
is slight, graceful, and admirably proportioned, but muscular and athletic on the high 
table-lands ; the face is oval, and the features regular ; the eyes and hair are black ; the 
skin is soft and pohshed; the complexion varies from the deepest olive to a light 
transparent brown. About twenty-six different languages are spoken, embracing a great 
number of dialects ; but with the exception of a few in Southern India, they are aU derived 
from the Sanscrit, the ancient tongue of the people, that of their sacred books, which, 
though not now vernacular, is cultivated by the learned. The Hindustani is the most 



712 INDIA. 

useful languaga for tlie European, as it is not limited to any particular district, but the 
ordinary medium of colloquial iatercourse throughout the country, employed in the courts 
of justice, and by the authorities in communicating with the natives. It is of compara- 
tively modern date, the result of the admixture of a native dialect with the Arabic and 
Persian introduced by the Mohammedan conquerors, and was formed chiefly during the 
reign of the Emperor Akbar. But in many localities the English language is making 
progress, being taught in schools sustained by the government, and in mission seminaries. 
Among the social institutions, that of caste restrains individuals of different classes from 
intermarriage, and even from association with each other. Similar distinctions are, how- 
ever, practically recognised to a great extent in the intercourse of life among the western 
nations. Originally, caste existed in its four broad divisions of the Brahmans, or priests ; 
the Kashatrya, or military ; the Vaisya, or mercantile ; and the Sudias, or servile class. 
Human passions, however, proved too strong to be restrained, and except in the instance of 
the sacerdotal order, the others intermingled. But a multitude of castes sprung up from 
their admixture. Yet unsanctioned by ancient usage, unauthorised save by common 
consent, these artificial social partitions are becoming less rigid, and may be expected to 
be altogether broken down, as far as they are prejudicial to general interests, by the 
influence of sound instruction and wholesome example. 

An indigenous form of municipal government of great antiquity is an interesting 
feature in the social life of the Hindus. Each of the villages, meaning thereby not a 
mere group of dwellings, but a district of varying extent analogous to a township, is 
under the jurisdiction of a head-inhabitant, called the potail. He acts as a kind of chief- 
magistrate, arranges disputes, sees to the collection of taxes, and appoints or superintends 
the olioJiaydars, watchmen or police, who have a certain number of houses committed to 
their charge. Several other functionaries are recognised as of public utility, as the priest, 
the schoolmaster, the musician, and the dancing-girl, all of whom are rewarded for their 
services in various ways at the expense of the community. ' Under this simple form of 
municipal government, the inhabitants of the country have lived from time immemorial. 
The boundaries of the village have been but seldom altered ; and though the villages 
themselves have been sometimes injured, and even desolated by war, famine, and disease, 
the same name, the same limits, and even the same families, have continued for ages. 
The inliabitants give themselves no trouble about the breaking up and division of 
kingdoms. While the village remains entire, they care not to what power it is trans- 
ferred, or to what sovereign it devolves. Its internal economy remains unchanged. The 
potail is still the head-inhabitant, and stUl acts as the petty judge and magistrate, the 
collector or renter of the village.' The indigenous rural police is effective in rendering 
petty thefts comparatively rare, and the poorer classes are content with the system, as it 
is from such minor offences that they principally suffer. But owing to the great extent 
of the country, with wild and uncivilised people in almost every part of it, some of whom 
are fiercely fanatical, an army of civil and military police is required for the repression of 
heinous crimes, and the maintenance of public order. This is now organised throughout 
British India after the model in general of the English county constabulary. It consists 
largely of the despised aborigines of various races under European officers, with inspectors 
drawn from the superior classes of native society, and has taken to a great extent the 
place of the regular army. 




Pagoda of Phrabat. 

CHAPTEE VII. 

INDO-CHINESE PENINSULA. 

( HE easternmost of tlie three great peninsulas of Soiitliem Asia, 
) frequently called Further India, and India beyond the Ganges, is 
I ) more properly distinguished as an Indo-Chinese territory, from 
-, > its position, population, and political relations. It is a region of 
very singular conformation, enclosed by the Chinese dominions 
on the north, conterminous with India on the north-west, having 
a western maritime boundary in the Bay of Bengal, an eastern in 
the China Sea, and a southern in the narrow strait of Malacca. 
Situated between latitude 1° 20' and 27° north, and between 
longitude 90° and 109° east, it embraces an area of at least 700,000 square miles, 
but is so extremely irregular in shape as to render any estimate difficult, and the 
insertion of extreme linear distances is on the same accoiont fallacious as an indication 




714 INDO-CHINESE PENINSULA. 

of magiiitude. Prom an average breadth of 700 miles in tlie north, it suddenly 
dwindles to less than one-eighth of that extent, ia the long and slender tract of 
Malaya. This is a southerly projection from the maia mass of the country, which gives 
peculiarity to the outline, and is without a parallel as to unequal proportions. It has an 
extension of nearly 1000 miles in the direction of the meridian, but is narrow throughout, 
and diminishes in width to less than sixty miles where the greatest contraction occurs. 
The Gulf of Martaban on the west, of Siam on the south, and of Tonquin on the north- 
cast, are the conspicuous maritime features of the Indo-Chiuese peninsula. 

The interior of the country is to a great extent very imperfectly known. Many parts 
have not been visited except by a few missionary travellers, and there are remote highland 
districts to which no European has penetrated. The general superficial aspect appears to 
be determiued mainly by several chains of mountaius, which diverge southward from the 
eastern extremity of the Himalaya, enclose great valleys between them, each the bed of a 
grand river-system, expanding into rich alluvial plains at the maritime extremity. These 
rivers are the Irawaddy and Salwn, westward, which descend from the Burman Empire 
to the Bay of Bengal, at the Gulf of Martaban ; the Meinam, central, flowing through 
the kingdom of Siam, and entering the gulf of that name ; the Makiang or Cambodia, 
eastward, which has the longest course, and passes through the emphe of Anam to the 
China Sea. The first and last rank with the mightiest streams of the continent. Along 
the borders of the rivers, and on the slopes of the mountains, vast forests are found 
in almost all parts of the country, consisting of teak, ebony, white sandal-wood, red dye- 
wood, rose-wood, iron-wood, and other timber of value for ordinary and ornamental 
purposes. Members of the pahn famUy and the bamboo luxuriate upon all the low 
grounds, especially the betel-palm, the fruit of which is nowhere of finer quaUty. 
Cinnamon plants of several varieties, and other aromatic shrubs are abundant, with trees 
yielding gum-resins nsed in medicine and the arts. The varnish-tree grows in perfection, 
and furnishes the resin applied to produce a highly-polished surface. Gamboge or 
camboge, the well-known pigment, with a place also in the pharmacopoeia, is the produce 
of Cambogia gutta, obtained by incision of the stem. The tree is lofty, bears edible fruit, 
and grows in Cambodia or Camboja, whence the name is derived. Gutta-percha, a 
concrete vegetable juice, is obtained from a large forest tree indigenous to Malaya and the 
adjoining countries. The scented eagle-wood is peculiar to Tsiampa, remarkable for its 
agreeable odour when burned, which is reduced to the powdered state, and used in immense 
quantities in the temples of China. Eice holds the chief place among the products of 
agriculture, as the general food of the people, along with various farinaceous roots. The 
sugar-cane, mulberry, cotton, indigo, and tobacco are also extensively cultivated. The 
plantain or banana is the staple fruit. 

The number of wild animals is enormous. They include most of the huge quadrupeds 
of India ; the elephant in large herds in the woods ; the rhinoceros on higher ground and 
of wilder habit than his congeners elsewhere ; the tiger, equally as fierce as the animal in 
Bengal; and the powerful buffalo in swampy places, is found domesticated as well as wild, 
along with the elephant and the ox. The forests teem with monkeys, and with bhds of 
the richest plumage. AU the varieties of domestic fowl are found in the vUlages,with the 
tall ungainly species in Cochia-China, so popular in England upon the first introduction 
of the breed. Alligators swarm in the large rivers, and are captured for food j nor are 
snakes, lizards, slugs, vermin, and ofial refused as diet, while all classes abstain from the 
produce of the cow. In Burmah and Siam an absurd veneration is paid to animals of a 
wliite colour. Being deemed peculiarly sacred, no native meets a white cock without 
saluting hira, and the white monkey is also reverenced. But the highest honours 



THE BUEMESH EMPIEE. 715 

aro reserved for tlie ' Lord White Elephant,' who ranks as an estate of the reahn, takes 
precedence after princes of the blood, has a palace, a minister, and numerous attendants. 
A tuft of his hair has figured iu presents to the British Queen. 

The Indo-Clunese peninsula includes several poUtical divisions, some of vrhich have no 
regularly-defined limits, and are feebly held by their respective governments. 

states. Cities. 

Empire ot Burmah, .... Ava, Amarapuia, Muts-hotio, Patanageh. 

Kingdom of Siam, ..... Bangkok, Tutliia, Pechabuni. 

Empire ot Anam, .... Hue, Turon, Kacliao. 

Basse Cocliin-Cliine, .... Saigon, Mytlio. 

Country of the Laos, .... Chang-mai, Nang-rung. 

Malaya, Perak, Johore, Pahang, 

Britisli Possessions, .... Arracan, Pegu, Moulmein, Malacca, Singapore. 

The total popiilation is suppose^ to range from 19,000,000 to 30,000,000, but only data 
of the vaguest description esists for an estimate. With the exception of a few Hindus in 
the western districts, Malays in the Malayan peninsula, and Europeans ia their respective 
territories, the people ethnologically consist of nations of Mongolian origui, low in stature, 
allied iu physiognomy to the Chinese, in manners and customs also in the eastern states, 
on the shores of which a large number of Chinese proper have long been settled. The 
languages spoken are of the monosyllabic class, but many polysyllabic terms have been 
ingrafted from extraneous sources. Buddhism is the prevailing form of rehgion, and has 
innumerable pagodas, temples, and image-hoixses, attended by thousands on great festival 
occasions, to honour with offerings the figure of the last Buddli, who is often represented 
in them of colossal size. Confucianism is professed by the higher class of the Anamese. 
A corrupt Mohammedanism is observed by the Malays, whUe Jewish traditions are 
cherished by the Tsiampes, the inhabitants of a little state on the China Sea, who have 
no idol worship, practise ckcumcision, and observe a day of rest. The native govern- 
ments are completely absolute, exact servile submission from all classes Of subjects, and 
use the stick freely to enforce it, from the infliction of which ministers of state and the 
highest court officials are not exempt. In industrial skill the people are far inferior to 
their neighbom-s, tho Hindus and the Chinese. Women conduct the business of life 
much more than men, in addition to their domestic duties. They buy, seU, engage in 
agriculture, and consequently enjoy great personal liberty. Some of the better classes 
have brick houses roofed with tiles, but the majority of their dwelliugs have a wooden or 
bamboo framework thatched with palm 'leaves, whUe those of the lower orders are 
mere huts. Both sexes of almost every age in aU ranks smoke immoderately, and chew 
tho betel-nut. 

I. BURMESE EMPIKE. 

Burmah, largely shorn of its proportions by wars with the British, in the present 
century, is a north-western territory, now entirely inland, bordered on the east by 
China and Siam, and enclosed in other directions by British provinces. It is traversed 
centrally from north to south by the Irawaddy, iu the upper and middle part of its 
course, the ' father of waters,' as the name is interpreted. The river is navigable for 
vessels of considerable burden up to the capital, 400 miles from its mouth, and for barges 
to a greater extent in the rainy season, but all native control over communication by it 
with the sea has been lost, the whole delta having become British ground. The northern 
part of the country is mountainous, clad with immense forests of teak and pine. Oil-trees 
are members of the woods on the banks of the Salwn, from a single trunk of which 
many gallons of vegetable oil may be obtained every season. But petroleum, or mineral 



716 INDO-CHINESE PENINSULA. 

oil, supplied in vast quantities by springs, is universally used for ligliting, notwithstanding 
its disagreeable odour. Burmah has vast stores of mineral wealth, consisting of auriferous 
sands, gold and silver mines, u-on and lead ores, celebrated ruby-mines, the property of the 
sovereign, under jealous guardianship. In the ruby-mines sapphires also, of great value, 
are occasionally found. SerpentLue, marble, and amber are other products. 

Ava, constituted the capital in 1819, a restoration of tlie distinction possessed twice before, lost it for a time 
in 1839 by a dreadful earthquake which destroyed nearly all the important buildings. It stands on a fertile 
plain by the Irawaddy, has the local name of Eatnapura, or ' City of Pearls,' but has not recovered from tlie 
catastrophe it suffered. Muts-hobo, to which the seat of government was temporarily removed, about thirty 
miles distant, is of note in Burmase history as the reputed bii-thplace of Alompra, a man of obscure origin, 
who made himself master of the country about the middle of the last century, and foimded the present 
dynasty. Amarapura, ' Town of Immortality,' a seat of royalty on the river a little above Ava, shared in its 
disaster. Patanageh, lower down the stream, is chiefly a representative of the past, with remarkable remains 
of temple-architecture. In its vicinity are the principal petroleum-wells extending over a space of sixteen 
square miles. Megung, a fortified town, has the amber-mines in its neighbourhood, to which many foreign 
merchants repair. Bhamo, in the direction of the Chinese frontier, is the chief mart for the trade with that 
countiy. 

The iirst war between the Burmese and the British broke out in'lS23. At its close the king consented to 
pay the English a million sterling, receive a resident at his court, and ceded likewise the provinces of 
Arracan and Tenasserim. A second war commenced in 1852, -which resulted in the capture of Rangoon, the 
capital of Pegu, and the permanent annexation of that province to the Anglo-Indian Empice. 

The central and southern territory of Siam extends around the head of the gulf of that 
name, and embraces the great valley watered by the Meinam, ' Mother of Elvers,' with the 
alluvial plain through which it discharges into the sea. It is the most important of the 
native states in a commercial point of view, has extensive mercantile deahngs with 
adjoining countries, but the trade is almost entirely in the hands of Chinese settlers. The 
people are remarkable for the extravagant manner in which social respect is demonstrated. 
'So inferior stands in the presence of a superior. Even younger brothers kneel in 
addressing the elder, or handing them anything requested, 'and subjects of the highest 
grade approach the sovereign on hands and knees. Ambassadors to England not many 
years ago instantly went down on all-fours in the presence of the Queen, and thus hobbled 
along to the foot of the throne, to the disturbance of the gravity of the court. The form 
of government is dual, conducted by two kings, whose respective duties have not been very 
clearly defined, but one seems to be at the head of the civil and the other of the military 
administration. They are far in advance of their subjects in apprehending the utility of 
European arts, and have a predilection for the English language. The king, Somdel Phra, 
who ascended the tlirone in 1851, had, according to M. Mouhot, mastered several of the 
physical sciences, besides having acquu'ed a fair knowledge of Latin, and had even written 
several treatises in English. The population of Siam cannot be determined with anything 
lilce accuracy. The Eoman Catholic bishop, Pallegoix, estimates it at 6,000,000. The 
difficulty of arriving at any correct result is augmented by the native practice of numbering 
males only. The native registers, according to Mouhot, shewed a few years ago, of the 
male sex, 2,000,000; Siamese, 1,000,000; Laotians, 1,000,000; Malays, 1,500,000; 
Chinese, 350,000; Cambodians, 50,000; Peguans, 50,000; and 50,000 of various tribes 
inhabiting the mountain-ranges. 

Troops have been trained in the western manner, roads and canals constructed, ships 
buUt, steamers introduced, science and commerce encouraged, and printing from types, 
before unknown to the Siamese, has been established. Court astrologers and prognosticators 
are maintained with small annual stipends, who in former reigns received a sound 
castigation upon the failure of their predictions. By the crudest methods these astronomers- 
royal calculate the movements of the sun and moon, and eclipses. 

BaiigJcoh, the capital, near the outfall of the Meinam, is a vast town with an estimated population of, 
according to M. Mouhot, from 300,000 to 400,000, who live chiefly in bamboo huts, large numbers of which are 



ANAMBSE EMPIRE. 71 7 

afloat on rafts in tho river. ' Owing to its semi-aquatio site,' says M. Mouhot, ' wo had reached the city while 
I believed myself still in the country ; I was only undeceived by the sight of various European buildmgs, and 
the steamers which plough the majestic river, whose margins are studded with floating houses and shops. In 
this Venice of the East, whether bent on pleasure or business, you must go by water.' Forests of teak are in 
the neighbourhood, with some iron-mines. Tho appearance of the stream is the reverse of the picturesque. 
Tlie water has the colour of loam, and teems with impurities, while extensive mud-flats are exposed on the 
recession of tho tido, which the white pelican, a stately bird, and other sea-fowl attentively examine for prey. 
Yathia, or Siam, the old capital, higher up the Meinam, is a large town, but has not been of much 
iinportance since it was desolated in a war with tho Burmese in 1767. Pcchahurri, on the west side of the 
Siamese Gulf, is under royal p.atronage as a place of occasional resort, intended to bo a kind of Brighton to 
the court. It was visited in 1859 by Sir E. Schomburgk, and described in a geographical paper. 

II. EMPIRE OP ANAM. 

Tho empire of Anam embraces au easterly division of the country, lying on the China 
Sea, tho maritime parts of which are generally fertile alluvial plains, bounded by a 
mountain-range which runs parallel with the coast, but at a varying distance from it. 
Three principal districts are included, formerly distinct states, and only loosely held 
together at present. These are Tonquin on the north, bordering upon China, from which 
the Song-ka, or ' Great Eiver,' is received, celebrated for the auriferous sands in the beds of 
its tributaries ; Cambodia, on the south, chiefly a level region singularly productive, 
fertilised by the overflowing of the Makiang, and a net-work of streams ; and Gochiii- 
China, intermediate, a long but comparative narrow tract of land on the coast, with a 
background of wild and naked granitic mountains. The north-eastern shores are within 
the range of the typhoons, which sweep over the China Sea with fearful violence, and are 
initiated by such an awful aspect of the sky as if the day of doom to universal nature 
were portended. The country of the Laos, rich in metals and woods, is in the far interior, 
enclosed by Burmah, Siam, Anam, and China. It belongs partly to each, but contains 
tribes which retain independence under their respective chiefs. Malaya, the remarkable 
south-western projection of the Indo-Chinese peninsula, is held by a few separate tribes of 
Malays, insubordinate to their own chieftains, good seamen, but piratical in their habits, 
and treacherous in their chaiacter. There is British ground within its limits. 

Sue, the capital of Anam, one of the coast towns of Cochin-China, is on a river of the same name, which 
flows through lovely scenery, about ten miles above its outlet. It has been well fortified by European art, 
contains an arsenal and building docks, but is accessible only to small vessels owing to the shallowness of tho 
stream, and a bar at the mouth. Tnron, southward on tho coast, is famed for the sacred mountains of 
marble in its neighbourhood, in which a very striking Buddhist temple has been excavated. Kachao, an 
inland town of Tonquin, on the Song-ka, is said to he the largest in the empire, with a population of 100,000. 
It was once the seat of English and Dutch factories, and is in active commercial intercourse with China. The 
Tonquineso of the present day are averse to communication with Europeans, and but little is known of the 
country. It was added to the empire of Anam by Gia-lung, a sovereign who lost his throne towards tho 
close of the last century, but recovered it by the aid of French officers, and died about the year 1820, having 
firmly re-established his authority. In return for military assistance he promised protection to Roman 
CathoUc missionaries, who speedily began their labours, but opposition and persecution followed from his 
successors. This led the French actively to interfere to compel the reigning monarch to alter his policy, at 
the same time possessing themselves of Basse Cochin-Chine, a portion of his dominions, lying on the lower 
course of the Saigon. 

Saigon, formerly the capital of Cambodia, now of Basse Cochin-Chine, is situated upon a river of the same 
name, about sixty miles from the sea, with sufficient water to float a three-decker. It is a largo, well-built, 
commercial city, with fortifications in the European style, contains a naval-yard, an arsenal, and is said to 
have at least 100,000 inhabitants. The place was taken by the French in 1859. Their territory, which 
promises to be a valuable acquisition, is divided into six provinces. It comprises an area of more than 10,000 
square miles, and has a population estimated at 2,000,000. By the recent treaty, the whole of Cambodia has 
been placed under the suzerainty of France. 

Chang-mai, the chief town of the Middle Laos, is on the Meinam, and contains about 25,000 inhabitants. 
The character and mannei's of these people were first illustrated by the missionary traveller Dr Gutzlaff'. 
They are divided into numerous tribes under chiefs whose government is patriarchal, follow various pursuits, 
but chiefly agriculture and mining; are peaceful, honest, and industrious; fond of music, and graceful dancers. 
They sing to the tones of the bamboo organ ; and dance holding garlands of flowers or lighted torches in 



ri8 



INDO-CHINESE PENINSULA. 



their hands. The wealthy Siamese have commonly Laos women for their wives. The men are expert at 
mining. They obtain gold, silver, copper, and iron from the mountains, metals which are principally sent 
into China, but dandestinth , in ui 1 r to avoid the heavy 1 1^ 




Moulmein. 
BRITISH POSSESSIONS. 

Assam, Chittagong, &c., .... Gowhati, Sylhet, Chittagong. 

British Burmah, Arracan, Akyab, Kangun, Prome, Moulmein. 

■ Andaman Islands, Port Blair. 

Eastern Settlements Georgetown, Malacca, Singapore. 

Assam, a long and narrow proTince, is situated on the middle course of the Brahma- 
putra, and is limited to the vaUey of the river, joining Bengal on the west, to the 
presidency of which it belongs. It was formerly part of the Eurman Empire, but was 
ceded by that power after the first war, in 1826, when aU right to some adjoining districts 
was at the same time renounced. The population is spare, and consists chiefly of Hiadus 
of the Brahmanical creed, of an inferior type to the majority of their brethren. The 
towns, so called, are little more than ranges of straggling huts, but the country is 
important, as a home of the tea-plant, to which by cultivation the aspect of a great tea- 
plantation is ia process of being given. 

High bordering mountains, streams descending their declivities to the centrally intersecting channel of the 
Brahmaputra, great forests and jungles occupied by an immense number of large and formidable wild 
animals, as elephants, rhinoceroses, tigers, leopards, and buffaloes, with frequent shocks of earthquakes, are 
the natural characteristics of Assam. A considerable extent of ground is now occupied by the tea-plant, 
carefully cultivated in the first instance under the direction of Cliinese instructors. The produce has 
realised higher prices in the London market than the finest qualities from China. Plantations established by 
the government have supplied 100 tons of tea-seeds, and 2,500,000 seedling plants in a single season to other 
districts. Land is granted for the purpose on easy terms to enterprising capitalists. In July 1862 there 
were actually under cultivation 13,222 acres, bearmg an estimated crop of 1,788,737 lbs., and affording 
employment to 16,611 daily labourers. But a total space of 71,218 acres had been appropriated. There are 
now 160 plantations, owned by sixty companies and individuals. Gowhati, in Lower Assam, is the principal 



F 



BRITISH POSSESSIONS. 719 

scat of trade, and the only place entitled to be called a town. Saikioah, in the upper or eastern part of tlio 
province, is diiefly a military station. 

Southward of Assam are the wild, wooded, and hilly districts of Cossya ; Gackar, where the tea-plant gi-ows 
wild, and is also under culture ; and Si/lhet, where coal is worked. Tribes in an almost savage state here 
occupy stockaded villages in natural fastnesses, from which they issue on marauding expeditions, and make 
good their retreat with plunder before the military police can arrest the foray. Further south, on the Bay 
of Bengal, is Chitlagong, the head of a district, in an imhealthy locality, once a commercial port and site for 
ship-building, but decayed since the acquisition of more favoured positions in British Burmah. 

British Buemah, a maritime territory, on the eastern side of the Bay of Bengal, extends 
between latitude 11° and 21°, equal to a direct distance of ahout 700 miles, but the 
average breadth is comparatively limited. It includes the provinces of Axracan, Pegu, 
Martaban, and Tenasserim, obtained by conquest from the Burmese ; and consists of a 
generally ilat, alluvial, rice-growing coast region, with liills rising into ranges of forest-clad 
mountains for the inland boundary, and a multitude of islands close in-shore. The aiea 
is estimated at 81,400 square miles, and the population at 1,732,000. There are a variety 
of races among the inhabitants, but neaily half the number are Burmese, principally 
found ill Pegu, iu the delta of the Irawaddy. Karens are also numerous, wild highland 
tribes, favourably spoken of as disposed to receive instruction themselves, and send their 
children to schools to learn English as the key to general knowledge. 

Arracan, on a river of the same name, 50 miles from the sea, is seated in a swampy insalubrious valley, sui- 
roimded by extensive ancient defences. The seat of goverimient has been removed to Akyab, and Arracan has 
declined in favour of its successor as a local capital. Alcyab, now the chief port of the province, stands on an 
island at the mouth of the stream. Rangoon, on an eastern branch of the Irawaddy, near its outlet, was f onnerly 
the chief port of Burmah. It is now fortified in the EiU'opean manner, possesses a dockyard, and a flotilla of 
steamers and flats for the conveyance of passengers and stores up the river. On the 4th of December 1858, the 
ex-king of Delhi, with the queen, and some ladies of the zenana, arrived here, on board H.M.S. Megara, and was 
sent to an inland station to imdergo the sentence of a felon transported beyond seas. Frame, higher up the Ira- 
waddy, is the largest place in British Burmah, containing 30,000 inhabitants, situated in the midst of rice-grounds 
.and gardens. Moulmein, near the mouth of the Salwn, is a flourishing seaport, with vast forests of teak for 
ship-building in its vicinity. Its liistory is somewhat curious. Soon after the cession of the territory to the 
British in 1826, Mr H. Gouger crossed the Salwn from the town of Martaban. He found a wide extent of 
country on the opposite bank, completely covered with woods and jungle, of which wild beasts and reptiles 
had long been the only inliabitants. But evidence appeared of human occupancy in bygone time. In the 
very midst of the wilderness stupendous walls were found, neatly and strongly built of brick, with large 
forest-trees growing from their tops, or out of rents and fissures in their face. The walls had towers at their 
angles, and along their several sides at regular distances. They enclosed a vast square or parallelogram, then 
s, void space, but fragments of buildings shewed that a very considerable city had once occupied the spot. 
This was Moulmein, of which the Portuguese traveller Pinto caught a glimpse in the middle ages ; ruined by 
savage warfare, it disappeared in the jungle which rapidly overgrew its remains. It is now a tliriving 
shipping port, with 17,000 inhabitants, among whom are Parsee, Armenian, and Burmese traders. Good 
coal is found in the vicinity, as weU as at some other points southward on the coast. 

The Andaman Islands, an extensive group in the Bay of Bengal, opposite the shores 
of British Burmah, are occupied as a penal settlement, selected in the first instance for 
the captured sepoys concerned in the Indian Mutiny, but now destined to receive generally 
the convicts sentenced in India to transportation. Port Blah; the colony recently estab- 
lished, with upwards of 2000 prisoners, is named after Captain Blair, who founded a 
settlement on the North Andaman in 1792, which was abandoned after four years' 
struggle with disease. The islands were re-visited in 1857, by a deputation in the 
steamer Pluto, for the purpose of fixing upon a suitable site for the station. 

The trees are of enormous size, closely packed, almost hid from view by a growth of parasites and creepers. 
The mangi'oves, with their long hanging branches falling to the earth, and again talcing root, grow almost in 
a line of forest along the shore, and even projecting far into the water at high tide. The natives are a pigmy 
race, but fierce and intractable as demons, incredibly agile, extremely barbarous in their habits, wearing no 
covering beyond a coating of mud, renewed every night as a protection from mosquitoes, ticks, and other 
annoying insects. 

The Eastern Settlements are connected with the Strait of Malacca. They consist of 
Priace of "Wales's Island, at the north entrance ; that of Singapore, at the south extremity ; 



720 



DfDO-CHINESE EMPIRE, 



and tliG district of Malacca, intermediate, on tlie mainland, wMcIi completely command 
the channel. It separates the peninsula of Malaya from the island of Sumatra, and is the 
hest and most frequented route between India and China. 

Prince of AYales's Island, its official style, has the native name of Pulo-Penang, ' Betel-nut Island,' from tlio 
areca-palni ■which produces the fruit, and grows luxuriantly. It is eighteen miles long, eight miles broad, 
traversed centrally by a ridge of liills, and about two miles from the mainland. Geargttoion, the capital, con- 
tains a population of 40,000, of a very miscellaneous description, possesses a good'harbour, and enjoys a 
delightful climate. The island was acquired by the East India Company in 1785; and on the adjoining main 
shore, in ISOO, a small district, called "Wellesley province, was obtained by purchase from a native chief. The 
popper vine is very successfully cultivated in Penang. In 1S5S, at Georgetown, the first execution of a wliite 
man occurred, an jimerican sailor, for the murder of the m,ato of his ship. 

Malacca, a well-built town, at the mouth of a small Malaj'an river, is the chief military station of the 
British on the strait. Its name has become widely known from the association of St Francis Xavier with the 
Church of Our Lady del Monte, and the Anglo-Chinese coUogo founded by the missionaries Morrison and 
Milne. It was ceded by the Dutch, in 1824, in exchange for Bencoolen in Sumatra. The dependent territory 
extends about forty miles, along the coast, by twenty-five miles inland, but has no features of interest, and 
very thinly occupied. 

Singapore, ' City of the Lion,' is a principal entrepSt for European and Asiatic merchandise, containing a 
popidation of 60,000, among whom the Chinese are prominent. It is 1470 mUes from Point de GaUe in Ceylon, 
and 1600 miles from Calcutta, and is a principal station of the Peninsular and Oriental Company's steamers. 
Being within eighty miles of the equator, the climate is hot but equable. The island, bearing the same name 
as the town, is of elliptical form, twenty-seven miles long, and iifteen mUes broad, separated by a narrow 
channel from the mainland. The Malays call it TJjong Tanna, the 'Land's End,' situated at the south 
extremity of their peninsula, and of the continent of Asia. Its soil is fruitful, it does not abound in trees, 
but its hnis and valleys are covered with pleasant verdure. The port is secure at all seasons of the year ; 
the imports amount to £3,500,000, and exports to £3,000,000. It berame a British possession iu 1824. 






Canton Eiver and Ho-nan Island. 
CHAPTEE VIII. 

THE CHINESE EMPIRE. 

IHINA, and the adjacent territories usually considered component 
parts of the empire, though several are now very loosely connected 
•with it, include a vast section of Eastern and Central Asia, enclosed 
by the Eussian dominions on the north, India and the Indo- 
Chinese peninsula on the south, Turkestan on the west, and arms 
of the Pacific Ocean on the east. The region within these bounds 
is proudly denominated by the native race Telwu-Koue, ' Centre of 
the Earth,' in allusion to its supposed importance, and Teen-hea, 
' Under Heaven,' in reference to its extent, while its rulers have 
assumed to themselves the titles of ' Sons of Heaven,' and ' Brothers 
of the Sun and Moon.' The area is estimated at 5,393,000 square 
mUes, equal to nearly one-third of the extent of Asia, while half as large again as the 
whole of Europe. It contains at least one-third of the entire human race. Immense dis- 
tricts are comprehended with totally opposite features. There are the most densely- 
peopled lands, and also utter solitudes, or wastes thinly sprinlded with nomadic tribes. 
An alluvial plain of the richest soU, larger than France, minutely cultivated, and bordered 
by ranges of azalea-clad mountains, co-exists with tracts of sand or shingle without the 
sh"-htest vegetation, the monotony of which is unbroken in its dreariness for leagues, and 

2t 




722 THE CHINESE EMPIRE. 

has no variety at all but low sterile liilla and rocky ravines. Tremendons hail-storms, clouds 
of dust or snow flying in alternate seasons characterise these regions ; mingling with the 
camels, merchants, and couriers of a passing caravan. Besides China, the principal divisions 
of the empire are Mantchuria, Corea, Mongoha, Chinese Turkestan, and the Tibetan countries. 

I. CHINA PROPER. 

This region, forming the south-easterly section of the empire, embraces one-third of its 
extent, according to a probable estimate, or 1,700,000 square miles, and contains a popula- 
tion of more than 360,000,000, who form generally a homogeneous people, with one type 
of countenance, one written language, similar modes of thought, and great uniformity of 
dress, habitation, and social Hfe. The boundary is maritime on the east and south, formed 
by branches of the Pacific Ocean, of wHch the most important are the Yellow Sea and 
the China Sea, The Yellow Sea divides the north of China from the Corean peninsula, 
and has been so named from the discolouring of the water by the sediment brought into 
it by the rivers, the deposition of which renders it in many parts extremely shallow. The 
China Sea intervenes between the southern provinces and the Philippine Islands ; and is 
occasionally of perilous navigation, owing to the typhoons or rotary storms which visit its 
basia, strew the shores with wrecks, and destroy life and property by the fall of houses 
even in the cities. A vast number of islands closely fringe the coasts, but aU are of 
small size, with the exception of Formosa and Hainan. The country has an extent of 
about 1470 miles from north to south, by 1350 miles from east to west; and is comprised 
between latitude 20° and 42° north, longitude 98° and 123° east. On the western side, 
embracing half the area, the surface is mountainous, and rises in bolder ranges as Tibet is 
approached, some of wliich long retain the winter's snow upon their crests, but aie richly 
clad with woods on the slopes. The other half, in the southerly part, is beautifully varied 
with hills, cultivated to the summit on the terrace principle, clothed with fruit-trees, 
flowering plants, or edible vegetation. The northerly portion consists of the great 
plain, the most productive granary in the world, and the seat of its densest population, 
extending from the south of ISTankin to the north of Pekin. Its low swampy tracts 
are cultivated as rice-grounds, while those which are firm and dry are irrigated and 
manured with the utmost care for various produce. 

Two rivers of the first class in magnitude, the Hoang-ho and the Yang-tse-kiang, dis- 
tinguish the hydrography. Both descend from the Tibetan highlands, and traverse the 
country from west to east, but make enormous detours to the north and south. They 
separate to immense distances in the middle parts of then* course, but closely approach 
each other in the lower, and have their outlets mthin the limits of the same province. 
These rivers are very differently regarded by the Chinese. The Hoang-ho, or Yellow 
Pdver, contributes the sediment which gives colouring and a name to the Yellow Sea, 
derived chiefly from the great plain, as in the early part of its flow the water is remarkably 
clear. It has a mighty, furious, and unmanageable current, and is therefore little adapted 
for navigation by native craft, requiring embankments to prevent inimdations on its 
passage through the lowlands, and from often breaking bounds, one of the emperors styled 
it ' China's Sorrow.' Very recently the tiu'bident river has left its former channel for 
upwards of 200 miles from the mouth, and chosen a new one more to the north, 
though this is probably only a return to an ancient water-way, as there have been 
repeated shiftings in its coiuse. Many slight shocks of earthquakes experienced in the 
great plain in 1852-1833 are believed to have promoted the change. The Yang-tse-kiang, 
' Son of the Ocean,' has a longer course, an ampler basin, a milder and more majestic flow ; 
and only agreeable associations are connected with it. It is the favourite river of the j 



MINOR CHINESE EIVEES. 723 

natives, ■with vast cities on its bariks, wide margins of fertile and cultivated lands on 
either hand, and thousands of junks constantly afloat upon its surface. British ships of 
the lino passed up it to Nankin during the recent wars ; and since the treaty of Tien-tsin 
in 1860 it has been ascended by a private party under Captain Blakiston, with the view 
of penetrating by it through Tibet into India. The adventurers gradually exchanged the 
alluvial plains of the coast for bold and beautiful scenery, high rocks and mountains, 
glens and gorges, with frequent rapids. Coal of superior quality, and gold associated with 
mica, were found worked on the banks ; but, after a progress of 1500 miles by the stream, 
tho explorers encountered such dif&culties from the disturbed state of the country, that 
they were compelled to return, having penetrated further into the interior of China than 
any other Europeans. 

Elvers of minor rank, but of high local utiKty, are numerous, and lakes overspread a considerable extent 
of the surface, some of which are economised by being occupied with artificially constructed floating islands, 
sustaining homesteads, with the gardens and live-stock of the inmates. These internal waters are extensively 
united by a system of canals, in the formation of which the Chinese early excelled, but more by industry 
than skill. The Imperial Canal, the largest work of the kind, passes from south to north through the great 
lowland, connects Hang-chow with the river-system of Peldn, and has a total length of nearly 700 miles. Owing 
to the generally level surface and the light alluvial soil, its construction required little mechanical ingenuity, 
but involved vast labour, as it is sufficiently broad and deep to accommodate vessels of considerable burden. 
But in some places it is carried across rising-grounds by excavations, and over depressions by mounds. The 
southern portion of this great work was executed in the seventh or eighth century, but the northern part was 
made in the thirteenth by Kublai Khan and his successors, when the Mongol dynasty removed the imperial 
residence from Nankin to Pekin. 'While intended to answer the purposes of general commerce, irrigation, 
and drainage, it was mainly designed to facilitate the passage of the provision fleets from the productive pro- 
vinces, to the capital, by an inland route, thereby avoiding a long sea-voyage, and exposure to danger from 
storms and pirates on the coast. 

Another monument of useless industrial labour, the Great TVall, encloses the country on the north, and 
was erected by tho first emperor of the Tsin dynasty, about 220 B. C, as a security against the incursions of 
the Tartars. It passes through nearly nineteen degrees of longitude, over high mountains, deep valleys, and 
across broad rivers by means of arches ; has a total course of about 1250 miles ; and terminates in the midst 
of nearly impassable rocks and extensive deserts. This great rampart, where it is the strongest, consists of 
an exterior of stone and brick, inlaid with earth, and is broad enough to allow of six horsemen riding abreast 
at the summit. It is furnished with towers at intervals of every 100 yards, and passed at certain points by gates 
under a guard. The height varies, but may average twenty feet. It is said to have been erected in five years 
by the enforced toil of every third labourer throughout the empire. The wall is now in many parts 
in a very dilapidated condition, but even when most perfect and best guarded it entirely failed in its 
object— that of keeping out erratic nations. Smugglers passed openly through the crumbling breeches. 
Peldn is about sixty miles south of the barrier, known among the natives as the Wan-U-CIumff, or 'myriad- 
mUe-wall.' From the Tsin dynasty, under whom, it was built, the country is supposed to derive its name, 
corrupted from Tsina into China. 

All the metals are known to occur in China with the exception of platina. Small 
quantities of gold are obtained from the sands of rivers ; silver, copper, lead, and iron 
mines are worked ; coal, widely diffused in great abundance, is used for common fuel and 
in manufactures ; tho highly-valued greenstone, called jade, and various gems are met 
with ; and from vast beds of porcelain earth of the finest quality, the ware is produced 
which once monopoUsed the markets of Europe, and led to all the superior kinds of 
pottery wherever made being denoted by the name of ' china.' ISTo active volcano appears 
to exist, but there are soKataras emitting sulphureous vapours, springs of hot water, wells 
of petroleum, and the soil in many places indicates a volcanic origin. Large wild animals 
are entirely absent from the densely-peopled districts, where man himself is cramped for 
elbow-room, and has to nurture every little patch of soil to provide the means of subsistence. 
But the mountainous provinces bordering on Tibet contain the elephant, rhinoceros, 
tiger, bear, and tapir, -with varieties of deer and monkeys. Formidable reptiles are also 
unlmo^vn; pheasants and other gallinaceous birds, with water-fowl, are plentiful; and the 
ichthyology, both along the coasts and in the rivers, comprises beautiful and peculiar forms, 



724 THE CHINESE EMPIEE. 

from whicli Europe has been enriclied with its goldfish. Locusts occasionally commit 
great devastation, and some other insect tribes are noxious. From the earliest ages the 
silkworm has been reared. The domesticated quadrupeds are not numerous, for much of 
the work is performed by human hands, which in other countries falls to the lot of the 
horse ; but the Bactrian camel appears iu the north as a beast of burden, and the buffalo 
is employed to tUl the rice-grounds in the south, under the name of the 'aquatic ox.' 

The ' Mowery Land,' as the country is styled by the natives, is an epithet appropriately 
bestowed iipon it. In the southerly districts the hUlsides are clothed with groves of 
camellias, azaleas, magnolias, and tree-peonies, with which clematises, roses, honeysuckles, 
and crysanthemums intermingle, spreading before the eye a display of gorgeous beauty, 
and gratifying the senses with delicious perfume. The useful vegetation of the large and 
more important kind includes the tallow-tree, the varnish-tree, the camphor-tree, the wax- 
tree, the mulberry, the funereal cypress, and palms on the southern coast. Bamboos, of 
which ujJwards of sixty varieties are enumerated, form forests in the warm regions, and 
are of great value to the owners, being applied to an endless number of uses, besides the 
one which led Marco Polo to remark, ' Of a surety there is no such country for stick as 
Cathay.' The fruits of temperate climes are produced in the north, where also the 
ordmary cereals of Europe, maize, barley, and wheat are raised, while rice is grown in vast 
quantities ia the south, and tropical fruits appear. "With marvellous care every foot of 
ground is tilled, every nook occupied by some useful plant, and the highest honours of 
the state are paid to the task of cultivation. Once a year, towards the close of March, the 
emperor repairs in person to a particular field, attended by princes of the blood, high 
officers of the court, and several labourers. After offering sacrifice on an altar of earth, he 
lays his hand upon the plough, and traces part of a furrow. The princes and functionaries 
severally imitate the example of the monarch, and then the common labourers proceed to 
complete the work of tillage. The same ceremonial is observed by the governors of 
proviuces. But of aU the botanical products of China, the tea-plant is the most 
characteristic and valuable, cultivated in almost every province, but principally between 
the latitude of 27° and 31°, on the slopes of hills in the basin of the Tang-tse-kiang. 

There arc two varieties of the tea-plant, Tkca viridis and Thca boliea, from either of wliich black and green 
tea is produced, mainly by diiferent modes adopted in preparing the leaves. The maritime province of 
Puk-heen, on the western border of which are the famous Bohea Moxintains, is the principal black-tea district. 
The largest amount of green tea is raised further north in the adjoining provinces of Che-keang and Keang-se. 
From the unexpanded shoots and very young leaves Pekoe, a black tea, and young Hyson, a green tea, are 
obtained. The fully-expanded, but still young leaves, produce Souchong, Pouchong, and Campor, among 
the black teas, -with Imperial Gunpowder and Hyson among the green. The oldest and coarsest of the leaves 
produce Bohea, the most inferior in quality of the black teas. Great Britain takes annually upwards of 
70,000,000 pounds. 

In manufactures the people display the same patient industry as in agriculture, and 
particularly excel iu all works which require dexterous and delicate handhng. They are 
unsurpassed in the production of sUk, cotton, and linen fabrics, light gauzes and 
embroidered satins, fijie porcelain and lacquered wares, filigree-work in gold and silver, 
fans and artificial flowers, carvings on ivory and engraving on wood or stone, ink and 
paper, while their dyeing is reno^vned for its brUliant and durable hues. In various 
points of knowledge, as the polarity of the loadstone, the art of printing, and the com- 
position of gunpowder, the Chinese long antedated the Europeans ; but either from 
incapacity to advance beyond a certain limit, or obstinate adherence to ancestral habits, 
they failed to benefit by the discoveries, from which the Western nations speedily reaped 
advantages as soon as they were comprehended. In spite of their o^vn amazing assiduity 
and ingeniousness, with the natural productiveness of the soU. t>ie country is vastly over- 
stocked J the masses of the population are poverty-stricken ; and hence the multitudes 



ITS MODERN HISTOHT. 



725 



who Lave sought to find relief in emigration, and are now established in large com- 
munities in Siam and Cochin-China, in Java, Borneo, and the Philippines, at 
Singapore and Calcutta, in California and Australia. Social misery, political discontent, 
and religious fanaticism have combined to fill almost every province with rebels, the 
most considerable body of whom, the Taepings, since 1850, have •(vrested an immense 
domain from imperial authority. 

Tlie modem history of Cliiiia dates from its conquest by the Mongols under Kublai Khan in the year 1279. 
In his reign the country was visited by Marco Polo, the Venetian traveller, who may be called its first 
European discoverer. A native Ming dynasty succeeded in 13G3. This was followed by the line of the 
Mantchu Tartars, the present rulers, in 1641, which gave able sovereigns to the throne in the last century, 
but their late successors have devoted themselves chiefly to luxury and opium. Yellow is the imperial 
colour, and none but persons of the blood-royal are allowed to wear yellow girdles. The emperor is not 
uecessai"ily the eldest son of his predecessor, but nominated by him from his family. The present monarch, 
Hien Fung, ' Perfect BUss,' who ascended the throne in 1850, was a fourth son. The first attempt of any 
European government to open direct intercourse with the court of China was made by the Russians. Tliis 
was in 1655. The first British envoy, Lord Macartney, in 1792, proceeded by sea to the mouth of the Peiho, 
the river of Peldn, and ascended it in yachts provided by the native authorities. Though honourably received, 
no commercial advantages were secured by the mission, and British trade remained restricted to the single port 
of Canton, till hostilities enlarged its sphere. By the treaty of Nankin in 18i2, after the first war, the ports of 
Amoy, Fu-chow, King-po, and Shang-hae were thrown open, and the island of Hong-kong was ceded to Great 
Britain. By the treaty of Tien-tsin in 185S, after a second war, other ports and cities were declared free to 
British subjects, with the right of travelling under passports from their consuls through all parts of the 
interior-, and the appointment of diplomatic agents to reside at the capital In 1860, to enforce the 
ratification of this treaty, British and French armies advanced to Pekiii, where all demands were conceded. 

For administrative purposes China is divided into eighteen provinces, aU of which are 
of very large size, and each is under an imperial legate or governor. 



Pekin, Tien-tsin. 
Tsi-nan, Tong-chang. 
Tai-yuen, Ping-yang, Fen-chow. 
Sin-gan, Fung-tsiang. 
Lan-chow, Koung-chang. 
Nankin, Shanghae. 
Kai-fung, Nan-yang, Ho-naiu 
Ngan-kin, Chee-chow. 
Tou-chang, Han-yang, Hoang-chow. 
Ching-tou, Kiang-tsin. 
Chang-sha, Chin-chow. 
Kuei-yang, Tong-chin. 
Hang-chow, Ning-po. 
Fu-chow, Amoy, Tai-wan. 
Nan-chang, Kin-te-ching. 
Canton, Chao-chow, Kong-chow. 
Kuei-ling, Ping-to. 
Yun-nan. 

The provinces are sub-divided into districts, departments, and circuits, under subordinate 
officers. Towns are ranged in tliree classes according to their rank, which is denoted by 
terminals attached to their names, as foo or /a, signifying a town of the first rank ; cliow 
or clieou, one of the second; and Imen or tsmi, one of the third. In Chinese nomenclature, 
jie signifies north ; nan, south ; tung, east ; se, west ; Idng, court ; lio and Maiig, river ; 
shall, mountain ; hoo or liu, lake. Hence Pe-king means the north court, Nan-Icing, the 
south court, at difi'erent periods imperial residences; Shan-tung, east of the mountains; 
SJian-se, west of the mountains ; and Hoo-nan, south of the lake. 

In general the towns have little variety in arrangement and architecture. Few Europeans have been so 
largely acquainted with those in the interior as the late Pere Hue, who remarks upon their uniformity : 





Population 






acooraing to 


Ave:i in 




the Census 


Sq. Miles 




of 1812. 




Northern Provinces. Chih-le, . 


. 28,000,000 


53,949 


ft II Shan-tung, 


29,000,000 


65,104 


II II Shan-se, . 


. 14,000,000 


55,268 


II II Shen-se, 


10.000,000 


67,400 


11 II Kan-su, . 


. 15,000,000 


86,608 


Central Provinces. Kiang-su, . 


38,000/100 


44,500 


11 1. Ho-nan, . 


. 23,000,000 


65,104 


11 11 Gan-hway, . 


34,000,000 


48,461 


II 11 Hu-pe, . 


. 27,000,000 


70,450 


11 n Sze-chuen, . 


21,000,090 


166,880 


If 11 Hu-nan, . 


. 18,000,000 


74,320 


» 11 Kwei-chow, 


5,000,000 


64,554 


11 II Che-kiang, 


. 26,000,000 


39,150 


11 11 Fu-keen, . 


15,000,000 


53,480 


11 11 Kiang-se, 


. 23,000,000 


72,176 


Southern Provinces. Kwang-tung, 


19,000,000 


79,456 


1, II Kwang-se, 


. 7,000,000 


78,250 


n 11 Yun-nan, . 


5,000,000 


107,969 



726 THE CHOTESB BMPIEK 

' Tlie towns are almost all built on the same plan ; they are usually of the quadrilateral form, and surrounded 
by high walls, flanked with towers at certain distances, and sometimes also by ditches, wet or dry. In books 
which speak of China, it is said that the streets are broad and perfectly straight, but it is not less true that 
others are narrow and tortuous, especially in the cities of the south. "We have seen here and there some 
exceptions, but they are extremely rare. The houses in town as well as coimtry are low, and have seldom 
more than one story. Those of the first class are buUt of brick, or painted wood, varnished on the outside, 
and roofed with gray tiles ; the second are of wood or clay, with thatched roofs. The buildings of the north 
are always inferior to those of the south, especially in the villages. In the houses of the rich there are usually 
several courts, one behind another, and in the last are the apartments of the women and the maidens. A 
southern aspect is always preferred. The whole of one side of the apartments is usually occupied by windows, 
in wliich either talc, painted in various designs, a sort of transparent shell, and white or coloured paper, is 
used instead of glass. The edges of the roof are turned up to form a gutter, and the comers decorated with 
dragons and other fabulous animals. The shops are supported by pilasters, ornamented with inscriptions on 
painted and varnished boards, and the mixture of colours produces from a distance a very agreeable effect. 
Very few private houses can be called magnificent, though the term may be appUed to some public edifices. 
At Pekin the government ofiices and palaces of the princes are raised on a basement, and covered vrith 
varnished tiles ; but the most remarkable monuments are the bridges, towers, and pagodas. Tlie bridges are 
very numerous, and we have seen some stone ones, composed of arches of great strength and span, that were 
very handsome and imposing in appearance.' Shops of confectioners, seedsmen, grain-dealers, hardwaremen, 
old-clothes sellers, and other descriptions, have their fronts wholly removed during the daytime. Soon after 
sunset they are carefully shut up and looked. 

NORTHERN PROVINCES. 

The Nortlieni Provinces include tlie country extending generally from the parallel of 
35 degrees, and the lower course of the Hoang-ho, to the Great Wall. Two of the number 
are maritime, Chih-le and Shan-tung, enclosing the greater part of the upper extremity of 
the TeUow Sea. This region has hot summers, hut very cold winters, quite Siberian ia 
their rigour, and produces the grains and fruits of iN"orthern Europe. At Pekin, which is 
more southerly than Naples, there is a winter marked with daily frost for three or four 
months, and ice a foot thick blocks up the rivers. In various parts, outcrops of coal 
indicate the presence of stores of the combustible never as yet touched by the hand of 
man. Some extensive deposits are worked for consumption ia the capital, where wood is 
dear. But coal-working, with mining in general, is conducted in the rudest manner. 
Nothing is known of the machines which facilitate the procm-ance of the mineral, and 
relieve the mines of water, nor are vertical shafts in use. The coal is brought from its 
bed in baskets by manual laboiu-, and the water is discharged in a similar manner 
by means of small casks. Artificial fuel is prepared of coal-dust and a yellow clay, 
mixed with water into a thick paste, then moulded, and baked as in the manufactui'o 
of bricks. 

Pekin, more correctly Pe-lcmg (' the northern court '), the capital of the empire, is situated a short distance 
from the banks of the Peiho, about 106 miles from the sea, in latitude 40° north, longitude 117° east. It has 
an uninviting external appearance, and is wholly without advantages of position, being situated on a barren 
and sandy plain, while the navigation of the river ceases, except for boats, twelve miles lower doivn. The 
city is said to contain a population of at least 1,400,000. It consists of two distinct divisions or towns, 
both enclosed with walls. The one is Tartar and imperial, containing the palaces of the emperor, princes, 
and grandees, with the garrison. Tlie other is Chinese and commercial, chiefly remarkable for bustle and 
hubbub in the streets, varied and curious articles in the shops, but contains the ' Temple of Heaven,' one of the 
finest of tlie religious edifices in the empire, in its construction and ornaments. The cliief hall, circular 
in shape, supposed to represent the heavens, is adorned with columns painted sky-blue, and richly covered 
with gold. To this temple the emperor repairs annually, on the day of the winter-solstice, to oifer sacrifice, 
and prepares for the ceremony during three previous fasting-days in a portion of it called the ' Penitential 
Eetreat.' "Wlicn the aUied army entered Pekin in 1860, they met only a curiosity-stricken mob, gazing 
with open eyes and mouths on their doings, while not a few drove a thriving trade in selling fruits and 
sweetmeats, and some were good-natured enough to help in planting the guns. 

Tien-tsin, the scene of the treaty of 1858, is on the south bank of the Peiho, sixty-eight miles below Pekin, 
and thirty-eight from the sea. It is the northern terminus of the Grand Canal, now disabled by the 
irruption of the Hoang-ho, and the largest port on the coast north of Shang-hae, containing 300,000 
inhabitants. Many of the houses are good, and have verandahs well filled with flowering-plants. The 



CENTRAL PEOVINOES. 727 

tashionablo loungo is a street with the name of ' Everlasting Prosperity.' The city is considered the key of 
the capital, -where at any time a superior force can stop its supply of provisions, whether brought from the 
southern provinces by the canal or by sea. 

CENTEAL PROVINCES. 

The Central Provinces are limited generally by the parallels of 26° and 35°, and 
embrace tbe lower part of the basin of the Yang-tse-kiang. Three of the number 
are maritime, Kiang-su, Che-kiang, and Pu-keen. With the latter the large island of 
Formosa is connected as a department, along with some small dependent groups. This 
section is the richest district of the country, its priacipal granary, the chief seat of the 
production of tea, porcelain, and silk, with cotton manufactures. The winters are much 
milder than in the northern division, though at Nankin, in the latitude of the mouth of 
the Nile, frost and snow are annually experienced. 

Nankin or Nan-Hng (' southern court'), a former imperial capital, stands on the south bank of the Tang-tse- 
kiang, about 90 miles from the beginning of its estuary, and 200 miles from the mouth. It is surrounded by 
a wall above 40 feet high, 18 miles in circuit, passed by 13 gates, but large iuterior spaces are now covered 
with ruins, or consist of fields and gardens. The population, though vastly reduced, is estimated at 300,000. 
A porcelain tower is, or rather was, a celebrated object. This was a pagoda of nine stories, 260 feet high, with 
projecting balconies at each story, the balustrades of which are painted with liighly-vamished gaudy coloiu-s. 
It was erected by the Emperor Yung-lo to reward the kindness of his mother (1413 — 1432), and has recently 
been destroyed by the Taepings. The calico called 'nankeen' derived its name from that of the city, as 
either the seat of its production, or the place from which it was first obtained. Its peculiar buff colour, 
once supposed to be artificial, and valued for its durability, is the natural hue of the cotton employed, and 
is extensively imitated. The manufactures of silks and paper are in high repute, and the article called 
Indian ink is largely made. Nankin was taken by the insurgents in 1853, and is now the capital of 
Taepingdom. Not one of the Tartars who were captured was spared. ''We killed them all,' said the 
ruffians; 'we left not a root to sprout from. The bodies were thrown into the Tang-tse.' This move- 
ment first became prominent in the autumn of 1850, under Hung-tsiu-tsuen, a man of humble 
origin, educated in a Protestant missionary school in the south of China, and a disappointed candidate 
for government employment. He proposed to found a new native dynasty, that of Taeping or ' Universal 
Peace.' Familiar by instruction with some Christian doctrines, many Europeans abroad, with the religious 
world at home, were disposed for a time to look favourably upon the enterprise. But the scales soon fell 
from their eyes. The bubble burst. The leader assumed the title of the Heavenly King, pretended to divine 
revelations, and propounded a system which has blood-thirstiness, blaspheniy, and polygamy for its principal 
featiu-es. 

Shang-lme, the seat of immense commerce, is situated upon a large navigable river flowing into the mouth 
of the Yang-tse. Its prosperity, and almost its existence, are quite of recent date. In 1846, when it was 
opened as a port to British trade, only a few houses were to be seen among corn, rice, and cotton fields. It 
is now one of the largest cities in the east, with a population estimated at more than 1,000,000, consisting 
chiefly of Chinese who have flocked to it from places held by the Taepings, seeking refuge mider the flag of 
foreign nations. In 1802 the resident consuls declared it under their protection, as a warning to the 
disturbers who were troubling the neighbourhood. Hangt-clwu, on the south-west, at the commencement of 
the imperial canal, answers to the description of its visitor, Marco Polo, in the middle ages, as one of the 
finest and most considerable cities in the empire. The walls are twenty miles in circuit ; the streets are 
broad and well paved; the canals, bridges, and temples are numerous; and the environs are beautifully 
wooded. But the inhabitants, 800,000, have grievously suffered from the rebels. Ning-po, Fut-chou, and 
Amoy ai-e free ports on the south. The latter, on a small island close in-shore, has an excellent harbour 
which admits of ships coming up to the quays. Kin-te-cliing, in the interior, east of the Poyang Lake, is 
distinguished by clouds of smoke by day, and pillars of fire by night, from hundreds of furnaces, as the great 
centre of the porcelain manufacture. Of three inland places on the banks of the Yang-tse, whose names lire 
scarcely known out of the comitry, Han-yang, Vou-chang, and Boang-chou, it is stated by Pere Hue that 
' these three towns, standing in a triangle, in sight of one another, and only separated by the river, form a 
kind of heart, from which the prodigious commercial activity of China circulates to all parts of the empire. 
They are calculated to contain together nearly 8,000,000 of inhabitants, and they are so closely connected by 
the pei-petual going and coming of vessels that they may almost be said to foi-m one !' 

The island of Formosa, ' Beautiful,' a name applied to it by the Portugnese — the Chinese name is Tai-wcm 
— opposite the coast of Fu-keen, extends 237 miles from north to south, and has an average breadth of 
70 miles. Some Malay tribes maintain a rude independence on the eastern or oceanic side, and are 
separated from the Chinese on the western by a lofty chain of mountains, with summits nearly reach- 
ing the snow-line. Rich fruits are produced, and coal of good quality ocom-s in abundance. Tai-wan, 
the chief town, on the west coast, was opened to foreign commerce by the treaty of Tien-tsin. 




Canton, from Temple of Five Genii. 



SOUTHERN PROVINCES. 



The Southern Provinces range from the preceding district to the sea, and include 
possessions of the Portuguese and the British. Being intersected "by the tropic of Cancer, 
the productions and climate are tropical. The cocoa-nut and other palms wave on the 
shores. Oranges, pomegranates, pine-apples, mangoes, and hananas occur among the 
fruits. At Canton oppressive heat prevails in summer, hut in January frost is not 
uncomimon. Snow fell in the winter of 1835 ; but its advent is so rare, that the shower 
was regarded with the utmost astonishment by the inhabitants. 

Canton, a corruption of the Cliinese Kwang-Tung, till recent times tlie only port at whicli Europeans 
were permitted to trade, is situated on the east bank of the Choo-kiang, or Pearl Kiver, at the head of the 
picturesque estuary wliich it forms at its mouth, called the Bocca Tigris. "Vessels heavily laden cannot come 
up to the city, owing to the shallowness of the stream, but anchor some miles below. It has a circuit of nine 
miles, is enclosed by a rampai-t, passed by twelve gates to which guard-houses are attached. _ Several streets 
are monopolised by particular trades, and hence are named after tliem, as Carpenter Street, Apothecary 
Street, and so on. The population, noted for its turbulence and hatred of foreigners, is supposed to exceed 
1,000,000. This includes an immense number who live constantly in boats on the river, and in miserable 
huts built on piles driven into its bed. The commercial importance of the place has been greatly 
diaiinished by the opening of the other ports. In 1857 Canton was taken by the allied British and 
Prench, when the notorious governor, Teh, was captured in bis palace, and conveyed to Calcutta, at his own 
request, where he died. He confessed to having put to death 70,000 of his countrymen dui-ing his viceregal 
reign over the province. 

Macao, a Portuguese town, with an adjoining district about eight miles in circuit, occupies the peninsular 
projection of an island on the western side of the entrance of the Canton Eiver. The 'settlement was 
obtained in the year 1586, partly in return for services rendered in clearing the seas of pirates, and partly by 
stealth. The town is small, but highly agreeable, and has a salubrious site, open on all sides to the sea- 
breezes. In the vicinity a cave and garden are shewn, as the favourite hamit of Camoens, the national poet 



SOUTHERN PEOVINCES. 729 

of Porluga,!, who wrote t!ie greater part of his Imsiad during his residence in the settlement, where he held 
tlio post of administrator of the effects of deceased persons. A small ground-rent was paid to the Chinese 
government for the possession till the recent treaties with other foreigners enabled the Portuguese to claim 
exemption from it. The total population is about 30,000. 

The island of HoNG-KONG, a British possession, is on the opposite side of the entrance to the Canton Eiver, 
forty miles from Macao, and close to the main shore. The name signifies 'Sweet "Waters' or 'Fragrant 
Streams,' for which the Cliinese commonly substitute the unpoetical and odd style of ' Petticoat String Road.' 
It is about nine miles long by from two to six miles broad, and has a surface rough with mountains of granite, 
serpentine, and trap, which render the scenery extremely pictui'esque, though of no considerable elevation. 
The climate is unhealthy, excessively hot and damp in summer, while dry and cold in the winter months, 
when fires are often required. Victoria, the chief to^vn, on the coast towards the mainland, occupies a site 
which was covered with brushwood and jungle a quarter of a century ago, but now extends upwards of a 
mile along the beach, has spacious streets, fashionable shops, and great commercial establishments. A 
magnificent bay fonns the harbour, one of the finest in the world, a deep and spacious expanse landlocked 
by a circlet of liills, on wliich men-of-war and steamers, merchant craft of every country, trading junks of all 
shapes and coloui'S, arc constantly to be seen. Victoria Peak rises behind the town, and is a fine object from 
the water, but unfortunately shuts out during the hot months the refreshing influence of the south-west 
monsoon. The island has a total population of 75,000. It forms a colony of the crown, the affairs of which 
are administered by a governor and legislative council. Ceded by the treaty of Nankin in 1S43, there was 
added to it by the treaty of Pekin in ISCl a smaE strip of the mainland adjoining, which forms the peninsula 
of Kow-lung. 

The Chinese helong to the Mongolian variety of the human race, and exhibit minor 
characteristic differences in the respective provinces, whUe generally very much aKke in 
conformation, disposition, and habits. They fall below the average height of Europeans, 
especially the -women, and are far less muscular. The complexion is tawny, though 
ruddy countenances may be seen in the colder northern parts of the country. The eyes 
are small, the hair coarse and lank, and the cheek-bones high. Sleek corpulency ia 




Tiger Island. 



730 THE CHINESE EMPIEK 

admired in men, and nature deformed as to tlie shape of tte foot in women. In early 
cliildhood, among tlie superior classes, the feet of the girls are tightly handaged, the toes 
are bent down and under so as to form part of the sole, and the heel is brought forward. 
By tliis process the foot is reduced in adult life almost to a stump. One which a shoe 
measuring three and a haK inches in length will fit, is the 'golden lily' in Chinese esteem. 
The subordination of juniors to seniors, respect to parents and the aged, with charity to 
the poor, are prevailing yirtucs, while low cunning, falsehood, barbarous punishments, 
and inhumanity to captives taken in war are prominently national crimes. Jio people 
can be more accomplished in the art of dissimulation. 'A Chinaman,' remarks Mr 
01ij)hant, ' has wonderful command of feature. He generally looks most pleased when 
he has least reason to be so, and maintains an expression of imperturbable politeness and 
amiability, when he is secretly regretting devoutly that he cannot bastinado you to death.' 
Gambling is a common vice ; the use of opium a universal habit ; and in few commu- 
nities are petty delinquencies more abundant. The upper classes are completely and 
undisguisedly sensual, and practically regard catering for the stomach as the great purpose 
of life. Samples of food, forwarded from Shang-hae, through the medium of Sir John 
BoAvring, are in the South Kensington Museum, and contain specimens of tobacco marked 
' Mild for AVomen.' The fins of sharks, tongues of ducks, and sinews of deer are prized 
delicacies ; and imhatched chickens are a favourite dish. The tripang, a sea-slug, caught 
by the hand on distant shores, and also speared, appears as a costly viand at aristocratic 
tables j and the peculiar material of certain birds' nests is never wanting in the cookery 
of the wealthy. These nests are formed by a species of swallow wliich inhabits the 
coasts of the Indian Archipelago, and are built in limestone caverns and gloomy rock 
retreats. They resemble small tea-saucers in shape, and are composed mainly of a 
glutinous sea-weed, of a light-red colour, nearly transparent. The substance is used in 
soups in the same manner as Em'opeans employ vermicelli. An extract from it also 
enters into the construction of the lanterns for which the Chinese are famous. These 
articles are wonderfully varied in their form, and annually illuminate each door on the 
night of a festival, the ' feast of lanterns,' held at the first full moon of the new year, when 
merry-making is universal. 

The Chinese language is the principal member of the monosyllabic or uninflected 
family, remarkable for its antiquity, originality, extensive prevalence, and difficulty to 
Europeans. It consists of two enthely distinct parts, the written and the spoken. The 
written language is ideographic ; and embraces an immense number of characters, more or 
less complicated, each of which represents an idea or object, and not a sound. In the 
great national lexicon published in the seventeenth century, by order of the emperor, 
30,000 distinct characters are given, but most of these are now obsolete. Only about 
3000 are in very general use, which are resolvable into 214 primitive forms or roots. The 
characters are essentially hieroglyphs or signs, and have the same meaning universally 
attached to them ; but their vocal expression remarkably varies in the different provinces, 
and origmates a great number of spoken languages. An inhabitant of the south 
receiving a written or i^rinted document from one in the north will understand it ; but 
it would be wholly unintelligible if spoken in the local patois of his correspondent. A 
precisely parallel case is the use of vLrabic numerals in Europe by different nations. 
Thus, the figures 22, or any other, are instantly comprehended by English, French, and 
Italians, though respectively ignorant of the vocal expression which each gives to them, 
as twentij-tico, vingt-deux, venti-due. The same character for the number twenty-two 
prevails aU over China, and is everywhere understood, but when reduced to speech, it is 
urli-sliih-urh at Pekin, gne-a-gne at Mng-po, and e-ahap-e at Canton. The native 



LANGUAGE AND RELIGION. 



731 



litoraturo embraces a vast series of standard -works in the various departments of liistory, 
medicine, general science, biography, agriculture, and poetry. Day-schools abound in all 
the towns and villages, but give little instruction beyond the familiar arts of reading 
and writing. 

Tho yellow robe of the Buddhist monk, and the slate-covered garment of the Taoust 
priest, indicate the two prevailing religious professions. The latter represents a scheme of 
rationalism, as it was originally proposed, but which is now connected with the grossest 
forms of idolatry, as well as divination, magical arts, and pretended intercourse with 
departed spirits. Confucianism, a system of political ethics and speculative atheism, is 
followed by the court and the educated classes. But no form of faith has any strong 
hold upon the national mind, and hence the religious tolerance which distinguishes the 
people is not the offspring of any conviction of its propriety, but of their own indifference 
to religion in general. Only in relation to what is called the ' worship of ancestors ' is 
any earnestness shewn. ' It is expressed by ceremonial visitations to the tombs of parents ; 
oifcring banquets to the dead ; addressing pathetic speeches to them ; and the rich have 
small apartments in their dwellings dedicated to their forefathers, in which the names of 
the deceased are inscribed on tablets, and have prostrations made before them. \ Though 
no direct mention is ever made of death, it does not arise from any personal dread of the 
event, or concern respecting a future state. On tho contrary, the apathy ia remarkable 
and general in relation to hximanity's last great trial. 





Cliinese "Wall at the Pass of Sha-po-yu. 



II. DEPENDENT TERRITOEIES. 



Mantchueia, the native seat of the dynasty reigning at Pekin, is a north-easterly region 
of the Chinese empire, extending fi'oni the Great Wall to the river Amur, chiefly watered 
hy its tributaries. Though reduced in its area nearly one-haK since the year 1860, by the 
cession of a maritime tract southward of the great river to the Eussians, it stUl remains 
larger than France, but has only a population of a few millions. The bulk of the people are 
Chinese, traders and agriculturists, located near their own country, as the natives proper, 
or Mantchu-Tartars, being disposed to a military-life, are drafted off to serve in garrisons 
beyond the border, and sustain the tottering imperial throne. In the south the surface 
is mountainous and well wooded, but consists of grass-lands in the north, where pastoral 
occupations and hunting are pursued. A peninsular projection from this territory, Coeea, 
washed by the Yellow and the Japanese Seas, is the seat of a separate kingdom, which 
acknowledges dependence upon the empire by an annual tribute. 

Mukden, or Moukdcn, the capital of Mantchuria, and residence of the viceroy, is a large city of 200,000 
inhabitants, surrounded by Tvalls, situated on a river descending to the YeUoiv Sea. Its good appear- 
ance has surprised recent European visitors, as Mr Fleming, who found his way to it from the Great 
"Wall in 1861. ' The great regularity of the streets — the ample breadth of the principal ones — the absence 
of filthy and indecent displays at their sides, such as everywhere offend the eyes and nose in Pekin ; the 
unifoi-m height and frontage of the shops, and their respectable, though far from gaudy appearance, and 
the total absence of tumble-do%vn wooden arches, such as in almost every other to"\vn obstructed the way or 
man-ed the prospect — quite took our good opinions by storm. Moukden, so far as our experience went, 
was pronounced to be the Edinburgh of the Middle Kingdom. The people were well though not 
luxm'iously dressed, and I do not think that during our stay we noticed a beggar or a ragged individual 
within its walls. There were large stands of cart-cabs with excellent mules in them, superior to those of 
Pekin. There were capital shops with large open windows, in which were counters for the sale of furs, 
native cottons, dye-stirffs, grain, and medicines, as well as ready-made clothing ; but we could perceive 
nothing European, save a couple of boxes of German lucifer-matchcs, which we saw when we afterwards 
had an investigation on foot. A good proportion of these shops were kept for the manufacture and sale of 
bows and arrows, and in some of them there were splendid specimens of the skins of eagles and vultures. 
"We passed several large "Vaniuns, or government bxiildings, before which were drawn up dozens of cabs, and 
crowds of attendants awaiting the convenience of their several owners who were within, probably discussing 



MONGOLIA. 733 

questions concerning the management or mismanagement of a province. Each o£ these public offices was 
guarded by rows of high and black chevaux-de-frise. Booths and stalls there were none, and even the 
nomadic vendors of eatables, and the peripatetic craftsmen of all grades and trades, who roam freely else- 
where, were here invisible.' The family residence and place of sepulture of the reigning dynasty is Hing- 
King, about sixty miles east of Mukden. Kirin-Oida, a flourishing trading city, the head of a province, 
is seated on the Sungari, a principal affluent of the Amur, which winds its way to the frontier river 
between low, fertile, and peopled banis, through a total course of 1000 miles, 

King-ki-tao, the capital of Corea, is little known beyond being an inland site. The tributary peninsular 
kingdom has hitherto been sealed to European intercourse. 

Mongolia, sometimes called Western Tartary, which defines its position in relation to 
Mantchuria as Eastern Tartary, is a territory of immense extent, included between Cliina 
on the south, and the Siberian frontier on the north. It measures upwards of 1200 miles 
from east to west, by an average of 500 miles in the opposite direction, and consists of a 
generally high table-land, but elevated 3500 feet above the sea, in that part of it traversed 
by tlie merchant caravans and couriers passing between Pehin and the Russian dominions. 
The tract called Gobi, a Mongol term for ' naked desert,' to which its Chinese name 
corresponds in meaning, Shamo, ' sand desert,' is the characteristic physical feature. This 
is, for the most part, a frightfully sterile wilderness, consisting of loose sand, bare rock, 
and shingle, alternating with firm sand scantily clothed with vegetation. But a large 
portion of the country, while equally treeless and monotonous, seasonally assumes the 
aspect of an ocean of grass, and supplies pasturage to the flocks and herds of pastoral 
tribes, whose camps, like moving cities, make the tour of the vast prairie-grounds, and 
leave traces of their halts in the ashes of their hearths. A short summer, with very hot 
days and cool nights, alternates with a very long and rigorous winter. In the former 
season the opposite incidents of droughts, torrents of rain, and terrible hail-storms are 
common experiences. On the borders, towards the Great Wall, the surface is moun- 
tainous, forest-clad, and there is a considerable Chinese population, who profit greatly by 
practising upon the simphoity of the wandering Mongols in dealing with them for their 
cattle. 

Mongolia was the central seat of the great empire of Genghis Khan, in the early part of the thirteenth 
centm-y, who made Karakormn his capital. This place fell into decay upon the conquest of China 
by liis grandson, Kublai Klian, who transferred the court to Pekin. It has lapsed into oblivion, for 
little is known of any present remains. But the traveller occasionally stumbles upon a rum in the 
MongoUan soUtudes, which tells a tale of by-gone life and power, though vrithout a name, and ivithout a 
tradition. So it happened to Pere Hue. ' We had gone,' says he, ' nearly three days' march when we came 
to an hnposing and majestic monmnent of antiquity. It was a great forsaken city, with battlemented 
ramparts, watch-towers, four great gates directed to the four cardinal points, all in perfect preservation, but 
a.11 sunk three parts into the earth, and covered with thick turf. Since the abandonment of the place the 
soil around it has risen to that extent. We entered the city with solemn emotion ; there were no ruins to 
be seen, but only the form of a large and fine town, half buried and enveloped in grass as in a funeral shroud. 
The inequaUties of the ground seem still to point out the direction of the streets and the principal buildings ; 
but the only human bemg wo saw was a young Mongol shepherd, who, seated on a mound, was silently 
smoking his pipe, while his goats grazed on the deserted ramparts around him.' 

The Mongols are Buddhists in religion, or rather Lamaists, who adhere to a corrupted form of Buddhism, 
They are shepherds and herdsmen, occasionally hunters, utterly averse to a sedentary life ; and, as in the 
case of nomadic people in general, the senses of sight, hearing, and smell are very strongly developed. At a 
few frontier stations they come into contact with the Chinese, to be corrupted and duped by them. ' When 
the Mongols,' remarks Hue, ' simple and ingenuous beings, if there are such in tlie world, arrive in a trading 
town, they are immediately surrounded by Chinese, who almost drag them into their houses. They unsaddle 
their cattle, prepare tea, render them a thousand small services, caress, flatter, and as it were magnetise 
them. The Mongols, free from duplicity themselves, and never suspecting it in others, are generally com- 
pletely duped by all this apparent kindness. They take seriously all the fine sentences about brotherhood 
and devotion that are lavished on them, and aware besides of their own want of address in business, they are 
enchanted to find friends who will transact it for them ; a good dinner gratis given them in the back-shop is 
sure to convince them of the good faith of their Chinese " brothers." It is generally during this dinner that all 
the corruption and dishonesty of the Chinese come into frdl play. Having once got a hold on the poor Tartar, 
they never let him go ; they intoxicate him with brandy ; they keep him two or three days in their houses, 



734 THE CHINESE EMPIRE. 

never losing sigTit of him ; they make him eat, drink, and smoke, Tchilst the clerks of the establishment sell, 
as they well know how, his cattle, and supply him in return with the articles of which he stands in need. 
These goods are generaUy sold at double and often triple the current price ; yet they have the infernal talent 
of persuading the unhappy Tartar that he is making an excellent bargain. Thus, when the victim returns 
to the " Land of Grass," he is f uU of enthusiasm about the incredible generosity of the Kitats, and promises 
himself to see his good friends again whenever he has anything to buy or seU.' 

MaiinatcMn, on the Mongolian frontier towards Siberia, is a small Cliinese town opposite Kiachta on the 
Russian side, where the traders of both countries exchange goods. The two jjlaces are separated by a space 
of neutral groxxnd, 2S0 yards wide. The change, says Erman, on passing from the one to the other, seemed 
like a dream, or the effect of magic. A contrast so striking could hardly be expected at any other spot upon 
the earth. The unvarying sober hues on the Eussian . side were succeeded all at once by an exhibition of 
gaudy finery, more fantastic and extravagant than was ever seen at any Christmas wake, or parish village- 
festival in Germany. The roadway of the streets consists of a bed of well-beaten clay, which is always 
neatly swept, while the walls of the same material on either side are relieved by windows of Cliinese paper. 
Sunset is announced from a wooden tower by gongs, when business terminates. The Chinese annually deliver 
here tea worth from 10,000,000 to 15,000,000 of Prussian dollars, and rhubarb to the value of about 600,000 
dollars ; and from the Eussiaus, on the other hand, they buy every year a large quantity of Polish linen, 
wooUen cloth, and furs. Mr Grant made a journey from Pekin to Maimatchin, across the Mongolian Desert, 
in 1863 with apparently little difficulty ; soon afterwards the route was traversed inversely by a corre- 
spondent of the Times, Mr Bishop, and his ■\yife, a delicate JEngUsh lady. It appears from Mr Bishop's 
statement, that several English gentlemen have, by his advice, adopted this ' overland route ' home. 

Chinese Turkestan, a westerly continuation of Mongolia, has a widely different natural 
aspect, owing to the intersection of the Tian Shan, or Celestial Mountains, which originate 
many streams, rendering the vaUeys and high plains extremely fertile. They do not 
escape from the elevated region and reach the sea, hut terminate their course in landlocked 
lakes, or lose themselves in swamps and sands. The great range runs east and west, and 
forms the two districts of Tian-shan Pe-loo, and Tian-shan !N"an-loo, meaning the 
country north and south of the mountains, thus discriminated by the Chinese geographers. 
The former is sometimes called Sungaria, and the latter Little Bokhara. A few Mongol 
hordes wander over the surface, hut races of the Turkish family compose the hulli of the 
people, who are settled in towns, Mohammedans in religion, rude, and turbulent. They 
are in general politically subject to chiefs of their own ; but the Chinese occupy military 
posts, guard the frontiers, coUeot a revenue, and maintain some penal settlements. 

Hi, or Gouldja, a considerable town north of the dividing range, has trading connections with Eussia, being 
situated on the banks of tlie Ili, which passes into the Eus.sian territory, and enters Lake Balkash. Yarka7id, 
on the south of the mountains, seated on a river of the same name, which debouches in Lake Lob, is 
the principal seat of commerce, the residence of a Chinese governor, and contains upwards of 50,000 
inhabitants. Cashgar, towards the western frontier, maintains commercial intercourse witli Bokhara, and is 
the seat of a native khan, who barbarously caused one of the enterprising German brothers Schlagintweit 
to be executed before the gates in the year 1S5S. Alcsu, eastward, on the caravan route to China, is the 
residence of the Chinese military commander, and the head-quarters of the troops. 

Tibet, a south-western section of the empire, on the borders of India and Burmah, is 
an extensive and elevated plateau, the loftiest on the globe, having an altitude of from 
10,000 to 15,000 feet above the sea. It is enclosed by the mountain-chains of the 
Kuenlun and Himalaya on the north and south ; and has a surface both spread out in 
plains and furrowed with valleys and ravines, through which many of the great rivers of 
Asia descend to the adjoining lowland countries, as the Indus, Sutlej, and Brahmaputra, 
the Yang-tse-kiang and Hoang-ho. Lakes aie also numerous, mostly salt or brackish, 
several of which are regarded with religious veneration by the Buddhists, and attract 
pilgrims from afar to their shores. The cold climate restricts industry chiefly to the 
rearing of sheep and goats in immense numbers on the pastures, though some of the 
hardiest cereals are raised. Among the native animals, the yak or grunting-os is the most 
remarkable, occiuring both wild and domesticated, but so impatient of warmth as to keep 
to the snow-mountains in summer, and descend with the snow to the table-lands in 
winter. The people are of the Mongol stock, and Lamaists in religion, subject generally 



CniNESB TUHKESTAN. 735 

to tlie sovereignty of China, represented by a viceroy, but with very little interference in 
their affairs ; and to a spiritual ruler or pope, the Dalai-Lama, literally the ' Ocean Priest,' 
a hyperbolical allusion to the extensiveness of his authority. The country includes three 
principal divisions, Great Tibet, the largest, on the east; Middle Tibet, on the west, 
conquered by Gholab Singh, the ruler of Cashmere, and annexed to it in 1835; and 
Little Tibet, on the north-west. 

Lassa, the capital of Great Tibet, is an open city of very wide streets, surrounded with gardens, from wMch 
foreigners, especially Europeans, are carefully excluded. Pere Hub readied it, but was at once conducted 
out of the country. Tlie place is to Buddhism as Mecca to Mohammedanism, and Eorae to CatlioUcism, being 
the residence of the Dalai-lama on the adjacent Moimt Botala. At this spot there is an immense 
ostablislmieut of convents and temples, with a pontifical court, consisting of a great number of subordinate 
priests. In theoiy tlie oliief fmictionary never dies, as his gifted soul is said to pass immediately to his 
successor. The individual favoured with this transmigration is supposed to be indicated to the priests by a 
variety of signs, but the Chinese viceroy, who has troops in garrison at his elbow, is believed to have actual 
control over the appointment. Lassa has a considerable population, vastly increased for a time by the 
arrival of devotees. Dogs abound constantly, owing to the peculiar mode adopted by the Tibetans in 
disposing of the dead. In no case is there any interment. The bodies are either submitted to combustion, or 
submerged in lakes and rivers, or exposed on the tops of rocks to bo the prey of beasts and birds, while many 
are cut up and committed to the dogs to be devoured. This applies to both rich and poor. The only 
difference is, that the corpses of the indigent are given to the unowned street dogs, and those of the wealthy, 
or of men of rank, become the property of a select number kept for the purpose in the convents, and 
carefully attended to as sacred animals. 








CHAPTEE IX. 



JAPANESE EMPIEB, 




APAN, an insular empire, wHcli has recently taken its 
place in the family of nations by formal communication 
with them, after having long kept aloof from intercourse, 
except to a limited extent with the Chinese and Dutch. 
It is situated on the eastern side of the Asian continent, 
from which it is separated by the Japanese Sea and the 
narrow Strait of Corea, while the broad expanse of the 
Pacific Ocean rolls in the opposite directions. It con- 
sists of an elongated curving archijpelago, extending 
generally north and south, through a distance of more 
than 1200 miles. Pour principal islands constitute 
Japan Proper — namely, Tesso, the most northerly; 
Mpon, central, and by far the largest ; Kiusiu and 
Sikok, southerly. With these are associated an 
immense number of small islets, reckoned at 3850. In the extreme north the southern 
part of Saghalien Island and of the Kurile series is claimed by the empire, the northern 
portion of which in both cases belongs to Eussia, while at the opposite extremity the 
Loo Choo group is a southerly dependency. The entire chain lies between latitude 26° 
and 50° north, longitude 128° and 151° east; and has an area estimated at 266,000 square 
miles. A crescent shape, with the concave side turned towards the continent, distin- 
guishes ISTipon, the mainland of the archipelago, which is upwards of 800 miles in length, 



PHYSICAL APPEARANCE. 



737 



but comparatively narrow. Its name, from "which that of Japan is corruptly derived, is 
said to signify in Chinese ' Snnhorn,' ' Land of the Eising Sun,' referring to its position 
in relation to that country. 

The coasts are generally rooky, much broken by picturesque inlets, and are of difficult 
access, which, with the occurrence of typhoons or hiirricanes of tremendous violence, and 
the imperfection of nautical surveys, has occasioned many lamentable disasters to shipping 
since the ports were opened to the commercial nations, A cham of mountains traverses 
the whole insular series in the line of its greatest extent, some of which rise to a consider- 
able height, and have their summits snow-clad for many months of the year, while upon 
a few it is permanent in patches. Several are active or extinct volcanoes. In their neigh- 
bourhood earthquakes are so frequent that the natives calculate upon one of their cities 
being destroyed upon the average every seven years. In August 1783 the shocks con- 
tinued at intervals through twelve days, and desolated twenty-seven towns. The focus of 
disturbance is sometimes in the bed of the adjoining ocean, or a wide sweep of the 
expanse lies within the area of concussion. In December 1854 the south-east coast of 
Nipon was dreadfully ravaged. The Eussian frigate, Diana, Ijmg at anchor off Sunoda, 
was spun round forty-three times in the space of half an hour, and cast nearly a wreck 
upon the beach ; the harbour was rendered useless ; and repeated waves overwhehniug the 
to'\vnleft only sixteen out of a thousandhouses standing. Between February 1860 and the 
same month in 1861, there were thirty-three shocks at Yeddo. In this district the far-famed 
Fusiyama, a volcanic mountain, dormant since the year 1707, rises to the height of 14,177 
feet above the sea, and is the oulminating-point of the empire. It is the mons exaelsus et 
singularis of Ka^mpfer, the physician to a Dutch embassy in the seventeenth century, who 
enthusiastically states : ' Poets cannot find words, nor painters skiD. and colours, sufficient 
to represent the mountain as they think it deserves.' Springing abruptly from a broad 
base, it forms an almost perfect cone, truncated only at the extreme pinnacle ; and tower- 
ing far above all the surrounding hUls, its glistening peak of snow, tipped with the rays of 
the rising or setting sun, may be seen from Yeddo, a distance of about eighty miles. To 
the people of the lower class, Fusiyama, ' Eich Scholar's Peak,' — the Parnassus of Japan 
— is an object of veneration. They make pilgrimages to it in the hope of averting 
misfortime and sickness, appear in white vestments upon the occasion, which, on the 
summit, are stamped with various seals and images by the priests located there during 
the summer season when alone the ascent is practicable. According to the tradition 
of the natives, the volcano rose in a single night from the bowels of the earth, and 
coincidently at Miaco a spacious lake was formed. 

Though the surface is mountainous, the elevations are generally moderate, and are 
either cultivated to their summits, or clothed with woods. In the volcanic regions the 
soO. in the plains and valleys is similar to the ' black ' or ' cotton soil ' of India, a rich 
earth, several feet in depth, without a stone, composed of the detritus of igneous rocks, 
further fertilised during a long succession of ages by the application of liquid manure from 
the towns. In other districts, especially in the island of Eiusiu, sandstone hills are 
prominent, and the soil of the lowlands consists chiefly of sand, but rendered fertile by 
careful manuring. "Washed by the rains into the channels of the rivers, the' sand is deposited 
at their mouths, producing shoal water ; and hence, though broad and impetuous, they 
are not navigable, except for short distances by the small native junks. In the northern 
island, Tesso, the winters are long and severe ; the summers brief and hot. Snow 
lies upon the lowlands from ]S"ovember till May. Eut in the southern tracts, more 
exposed by geographical position to oceanic influence, violent seasonal contrasts are 
imknown, for though the summers are hot, the wiaters are imld. Eain descends copiously 



738 JAPANESE EMPIRE. 

in June, July, and August ; dense fogs occur, and sometimes liide tlie sun for several 
days in succession ; and typhoons in the autumn, sweep the seas witli fatal effect, while 
uprooted trees mark their course over the land. JSTowhere are water-spouts more frequent. 

The vegetation is singularly rich, varied, and abundant. It comprises a profusion of 
beautiful flowering plants, wUd in the woods and waste places, many of which, as the 
hydrangea and cameUia japonica, have been introduced with ornamental effect into the 
gardens of Europe. The hydrangea is commonly seen covering the banks by the way- 
sides with its large flowerTclusters, black, blue, and white, in company with the unpre- 
tending Scotch thistle. Splendid camellias are common throughout the valleys, and 
bushes of azaleas are plentiful in all the forests at a low elevation. Dense masses of 
luxuriant trees and shrubs ascend from the valleys to the tops of the hUls, consisting of 
oaks, evergreen and deciduous, pines, and chestnuts, with the maple, beech, elm, lime, 
elder, cypress, and alder. The great preponderance of evergreens gives the country almost 
as fresh an appearance during the winter months as in summer. With this vegetation of 
the temperate zone there is intermingled in the southern districts, high up the mountain- 
sides, the sago-palm, the tree-fern, the banana, the bamboo's light and graceful foliage, 
with other tropical forms. The northern island, where the ground has not been much 
cleared for cultivation, is the most wooded, and has vast forests of oaks and pines of 
enormous magnitude. In the size and variety of its conifers, the botany strikingly 
corresponds to that of the opposite coast of !N"orth America. Fine avenues of the cedar 
of Japan, Gryptomeria Japonica, and other pines, enclose the main roads, especially in 
the neighbourhood of towns, rising to the height of 150 feet, with a girth of from 14 to 
16 feet, at three feet from the ground. Their upper branches uniting, form a perfect 
covered archway. The members of the pine family enjoy high consideration with the 
people. The trees shade their little chapels, and are found near their dwellings, while 
the branches are employed for decorative purposes and as religious symbols. But the 
remarkable vegetable objects, specially characteristic of the country, are the camphor-tree, 
the lacquer or varnish tree, the wax-tree, and the paper-mulberry. Among the food 
plants, rice is the most extensively cultivated, as the staple fare of all classes, sown in 
May and gathered in ISTovember. It is grown in enormous quantities in low, marshy 
valleys, but a much less jn'oductive species is raised on dry soil, and hills of considerable 
elevation are terraced to the summits for the crop, giving to the country a most picturesque 
appearance. Boiled rice serves for daily bread. Sugar, tea, cotton, and tobacco, the 
latter smoked by both men and women, are likewise objects of culture ; the orchard 
and garden produce is profuse and varied ; but it is an apparent anomaly in a region 
singularly gifted by nature in many respects, that generally fruits and vegetables are 
more or less flavourless, while the flowers are without fragrance, and the birds have no 
song. 

The camphor-tree, Zauiits campJiora, found in most of the forests, hears hlaok and purple berries wluch 
render its aspect agreeable. The natives make the camphor hy a simple decoction of the stem and roots cut 
into .small pieces. The tree occasionally attains huge dimensions. One, visited and described by Kjempfer, 
in the island of Kiusiu, was capable of containing in its trunk, which was .hollow to a great height, fifteen 
individuals with ease. It is still standing, .and is supposed to be 1000 years old. There is a roadside inn at 
its foot. The tree is also a native of the Chinese province of Fokeen, and of the island of Formosa, whence 
the chief portion of the camphor of commerce is derived. It is exported to this country in small friable 
masses, of a grayish colour, resembling half-refined sugar. Another kind of camphor is yielded "by a forest- 
tree in the Malay archipelago. It is found in concrete masses in the fissures of the wood, and is more 
fragi'ant and less biting and pungent than that obtained from the laurel, but is not known in Europe as an 
article of trade, being almost wholly consumed by the Chinese. 

The lacquer or varnish tree, Rhus vcrnicifera, yields the gum, from the application of which by the 
Japanese we have the term japanning, used to denote the art of producing a liighly-varnished surface. 
The articles thus treated by the natives are of papier-tnacM, but extensively in Europe of metal also. 



ANIMALS AND MINERALS. 739 

The wax-tree, Rhus succedanea, yields seeds from which wax for candles is obtained by compression, one 
of tlio chief articles of export from Japan. It thrives on mountains, barren and stony ground, unfit for 
other agricultural purposes. The trees are planted young along the highways, leaving a distance of about 
three feet between the stems, and also in squares at double the distance. They are kept low by lopping, and 
trimmed in the shape of pyramids. In the fifth year after plantmg, each tree yields on an average i lbs. 
of seed : in the eighth year, 6 lbs. ; in the tenth, 18 lbs. ; in the twelfth, 40 lbs. ; in the fifteenth, GO lbs. ; in 
the eighteenth year the tree enters upon its decline ; 400 lbs. of seed yield 100 lbs. of wax. Of these trees 
20,000 were planted soon after the first demand made by foreigners for the product. Tlie vegetable wax is 
not exactly of the same nature as common wax, since it melts in summer at the ordinary temperature ; but 
the inconvenience is obviated in Japan by protecting the candles with a coating of bees-was. In England 
other modes are adopted to givo consistency to the substance. 

The paper-mulberry, Broussonetia papi/rifem, gi'own likewise on the roadsides, has its name from the use 
made of the bark. But the rmd of various other plants is employed for the same purpose, some for the 
fibrous quahty, others for glutmous properties. The process of manufacture is very simple. After 
the bark has been steeped in water until thoroughly saturated, it is beaten with wooden mallets until 
reduced to a state of mash, then again macerated in water, and when finally brought hito a pulpy homo- 
geneous state, any colouxmg matter desired is introduced, and the semi-fluid pulp is poured over wire frames 
and dried. No people surpass the Japanese in the adaptation of their paper to the purposes for which it is 
w.anted, which are veiy numerous. Besides its ordinary use in writmg and packing, they make handker- 
chiefs of it, a vast variety of painer-maehi articles, bo.xes, reticules, hats, tiles, and an equally numerous 
list of objects in imitation of leather. Between seventy and eighty' different kinds of paper are manu- 
factured. 

Wild animals of the formidable kind are limited to a few wolves and boars in the north of Nipon ; and 
probably the bear is a tenant of the woods in Yesso. Those of the harmless class are not numerous, owing 
to the great extent of surface under cultivation, though several species are protected by the laws, as well as 
by the universal abstinence of the people from animal food. Hence, as the effect of freedom from molest- 
ation, Europeans h.ave seen with surprise deer running about the streets of Osaka. The same indulgence is 
extended to the storks, many of which are found in the towns, and to other birds. Not a trigger is allowed 
to be pulled within thirty miles of the capital, to the great disappointment of spoi-ting foreigners, who see 
wild geese, ducks, and teal floating on the castle moats and the temple lakes in the vicinity of the city, 
quite indifferent to the presence of man. The sparrow is here, as almost everywhere else— a true 
cosmopolitan. Domesticated quadrupeds include an indigenous race of horses, used only for riding, and 
moimted on the off side, contrary to our own usage. O.xen are employed for draught and burden. Dogs 
abound, being objects of veneration, a superstition of which the cat and fox have also the benefit. 

The mineral treasures of the empire are very varied and important. Mines of gold, silver, copper, u-on, 
and argentiferous lead are worked, but in the most primitive manner, and only to a limited extent, upon the 
principle maintained by the government, that as minerals are not capable of increase, the general store 
should not be diminished except to supply the most urgent current wants. Coal is abundant, yet though 
bituminous, it seems to be chiefly of inferior quality, at least as far as the produce has been tested. Sulphur 
of extraordinary purity occurs in profusion, and is conspicuous at Sulphur Island, an active volcano, in the 
archipelago off the south coast of Kiusiu, which serves as a landmark by day and a light-house by night to 
vessels on the neighbouring waters. Hot mineral springs, saline and sulphureous, in various parts of the 
country, are visited by great numbers from a distance for luxury and sanatory purposes. The small village 
of Atami, secluded in a gorge by the sea on the south-east coast of Nipon, is remarkable for its ebullient 
fountains, which give to the site a caldron-like appearance. From several sources or vents, but from one in 
particular, an unmense volume of steam and sUghtly sulphureous water is ejected, at a temperature varying 
from 100° to 120° Fahrenheit. The eruptions take place at irregular intervals; the explosive force also 
varies in its energy ; and the time occupied by its action differs considerably, from a few minutes to an hour 
and a half. But there are usually five or six repetitions of the phenomenon every twenty-four hours. The 
villagers, consisting of small cottars, farmers, and fishermen, immerse themselves in the warm water, 
collected in troughs, and cook their sweet potatoes at the smaller vents, many of wliich are close to the 
doors of their dwellings. Honjins, or houses of entertainment, are expressly provided for the accommodation 
of the grandees and their families at their visits. 

The form of government is commonfy represented as dual, vested in a fancifully-styled spiritual and a 
temporal emperor. But in reality the former is the only acknowledged titular sovereign, called the Mikado 
or Dairi, * the Great One,' who is the representative of a long line of kings, originally heaven descended, or 
sun-born, and whose residence, at Miaco, is the stronghold of temple-worship. He reigns de jure, and his 
sanction is reckoned necessary, theoretically at least, to give vaUdity to all acts of state. But they neither 
emanate from him, nor are they executed by his orders. His person is considered too sacred to be allowed 
to intermeddle with secular affairs. The sun must not shine, or the wind blow upon him, neither must he 
ever touch the earth. Hence, to prevent actual contact, his palace is carpeted throughout with the softest 
mats, and he only leaves it in a litter, carried on men's shoulders, shaded from the beams and the breeze 
by umbrellas and fans. His condition is that of an enshrined idol, or more properly of a prisoner of state, 
surrounded by spies, and subject to stringent restrictions, in compensation for which, the privilege, such as it 



740 JAPANESE EMPIRE. 

is, of having a dozen wives is conceded. The sovereign de facto, head of the executive, styled the Siogoon or 
Tycoon (Chinese Tai-lmn — that is, 'Generalissimo' or 'great Lord'), is descended from one of the old com- 
manders-in-chief, who usurped the functions of government, and secured them for the inheritance of his 
family. Tliis dignitary still receives investiture from the Mikado, and keeps his court at Yeddo, but has 
now become nearly as helpless as his suzerain, a puppet dependent upon an oligarchy of Daimios, or 
territorial lords of the soil, who exactly correspond to the feudal nobility of Europe in the middle ages, in 
the hereditary possession of lauds, wealth, and power. Two coimcils composed of this body, higher and 
lower, 'Imperial Old Men' and 'Young Old Men,' analogous to great feudal barons and petty baronial 
cliiefs, control the Tycoon, and dictate the policy of the empire. The laws are dreadfully sanguinary in 
principle, attaching the death-penalty to almost every offence, but the severity is greatly modified in practice, 
at the discretion of the local magistrates. The most remarkable punishment, now becoming obsolete, is that 
of the Mara-wo-kiru, or 'belly-cut,' a legal form of suicide, effected by making two cross-cuts on the 
abdomen with a sharp-pointed knife. Offenders of rank against the state are deported to Fatsiziu, an islet 
200 miles from the sotith-east coast of Mpon, so precipitous as to be scarcely accessible. 

The population of the empire can only he conjectiually stated, hut it is supposed hy the 
hest informed not to he less than 30,000,000. In their general physiognomy the people 
correspond to the Mongolian type, and prohahly belong to that family of nations, with an 
admixture of Malay blood. They have small dark eyes and heavy arched eyebrows ; are 
of low stature, but more robust than the Chiaese ; and possess a complexion varying feom 
deep copper to a more prevalent light-olive hue. The men elaborately tattoo the body and 
limbs with figures of dragons, tigers, lions, and nondescript objects. They wear a robe of 
sober black or dark blue, of cotton, gauze or silk, according to their means, which falls 
down from the neck to the ankles, but is gathered ia at the waist by a girdle of the same 
material. The women dress in gayer colours, have a passion for paint and powder ; and 
cultivate in married life a style of beauty which is hideous deformity, to Europeans. They 
varnish the teeth with black, dye the lips a brick red, pluck every haic from the eyebrows, 
and powder the face and neck with rice flour. The spoken language is of soft enunciation, 
and not of difiicult acquirement. It does not embrace the sound of r. Hence ' veUy good' 
takes the place of ' very good ' in attempts at EngUsh ; and a speaker ia referring to 
himself will adopt the roundabout mode of saying, ' the person who is before your hand,' 
in expressing I. The written language is highly complicated, embracing a hieroglyphic and 
a phonetic system ; but that of China is familiarly known, and often appears over the 
shop-doors. Japanese literature includes original writings, but is mainly an import- 
ation from China. The oldest form of religion is Sintuism, 'faith in gods,' at the head of 
which is the Mikado. This is a kind of mjrthological naturaHsm, having for the prime 
object of worship the sun-goddess, from whom he claims to be descended, with a number of 
subordinate divinities, consisting of popular personages who are supposed to rise at death 
to the rank of demi-gods. But Buddhism, variously modified, including several sects, is 
much more generally professed. Confucianism has also its adherents, chiefly literati, not 
a few of whom are sceptically indifferent to all religious observances. 

WhUe diligent cultivators of the soil, both as farmers, gardeners, and florists, great 
proficiency is shewn in various mechanical arts, some of which were probably acquired 
by long-continued intercourse with the Dutch. Beautiful silk and crape fabrics are 
produced, good cabinet and basket work, with small wooden wares of wonderfully perfect 
execution, though made with the roughest tools, out of the roots of the camphor and 
maple tree. Porcelain is manufactured as thin as an egg-sheU ; excellent paper, and the 
processes of enamelling and varnisliing are conducted with the highest skiU. The face of 
the country bears witness to patient industry and careful attention to outward appearances 
on the part of its occupiers, in the few signs of neglect and dilapidation. They build 
substantial bridges, have main roads kept in perfect repair, and the rural lanes are lined 
mth hedges duly clipped and tended. Along the highways, booths are met with at short 
distances, in which the poorest traveller may have refreshment for the smallest coin, or 



TEDDO. 741 

may rest liimself if wholly destitute. The ordinary travelling vehicle is a kind of 
palanquin, made of wicker-'work or lacquered -wood, carried hy two or four men, accorduig 
to the material. In. theu" general mode of life the habits of the people are singularly simple 
and uniform. The dwellings of the rich, equally with those of the poor, are almost entirely 
without furniture, for they rest themselves by squatting on a matted floor, take their 
meals in the same position, and lie down at night in the apartment occupied by day, with 
the scantiest of pUlows, and a cotton coverlet or two for bedding. Fish, rice, fruits, and 
vegetables are the ordinary food of aU classes. For beverages they have tea and saki, a 
spirit made from rice, or one distnied from the grape. Low cunning distinguishes the 
national character, -with the most glaring indifference to truth, and an entire want of the 
sense of decency. Polygamy is not permitted, but divorce is witliin easy reach of the 
husband, and he may indulge in concubinage as much as he pleases. Parents may devote 
then- daughters legally to prostitution for money in appointed places, nor is it thought 
that any disgrace accrues thereby to the females, who have as good a chance of marriage 
as if they had never left their homes. Men and women bathe promiscuously without the 
slightest attention to decorum, and with no idea of any immodesty in the usage. Public 
bathing-houses or rooms are distinctive national institutions, in full operation for both 
sexes, in the afternoon, in the evening, till late at night, as well in the country villages as 
in the crowded cities. 

Ycddo, the residence of the Tycoon, and the actual capital, is situated on the south-east side of Nipon, at 
the upper extremity of an inlet or bay, twenty miles long, which forms the harbour, and is completely 
sheltered from the roU of the ocean by a narrow entrance, and a number of outlying islands. The water 
shoals from the entrance, as in the case of most of the Japanese harbours, and boats touch the ground at the 
distance of a mile from the city. This shallowness contributes to its security in the event of a naval attack. 
The port is at Kanagawa, sixteen miles nearer the mouth of the inlet, where the British consular estabKsIiment 
is planted. At Tokahama, an adjoining place, furnished with a granite pier and quay, the foreign merchants 
reside. A headland has received the name of Treaty Point, oS which the American squadron of Commodore 
Perry lay at anchor during the first negotiations which opened the country to foreign commerce. "Within 
eighteen months after the commencement of trade, the exports, chiefly tea, sUk, mother-of-pearl, gaU-nuts, 
and wax, amounted to the value of £1,200,000. Camlets, shirtings, chintzes, and drills figured among the 
earliest imports. Though the Americans were first in the field, and enjoy peculiar advantages, since passages 
from San !Francisco in CaliEomia have been made in five weeks, yet British enterprise signally took the 
lead. In 1860 there were, of British vessels, 15 arrivals and 28 departures ; of American, 6 arrivals and 
5 departures ; of Dutch, 2 arrivals and 1 departure. 

The city of Yeddo, a veritable human ant-hill, is supposed not to lag far behind London in population, and 
to cover as much ground. It lines the margin of the inlet about ten miles, and extends seven miles inland, 
but a large space appropriated to gardens and orchards is included. HiUs sloping to a considerable height 
are embraced witliin its limits, and also fonn the baokgroimd. The streets are broad, clean, and well drained; 
and can be shut in by gates in the event of disturbance. Some of them have rows of peach and plum trees, 
wliich, when in blossom, present a gay and lively appearance. The most populous part of the city is 
intersected by the river Okawa, wMch is crossed by a great central bridge. Prom it, all distances are measured 
along the roads throughout the empire. Public baths are very numerous and cheap. Tea-houses and gardens 
are plentiful in the suburbs. Tliere are shops for books, bronzes, copperware, lacquer goods, basket-work, 
prints, inlaid-wood, paper, and old clothes, several of which devoted to the same trade frequently stand 
together. Owing to the frequency of earthquakes, the houses have only one story ; and being of wood, fires 
are very common and destructive. There are no striking public buildings, though temples everywhere abound. 
Disgraced government oflicials may occasionally be seen walking about, forlorn objects, with their heads in 
cages of basket-work. During the summer the temperature ranges from 70° to 90°, and only falls occasionally 
in winter below the free2ing-point. Snow rarely lies upon the ground. The highest hUl, 1200 feet above the 
bay, is surmounted by the Tycoon's palace or castle, encircled by a triple moat, and by the dwellings of the 
Daimios or feudatories. In this quarter is the residency over which the British flag waves, occupying part of 
one of the largest and best temples, enclosed with trees. The feudatories are obliged to be in residence at the 
capital part of every year, and when absent on their respective domains, their wives and children are 
detained as hostages. They travel to and fro with a crowd of retainers, varying from a few hundreds to ten 
thousand, according to their consequence, armed with bows and swords, distinguished also by armorial bearings 
on their dresses. Hence, for the accommodation of such throngs, their one-storied dwellings necessarily cover 
an immense space. Some of them are a quarter of a nule long. These vassal barons, nearly independent on 



742 



JAPANESE EMPIRE. 



their own estates, numter about 264 ; and have incomes ranging up to a mUlion Icokoos, or measures of rice, 
the ordinary Japanese mode of estimating revenue. Each Icokoo being equal to 13s. lOrf. in money, the total 
sum represented is nearly £700,000. The chiefs and their retainers form the most turbulent part of 
the population of Yeddo. In 1860, during a minority, the regent was slain in the streets by a band of the 
Prince of Meto's men, wlio cut their way, sword in hand, through his retinue, and hacked his head off as he 
sat helpless m his palanquin. 

Miako, an inland city, upwards of 200 miles to the westward, is the old and stiU the titular capital, 
as the residence of the Mikado, said to contain half a million of inhabitants. It abounds with temples, 
is an educational seat for the priesthood, has better houses than Yeddo, with exquisitely laid out 
gardens, and considerable manufactures of carved ornaments and japanned wares. Osaka, a few miles on the 
south-west, one of the treaty ports, is a great trading centre, so populous as to be reputed able to raise an army 
of 80,000 men. It is pleasantly situated in a fruitful plain, on the banks of a navigable river, the waters of which 
are led off by niunerous canals through the principal streets, for the purpose of conveying goods in small boats 
to their destination. More than a hundred bridges, many of them of extraordinary beauty, span these 
artificial channels. 'Wealthy merchants abomid, skilful artificers ply their craft, and immense commercial 
activity reigns everywhere. Below the city is its port, Hiogo, on a bay of the Suonada Sea, where there is 
convenient anchorage for sea-going vessels, with docks and ship-building. The intermediate river navigation 
for cargo-boats is short and easy. But Osaka is also a seat of luxury, the Paris of Japan, a place of resort for 
the rich and fashionable, who repair thither for relaxation and gaiety. It possesses the most sumptuous tea- 
houses, extensive pleasure-gardens, and the best theatres. Many of the Daimios have residences on the banks 
of the river. Valuable copper-mines are in the vicinity, and the place is famed for the exceUenoe of its 
saki 




Panoramic Tiew of Kagasaki, 

Nagasaki, the port to which the Dutch. traders were restricted for more than two centuries, is seated on the 
western side of the island of Kiusiu, upwards of 800 miles from Yeddo, and about ten days' steaming-distance 
from Hong-Kong. It occupies the shore of a bay of some magnitude, landlocked and picturesque, resembhng 
a !N"orwcgian fiord, enclosed by hiUs clothed with pines, paUns, bamboos, pomegranates, and other trees. The 
town covers a considerable space ; contains many gardens ; has streets interspersed with trees and shrubs. 



MATSMAI. 743 

which give them a pleasing appearance ; and is intersected by a canal, across which handsome stone bridges are 
thrown. Porcelain, silks, and lacquered wares are produced. The mechanical talent of the Japanese has 
hero been remarkably exemplified, by the establishment of a steam-factory, entirely by the natives, aided only 
by drawings supplied to them by an officer of the Dutch navy. It turned out a steam-engine before a foreign 
one had been seen. Decima Island, occupied by the Dutch during the long term of foreign exclusion, is an 
artificial construction in the harboui-, fan-shaped, connected with the mainland by a stone bridge. It is only 
COO feet in length by 210 feet in breadth. The traders were here cooped up like poultry in a yard, and 
condenmed to a life of celibacy, as no female was ever allowed to arrive. They paid an exorbitant rental for 
the spot, and had to defray the expenses of the guard-house at the bridge, which was constantly occupied by 
a body of police or soldiers, to prevent the exit of the iiunates and the entrance of every one except officials. 
The commercialists quietly submitted to every indignity, and carried complaisance so far, that at the time of 
the great persecution, one of them being surprised in some place by the Japanese police, and asked whether 
he was a Christian, repUed, ' No ; I am a Dutchman.' Nagasaki is one of the opened ports, at wliich the 
British flag was for the iii'st time hoisted on the ISth of June 1859. The climate is very genial, having a 
temperature ranging from 60° to 80° in summer, with scarcely any winter. 

Malsmai, the chief town of the northern island, Tesso, seated at its south extremity, is said to contain a 
population of 50,000, and is the capital of a feudatory, who claims lordship over the entire territory. But the 
moimtainous interior has never been occupied by the Japanese, who are principally confined to the coasts, 
though gradually extending themselves inland. The proper natives are a distinct race, called Ainos, unwarlike 
and extremely rude, who live in log-huilt huts, and are said to take refuge in caverns from the severity 
of the winter. Hakodadi, a treaty port on the north-east of Matsmai, 650 miles from Jeddo, fully surrendered 
by the feudal prince, is small and almost whoUy new, but likely to become of commercial importance. 
It stands on the shore of a spacious landlocked bay, which forms a fine harbour, and has striking mountain 
scenery in the background. It has been compared in position and aspect to Gibraltar and Hong-Kong. The 
winters are e.xtremcly cold ; the thermometer has been observed to register 18° below zero ; the snow lies on 
the lowest situations till the close of April ; and torrents of rain, blown up by the south-east winds from the 
Pacific, accompany the return of spring. 



'H^h 







-r^.^^mw-'m> 



..-■'^^»^g^^^-Y^ 




Small Temple at Yeddo. 




Cairo and the Pyramids. 

PAET III 
DESCRIPTIVE GEOGRAPHY OF AFRICA. 

INTBODtJCTORT OHAPTEE. — GENERAL VIEW OP AFRICA. 

FRIO A, a huge south-western pendent to Asia, is the third of 
the great divisions of the globe in point of magnitude, the most 
monotonous in its general aspect, the least advanced socially, 
and the most unimportant in poHtical iufluence. It is also 
the only continental portion of the Old "World which passes 
into the Southern Hemisphere. This mass of land is of 
an irregular pear-like form, or rudely triangular, with the 
) vertex directed towards the south. It is separated from 
Europe hy the Mediterranean on the north, washed by the 
.Atlantic on the west, and bounded by the Isthmus of Suez, 
'the Eed Sea, and the Indian Ocean on the east. At the 
contracted southerly extremity, the waters of the latter ocean 
blend with those of the Atlantic. Hence Africa is very 
nearly insulated, and would form an immense island, were it not for the Isthmus 
of Suez stretching between the head of the Eed Sea and the Mediterranean, and 
connecting it with Asia. This is a neck of land little more than 70 miles across, with 
few elevations besides sand-hills, but occupied by several salt-lakes, which render it 
perfectly feasible to unite the two seas by artificial excavation. A canal effected this 
object in ancient times, traces of which remain ; and a repetition of the work is at present 
in process. But though a channel may be opened, it is very improbable that one of any 
permanent navigable value can be executed, owing to the constant encroachment of the 
bordering sands. 




SUPERFIOIAIi AREA. 



745 



Tlio bold lieadland of Cape Agullias, crowned by a ligbt-house, is the southern extremity 
of the continent ; Cape Bon, the northern ; Cape Verde, the western ; and Cape 
Guai'dafui, the eastern. These points are respectively in latitude 34° 50' south and 37° 20' 
north, and in longitude 17° 42' west and 51° 20' east. Intersected by the equator, and 
ranging to nearly the same distance north and south of it, Africa has by far the largest 
proportion of its surface within the limits of the torrid zone, therefore under the 
immediate power and dominion of solar influences. Most of the people see the great orb, 
iu its annual progress from tropic to tropic, pass twice over their heads, and thus experi- 
ence a repetition of its intense vertical rays. The greatest length, from north to south, 
falls little short of 5000 mUes ; the greatest breadth, from east to west, closely corre- 
sponds to this measure ; and the superficial area is usually estimated at 12,000,000 of 
square mUes, equal to more than three times the extent of Europe, and two-thirds that of 
Asia. But though so much larger than Europe, while almost completely surrounded by 
water, Africa has a smaller amount of coast-line, being of compact form, with shores 
remarkably free from great bays and gulfs. The principal indentations are the Gulfs of 
Sidra and Kabes, connected with the Mediterranean ; the Gulf of Guinea, in which are 
the Bights of Beniu and Biafra, belonging to the Atlantic ; and Delagoa Bay, on the side 
of the Indian Ocean. This want of far-penetratiug inlets of the sea has practically 
isolated Africa from the rest of the world, retarded the civilisation of the people by 
preventing intercourse with more enlightened nations, and rendered a vast portion of the 
interior down to the present day a land of mystery to them, though now the veil is iu 
process of being removed by the enterprise of explorers. 




Thou!;li the features of the surface are distinguished by greater uniformity than those 
of the other contiuents, very varied scenes and surprising contrasts are by no means 
wanting. There are mountainous ranges, visited at their summits wdth keen frosts and 
heavy snow-falls, the gorges of which are river-beds fringed and largely overgrown with 
gigantic reeds and creepers ; splendid forests of the stately and park-like acacia, in the 
branches of which the social grossbeaks chiefly rear their singular and interesting nests ; 
monotonous sand-plains upon which the sun glows hotly, stretching out to an apparently 
interminable extent, with only a thin sprinMiag of grasses, and no trees, but a few dark 



746 GENERAL VIEW OP AFRICA. 

groon mimosas straggling along the narrow and often, dry water-courses ; and levels equally 
vast, but stony and more wildly sterUe. 

' A region of drought, where no river glides. 
Nor rippling brook with osiered sides ; 
Nor sedgy pool, nor bubbling fount, 
Nor tree, nor cloud, nor misty mount 
Appears, to refresh the aching eye, 
But barren earth, and the burning sky, 
And the blank horizon round and roimd.' 

Such is the Sahara, or Desert, one of the most extensive and frightful on the earth, the 
most conspicuous feature of African geography. It forms a barrier between the northern 
and central portions of the continent, extends full 3000 miles from the Valley of the 
ISTile westward to the Atlantic, by a breadth exceeding in various places 1000 miles, and 
would be impassable by man without the aid of the camel. The animal carries water for 
him from the few springs which occur at distant intervals along the frequented routes, 
while itself able to dispense for long periods with the refreshment, besides being other- 
wise naturally adapted to traverse such territories. But men and camels frequently 
perish by the way, and their bones are encountered by the traveller to remind him of 
what may be his own fate. WhUe Major Denham was dozing upon his horse, overcome 
by the noonday heat, he was suddenly aroused by the crashing of something beneath him. 
The steed had stepped upon the perfect skeletons of two human beings, and had cracked 
their brittle bones. The skull of one was separated from the trunk, and rolled on hke 
a ball before him. 

The Sahara-bela-ma, ' Desert mthout "Water,' according to the full Arabic name, is 
generally a plateau of moderate elevation. Its surface consists partly of sand so loose and 
fine as to shift with every breath of wind that blows, but more largely of bare rook, hard 
clay, and indurated gravels, often rising into ridges and hiUs. The sand is principally 
composed of white and gray quartz particles of various sizes, but seldom so large as to 
form pebbles. Winds blow over the district from the east through nine months of the 
year, and from the west through three months. They raise the sand in awful clouds when 
they are violent, which darken the atmosphere, and threaten to overwhelm the caravans. 
From the greater prevalence of the east winds, it has resulted, that in travelling towards 
the west the sand increases in depth, and forms a more continuous covering. It is even 
prolonged beneath the waters of the Atlantic to an unknown distance, forming enormous 
sand-banks off the coast, and leading the mariner to keep far away from shore. Capo 
Blanco, its apparent termination westward, is a low flat tongue of verdureless white sand 
projecting into the sea, and owes its name to the prevailing hue. If westerly winds were 
to become predominant, Egypt would speedily be overwhelmed by the sand-flood, all 
cultivation cease, and the oases on its borders — these spots, where springs ooze up, and 
gather a little world of vegetation around them, chiefly date-trees — would disappear. 
Over a large portion of the Sahara rain never falls, but it is everywhere rare, wldle the 
surface is exposed to the fierce glare of a tropical sun. But though the heat by day is 
often almost insupportable, the nights are frequently singularly cold, owing to the 
excessive radiation promoted by the pmity of the sky and cahnness of the air. 

North- Western Africa is diversified by the Atlas Mountains, consisting of groups of 
high masses irregularly disposed, but connected by inferior ranges. They form a chain 
runnuig parallel to the Mediterranean, at no great distance from the coast, which gradually 
lowers in its easterly extension, and is skirted on the interior side by the Balad-el-Jerid, 
or Land of Dates, on the edge of the Sahara. Snow is very rarely absent from several of 
the summits, the loftiest of which, MUtsin, within view at the city of Marocco, rises to the 



AFRICAN BIVERS. 747 

lieiglit of moro tlian 11,000 feet, and is crested with it permanently. The iipper part of the 
Nile basin embraces the plateau region of Abyssinia, of great general elevation, and the plat- 
form from which Abba Yared towers to 15,000 feet, deemed tUl recently the oulminating- 
point of Africa. This distinction appears to belong to Kilimandjaro, about 3 degrees south 
of the equator, which rises above the snow-line, indicating in such a latitude an altitude 
of 20,000 or 21,000 feet. Near tlie coast of the Bight of Biafra, the Pico Grande, the 
loftiest peak of the Camaroons, reaches to 13,129 feet, upon the brow of which Captaia 
Burton planted his foot in 1861. From the south coast, within the limits of the Cape 
Colony, mountainous ridges rise in succession above each other as the shores are receded 
from, separated by terraces or high plains, the karroos of the colonists. The loftiest 
range, the Sneeuberg, or Snowj'' Mountaias, attains the elevation of 10,000 feet. It 
appears from the explorations of Livingstone and others that the central region of 
Southern Africa, north of the tropic, is a moderately high and well-watered table-land, 
fringed with mountains on the edges, through openings between which the interior rivers 
effect their disengagement, and descend to the coasts. 

The Nile is the largest of the African rivers, and the only considerable one connected 
with the basin of tlie Mediterranean. It issues from the great lake Victoria Nyanza, 
immediately south of the equator, and has a course of 3000 miles to the sea, which is 
entered through the far-famed Delta. In Nubia the river is fully formed by the junction 
of the White Nile, the main branch, with the Blue Nile from the Abyssinian highlands. 
It is remarkable that after- receiving the Atbara, or Tecazze, lower down, from the same 
country, no affluent enters the channel, though the river has still a course of 1500 miles 
to run. Hence it diminishes in volume as it proceeds, owing to the powerful evaporation 
and the quantity of water drawn off for irrigation. For ages it has been celebrated for the 
regularity of its annual rise and overflow, caused by seasonal rains in the upper part of 
its basin. The utUity of this overflow to Egypt, which altogether depends for its fertOity 
vqion it, has long been kno^wn; and it is, moreover, a curious circumstance, that even 
when the river is most turbid, the water retains its salubrity and agreeable taste. 'What,' 
said the general, Pescennius Niger, to his soldiers, ' crave you for vnue, when you have 
the water of the Nile to drink?' So nutritious was it deemed by the old Egyptians that 
the priests refrained from giving it to their sacred buU, Apis, on account of its fattening 
IDroperties. But as a present fit for royalty to receive, it was sent to distant kings and 
queens. The Arabs in the present day account it a delicious beverage, and wUl even 
excite thu'st artificially by eating salt, in order to gratify themselves with it. On 
journeys and pilgrimages nothing is spoken of with so much enthusiasm as the dehgiit 
of again driirking of the great river on their return. They are accustomed to say, that 
if Mohammed had once tasted the stream, he would have asked an immortality on earth, 
that he might enjoy it for ever. 

The second great river, the Niger, also called the Quorra and Joliba in different parts 
of its course, enters the Atlantic at the Bight of Biafra, after a flow of perhaps 2500 
miles. Though navigable to a great distance from its mouth, with populous nations on 
its borders, the pestiferousness of the mangrove swamps along the banks, is to Europeans 
a serious check upon its connhercial utility. The Gambia, Senegal, Congo, and Orange 
Elvers are also connected with the Atlantic basin. On the eastern side of the continent, 
the Zambesi is the only stream of consequence, the course of which was traced by 
Livingstone from the interior to its outlet in the Indian Ocean at the close of his great 
journey. It is remarkable for its ' smoke-resounding falls,' a native allusion to the spray 
and roar of a cataract,- perfectly unique of its kind, now usually called in England the 
Victoria Falls, which the traveller just named pronounced the most wonderful sight he 




Victoria Falls, Zambesi Eiver. 

ever witnessed in Africa. At a point where the river is upwards of a mUe in breadth, 
flowing through a level country, it comes suddenly upon a connected series of deep and 
narrow chasms runniug ia abrupt zigzags athwart its bed, but hardly extending beyond 
it. These iinally widen out, and lead away in the general direction of its com-se. Into 
the first of these chasms, the entire Zambesi tumbles at a single leap to the depth of 400 
feet, and thus disappears entu-ely from the surface of the land. After its fall, the river 
is visible from occasional points of view, struggling in those strangely-contracted and 
tortuous depths through which it has to make its further way. 

The lakes are nimierous and extensive, but those which appear to be the most 
important have not been folly explored, and are quite of recent discovery. A considerable 
space in Central Africa is occupied by Lake Tchad or Tsad, an expanse of 200 miles in 
circuit, but fluctuating in its extent with the seasons, shallow throughout, and lined with 
a belt of almost impenetrable tail grasses. The highland lake of Dembea or Tzana, in 
Abyssinia, through which the Blue HHb passes, is also an extensive sheet of water, at 
the elevation of 6270 feet above the sea-level. The Victoria ISTyanza, nearly under the 
equator, the probable source of the "White NUe, and the Lake Tanganika, further south, 
are important bodies of fresh water, both made known in the year 1858, since which 
period Livingstone has reported on the ITiyanyizi-Nyassa, ' Lake of the Stare,' still more 
southerly, belonging to the river-system of the Zambesi. 

The high temperature wliich generally distinguishes the cHmate of Africa, especially in 
the northern half, is the result of its tropical position, the structure and configuration of 
the land, and other subordinate causes. Vast tracts of sandy soil reflect with intense 
power the heat of the solar rays, while an immense extent of the surface is naked, without 
forests to protect it from the vertical sun's fiery glow. A lofty chain of mountains 
towards the Mediterranean prevents the ingress of the cool north wind, while the want 



VEGETATION AND ZOOLOGY. 



749 



of such a chain on the north-east freely admits the currents of air which have passed over 
the warm tracts of Arahia. The general absence of deep inlets of the ocean also operates 
to shut out the refreshing sea-breezes from the interior. In the central part of the 
Sahara, and the country between the Nile and the Eed Sea, the temperatiu'e attains the 
highest mean annual rate hitherto observed in any portion of the globe. It amounts to 
87° at Massowah or Massuah on the coast of Abyssinia. Winds from these highly-heated 
districts partake of their temperature, and extend it to the countries bordering upon them. 
The dry burning breath of the Haxmattan, felt aU over Senegambia, at intervals in 
December, January, and February, is a blast from the fiery furnace of the Great Desert. 
If it continues for some time, the branches of tender trees wither and die ; all herbaceous 
vegetation perishes ; and the panels of doors, windows, and articles of furniture crack, as 
if exposed to the action of a strong fire. But though thus pernicious, while disagreeable 
in its effect upon the human frame, causing the skin to peel, the harmattan as a dry wind 
is extremely favourable to life and health, arresting the spread of epidemics, and 
banishing the fevers prevalent in the wet season which precedes its visit. On the low 
coasts of tills region, the chmate is specially tmfavourable to Europeans, owing to the 
malaria arising from the immense mass of decomposiug vegetation brought down by the 
rivers, wliich has been stimulated by the hot and moist atmosphere. Hence Sierra Leone 
acquired the name of the ' white man's grave ' from its extreme unhealthiness, but this 
has now been somewhat mitigated by the clearance and cultivation of the ground. On 
the elevated lands the temperature is moderate, the air invigorating, and the climate 
wholesome, but a very imcertain rain-fall is an incident common to them, especially 
ia the far ulterior, where long droughts severely distress the inhabitants, and have led 
the simple and barbarous tribes to retain professional rain-makers in their service. 

Vegetable life is less varied in its forms, and more scantUy diffused than in the other continents, hut 
wherever the soil is sufficiently watered, as in the basins of the Senegal, Gambia, and Niger, the utmost 
luxm-iance of growth is exhibited, imder the combined influence of moisture and heat. Fine forests clothe 
the landscapes, consisting of acacias yielding gum-arabic, rosewood, teak, cotton-trees, masses of the imwieldy 
boabab, and tail gramineous plants. The boabab, or great calabash, which bears the fruit called monkey- 
bread, used as food by the natives, is not remarkable for height, but has the most enoi-mous trunk of any 
known tree, measm-ing from sixty to seventy feet in girth, and occasionally reaching to ninety feet. An 
instance is mentioned of a hollow trunk serving the purpose of a council-chamber to a Negro village. The 
date-pahn distinguishes the northern skirts of the Sahara ; the doom-pahn is characteristic also of sandy 
soils ; the oU-palm, from which the palm-oil of commerce is obtained, flourishes on the shores of the Gulf of 
Guinea ; and the cocoa-pahn waves on the tropical coasts. Cassia plants abound in Upper Egypt and Nubia, 
from which seima is prepared. The coffee shrub grows wild in Abyssuiia, its native seat. A very peculiar 
flora appears in Southern Africa, or the Cape Colony, distinguished by the prevalence of succulent plants, 
bulbous roots, geraniums, and heaths, the latter veiy remarkable for their beauty, though of little utility to 
man. Lidigo, cotton, tobacco, and the sugar-cane are cultivated in various parts, with maize, rice, dhurra, 
a kind of mUlet, bananas, and yams. The vine is cultivated with success at the Cape. 

African zoology is characterised by the great number of species of the higher orders, many of which ara 
qiiite peculiar to the continent. It includes the animal which makes the nearest approach to man in its 
organisation, the chimpanzee, with the enormously-powerful gorilla, both found in the woods of Upper 
Guinea and Senegambia, though but rarely met with. Three varieties of the king of beasts occur, the 
Barbary lion, with a very thick brown mane covering the head and shoulders of the male ; the Senegal lion, 
of a yellower hue, with a thinner mane ; and the Cape lion, of which the mane is nearly black. The 
elephant abounds, but is not domesticated as in Asia ; it is the tenant of all the countries south of the 
Sahara ; and with it, the rhinoceros, with two horns, has much the same range. Another animal of immense 
bulk, the hippopotamus, exclusively belongs to Africa, inhabiting the Upper Nile, with all the other large 
rivers, especially the Congo, the Niger, and the Zambesi. It is fitted alike to staUc on land, march along at 
the bottom of the waters, or swim upon the surface. Of the horse tribe, the beautifully-striped zebra, the 
quagga, and the dow roam over the arid plains of the central and southern regions in herds, and are not known 
in any other division of the globe. This is the case likewise with the giraffe, one of the ruminants, the tallest 
of aU quadrupeds, feeding on the leaves of trees, straying over a wide area, but not approaching the western 
coast. The antelope family is profuse in species and in individuals, sometimes migrating in vast droves in 
search of pasture, when severe drought compels them to quit their customary haiuits. The male ku-du 




Scene on the Logier Eiver, South Africa. 

above was sketched and shot by Mr Baines in Feburary 1863, the scene represented lies between the Logier 
and Luisi rivers ; tlie shrubby trees on the left being the Marrunia imrpurea or poison-tree of the Bushmen. 
The tiger is not an African animal, neither is the bear, but the leopard, panther, and hyena are widely 
distributed over the surface, while the wolf and jackal are chiefly limited to northern localities. Over the 
same region the A2-abian camel has been established from the earliest ages, and is essential to ordinary 
travelling and commercial transactions. 

The ornithology includes many species remarkable for gracefulness of form and beauty of colour, as the 
smi-birds and bee-eaters, the roseate ouzel, the Senegal thrush with its bronzed black plumage glossed with 
blue and violet, and the highly-adorned African creeper, admked also for its musical powers. Other species 
occur distinguished by interesting instincts, or by their size. The honey-guide birds, ranked with the cuckoo 
family, attract notice by their peculiar cry and habit of fluttering near the traveller, leading when followed 
to the wild bee's home. The ostrich, tallest of its class, and perhaps the swiftest of all inmning creatures, 
hunted for its white feathers, inhabits the open sand plains of the continent from north to south. The 
marabou, or gigantic stork, roosting in the cotton-trees, enjoys protection as a useful scavenger. Every order 
in the reptile world is represented. The crocodile of the Nile, celebrated in the ancient history of Egypt, is 
no longer foimd in the Delta, but abundant in the Thebaid, and in all the large rivers. In the swamps of 
the west coast, the python lurks, sometimes twenty-two feet in length. The list of venomous serpents 
embraces the asp, anciently regarded as an emblem of the protecting divinity of the world, often represented 
in hieroglyphic and other sculptures of the Egyptians. Southern Africa has its deadly varieties of the viper 
family, among which is the spitting-snake, so called from its power of ejecting poison to a distance when 
irritated. Batrachian Ufe is enormously developed in the singularly coloured donder paade, or monster toad, 
about a foot in length, and three-quarters of a foot in breadth. 

Among the insect tribes, locusts are occasionally a terrible scourge to many parts of the continent, 
migrating from the deserts where they are propagated to the fertile lands, and consuming all the vegetation 
wherever they alight, every leaf, and every blade of grass. A single swarm upon the wing makes the mid- 
day as sombre as the eventide, so dense is the mass ; and will be often more than half an hour in passing 
overhead. On one occasion the troops of Ibrahim Pasha, in attempting to extirpate one of the insect 



MINEEAL WEALTH. 751 

armies, gatlierod up no loss than 05,000 ai'dobs of thom, equal to 325,000 bushels. 'I never saw,' writes a 
missionary at an interior station, ' such an exhibition o£ the helplessness of man as I have seen to-day. 
■While, wc were sitting at dinner, a person came into the house quite pale, and told us that locusts were 
approaching. Every face instantly gathered " blackness." I went to the door, looked above, and all around, 
but saw nothing. " Look to the ground," was the reply, when I asked where they were. I looked to the 
ground, and there saw a stream of young locusts covering it at the entrance of the village. It was about 500 
feet broad, moving at the rate of two miles an hour. In a few minutes they covered the garden wall some 
inches deep. To examine this phenomenon more fully, I walked about a mile and a half from the village, 
following the course of the stream of locusts. Here I found it extending a mile in breadth. It appeared as 
if the dust under my feet were forming into life. Man can conquer the lion, the tiger, the elephant, and all 
the wild beasts of the desert ; he can turn the course of mighty rivers ; but he is as nothing before an army 
of locusts. Such a scene as I have behold this afternoon would fill England with more consternation than 
the terrific cholera.' A resemblance between the head of the locust and that of the horse lias often been 
noticed, and hence the ItaUans call it cavalcUa, or the ' little horse.' The Arabs compare the head to that 
of the horse, the breast to that of the lion, the feet to those of the camel, the belly to that of a serpent, and 
the tail to that of a scorpion. The formidable light in which they view the puny creature is evident from 
these comparisons. It is expressed also in the interpretation they put upon certain markings on the wings, 
resembUng oriental characters, which are supposed to form an inscription, signifying ' We are the army of the 
mighty God. "We have each ninety-and-nine eggs, and had we but the hundredth, we would consume the 
world, and all that it contains.' Though not capable of taking long flights, they have effected the passage of 
the Mediterranean, with a strong and regular wind blowing in a favourable direction. If a calm comes on, 
they fall exhausted into the water, or if there is a storm they are precipitated to the surface to perish. 
Termites, or white ants, are a hardly less formidable insect tribe, destroying furniture, books, clothes, and 
everything that comes in their way. They are chiefly found in Western Africa. They form vast colonies, 
each under a female sovereign, and build conical nests of earth from ten to twelve feet in height, divided in 
the interior by thin pai-titions into a variety of cells. These nests are grouped together in great numbers, 
and appear like villages from a distance. The tsetse-fly, whose bite is fatal to nearly all domestic animals, 
haunts certain parts of the basin of the Zambesi, with a few adjoining locaUties. 

Africa appears to be much more sparingly endowed with mineral wealth than the other 
contLaents, but such a vast proportion of the surface is either whoUy unknown, or remains 
so scantily illustrated, that no positive conclusion can at present be arrived at. Gold has 
been for ages a characteristic product, and originated the name of the Gold Coast on tho 
Gulf of Guinea. It occurs in the form of minute grains or dust, diffused through the 
alluvium of rivers, lakes, and valleys, also mixed with the wide-spread sand of the Sahara. 
It is sold in the ports of the west coast, as well as in the marts of Marocco, Pez, Algiers, 
Cairo, and Alexandria. The gold-dust is frequently accompanied with grains of iron ore. 
Auriferous quartz rooks certainly occur, the disintegration of which has probably formed 
the sands and gravels in which the gold-dust is found. Kordofan, to the south-east of 
the Sahara, affords a considerable supply of the precious metal, brought to market by the 
Negroes in quills of the ostrich and vulture. Copper and iron are abundant in the Atlas 
Moimtains, and in the desert between the Nile and the Eed Sea, where mines were 
worked in ancient times, traces of which remain very distinct. The Sierra Leone coast 
possesses valuable iron ores ; and ia Southern Africa, particles of iron intermixed with 
sand form the soil of the Great Karroo. Salt is plentiful and widely diffused, though in 
some districts wholly wanting; sal-ammoniac, saltpetre, sulphur, and emery are also 
furnished ; and natron or soda — an important article of commerce — is obtained from lakes 
and springs, cliiefly in the eastern half of the Great Desert. The mineral crystallises at 
the bottom when the water is sufficiently saturated. It forms cakes varying from fine 
films to the thickness of a few inches, and is conveyed by camels to the markets of 
Egypt. 

Though entirely a matter of conjecture, the total population of Africa is probably not 
less than 100,000,000, consisting of many small nations and tribes, very largely out of 
the pale of the most ordinary civilisation. Few of the people are strictly nomadic in 
their habits, but dwell in permanent iovms and villages, the great majority of which are 
groups of humbly-constructed thatched earthen or wooden cabins. 



7u3 GENERAL VIEW OP AFEICA. 

The North Africans, 'between the limits generally defined by the parallel of 20° and 
the Mediterranean, belong chiefly to the Syro-Aiabian stock, but often display the 
presence of central African or Nigritic peculiarities. Over the whole of this region a 
race of foreign extraction is spread, the Arabs, who came in from Asia under the 
standard of the early Mohammedan chieftains, and have both maintained themselves of 
pure blood, and become mixed with the natives proper. The indigenous people are 
arranged by Dr Latham in three groups of Atlantidje, respectively styled Egyptian, 
Nilotic, and Amazigh. The first of these groups includes the descendants of the ancient 
race on the lower course of the Nile who reared the pyramids, or the modern Copts, few 
in. number, whose thick hps, broad flat nostrils, and full eyes correspond to the 
sculptured representations on the old monuments. The second group, or the Nilotic 
Atlantidfe, comprises tribes and nations occupying the middle and upper basin of the 
river, Nubians, Agows, Gallas, and Bishari, the present population of Nubia and 
Abyssinia. The Amazigh Atlantidee are the people usually called Berbers, who were 
known to the Greeks and Eomans by the name of Amazigh, signifying &ee, independent, 
brave, like the term Frank among the Europeans. It indicates their present condition. 
They now inhabit the mountainous region of the Atlas, and are thinly scattered over the 
northern part of the Great Desert, extending also far into its southern portion, occupying 
the oases. In many parts they are in contact wdth the Moors, a mixed people, the 
offspring of a native race and of Eoman, Vandal, and Arab conquerors, stUl retaining 
primitive characteristics, and cliiefly dweUing in cities and towns. The Arabic is the 
prevailing language in Africa north of the equator. It was introduced by the Moham- 
medan conquerors, gaiued diffasion with the extension of their power, and was imposed 
by force of circumstances to some extent upon natives subject to their rule. In general 
the inhabitants of this portion of the continent have dark eyes, long black hair, and a 
brown complexion, varying in its shade from light to dusky. 

The Central Africans belong principally to the Negro or Ethiopic variety of the human 
race, and are styled Negro Atlantida. They form the vast majority of the population, 
and are physically characterised by a complexion varying from deep sallow to iutense 
black, by dark woolly hair, an unctuous skin, high cheek-bones, projecting jaws, and 
thick lips. These features are by no means strongly marked throughout, but endless 
modifications appear. The jet-black hue seems to be confined to those who inhabit the 
river-vaUeys and other low grounds within the tropics. In strength and statm's the 
Negro is fully equal to Europeans, nor has any natural intellectual inferiority of the black 
man to the white yet been proved. True Negro tribes are most prominent in the region 
of the west coast from the banks of the Senegal to the latitude of 16° south, and in the 
interior of the continent from the Great Desert nearly to the Tropic of Capricorn, while 
occurring also on the east coast. In Senegambia, Guinea, and Sudan they form populous 
nations, but are priucipally divided into smaU communities under hereditary chieftain- 
ships. In the economy of some interior communities, social and political, Livingstone 
unexpectedly stumbled upon the discovery of female influence predominating, but was 
for some time hard of belief in relation to it, tiU repeated inquiries established its truth. 
Among all uncivilised people hitherto known, women have invariably been found to be 
little more than the drudges and pack-oxen of the men ; but ia a part of Nigritia the 
relations between the sexes change completely, and the lady-blacks have decidedly the 
upper hand. In the event of marriage between a young man and a girl belonging to a 
neighbouring village, he removes to the house of his bride ] and it becomes his duty not 
only to treat the mother-in-law with the greatest respect, but to supply her with fire-wood 
throughout the remainder of her days. In cases of separation, it is the wife who divorces 



WEST AFEICAN ISLANDS. 753 

the husband, tlio cliildren going along Avith herj and in almost all the ordinary trans- 
actions of life, her influence is supreme. 

The South Africans are ranged in the two groups of the Kaffir and Hottentot Atlantidee. 
The Kaffirs, consisting of numerous tribes under a great variety of names, occupy the 
cast coast region and the central districts, from the borders of the Capo Colony 
and Ifatal up to the basin of the Zambesi. They are a taU, well-made, athletic 
race, of a deep bro-wn complexion, with short curly black hair, less woolly than that 
of the Negro ; but become gradually assimilated to the iNegro type on passing to 
the northward, till all trace of difference fades away. The word Kaflir is derived 
from the Arabic Kiafir, signifying an ' unbeliever,' and was appHed by the Arabs 
as Mohammedans to all the natives m their vicinity. In conformity with this usage, 
the early Portuguese and Dutch settlers adopted the designation, called the country 
beyond their bounds the land of the Kaffirs, out of which Kaffraria was fonned as the 
name of a particular district. This family includes the Bechuanas, Damaras, Zulus, Mata- 
bele, and Makalolo. The Hottentot Atlantidte are found in the west coast region north of 
the Cape Colony and witliin its limits, penetrating inland to the Kalahiri Desert. They 
are of short stature, have very unprepossessing features of the MongoHan cast, but 
have shewn an aptitude to acquire the habits^of civUised life imder patient instruction. 
The Griquas, Koranas, Namaquas, and Bosjesmans or Bushmen belong to this race. 
The latter are strictly a nomadic people, foUow no industrial pursuit, wander in 
search of roots and game, possess some wretched dogs, are now few in number, and 
appear to be verging to an utter extinction. Throughout the northern countries Moham- 
medanism is professed, but with no strict attention to its ritual, except by the inha- 
bitants of the NUe vaUey and the Barbary states. A form of Christianity, but very much 
corrupted, is observed by the Egyptian Copts and the Abyssinians. The lowest phases of 
superstition appear among the Kaffir and ifTegro nations, some of whom observe 
the practice of circumcision, and peculiar rites of purification analogous to those 
prescribed by the Mosaic law. They dread the influence of sorcerers and wizards, have 
recourse to fetishism, or the worship of animate and inanimate objects. This is specially 
distinctive of the Negroes, on occasions of emergency, public or domestic, who venerate 
also the spirits of their departed relatives. Clay figures of the lion and crocodile are 
set up, or blocks of timber rudely carved with the human face, generally in the most 
utter seclusion in the woods, to which the Negro repairs solitarily when the shadows 
of the night have gathered, to invoke aid in his distresses. Sometimes they are 
estabhshed in pubhc places, when crowds assemble around the images, and beat drums 
to render them propitious. 

I. WEST AFEICAN ISLANDS. 

The insular dependencies of the continent are all small, with one signal exception, 
but have many interesting features. Except a few close inshore, they are not politically 
associated with the mainland, are chiefly held by the Portuguese, Spanish, British, and 
French, and are hence most conveniently noticed in detail collectively. 

Madeika, a possession of the crown of Portugal, is situated about 390 miles off the north-west coast of Africa, 
and is justly celebrated for its beautiful scenery, fine climate, and great fertility. It extends thirty-five 
miles in length by fourteen where the breadth is the greatest, and consists of a mass of basaltic rock rising 
abruptly out of the sea. It attains the elevation of 6050 feet above its level, in the Kco Euivo, the loftiest 
point, from the summit of which the view is magnificent on favourable occasions. Deep narrow gorges 
cleaving the mountains almost down to their base ; rivulets flowing through them, leaping in cascades from 
rock to rook, and at times swelling into furious torrents ; and luxuriant vegetation are characteristic of the 
scenery. Pines and chestnuts form noble groves on the higher declivities ; myrtles and geraniums flourish in 
their native wildness, and give beauty to the ravines ; bananas, dates, figs, spices, coffee, and all the choicest 

2 V 




Funchal, Island of Madeira. 

fruits of the tropics are raised abundantly on the lower grounds. The vine is, however, the chief ohject of 
cultivation, and wine the important export. But in Madeira, as in other wine-growing districts, the vintage 
has in recent years been damaged to the great distress of the inhabitants, owing to the grape blight, 
origmated by a parasitical fungus. The people are mostly of Portuguese descent, upwards of 98,000 in 
number. About one-fourth occupy Funchal, the capital and only town, agreeably seated on a bay of the 
south coast, the residence of many English merchants engaged in the wine trade. It has an English Episcopal 
and a Scotch Presbyterian Church. Owing to the mddness and uniformity of the climate, invalids from 
Europe resort to the place to pass the winter, suffering from pulmonary affections, occasionally of illustrious 
rank. 'Within the last quarter of a century a villa adjoining Funchal has successively received Prince 
Alexander of Holland, Adelaide queen-dowager of England, the Duke of Leuchtenberg, the ex-empress of 
ErazU, and the empress of Austria, On the north-east of Madeira lies the small isle of Porto Santo, with a 
few inhabitants ; and on the south-east are the three rocky islets, called the Desertas, occasionally visited by 
iishermen, herdsmen with goats, sheep, and cattle, and by parties in quest of archil, a dye-yielding lichen. 

The Canaries, a group considerably to the southward and much nearer the mainland, consist of seven 
principal islands, Teneriffe, Gran Canaria, Fortaventura, Gomera, Lanzarote, Palma, and Eerro, with several 
smaller. They are subject to the crown of Spain, and form a province of the kingdom, attached to the 
archiepiscopal see of Seville. Their population, about 230,000, are almost exclusively of Spanish descent, but 
mingled in blood by intermarriage ivith the aborigines, or the Guauches, who have disaiDpeared as a distuict 
race. A pestUence swept away the few sur%'ivors in 149i "When first known to Europeans, these people 
recognised a Supreme Being, with a future state of rewards and punishments. They embalmed their dead, 
and deposited them in caves. "When the embalming process was complete, the body was sewn up in goat- 
skins, and bandaged with leather. The chiefs had the distinction of a cofSn formed of a hollow tree, but in 
all cases cave-burial obtained. In a spaciou.s sepulchre, the cavern of a steep cliff in Teneriffe, upwards of 
1000 mummies were found, and five or six were commonly joined together, the feet of one being se^vn to the 
head of the next. Remains of aromatic plants connected with the skeletons were met with, and small laces 
to which were suspended little cakes of baked earth. Teneriffe, the largest island, contains the seat of 
government, at Santa, Cruz. Gran Canaria, nearly round, and about forty miles in diameter, has the best 
anchorage ground, in the bay on which stands the jirincipal commercial town, Ciudad de las Palmas. 
Eortaventura, the nearest to the African main, is little more than sixty mUes from Cape Juby. Eerro, the 
most westerly, in longitude 1S° 9' west of Greenwich, was formerly considered the extreme western point of 
the Old "World, and aU geographers adopted its meridian as the starting-point in reckoning longitudes. 
Some of the Germans and others stiU adliere to tliis old standard Une, which has been used for the purpose 
from the time of Ptolemy. The islands are fertile, have a warm salubrious climate, but are subject to very 
severe droughts. The well-known canary bird, originally brought into Europe from the group, and hence so 
named, is still plentiful, but differs in colour and appearance from those bred abroad. Canary-grass, a native 
plant, is also naturalised in England, and cultivated for the seed in various parts of the counties of Kent and 



OAPE VEEDE — ASCENSION ISLAND. 755 

Essex. The Canaries are all of volcanic formation, and contain both extinct and active centres of eruption. 
The whole of Lanzaroto is a mass of lava and cinders, with a crater which was in action in the year 182i • 
and the Peak of Tcneriffe is one of the grandest volcanoes of the globe. It rises pyramidally to the height of 
12,236 feet ; and mth the ascending and decUning smi projects a huge and clearly-defined black shadow 
stretching away upwards of fifty miles across the deep, and partly eclipsing the adjoining isles. Zones of 
dill'orent vegetation are successively passed on making the ascent. The region of vines at the bottom is left 
for that of laurels and various woods, followed by that of pines and juniper, to which succeeds a species of 
tail broom, which forms oases in the midst of a wide sea of ashes aroiuid the Piton, or Sugar-loaf, a mountain 
on the top of a moimtain. 

The Cape Tekde cluster, belonging to Portiigal, is situated about 320 miles off the promontory of that 
name, the most westerly pomt of Africa. There are ten principal islands, Santiago, Fogo, Erava Maio 
Boavista, Sal, San NicoBo, San Luzi.a, San Vicente, and San Antonio, occupied by about 80,000 negroes and 
mulattoes, with a few whites. They are volcanic, generally rocky and barren, have a very unhealthy 
cUmate, intense heat prevailing during the greater part of the year, ivith storms and fogs throun-h the 
remainder. Santiago, the largest of the group, contains Porto Praya, formerly the residence of the "overnor. 
Fine specimens of the giant tropical ti'ee of Africa, the boabab, appear in the vicinity, with the pear-shaped 
ti'unk nearly forty feet in circumference, though not more than ten feet liigh. The seat of government is 
now at 3Iinddlo, in San Vicente, which possesses an excellent harbour in the Porto Grande, regularly resorted 
to as a coaling-station by steamers bound to or from the Southern Hemisphere. The slopes of a volcano 
occupy almost the whole area of the island of Fogo. It rises to the height of 9159 feet, and has been in 
recent activity, after a long interval of repose ; the islanders speak a Portuguese jargon called Lingua Creoula. 
Feknando Po, in the Bight of Biafra, bears the name of its Portuguese discoverer, Fernando Gomez, but 
was very appropriately called by hiui Ilha. Formosa, the "JJeautiful Island.' It is within sight of the main- 
land, and has a very attractive appearance from the sea, being traversed by a moimtain-ridge clothed to some 
of its highest elevations with dense forests, while in other parts the trees have a park-like arrangement, 
occm-ring in groves. Clarence Peak rises 10,650 feet, and has a summit composed of volcanic ashes, mantled 
with grass, and almost constantly enveloped in clouds. The woods consist of palms and the magnificent 
bonibax, or silk cotton-tree, ' looking in the distance,' says a desoriber, ' so like the white saEs of vessels, 
liuU down, that one might almost have supposed they saw a numerous fleet with canvas loosened to dry.' 
Birds of fine plumage are numerous ; monkeys occur in crowds, some of which are of large size ; alligators 
infest the streams ; snakes are very common ; goats and sheep run wUd. "With the consent of Spain, to 
whom the island had been ceded by the Portuguese, it became the seat of a British settlement in 1827, 
designed to aid in the suppression of the slave-trade, but was resigned in a few years, and the military with- 
drawn, owmg to the fatal influence of the climate. Clarence Town, a British foundation on the north-east 
coast, consists of a smgle street of wooden houses, with a small population of negroes, chiefly liberated from 
slavery, and a few whites as merchants, engaged in the palm-oil trade, over whom the Spanish government 
exercises no active authority, though the sovereignty has reverted to it. In the grave-yard many English 
victims to the fell fever of the place are interred, among others, Eichard Lander, the explorer of the Niger. 

Pkinoe's Island, two degrees from the equator, and that of Si TnoilAS, intersected by it, are small 
possessions of Portugal, under a governor resident at the latter. 

Annoeon, or Aimo-bom, immediately south of the equator, a very interesting spot, is under the govern- 
ment of natives, though claimed by both the Spanish and Portuguese, without either interfering. It is only 
about four miles long by two broad, and rises up from an imfathomable depth of ocean to the height of 3000 
feet. Provisions and water being plentiful, vessels often make for this independent speck of land to procure 
supplies, which are much more readily obtained by barter than by money. There are about 3000 natives, 
whose political economy is doubtless without parallel. The government is vested in five persons, who hold 
oflice by tiuTis, and have their term of service regulated by the arrival of ships. "When the number of ten 
has been reached during one chief-magistracy the functionary gives way to another. 

AscENSlOM Island, a British possession, is one of the lonely islets of the globe, being upwards of 900 
miles south-south-west of Cape Palmas, the nearest point of the contment, and 500 miles from St Matthew's, 
the nearest shore. The name commemorates its discovery by the Spanish on Ascension Day 1501. It is an 
arid volcanic spot, eight miles long by six broad, and rises to 2870 feet above the sea. First occupied by the 
British for the piu-pose of surveillance during the captivity of Napoleon at St Helena, it has since been 
retained as a victualling station for ships returning from the East, and for the squadron engaged in suppressmg 
the slave-trade. Immense numbers of birds' eggs are taken, and turtles abound on the shores. Georgetown, 
the settlement, is occupied by a small garrison and some negroes. 

St Helena is still more solitary, being upwards of 700 miles south-east of Ascension Island, the nearest 
coast. It is one of the best known of all lonely sites, owing to the detention here of Napoleon from 1815 to 
his death in 1821. Discovered on St Helena's Day 1502, whence the name, it became a Dutch possession. 
It was ceded to the English East India Company in 1673, from whom it passed to the British crown in 1833. 
The island is ten miles long by seven broad, and consists of a rugged, dark volcanic rock, facing the sea so 
precipitously that the interior is only accessible in four places. Diana's Peak, the highest point, rises to 2700 
feet. Li one of the ravines opening towards the ocean stands Jamestown, strongly fortified, possessing an 
excellent harbour, a handsome church, and many good official residences. It is frequently touched at by 



756 



GENERAL VIEW OP AFRICA. 




homeward-bound vessels to take in vegetables and fresli water. The whole population of the island does 

not exceed 6000, consisting of one-tliird whites, the remainder coloured people of Africa and Asia, with 

half-castes. Though the surface is 

generally rugged, it embrices some 

spacious plains, one of which. Long 

wood, was the residence of Nipoleon, ^ ^^ 

whose house is now in luins His " 'i*" 

remains lay in Geranium Valley till 

their removal to Paris in 1840 A 

willow marks the site of the gTave. 

EAST AFRICAN ISLANDS 

Madagasoae, on the south eastern 
side of the continent, separated from ,, ^ "^ 

it by the Mozambique Channel, is one 
of the largest islands of the globe, 
extending 1030 miles from north to 
south, by 350 miles from east to west, 
where the breadth is the greatest, 
and embracing an area of 22d,00Q 
square mUes. The shores are low 
and swampy, often lined ivith shallow 
lagoons in which are giant sea weeds, 
or clothed with close woods and 
jimgles of tall grasses, forming a veiy 
insalubrious region, one portion of 
which has the native name of Matita 
nana, the ' Land of Death , ' while the 
adjoining isle of St Mary is known m 
the annals of colonisation as tho 
Dead Island ' of the Dutch, and the 
Graveyard' of the French The 
interior is traversed in the diiection of 
its length by a moimtain rangu, rismg 
in several summits to upwards of 10,000 
feet, and spreading out into citensive 
table-lands. This elev.ated distiict, on 
which ice is sometimes formed and sleet 
storms descend, is entirely free from 
the pestilential malaria of tho coast 
The population — up- 
wards of 5,000,000— 
consists of tribes "witli 
d.ark African features, 
over whom the Hovas, 
who are Polynesian 
in their complexion, 
language, and other 
characteristics, are 
politically dominant. 
The propag.ation of 
Christianity has been 
alternately encouraged 
and interdicted by 
different sovereigns ; 
intercourse "with Eui'o- 
peans has been allowed 
and suspended, but 
tho island is at present 
open to communion ' inna, Mauritius. 

with the civilised world. Antananarivo, the capital, the ' City of a Tliousand Towns,' is in the elevated 
central district, but has no extent corresponding to the name. It is reached by foreigners from Tamatave, the 
most frequented port on the east coast. The Prench hold the small isles of St Mary and Nossi Be, close inshore. 

The CoMOKO group, at the north entrance of the Mozambique Channel, consists of four principal islands, 




MAUEITinS. 



757 



and have inhabitants chiefly of Arabic descent, who profess Mohammedanism. They are governed by a 
native sultan, with one exception, Mayotta, -wliich was ceded to the Frencli in 1841. The surface is volcanic, 
mountainous, and fertUe in tropical products. Cocoa-nut oil and tortoise-sheU are exported. The Mascaeenb 
Isles, the collective name given to a group lying between the 20th and 22nd parallel, consisting of Eeunion 
or Isle of Eonrbon, the Isle of France or Mauritius, and Eodriquez, lying 360 miles to the eastward. They 
were discovered in 1505 by the Portuguese navigator Mascarenhas. Eeunion, formerly called Bourbon, 400 
miles on the east of Madagascar, has long been a colony of France, or since the year 1649. It has an area of 
905 square miles, and consists of two groups of volcanic mountains separated by a plain, with a narrow belt 
of higUy-fertae land for the coast. Piton de la Fournaise, an active volcano, rises 7218 feet, and has thrown 
out lava, which fonns great part of the surface soil. The loftier Piton de Neiges, 10,100 feet, is extuict. 
Sugar, coffee, cloves, tobacco, cocoa, pepper, saltpetre, ebony, and dye-woods are the principal exports. No 
venomous reptiles exist, but the island suffei-s from storms, being mthin the hurricane region of the Indian 
Ocean. St Denis, the chief town, is on the north coast. The total population amounts to 166,000, of whom 
about 30,000 are whites, the remainder Africans, formerly slaves on the plantations. 

Mauritius, a British colony, 115 miles north-east of Eeunion, is a somewhat smaller island, mountainous, 
thicldy wooded, and well watered, with a healthy climate, but liable to destructive tempests. A reef of coral 
nearly encircles the shores, openings in which admit the access of vessels to the strand. The Peter Botte 
Mountain, remarkable for its summit, is one of the highest points, 2S74 feet above the sea. Sugar plantations 
cover a large extent of the surface, and yield the piincipal export, in addition to which, cofi'ee, cotton, and 
indigo .are grown. Port Louis, the chief toAvn, is beautifully situated, possesses a good harbour, and contains 
about 26,000 inliabitants. The whole island has a population, including its dependencies, of 322,000, con- 
sisting mostly of coloured people once in slavery. It ^was called Mauritius by the Dutch, the original 
discoverers, in honour of Prince Maui'ice of Holland, but passed from them to the French, who held it nearly 
a centmy tmder the name of lie de France, In 1814 its possession was confirmed to the British, who restored 
the old title. The whites on tho island are chiefly of French extraction, and speak the French language. 
The Mauritius government includes msular dependencies at a considerable distance ; the isle of Eodriguez, 
with a few settlers of French descent ; the Amirante and Seychelles Archipelagos, with Port Victoria on one 
of the latter, and a small garrison ; and the Chagos group, in the heart of the Indian Ocean. 

Socoira, about 100 miles from the eastern extremity of Africa, of considerable extent, is inhabited by Arabs, 
and has been known from a remote age. It is the Dioscoridis Insula of Ptolemy, and is mentioned by 
Airian, has long been famous for its aloes, and for the gum-resin obtained from the dragon's-blood tree. 




Peter Botte Mountain. 




Tangier. 

CHAPTEE I, 

NOETHEEIT AFRICA. 

HE region Imo-wn by the general name of tlie Baebaet 
States, or Maeocco, Algeeia, Tunis, and Teepoli, 
extends along the Mediterranean from the Atlantic on 
the west, to the horders of Egypt on the east, and has 
a coast-line of more than 2000 miles, with compara- 
tively narrow hut very indefinite inland limits. It 
includes a series of maritime plains, with a highly 
fertUe calcareous soU, which were the granary of 
Eome in ancient times, and at an earher period 
suppHed the wants of the citizens, fleets, and armies 
of Carthage. They stUl retain all the conditions 
necessary to productiveness. The chain of Atlas 
rises in the background, running from Cape G-her, on 
the Atlantic sea-board, to the Bay of Tunis, at a varjnng distance from the shore, and 
sending off spurs to it which divide the plains from each other, and prevent convenient 
land communication between them by their steepness. Westward, in Marocco, the chain 
consists of a double Hne, the Great and Little Atlas, relatively north and soutL The 
former is the highest, rises to the snow-line, and has the local name of Jebel-el-Thelj, or 




VALLEYS OF THE ATLAS. 759 

tlic Snowy Mountains. Eastward, towards Algeria, the two lines lose distinctness, and 
form an elevated broad plateau, edged with bold, abrupt, and rugged heights on the 
northern and southern sides. Between the edges a space intervenes varying in breadth 
from 150 to 200 miles, consisting of high levels, extremely hot in summer, but subject 
to great cold in winter, on which the snow lies long. Upon its melting in spring, the 
surface becomes rapidly clothed with profuse vegetation, and populous mth camps of 
scattered sections of a nomadic people, who come up from their "ivinter-quarters id the 
Sahara to take advantage of the fresh food whicli natiu-e is furnishing to their flocks and 
herds. Long strings of camels, some with their young by their side, others carrying the 
women of the tribe, and the tents which are to be pitched when the grazing-gTound is 
reached, present a picturesque spectacle. The southern slope of the mountaias descends 
to the semi-desert region, called Belud-el-Jerid, or the Country of Dates, which forms the 
northern border of the Great Desert. 

Valleys of the Atlas are the beds of streams which unite to form short rivers, flowing 
on the northern side to the Mediterranean, and descending on the southern to salt-lakes 
on the verge of the Sahara. Vast woods clothe the declivities far up to the summits. 
The principal trees are the oak, beech, cork, wliite poplar, juniper, and wild olive, with the 
sandarach-tree, yielding the gum-resin of whicli pounce is made, and famous for its timber, 
which is almost imperishable. It is emjjloyed in constructing the ceilings of the mosques, 
and is deemed by some identical with the shittim-wood of sacred history. In the Belud- 
el-Jerid, groves of the date-palm supply the inhabitants with food, afford protection from 
the burning sun and hot southern winds of the desert, and in their shade the orange, 
lemon, pomegranate, and vine are reared. The term Jerid denotes the dry branches of 
the palm used to form javelins. On the plains of Marocco the wild mulberry grows 
luxuriantly ; and the favourite fragrant plant. Reseda odorata, is there a native, now 
naturalised in our o-^vn climate. It was first mtroduced from Barbary to the south of 
France, where it received the common name of mignonette, ' little darling; ' it was brought 
to England in 1743. The lion, panther, hyena, and boar are the formidable wUd 
animals. 

In the time of the Eomans the country must have swarmed with lions, from the numbers exhibited at 
their games, obtained chiefly from their North African dependencies. Pompey collected 315 on one occasion 
for the purpose of fighting in the Circus ; and Sylla possessed 100 fuU-grown males. The latter were sent by 
the long of Mauritania. At present a brace of lions would be thought a very princely gift. The animal is 
now confined to tlie more difficult and densely-wooded parts of the Atlas Mountains, where many have been 
shot by the rifle since the French occupation of Algeria. The Barbary ape, found in great numbers in the 
woods, is a small species of tailless monkey, commonly seen in England in attendance upon itinerant 
showmen in the streets. A colony of the same race has long been naturalised on the Eook of Gibraltar, the 
only European locality of the quadrumanous order. The horses of Barbary are renowned for their temper, 
speed, and endurance. Taken by the Arabs into Spain at the time of the conquest, they originated the 
noble breed of Spanish chargers, so highly valued throughout Western Euroi^e, which received from their 
native country the name of harhs, an abbreviated form of Barbary. The horses of the Nomades on the 
border of the Great Desert, and iu its oases, are the fleetest, but wiU not bear removal from the sandy 
plains. 

Tlie Barbary States probably contain a population of 10,000,000 or 12,000,000, con- 
sisting of various races, almost aU united by a common faith, Mohammedanism, and 
extensively so by a common speech, the Arabic. Tliis is the language of commerce and 
general intercourse, and also that of the government in the empire of Marocco. Six distinct 
races may be enumerated ; the Berbers, Moors, Arabs, Turks, Kulughs, and ITegroes, 
besides the cosmopoUte Jews, the French in Algeria, and the Spaniards in their own 
possessions. The name of Berber is a collective one for various tribes native to the soU, 
Avho occupy the highlands and the desert region on the south, to which they were driven 
from the fertile plauis by the great Arab immigration of the seventh and foUowing 



760 NORTHERN AFRICA. 

centuries. The word is of foreign origin, probably derived from the Greek and Latin 
term Barbari ; and -was naturally applied to their territory in the form of Barbary. They 
are now distinguished according to locality, as Shelluhs in Marocco, Kabyles in Algeria, 
Zouaves in. Tunis, and Tuaricks in the Sahara. These people are rude and warlike, 
chiefly pastoral in their habits, though some are cultivators and miners, and manufacture 
then* implements of labour, and even their arms and ammunition. They are either 
wholly free, or only in formal subjection to the organised governments. The Moors 
have their name from the Mauri, signifying ' dark,' an aboriginal race so denominated by 
the Eomans ; and are descended from them and various conquering immigrants. They 
are principally town-dweUers, as artisans, tradesmen, and merchants, while the Arabs 
share the open country with the Berbers, and enjoy much the same amount of practical 
liberty. The Turks, introduced by conquest in the sixteenth century, with the Kuluglis, 
their children by native women deprived of all paternal rights, are chiefly found in 
Tripoli and Tunis, never having established themselves permanently in Marocco. 

In the oldest historical times Phoenician colonies were established on the coast, o£ which Carthage became 
the head, one of the greatest commercial cities of the world, long the centre of a powerful and extensive 
state. After bringing Home to the verge of ruin, it was mastered by the Eomans in 146 B.C., who 
succeeded to the possession of all its dependencies. Roman Africa, in the imperial period, consisted of six 
provinces, Mauritania-Tingitana, westward on the Atlantic, then in succession eastward, Mauritauia- 
CiBsariensis, Mauritania-Sitifensis, Numidia, the Proconsular Province, or Africa Proper, and Byzacium. 
The two latter corresponded to the strictly Carthaginian territory in her palmy days. Upon the introduction 
of Christianity, it has been hastily assumed to have become the religion of nearly the whole population. 
Tliis inference has been drawn from the number of bishops of the African Church who were collected in the 
conference at Carthage, on the occasion of the Donatist disputes. But the bishoprics corresponded more to 
modern incumbencies than anything else, and both parties reproached each other for appointing bishops in 
insignificant places, ' in vills and hamlets,' with the object of increasing votes on their own side. The so-called 
dioceses were in many instances mere villages, and some of them shew by their name that they owed their 
existence to a military outpost. In the declining days of the Eoman power, Genseric, at the head of the 
Vandals, crossed over from Spain, and rapidly reduced the country, 439 jV.d. In the following centiu'y the 
barbarians were defeated by the great Eoman general Belisarius ; but in the succeeding one, 647, the Arabs 
appeared, and permanently established themselves in the country, with the Moslem creed. 

Each of the Barbary States has a maritime frontier, and extends inland to the Great 
Desert, embracing a portion of it, but with whoUy undefined limits. 

Marocco, Marocco, Fez, Mequmez, Tangier, Mogadore. 

Algeria Algiers, Bona, Oran, Constantine, Mascara. 

Tunis, Tunis, Kairwan. 

Tripoli, Tripoli, Murzuk. 

The whole coimtry, in allusion to its position in relation to Egypt, has the Arabic name 
of el-Maghrib, ' the West,' while the people are called el-Magliribbins, ' the West-men.' 
Algeria, being somewhat central, is denoted as Maghrib-el-Ansat, ' the Middle West,' and 
Marocco, Maghrib-el-Alcsa, 'the Far West.' 

Mabocco, the Mauritania of ancient geography, an empire or sultanate, is the largest, 
most fertile, and populous political division, but the worst governed and most neglected 
in its natural resources. It has an area of about 230,000 square miles, and a population 
estimated at 8,500,000, many of whom are wild highlanders of the Atlas, fierce and 
intractable, who own no allegiance to the emperor, but have their own chiefs, and levy 
transit dues on goods and passengers in their respective domains, while some of the 
coast-dwellers have repeatedly brought the government into collision with foreign maritime 
powers, or received direct chastisement from them, owing to their piratical habits. The 
sea-board extends from Cape ISTun, on the Atlantic, to a little beyond the outfaU of the 
Muluya into the Mediterranean, on the Algerine frontier. Intermediately the projection 
occurs which brings Africa within fifteen miles of Europe, and forms, in connection with 
the shore of Spain, the Strait of Gibraltar. It is distinguished by one of the fabled 



MAEOCCO. 761 

Pillars of Hercules, the Mount ALyla of classical antiquity, now called Jebel-Muza, from 
the name of a Moslem saint whose tomb is at the spot. This mountain is also known by 
the name of the Hill of Apes, from the number of monkeys which, with wolves and wUd 
swine, are its only occupants. It presents a steep and stupendous front towards the Eock 
on the opposite side of the channel, is a bulkier and loftier mass, but the peculiar and 
sharply-defined outline of the European pUlar, its isolation, historical events, and the 
town at its base, give it a far greater interest. A great number of winter torrents 
descend the slopes of the Atlas on both sides, the channels of which are dry in summer. 
The principal perennial stream, the Muluya, waters the north-eastern division of the 
country, and belongs to the Mediterranean basin. The central and south-eastern sections 
are drained by the Sebu, Omer-begh, Tensift, Suse, and Draha, which empty themselves 
into the Atlantic. 

The Moors form more than half of the population. They are distinguished by a complexion of the deepest 
olive, fine features, an apathetic appearance and indolent disposition, but are capable of being roused to the 
extremity of fiery passion. A woollen cloak, called a haique, thrown orer the shoulders and fastened 
round the body, of various colours, a pair of yellow slippers, and a white turban, with a red or green 
centre, are the principal parts of the ordinary costume. The coxmtry Moors, who lead a pastoral 
life, or are cultivators, are of more active habits than the people in to^vns, indulge in horsemanship, mUitary 
evolutions, dancing, and music plaintive in its strain. Next in numbers are the Berbers, a jiortion of whom 
on the Kiff coast are savage wreckers and pirates as opportunity offers. Jews aboimd in the cities and 
to^vns, who have the greater part of the trade of the country in their hands, and are the medium of foreign 
commercial transactions. They swarmed over from Spam upon being expelled from that country by the 
unwise policy of Ferdinand and Isabella in 1492, and contrive to amass wealth, though most grievously 
maltreated by the dominant race, robbed with impunity, cheated without redress, and compelled to pay 
mortifying attentions in public to the observances of a religion they consider false. In 1864 a benevolent 
mission of Sir Moses Montefiore from London to the court of Marocco secured for his brethren the 
promise from the government of its influence being exerted for their protection from injustice, but with 
what effect remains to be seen. 

The principal industrial art is the preparation and dying of leather, which has the name of ' morocco 
leather ' from the country, in which the Moors far surpass the Europeans. It is made extremely soft and 
white by the use of two species of plants indigenous to the soil, and receives red, green, and yellow dyes, 
remarkable for brilliance and durability. The red dye is extracted from the termes, an insect collected by 
the mountaineers, and brought to the to\vns for sale. Morocco leather, fruits, gum, olive oil, ostrich feathers, 
honey, and wax are among the important exports. The internal trade is carried on by mules, horses, and 
camels. A considerable commerce is carried on with Central Africa by caravans across the desert. 

The present dynasty of Marocco descends from Hassan, sherif of Tafilet, who obtained the throne by con- 
quest in 1047. Claiming descent from the family of the Prophet, the sultan enjoys great distinction in the 
Mohammedan world, being widely regarded as the only lawful calif and chief of Islam. He assumes the titles 
of Fmir-ul-mumenin, ' Prince of the Believers,' and Klmlifeh-allah-fichalkihi, ' Vicegerent of God upon 
Earth.' The form of government is a despotism ignorantly and brutally administered. Though formal 
executions even for heinous crimes do not often occur, death is frequently the lot of the delinquent for venial 
offences, owing to barbarous neglect in crowded prisons and the merciless severity with which the bastinado 
is applied. Yet the victims generally exhibit surprising apathy. It is on occasions of political revolution 
that the Moors give fuU vent to their passions, and exhibit their innate cruelty without restraint. ' It is 
then,' says M. Durrieu, writing in 1854, ' that the rivers and the sea engulf hundreds of mifortunate creatures 
sevra. up in sacks ; then do others, impaled in the pubUc squares, die slowly in inexpressible agonies ; then, 
on the slightest pretext, or often without any, are feet, hands, breasts, and ears cut off. These detestable 
tortures are endured by all, Moors, Arabs, and Berbers with sombre resignation. It is nothing uncommon 
to see them in the squares and market-places standing nailed by tlie hand or ear to the gallows, smoking their 
pipe as quietly as if they were mtnessing a public festival; or when set free after mutilation, picking up with 
a careless air their ear or their hand, and walking off with it at a composed and deliberate pace.' 

Marocco, the capital, occupies an inland site, 130 miles from the Atlantic, near the banks of the shallow 
and rapid river Tensift. It is finely seated on an extensive, luxuriantly-fertile, and palm-clad plain, which 
is bordered by the loftiest of the snow-mountains. The city was founded ia the year 1072, and speedily 
attained great prosperity, attracted a vast population, but has lapsed into apparently hopeless decay, 
not now containing more than 50,000 inhabitants. It is surrounded by a high and substantial wall, 
six miles in circuit, but luioccupied spaces, gardens, and ruins are enclosed within it. A royal palace, 
an hospital, tvro colleges, and nineteen mosques, some of which are spacious and elegant, are the public 
buildings. 'Pa, formerly the capital, and still an imperial residence, is the head of the northern province, 
seated on a branch of the Sebu, which divides it into two parts, Old and New Eez, and flows through a valley 



762 NOETHERN APEICA. 

'bordered with hills of orchards and orange-groves. It was founded hy a descendant of Mohammed in the 
year 786, and was once a raagnifioent city of great extent, containing 700 mosques, with many scliools, and 
other seats of Arabic learning. The place is still the most considerable in Marocco, with a population of 
80,000. Manufactures of carpets, woollens, silks, jewellery, and saddlery are carried on ; and the red morocco 
leather is here prepared in great perfection. Bazaars, caravansaries, baths, and shops are numerous, but 
most of tile dwelling-houses are miserably decayed. Owing to its origin, and the large number of existing 
mosques, Fez is venerated as a holy city by the western Arabs. The mosque erected by Sultan Muley Edris 
contains his tomb, and once gained by the greatest criminals, it is an inviolable refuge. Mequines, at no 
great distance westward, a third seat of royalty, possesses a palace of considerable extent and beauty, and 
ranks as the second city of the empii'e, having a somewhat larger population than the capital. 

Tangier, a prmcipal port, is on the north coast, in the vicinity of Cape Spartel, nearly opposite to Cape 
Trafalgar in Spain, and has a place in history. Seen from the siuface of the Strait, the square-built, flat- 
roofed houses, whitewashed to the highest polish, with the castle, and the many-coloured flags of the 
European consuls flying over their dwellings, make a pleasant impression, which landing speedily corrects. 
"Within an easy excursion distance of Gibraltar, tlie place is often visited by English tourists, for the pm-pose 
of taking a peep at Moorish life. The town, of 10,000 inhabitants, derives interest from varieties of 
costume in the narrow ill-paved streets, and from the castle, seated on a ragged eminence, wliich commands 
a superb view of the Gibraltar Rock, the vineyard-crowned knoUs on the Spanish shore, and the intervening 
waters. It was a Portuguese possession in 1683, when it passed to England upon the marriage of Charles II. 
with Catherine of Braganza, as part of her dowry, but was abandoned in 1684, on the gi'oimd of expense. 
Babatt, a flourishing shipping port, with a dockyard, and a population of 20,000, is on the Atlantic coast, 
at the outlet of the Eu-Regreb, mucli less known by name than Sallee, on tlie opposite bank of the river. 
This is now a decayed place, but was once famous in the amials of piracy, as the stronghold of the corsairs 
in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, whose appearance on the shores of Spain often raised the cry : 
Los Moras sttr la casta ! — ' The Moors are upon the coasts ' — and who were the terror of merchantmen in 
the English Channel. Mogadore, further south, the outport of Marocco Proper, nearly due west of the 
capital, is the principal centre of the foreign commerce of the comitry, which is very extensively in the hands 
of British merchants. 

Ceuta, at the base of Mount Abyla, opposite to Gibraltar, belongs to Spain, and is a strongly-fortified 
town, quite European in its style, with wliite well-built houses, and paved streets. An insult offered here to 
the Spanish flag led to the war with Marocco in 1859, in wliich tlie Moors were defeated, and compelled to 
sue for peace in the following year. Tlie Spaniards have some small possessions eastward on the coast, 
Penon de Velez, Alliucema, and MeHlla, under the charge of the governor of Ceuta, to which criminals and 
political offenders are exiled. 

AiiGEEiA, a department and pro-vonce of France, extends eastward on the coast from the 
Marocco territory to that of Tunis, and corresponds in its general limits to the JSTumidia 
of the ancients. It contains an area estimated at 160,000 square miles, and emhraoes a 
region of maritime plains, an inland district of wooded mountain and heathy plateau, the 
latter interspersed with salt-lakes, with a portion of the Sahara stiU more in the interior. The 
forests furnish many ornamental woods valued hy the cahiaet-makers of Paris, and the 
fine marbles of the country, celebrated in ancient times, rival the timber in the delicate 
beauty of their shades. Ores of iron, copper, lead, zinc, and manganese are worked with 
advantage, and extensive deposits of rock-salt occur. The proper agricultural district is a 
limited area, confined to the plains along the coast, called the TeU. Cereal produce is 
here raised in abundance, with olives and the finest fruits, justifying the renown of the 
soU for fertility in the Eoman age, which the Arabs of the present day express by a 
current proverb : 'The Tell is our mother; whoever may bo her lord, he is our father.' 
Cotton, tobacco, and silk are other products. The cultivation of cotton is of long 
standing, but has been extended by the patronage of the French government, and the 
enterprise of European capitalists, stimulated by the course of events in America. The 
mulberry-tree flourishes readily in various parts of the country under almost all circum- 
stances, in addition to which the ricin of Japan has been introduced for the support of 
the silkworm, owing to the supposition that the disease so fatal to the insects in France 
and Algeria in 1854 originated with the mulberry-leaf. The population amounts to very 
nearly 3,000,000, consisting mainly of Kabyles and Arabs, with a subordinate number of 
Moors, Negroes, Turks, and Jews. There are 205,000 Europeans, nearly 7000 of whom 
are Protestants, the remainder Eoman Catholics. 



ALGIERS — TUNIS. 763 

Algiers, the capital, on the coast, has its name from AJ-jezira, ' The Island,' originally an insular spot in the 
harboui', now connected with the mainland by a mole, on whicli an Ai'ab cMef planted a stronghold about 
the year 935, and called it Al-gazie, ' The Warlike.' The city is built upon a hiU rising gradually from the 
shore, tlie simmiit being crowned by the old fortress of the deys. It appears to great advantage in the 
seaward view from the declivity of the site, and contains a population of about 53,000, two-thirds of whom 
aro Europeans. In 1516 it was mastered by Barbarossa, the famous sea-rover, who entered tlie service of 
the Turkish sultan, Soliman the Magnificent, agreed to hold it as a dependency of the empire, and 
established that system of piracy of which it was the seat to a comparatively recent date. In 1541 the 
Emperor Charles V. of Genuany made a vigorous attempt to crush the corsairs, and lost a fine fleet and 
army in the service. Tlie deys, elected as the rulers by the janissaries recruited from Constantinople, 
contrived to maintain piratical expeditions, and defy the powers of Christendom down to the present 
century, when, in 1S16, signal chastisement was administered by the British fleet under Lord E.-anouth. 
Subsequent lawless proceedings led the French to interfere, who took possession of the place in July 1S30, 
allowing the dey to reth'e with his private proiDerty. Since the French occupation in 1830, it has undergone a 
complete change of aspect, and now consists of two parts : an upper or old town, Moorish in its aspect and 
inhabitants ; a lower or new town, Parisian in its style, with the exception of some mosques. This last 
comprises spacious streets and planted squares, government buildings, theatres, cafes, hotels, fountains, 
baths, good shops, and omnibuses ; and were it not for the swarthy complexion of a crowd of passengers, 
with the oriental costmne, the European visitor might fancy liimself in his native continent. A Jardin 
d'Acclimataiion, for the naturaUsing of foreign plants, and the Ouvroir Musulman, in wMch Arab orphan 
girls are received and educated, are interesting institutions. The vicinity, studded with villas, is unusually 
picturesque, traversed by excellent carriage-roads, tlireaded by numberless footways and bridle-tracks. 
Besides the permanent inhabitants, Algiers has become one of the health stations for the north Europeans, 
who imitate the example of the swallows, and migrate to Africa in autumn, to escape the rigour of their own 
winter. Fogs and wliite frosts are unknown in tlie city and its neighbourhood ; and the winter temperature 
is uniformly mild and genial. In general, if the winter is very severe in England and Germany, it is colder 
than usual at Nice and Pau. But Algiers is placed beyond the influence of these northerly vicissitudes, and 
is the nearest point to England where the invalid is certain of meeting with a second summer at the 
expiration of the home season. Algiers has regular steam communication with MarseUle, Toulon, Tunis, 
and other ports ; and is within seventy-tv/o hours of England by the railway through France. It is closely 
passed by the Peninsular and Oriental Company's steamers, between Gibraltar and Malta, and affords a 
pictm'esque sight to those on board. 

Bona, a seaport towards the border of Tunis, is a thriving town of 12,000 mixed native and European 
inhabitants. It closely adjoins the few remains of Hippo Eegius, once celebrated for its schools, aqueducts, 
temples, and commerce, a favourite residence of the Numidian kings, and the episcopal seat of St Augustine, 
who died there in 430. Oran, more important, in the western part of the country, has an excellent harbour 
about three miles distant, and a population of 30,000. The town has Spanish as well as Moorish features, 
having been held by Spain to the close of the last centuiy. Coiutantine, the principal inland town, with 
23,000 inhabitants, represents the Cirta of antiquity, the Numidian capital, which, being rebuilt by 
Constantino the Great, was named after him. It occupies a formidable position, on the summit of a 
perpendicularly escarped cliii, upwards of SOO feet above the river Eoumel at its base. The French styled it 
the * City of the Devil ' from the natural strength of the site. They were ignominiously compelled to retreat 
from the walls under Marshal Clausel in 1836. But in the foUowmg year it was taken by storm by General 
Damremont, who lost his life in the attack. Mascara, on the south-east of Oran, the head-quarters of 
Abd-el-Kader, was burned by Clausel in 1835. Great atrocities were committed on the side of both the 
invaders and the natives durmg the long struggle for the mastery in Algeria, an acquisition which has 
very heavily taxed the finances of France. 

The indigenous people, the Kabyles, are a fierce and warlike race, but very industrious and liiglily sldlfuL 
They carefully till the soil, make superb carpets and other woollens, produce biu'nouses of great beauty, and 
various works in leather, excel in embroidery, and their home-made gunpowder was at first supposed by the 
French to be of English manufacture. Specimens of their handicraft were in the London International 
Exhibition of 1862. These highlanders, with the Arabs, are now practically subdued, and have been wisely 
conciliated by the French government, in the dry districts, by the opening of Artesian wells. No boon more 
likely to soften the exasperation occasioned by conquest. Three copious wells provided by borings in 1856 
were hailed by the children of the desert with the utmost enthusiasm, and received the names of * Fountain 
of Peace,' ' Fountain of Benediction,' and ' Fountain of Gratitude.' 

Tunis, to the eastward of Algeria, tlie smallest political division, extends along the 
southern bend of the Mediterranean, and encloses the GuK of Kahes, the Syrtis Minor of 
classical geography, containing some small islands close inshore. It answers generally to 
the territory of ancient Carthage, and the Proconsular Province, or Africa Proper of 
Eoman times. The area is estimated at about 60,000 square miles, and the population 
probably amounts to 2,000,000, consisting of Moors, Arabs, and Turks, who have long 



764 NORTHERN AFRICA. 

teen upon terms of friendly intercourse with Europeans, and have profited by it. The 
government is administered by hereditary rulers, with the style of Beys, who acknow- 
ledge subordination to the Turkish sultans, but are practically quite independent. The 
beyalik contains interesting remains of ancient date. 

Tunis, the capital, near the north coast, is situated on the margin of a shallow lagoon, communicating with 
the sea by a narrow channel. It is the largest city in the Barbary States, containing 130,000 inhabitants, 
among whom there are a very large number of Jews ; and the most commercial place in the north of Africa 
after Alexandria. The manufactures embrace silk and woollen stuffs, morocco leather and earthenware, with 
the preparation of olive oil, and various celebrated essences. The bey resides in the vicinity, in a palace 
built in the Saracenic style. In 1535 the city was taken from the native Berber race by Charles V. of Spain, 
with the assistance of the Arabs, who put 70,000 of the inhabitants to the sword, as Mohammedan heretics in 
theu' esteem. But it was delivered from Spanish rule by a naval armament from Constantinople in 1574, and 
then annexed to the Turkish Empire. Kairioan, an inland city on the south, on a sandy, marshy, and tree- 
less plain, though fallen from its former rank as a seat of Saracenic power, is still a considerable place, with 
a population of nearly 50,000. It is venerated as one of the holy cities of Islam, contains about fifty mosques, 
one of which, the Okbah Mosque, is deemed pecuUarly holy from possessing the tomb of the Prophet's 
barber. Tlie interior is adorned with colmnns of marble, gi'anite, and porphyry. A brick wall, sui'mounted 
with towers, siu-rounds the town. 

A short journey of twelve nnles northward of Tunis leads to the site of Carthage, a city great and glorious 
before her destruction by the Eomans. A new Carthage arose, which became in the second and tliird 
centuries of the Christian era one of the finest cities in the Roman Empire. Genseric made it the capital 
of the Vandal kingdom in 439, and uttered the memorable words on leaving the harbour-, when the pilot 
asked him whither he was going, 'Against all who have incurred the wrath of God.' Belisarius captured it in 
533, and changed the name. The Ai-abs under Hassan conquered it 698, and left scarcely one stone upon 
another. Nothing remains of either Old or New Carthage, but substructions, broken columns, statues, and 
other ruins. Two miserable hamlets occupy the spot — Moalka, chiefly constructed out of the cisterns extracted 
from the great aqueduct ; and I>owar Eshutt, an irregular mass of hovels built up of fragments. Other 
parts of the Tunisian territory contain striking Roman remains, parbicularly a magnificent amphitheatre at 
Eljem, little inferior to the Coloseum itself, with architectural pretensions beyond those of the celebrated 
structure at Ravenna. On tliis site stood jincient Tysdrus, where an inscription has been found which 
shews that in that city water was laid on in the private houses. 

One of the islands off-shore, Jerbah, was anciently called Lotopliayitis, as the abode of eaters of the lotus, a 
fruit once believed to have such an uitoxicating effect, that whoever partook of it forgot his own country and 
wished to spend his days in the region where it was produced. This is the produce of a slirub, Zizyphus Lotus, 
which grows on the whole coast, and is sold imder the name of jujube for the i^reparation of sweetmeats. 

Tripoli, with its dependency Barca, is a long narrow tract extending from the Tunisian 
to the Egyptian border, embracing in its line of coast the Gulf of Sidra, the Syrtis Major 
of antiquity. It is the most sterile of the Barbary States, owing to the great chain of the 
Atlas having terminated its eastward course, and the want of such a barrier to protect from 
the hot winds of the desert region, and prevent its sands from beiug blown up to the very 
margin of the sea. The area is estimated at 200,000 square miles, extensively doomed to 
almost utter barrenness. Hence the Arabs call the country Bahr-al-Abiad, the 'White Sea,' 
in allusion to its sandy character. Still there are not wanting beautiful scenes, wooded 
slopes, and valleys of rich vegetation, where the oHvo contrasts with the fig, the tall Cyprus 
and the dark juniper with the arbutus and the myrtle, while the pleasant breeze is laden 
with balmy perfumes. This territory was successively subject to Greeks, Carthaginians, 
and Eomans, to the Vandals and the Arabs or Saracens, to Charles V. and the Knights of 
Malta. Erom the latter it was wrested by the Turks in 1551. It is now under the rule 
of a hereditary pasha, who is in nominal aUegianoe to the Ottoman Empire. The 
population, estimated to number 1,500,000, consists mainly of Berbers, Moors, Arabs, and 
Turks. The name, originally Tri-polis, 'Three Cities,' refers to three ancient towns, Leptis 
Magna, Oea, and Sabrata, which were allied together, and shared the country between them. 

Tripoli, the capital, on the coast, is of humble dimensions, containing only about 20,000 inhabitants, but 
has a considerable caravan trade with Central Africa, and is the usual starting-point of enterprising travellers 
across the Sahara southward to Lake Tchad, and south-westward to Timbuktu. It is washed on three sides 
by the sea, and joined on the fourth by a sandy plain to the rest of the country. A very strong wall surrounds 
the place, suxmounted with towers, but not kept in good repair. The castle or palace where the pasha 



TEIPOLI. 



765 



resides is within tlic enclosure, ami is itself environed by a wall upwards of forty feet high, furnished with 
battlements, embrasures, and towers which appears impregnable. Low, flat, square houses, covered with lime, 
the extreme whiteness of which, from encountering the sun's fiercest rays, is very striking ; baths, with 
clusters of largo cupolas crowded together ; mosques, with small plantations of fig-trees and date-palms 
growing close to them ; and narrow streets here and there almost choked with hills of rubbish, and arched at 
intervals, are the prominent features of Tripoli. It does not possess a veliicle of any description, except a kind 
of palanquin, entirely enclosed with linen, and placed on the back of a camel, which a few of the rich Moors 
keep for the accommodation of the ladies of their families. There are some striking Eoman remains, in 
particular the ' old arch,' as the natives call it, a grand monument erected by an officer in control of the 
customs, in honour of the joint emperors, Marcus AureKus and Lucius Verus, 164 A.D. Southward of 
Tripoli, the district of ITozzau, a collection of oases with large intermingling tracts of deserts, is tributary to the 
pashalic, under the government of a bey. Ulursuk, the chief toivn, occupies a low, hot, unhealthy site. 
Merchandise to the value of £21,000 annually changes hands here, and of that amount, the Slave-trade forms 
seven-eighths. Murzuk is now the great starting-point from the north for tlie interior of Negroland. "While 
waiting for their equipments at Tripoli, Drs Earth and Overweg occupied their time in an excursion through 
the momitain region which encircles Tripoli at the distance of from sixty to eighty miles to the south, 
consisting for the most part of barren sand-hiUs. Hence they tiu-ned inland over the prairies of the 
Belasa, visiting Mm-zuk and Gliat, through valleys rich in herbage and clothed with ethel-trees ; gradually 
ascending until a table-land was reached, 4000 feet above the sea. Prom this table-land the descent lay 
through the valley of Egeri. ' We began to descend,' says the Doctor, ' by a most picturesque passage, into 
a deeper region, high cones towering over a hollow in the groiuid ; tho scenery assuming a grandeur as we 
advanced, and exhibiting features of such variety as we had not expected to find in this desert country. 
While our camels slowly descended, I made the followiilg sketch which conveys a better idea of this abrupt 
cessation of the high sandstone level succeeded by its sloping strata of marl and still another of granite, 
than any verbal description could do.' 

Tlis eastern division of the Tripolitan paslialic, Barca, represents the Cyienaica of the 
ancients, also called Pentapolis, ' Kve Cities,' in allusion to five principal towns planted by 
the Greeks upon the coast, Gyrene, Berenice, Barce, Ptolemais, and Derna, all of wliich 
have passed away. But vast ruins of Gyrene remain, with sepulchral monuments ; and 
the fountain of Apollo, which led to the foundation of the city at the site, still flows 
copiously, cool in summer, genial in winter. An expedition of the British government, in 
1861, brought away for the National Museum a splendid coUeotion of marble statues, 
statuettes, heads, and inscriptions. 




Valley of Egeri. 




If jj^ 




Island of Pliilse. 



CHAPTEE II. 



NORTH-EASTEEN AERICA. 




^^^Sfj HIS region, includes what may be called tlie Countries op the 
^\ JSTiLB or Egypt, Nubia, Koedofan, and Abyssinia. IJiDwards of 
twenty-three centuries ago Egypt was described by the lustorian 
as a land of marvels, excelling all otbers in migMy works. Tbis 
remark, true in tbe age of Herodotus, its author, was emphatically 
applicable more than a thousand years before his day, and it is 
just as pertinent in the present age as ever, owing to the peculiar 
^ natural features of the country, which have no parallel in any 
other region of the globe, and the wonderful architectural monu- 
ments of ancient date extant upon the soil. Gigantic statues and 
obelisks, enormous temples, pyramids, and sepulchres, whose magnitude and solidity 
have enabled them to withstand the wasting hand of age, and the still mors destructive 
ravages of barbarians — ajjtly denominated ' rocks amid the flood of time ' — ^fill the 
mind of the beholder with astonishment, however familiar with the accomplishments 
of modern art ; and are invested with solemn interest by the fact of their origin being 
stUl a mystery. This land of the Pharaohs and Ptolemies, belonging equally to sacred 
and classic geography, is a section of ISTorth-Eastern Africa, extending southward from the 
Mediterranean to the first cataract of the NUe, at Syene, now Assouan, on the Nubian 
border. Eastward, the Eed Sea forms the general boundary, and westward the limit is 
wholly undefined in the Libyan Desert. Eut cultivable and habitable Egypt has a much 
more contracted area, being confined, with the exception of some oases, to the vaUey 
of the river, and the delta formed at its termination. The rest of the sm-faoe is a 
wUdemess of sterile rooks and desert plains. 



DELTA OP THE NILE. 767 

The great feature of the country, the Nile, runs through it from south to north in a 
narrow winding valley, bounded on both sides by hills, which in some places are hi"-h 
enough to deserve the name of mountains. They leave on each bank a strip of fertile 
land, varying from a breadth of several miles to very confined dimensions. The 
western range retires in general the furthest from the river, and affords the widest 
space for cultivation. From Assouan to the neighbourhood of Cairo, where the 
vaUey and its lulls begin or terminate, the direct distance is about 450 miles. Here 
the river divides into two main arms, and iato numerous canals, which intersect 
the flat, triangular, alluvial district on the coast, known in ancient as well as in modern 
times as the Delta, from its correspondence in shape to the Greek letter of that 
name. The western arm is the Eosetta branch, and the eastern the Damietta, so 
called after the towns at their mouths. The breadth of the included space at the coast, 
the base of the triangle, is about eighty mUes, and from thence to the apex, or the 
bifurcation of the river, the distance in a direct hne is about ninety mUes. Seven mouths 
of the Nile were distinguished by the ancients, five of which have either silted up, or 
are lost in lakes. On ascending the river, the hiUs on the western side are composed 
cliiefly of a tertiary nummuUte limestone, very easily worked, of which the great pyramid 
of Gizeh is buUt. In the neighbourhood of Esn6 a sandstone formation commences, 
durable, and wrought without difficulty, largely used in the buildings of Thebes, and also 
occasionally employed for the purposes of sculpture. On the Nubian border that particular 
species of granite mixed with hornblende is met with, called sienite, from the locaUty in 
which it is found, Syene, where the quarries stiU lie open which furnished the old Egyptians 
with materials for their colossal statues and monolithic obehsks. The cataracts of the Nile, 
seven of which are commonly enumerated, are all in Nubia, except the first at Assouan, 
which is only a rapid formed by granite rooks encmnbering the bed of the stream. The 
others are also rapids, having no perpendicular fall of any extent. 

From tlie earliest antiquity Egypt has been considered the gift o£ the Nile, owing to the regular rise and 
overflow of its waters. Not that the country has been formed or even extended by its successive deposits 
encroaching upon the sea, for tliis has not transpired to any important extent within the age of history ; 
but it so entirely depends for irrigation and fertility upon the annual inundation, that the cultivable soil is 
really the legacy of the water-floods. lu the maritime districts heavy rains are not uncommon in the 
fii-st three months of the year ; bat they are rarely witnessed at any great distance in the interior. Over an 
immense extent of country the sky is almost constantly serene ; and the whole period of man's life may pass 
away without the experience of a single drenching shower. Hence, if it were not for the inundations of the 
river, the whole valley through which it flows, except close to its margin, would be like the region by which 
it is surroimded, partly a sandy waste, and partly a stony desert. But seasonal rains descend in tremendous 
torrents upon the grand plateau of Abyssinia, and the equatorial coimtries in which the Nile has its sources. 
Then the river rises ; its channel is gradually filled to overflomng ; 

• And Egypt joys beneath tho spreading wave.* 

By this natui'al provision the lands within reach of the overflow are not only supplied with requisite moisture, 
which is retained in canals and reservoirs for service after the subsidence, but a layer of soil is deposited 
upon them, brought do-wn by the waters, thereby giving them greater fertility than could be produced by the 
richest manure. The cereal produce of the country has hence been appropriately designated the ' harvest of 
the river,' and the course of the Nile has been aptly compared to the path of a good man in the midst of an 
evil generation, owing to the strongly-contrasted aspect of the soil within and beyond the range of irrigation. 
In ordinary seasons the rise begins about the middle of June ; the overflow commences in the first half of 
August ; it attains its maximum at the end oi September ; and the stream is again confined to its channel 
towards the close of October. About the end of November the fields are put under culture, and are covered 
with green crops through our winter months to the end of February. In March is the harvest, and in AprO 
the river is at its lowest ebb. Amrou, the Arab conqueror of Egypt, hence observed with truth in his report 
to the Calif Omar that, ' according to the vicissitudes of the seasons, the face of the country is adorned with 
a silver wave, a verdant emerald, and the deep yellow of a golden harvest.' 

WMle rich in shrubs and herbaceous plants, the country is very deficient in timber-trees, 
and hence the old rulers engaged in wars to possess themselves of the forests of Lebanon. | 



768 NORTH-EASTERN AFRICA. 

The papyrus, an elegant aquatic, of the white pith of which the ancient paper was made, 
yet appears among the reeds of Lake Menzaleh, though rarely, its importance having 
passed away, wlule its cultivation, with that of other plants, has heen superseded by the 
culture of available products, indigo, cotton, tobacco, and the sugar-cane. Abundant crops 
of the vegetables mentioned by the murmuriug Israelites in the wilderness are stiU raised, 
' the cucumbers and the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic' The date-palm, is 
pre-eminent among the indigenous vegetation for utility and profusion, cultivated on the 
inundated and irrigated lands in groves sometimes of several thousands, and forming an 
ornament to the landscape. The doum-palm, a remarkable species, is chiefly met with in 
the southern districts. Coppices of acacias and tamarisks wave on the borders of the 
river. The district of Fayum contains impenetrable hedges of cactus, and plantations of 
roses for the production of rose-water. The common species, Rosa alba, bears a double 
flower, of a pale colour tinged with red, and very fragrant. 

From the earliest periods of which we have any record, Egypt has had the horse, ass, 
and camel, and nowhere are finer specimens of the domesticated quadrupeds to be found 
at present. He-asses and she-asses are mentioned among the wealth acquired by Abraham 
dm'ing his sojourn in the country. They are often represented on the monuments with 
rich caparisons ; and are a very superior breed to the animals with which we are familiar. 
Among the wild animals, the hippopotamus, formerly well kno'ivn in the Delta, 
and chased for its hide, is now very rarely, if ever, seen below the cataracts; and 
the giraffe is only occasionally found in the more southern localities. The hyena, jackal, 
and jerboa are common, with the ichneumon, Egyptian vulture, and great stork-ibis, all 
famous with the old inhabitants. Among the reptiles the formidable crocodile is now 
restricted chiefly to the Nile in Upper Egypt. Two venomous serpents are abundant, 
and justly dreaded, the asp, or Hai coluhei; and the cerastes ; but with them the serpent- 
charmers play very surprising tricks. 

The climate of Egypt is hot and dry, except in the maritime districts, where the arc is 
moist. Inland, the extreme dryness of the atmosphere contributes to preserve natural 
substances from the decay incident to them in other countries ; and hence the bodies of 
men and animals, ages after burial in the rock-tombs, or in the sands of the Desert, are 
found retaining the outward form as perfect as if in life, though crumbling to dust upon 
the slightest touch. In summer the nights and mornings are generally pleasant, but the 
forenoons are sultry, and the afternoons are a fiery ordeal. From June till August the 
heat is moderated by the north or Etesian winds. In April and May, the greatest chmatic 
disadvantage and most unhealthy season is experienced, occasioned by the Ichamsin, the 
wind of fifty days, blowing from the south. It prevails morg or less during the period 
named, though it seldom lasts longer than three days at a time, and brings with it the 
fine dust and burning temperature of the Desert. Instantly the atmosphere assumes a 
troubled aspect, and sometimes acquires a purple tinge ; the air seems to lose its property 
of sustaining life, and becomes stifling ; whirlwinds sweep over the country, resembling 
the blasts from a furnace, and carrying along clouds of impalpable sand ; the sky is 
darkened ; and the sun, shorn of his beams, appears like a dull ball in the heavens, often 
with a violet tinge. At this season the plague has usually made its appearance. Though 
favourable to consumptive subjects, the climate is not generally salubrious, neither is it 
friendly to long life. The ancients observed that the old Egyptians, notwithstanding 
their attention to diet and medicine, were the most short lived, and the Britons, in spite 
of their barbarism, the longest Hved of men. From fifty to sixty years is now considered 
a great age. At Alexandria the population is said to be renewed every fourteen years. 
Ophthalmia, dysentery, intermittent fevers, and ulcers are the most common disorders. 



LOWER EGYPI. 769 

Eye disease seems to have prevailed from the most remote times, for Sesostris died stone- 
blind, and his successor lost his sight for ten years. Glare and dust wiH not alone 
account for this scourge of Egypt, as it is almost unknown in the Desert, where the 
people live in an atmosphere of blaze and sand. 

For administrative purposes, Egypt is divided into thirteen provinces, but the country 
is also distributed into three priacipal geographical regions, which are better known, and 
were distinguished in ancient times. r 

Principal Towns. 

Lower Egypt, Alexandria, Eosetta, Damietta, Aboiikir. 

Middle Egypt Cairo, Suez, Medinet-el-Faymn, Benisuef, Minieh, Manfalut. 

Upper Egypt, Siout, Girgeh, Kamac, Liisor, Assouan, 

Lower Egypt, or Bahaei, comprehends the Delta, with the adjacent plains on either 
hand of the main branches of the river. This district is poor in works of ancient art, but 
is historically known to have been once crowded with cities and temples, the materials of 
which have been carried off to buHd modern towns, while earth and rubbish have accumu- 
lated in other places so as to conceal many vestiges from view. Euins still attest the 
former magnificence of the Zoan of the Scriptures, now San, in the vicinity of Lake 
Menzaleh. The region occupied by the Israelites, called the Land of Goshen, cannot 
now be deiined, but it was undoubtedly in Lower Egypt, and between the Pelusiac, or 
easternmost branch of the IfUe, and the Palestine border. 




Street in Alexandiia. 

Alexandria, locally called Scanderieh, on the coast, founded by Alexander the Great, and named after 
him, is the principal seaport, and has been for nearly twenty-two centuries the commercial emporium of 
Egypt. It rapidly advanced to distinction under the Ptolomean successors of the conqueror, who made it 
their 'residence, ranked after Rome and Antioch in the ancient world, contained within its circuit of fidfteen 
miles 300,000 free inhabitants, with an equal number of slaves, and was renowned for its literati and vast 
library, even more than for the extent of its trade and the splendour of its monrunents. The present city, 
with a population of about 80,000, occupies only part of the old site. It comprises vestiges of the Greek and 
Boman age intermingled with erections of the Mohammedan dynasties, in addition to which many 
public buildings and works have arisen in consequence of its recent connection with western civilisation, and 

2 W 



770 



NORTH-EASTEEN APRICA. 




its position on the overland route between Great Britain and India. Features belonging to the west and 
east, the European and Oriental, are now closely blended in its aspect. Men with hats and women with 
bonnets, English, French, and Italians, are commonly met with, both afoot in the streets and driving about 
in phaetons. A great change was effected by the vigorous administration of Mohammed Ali in the demeanour 
of the natives to persons in the Frank dress. It is, however, a curious and sometimes a ludicrous instance of 
the force of habit, that many a Moslem, without meaning to be offensive, will indulge in maledictions before 
those who are just as much compromised by them as the parties to whom they personally refer. His refer- 
ence to a Christian will most likely be supplemented with a 'Allah, make his countenance cold!' or to a 
Jew with, ' May his lot be Jehaimum !' 

Spacious cisterns or vaidted chambers beneath the houses to which the water of the Nile was conveyed ; 
catacombs upon the coast constructed in the best style of Grecian art ; Pompey's Pillar and Cleopatra's 

Needles, both misnomers, 
f -'---'- — ='^ :=^~ ^ =^^^ a'"^'<^~ ■'s^'^ '^ ' "= ^~'- "^ "5^^=51- i^^i^:^ however, are the chief 
r - -"-:^l-- - '_ _- - I remains of old Alex- 

L__ : =^": - ' J andiia. The Pillar, a 

^^^^ :"^ " noble column, the shaft 

of which is of red granite, 
seventy-three feet long, 
adorned one of the edi- 
fices of the city, tUl, 
according to an inscrip- 
tion which is still legible, 
it was removed to its 
present site by the Eoman 
prefect of the province, 
furnished with a capital 
and base, and set up in 
honour of the Emperor 
Diocletian. The so-called 
Cleopatra's Needles are 
pXH^ two obelisks of the time 



of Thothmes HX, who 
reigned some fifteen cen- 
turies before Cleopatra 

was bom. They were removed from Heliopolis to their present station, probably in the age of imperial 
Eome. One of them, a monolith, stands erect, and is about seventy-two feet high. The other, close at hand, 
lies prostrate on the ground, half buried in the sand. This last is the property of the British, having been 
presented to George IV. by Mohammed Ali in 1820. 

A canal connects Alexandria with the Eosetta branch of the Nile, and thus brings the port into direct 
water-conununication with Cairo. Steamers conducted the ' Overlanders ' to it by this route previous to the 
construction of the railway. The work was executed by Mohammed Ali with all the tyranny and cruelty 
which marked the gigantic laboiirs of the old sovereigns. A few miles to the north-east of Alexandria are 
the castle, bay, and harbour of Aioukir, the scene of Lord Nelson's decisive victory over the French fleet 
in 1801. Sosetta and Damietta, the other ports, at the respective mouths of the Nile, have very Kttle 
foreign trade, but rice and fruit are sent into the interior from plantations and gardens in the neighbour- 
hood. Striped cloths were once extensively made at Damietta, and hence obtained the name of ' dimity ' in 
Europe. 

Middle Egypt, or Vostani, embraces the Valley of the !N"ile from the apex of the 
Delta to ahout the village of Manfalut. JSTumeroiTS pyramids mark the course of the 
river, at Ghizeh, Sakara, Ahou-sir, and Dashur, all on the western side of the stream, 
varying in their size and state of preservation. The remains of not less than sLsty-nine, 
extending in a line, have been discovered by the industry of travellers. But the 
' Pyramids,' eminently so called, are a remarkable tripHoate seen from any open space 
around Cairo, at the distance of about ten miles. They have been not inaptly styled the 
' goal of nations,' owing to the number of pilgrims of different countries attracted for ages 
to the site, among whom members of the Anglo-Saxon race from both sides of the 
Atlantic have certainly been most prominent in modern times. Whatever other design 
these wonderful monuments were intended to answer, they are undoubtedly the 
sepulclires of kings, and of those who reigned at Memphis during the bondage of the 



Banks of the Nile. 



CAIRO. 771 

Israelites, tlio Pharaohs therefore of sacred history, while the sepulchres of the ordinary- 
inhabitants of the capital are in the sand-hills around them. It is conceived that the 
different size of the structures bears some relation to the diifering lengths of each 
monarch's reign, the foundation of a tomb being laid upon the accession of a new 
sovereign, over which a fresh layer of stones was laid annually until his decease, when 
the monument was finished and closed up. 

Cairo, or Grand Cairo, properly Al-Kahira, or the ' Victorious,' in latitude 30° north, longitude 31° 18' 
east, is situated on the east side of the Nile, about three miles from its bank, and twelve niiles above the 
head of the Delta. It is the capital of Egypt, the olBcial residence of the viceroy, and the largest city o£ 
Africa, containing aboiit 250,000 inhabitants. Founded by the Arabs in the tenth century, it remains to 
this day essentially an Arabian city, possesses many fine specimens of their remarkable arcliiteoture, is 
intensely oriental in its arrangement, appearance, and population, for though not without the phases of 
European Ufe, they have the aspect of accidental excrescences, imposed and not adopted, nor in any way 
interfering with the impression of general features. It occupies an area of three square miles, and is sur- 
rounded by a low wall. Groves and plantations of mimosas, palms, oranges, lemons, and pomegranates, with 
trained vines, adorn the environs ; and not unfrequently in the narrowest lanes of the interior, the foliage of 
a palm may be seen overhanging the high wall of some private garden. Except the Esbequeeh, a large 
irregular square, in which is the Oriental Hotel, caUed into existence by the requirements of the overland 
passengers, the open spaces are few ; and the greater number of the streets are so narrow, that two laden 
camels can scarcely pass abreast, while in many there is barely sufficient room for one. This arrangement 
excludes, as it was intended, the rays of the sun, places the thorouglifares in shadow, and renders the numerous 
bazaars, richly stocked with goods, dark and gloomy. In the cool of the evening the crowd is incessant ; the 
variety of costume strildng; and the street-cries are deafening and discordant. 'O chick pease ! Opips!' 
shouts the vendor of parched grains. ' Sweet water, and gladden thy soul, O lemonade,' sings the seller of 
the luxury. ' Out of the way, and say, "There is one God,'" bawls the water-carrier to passengers equally 
anxious to get along. Beggars there are by the hundred, vociferous and importunate, commonly appealing 
to religious f eeUngs. ' My supper is in Allah's hands ! my supper is in AUah's hands ! Whatever thou givest, 
that will go with thee !' cries the old vagrant. ' Curse thy father, O brother of a naughty sister !' is the 
testy response of some one whom he has elbowed, or touched ivith his staif, ' The grave is darkness, and 
good deeds are its lamp ! ' chants the blind woman. ' Upon Allah ! upon Allah ! O daughter ! ' reply the 
bystanders, advising resignation, but not moved to charity. There are between 300 and 400 mosques, 
many of which have very lofty and beautiful minarets, buUt of alternate layers of red and white stone. 
Some are ruinous hovels, and others stately piles. Not a few are earthquake-shaken, with minarets wliich 
rival the leaning tower of Pisa in departing from the perpendicular. A college for instruction in Moham- 
medan theology and jurisprudence, a school of anatomy, medicine, and surgery, others devoted to arts, 
sciences, and engineering, are among the public institutions of Cairo, with a newly-founded museum for the 
collection of Egyptian antiquities. 

■Wliile seated chiefly on the alluvial plain of the river, the eastern portion of the city rests on a slope of 
Mount Mokattam, and has its citadel on one of the towering crags. The building was founded by the great 
Saladin. It acquired a melancholy notoriety in the time of Mohammed Ali, whose stem policy led liim to 
inveigle the Mamelukes within its walls, and remove them out of his way by an indiscriminate massacre. 
Erom this point the view is superb, embracing the whole capital, with aU the objects of interest in its neigh- 
bourhood. Eastward, in the direction of the brown desert towards Suez, is a long line of tombs in which the 
old califs sleep, some of which are triumphs of Saracenic architecture. "Westward the eye ranges across the 
city to the silver line of Nile, bordered with pahu-groves and the minarets of Fostat, or Old Caii'o, beyond 
which the pyramids rise up in mysterious serenity, on the verge of the Libyan wilderness. Northward the 
dense verdure of the Delta may be caught, reduced to a dark-green streak, with the nearer mounds and 
solitary obelisk of HeUopolis. 

A short ride from Cairo through avenues of tamarisk, fig-trees, and acacia — across fields waving with com 
and clover — along causeways raised above the level of the summer inundations — ^leads to Heliopolis, the On 
of sacred history, which seems to have been a city upon a small scale, simply a collection of colleges and 
temples, but of the greatest celebrity as the chief seat of the learning of the old Egyptians. The place was 
certainly connected with the domestic history of Joseph, for he married Asenath, the daughter of Potipherah, 
priest of On. It was visited in later ages by Pythagoras, Herodotus, Eudoxus, and Plato, the last of whom 
resided thirteen years within its precincts. But even in Strabo's time the site was deserted. Earthen 
mounds now indicate the Kne of fte walls. They enclose a smooth, spacious, oblong area, partly planted 
with date and acacia trees, containing a pool overhung with aquatic vegetation, the Fountain of the Sun, 
and an obelisk rising from the midst of garden shrubs to the height of from sixty to seventy feet in solemn 
loneliness. Tliis is a single block of red granite, eroded by the destroying hand of time in several places, 
but upon the whole veiy entire, covered with hieroglypliics from top to bottom. It bears the name of 
Pharaoh Osirtesen I. * This is the first obelisk,' says Dean Stanley, ' I have seen standing in its proper 
place, and there it has stood for nearly 4000 years. It is the oldest known in Egypt, and therefore in the 



772 NOKTH-EASTEEN ATRICA. 

world— the father o£ all that have arisen since. It was raised ahout a century tefore the coming of Joseph ; 
it has looked down on his marriage with Asenath ; it has seen the growth of Moses ; it is mentioned by 
Herodotus ; Plato sat imder its shadow ; of aU the oheUsks which sprang up around it, it alone has kept its 
first position. One by one, it has seen its sons and brothers depart to great destinies elsewhere. From these 
gardens came the obelisks of the Lateran, of the Vatican, and of the Porta del Popolo ; and this venerable 
pillar, for so it looks from a distance, is now almost the only landmark of the great seat of the wisdom of 
Egypt.' Immediately outside the mounds, there is an ancient sycamore with an immense hollow gnarled 
trimk, upon which innumerable pilgrims have cut their names, for according to Coptic legend, the Holy 
Family reposed under its branches on the flight into Egypt. The neighbourhood was once famous for its 
balsam-trees, said to have been brought from the celebrated gardens of Jericho, and planted at the spot by 
Cleopatra. All old travellers, Arab and Christian, mention the plantation with great interest. Its produce, 
called the balm of GUead, was sent far and wide for use on the most important occasions. 
' Not all the water in the rough rude sea 
Can wash the halm from an anointed king 1 * 

The last tree perished in 1615, in consequence of an excessive inundation of the Nile. 

On the route to the pyramids the Nile is crossed in a ferry-boat at Old Cairo, a beautiful and bustling 
spot, with light arabesque houses and crowded cafes parallel to the river, which rolls proudly down, and is 
here divided into two branches by the island of PJioda in the mid-channel, exquisitely laid out with gardens, 
pleasure-grounds, fountains, and every kind of ornamental vegetation. At the point of the island is the 
building containing the Nilometer, a graduated octagon piUar, on which the daUy rise of the stream is marked 
during the inundation, and then publicly announced. From Ghizeli, on the opposite bank of the river, the 
start is fairly made for the pyramids, the nearest approach to mountains that the art of man has ever 
produced. They seem close at hand, owing to the purity of the atmosphere, but it requires some two hours 
of hard donkey riding to reach their base, just beyond the edge of the cultivated land, on the verge of the 
Libyan Desert. 

The close approach to these objects dissipates the distant impression. Viewed a mile or so away, they 
seem perfectly smooth, but are really very rugged, as the outer coating of stones and the plaster have been 
broken away, both by the hands of barbarian conquerors and the dilapidations of time. It is not tiU the 
visitor has come up to the piles, and the eye has leisurely surveyed them, that the mind entertains a due idea 
of their magnitude. The Great Pyramid, that of Cheops, its reputed foimder, has for thirty centuries, 
morning and evening, thrown its long shadow over the brown desert on the one hand, and the verdant river- 
valley on tlie other. It stands upon a lofty platform of rock, along with the two companion structures, 
which contributes to their being so well seen at a very considerable distance. It rises from a base wliich 
measures 746 feet each way, covers eleven acres of ground, has a perpendicular height of 461 feet, and is 
ascended by 206 tiers of steps, varying from four feet high to one foot. The ascent usually occupies about 
twenty minutes, and is made without difficulty or fatigue, but the Arabs wiU perform it in half that time. 
The view is magnificent from the top, and very striking from the contrasted aspect of the objects it embraces 
— the white hue of the minarets of Cairo to the eastward, with nature's luxuriance in the glorious Valley of 
the Nile — and her iiihospitable features in the yeUow sands of the Desert stretching away westward to the 
horizon. It is rendered also not a little impressive by the reflection which naturally arises in the mind, tliat 
amid aU the mystery hanging over the pile, never perhaps to be fully dispelled, as to its date, founder, 
builders, and entire design, it is perfectly certain tliat the chiefs, the statesmen, poets, pliilosophers, and 
historians of the old world were admiring spectators of its mass — that Alexander once stood at its base, and, 
with naked foot Pythagoras may have reached the summit. 

In front of the second or central pyramid, at a short distance, appears an equally remarkable object, if not 
more so — the Sphurx— a gigantic figure, half-himian, half-animal, cut out of tlie solid rock. The head and 
shoidders are those of a man, connected with the body of a lion couchant, which is concealed by the shifting 
sands. The circumference of the head around the forehead is 100 feet, while the paws stretch out fifty feet 
in advance from the recumbent body. Though a monster is represented, it is not one to tremble at, for the 
comitenauce, plainly Nubian in its cast, has a strange mysterious beauty, a placid and benign expression, 
which mutilation has failed to erase from it. Yet there is something awful in the appearance of this 
enormous head, moveless, silent, and solitary, overlookmg the wilderness, with the pyi'amids in the back- 
groimd. It seems like an apparition in stone, and is known to the Arabs by the name of Abuhol, or the 
' Father of Terrors.' Tliis marvel of the ancient world is supposed to have been originated by Thothmes III., 
if not a portrait of liim. The names of his son and of later monarchs are inscribed upon it. In the vicinity, 
the village of Metrahenny occupies the site of Memphis, the second capital of ancient Egypt, now represented 
by heaps of fragments, but by no important vestiges. 

Sues, connected witli Cairo by rail across the eastern desert, about eighty miles in length, is buUt on a low 
sandy tract of land near the head of the western fork of the Eed Sea. Formerly little more than a miserable 
walled village, it has put on an improved appearance,' and increased in the number of its inliabitants to 
upwards of 6000, since the opening of the overland Anglo-Indian route. There are now many well-built 
handsome houses belonging to the different steam companies, the Peninsular and Oriental, Messageries 
Imperiales, Ilo3'al Navigation, French Imperial Marine, and Medjidieh Company, trading to the Arabian 




lake Timsah and Suez Canal. 

ports. Several first-class steamers may commonly be seen at anchor in the roadstead, -with many small 
vessels belonging to private merchants. A large building for the manufacture of ice belongs to the 
Peninsular Company, with an excellent hotel. The town and neighbourhood are entirely destitute of any 
natural supply of fresh water, which had till recently to be conveyed by the railway from Cairo. But it is 
now furnished by a canal from the Nile, part of M. Lesseps's scheme for the canalisation of the Istlunus, which, 
whether the ship-canal to the Mediterranean is ever successfully executed or not, is an inestimable benefit to 
Suez. This sweet-water canal, opened in December 1863, is twenty-two feet wide and four feet deep, 
navigable for boats hauled along by dromedaries. 

Ascending the Nile from Cairo, borne lazily along by the uncertain breeze against the current, the district 
of Fayum is passed in the coimtry on the right bank, fertile, healthy, and populous. A gap in the mountain 
rampart of the valley admits the overflow of the river into it, which replenishes the Birket-el-Keruan, 
the ancient lake Moeris, an expanse stocked with fish and aquatic birds. Medinet-el-Fayum, the chief 
town, the Arsinoe of antiquity, also called CrocodilopoUs, as a seat of the worship of the animal, contains 
several mosques and Coptic churches, and has some wooUen manufactures. Benisiief, the outport of the 
district, is directly on the stream, with cotton-mflls, alabaster-quarries, and sugar-plantations. Minieh, on the 
same bank, one of the prettiest towns on the river, with clean-looking houses and conspicuous date-groves, is 
next advanced to ; and further on, upon the opposite side, are the remarkable tombs of Beni-Hassan, which 
have furnished in their paintings so many illustrations of the manners of the old Egyptians. Manfalut, an 
unimportant place, yet claims attention from the crocodile mummy caves in the range of mountains opposite, 
which various travellers have explored. 

Upper Egypt, or Sah), extends from the preceding district to the Mibian border, and 
is the largest division of the country. It compreiiends tlie finest scenery of the Nile 
Valley, adorned by a new vegetable feature, that of the doiun-palm, ■which intermingles its 
fan-like foliage with the more familiar date. It corresponds in general to the ancient 
Thebaia, renowned for its temples, statues, obelisks, and sepulchres, which bring upwards 
of 100 boats with trayeUer-s every season, not merely to admire and wonder, but to deface 
and destroy, monuments of the hoary past spared by the atmospheric changes of thirty 
centuries, aided by the fury of Persian invaders and Mohammedan iconoclasts. 
■ Siout, the cliief town, the largest and best biult south of Cairo, on the west bank of the river, contains 
several handsome mosques, with bazaars and baths. The environs are very pleasing, and the trade 
considerable. Girgch, nest in consequence, is probably of Christian origin, deriving its name from the 
monastery of St George within the walls, the oldest Eoman Catholic establishment iu Egypt. The great 
architectural monuments of ancient times are at Denderah, Esne, and Edf u, all on the west bank, and on the 




Siout, 

small islands of Philce and Elephantine in the river, bnt they distinguish more especially the plain of Thebes, 
the most celebrated and magnificent of the ancient capitals. These are at the poor Arab villages of Luxor 
and Kamac, on the east bank, consisting of vast palaces and temples, sphynxes and obelisks, while on the 
opposite bank is the necropolis of the city, from which most of the mummies brought to Europe have been 
taken • with the tombs of the kings, excavations in the soHd rock of extraordinary magnitude and splendour. 
On this side also are the two lonely colossi, darkened by time and mutilated by man, one of which bears the 
name of the Vocal Memnon, from the responsive sounds supposed to issue from it when struck by the first 
rays of the morning sun, very probably a trick of priestcraft. The origin of Thebes is lost in antiquity, but 
it was at the height of its prosperity and greatness about 1600 B.C. Home, Paris, and London have each 
portions of its spoils. Assouan, the frontier town towards Nubia, represents ancient Syene, from which the 
peculiar kind of granite which abounds in the neighbom-hood acquired the name of sienite. It is situated 
immediately below the first cataract of the NUe, reckoned ascendingly, where the river rushes through a 
maze of rocky islets from Nubia into Egypt. An ofEcer, called the ' Captain of the Cataract,' attends to the 
passing and re-passing of boats. Old Syene was an important place in the geography and astronomy of 
antiquity, being supposed to mark the line of the Tropic of Cancer. But it is rather more_than half a degree 
to the north of it. 

"Westward of the Nile Valley, in the Libyan Desert, a wilderness of rocks, stones, and sands, some extensive 
oases occur, with springs, verdure, and a resident population. To tliese tracts, properly termed Islands in the 
Sandy Sea, criminals were deported in the days of imperial Rome. The Great Oasis, imder the parallel of 
Thebes, consists of a chain of these spots, about 100 miles in length, from north to south. It comprises many 
villages, and one chief town, M-Kharjeh, with plantations of olives, liquorice, grain, and fruits. The 
TVestern Oasis, west of the preceding, and the Little Oasis, on the north, have the same general features. 
Under the parallel of Cairo, much more in the heart of the desert, is the Oasis of Siwas, the most interesting 
of all, as the site of the renowned Eountain of the Sun, and the Temple of Jupiter Ammon, to which 
Alexander the Great paid a pilgrimage. Lying completely out of the way of regular European travel, and only 
accessible by a diificult route, it has rarely been visited in modem times. Mr St John penetrated to it in 
1847. This oasis is a valley enclosed by sand-hills. It contains both fresh and salt waters, with beds of 
tossU. salt of da2aling whiteness, and fertile soil luxuriant with dates, pomegranates, figs, bananas, and other 
fruits, which, with a little grain, sustain a small population. The Temple of Ammon is represented by some 
majestic remains, and the fountain bubbles up copiously hard by. Shattered and moss-grown masonry peeps 
out at the brink of the pool from a growth of reeds'and rushes, intertwined with creeping plants; surrounding 
palms open between themselves long stately and shady vistas, Uke the solemn aisles of a great cathedral ; 
while a riU emerges from the spring, and runs rippling towards the mouldering temple of the unshrined, 
dethroned, and almost forgotten divinity. Salt obtained from this spot was highly valued by the ancients, on 
accoimt of the presumed sanctity of the place. It was deemed a suitable present for dignitaries and kings, and 
was called Salt of Ammonia from the site. 



NUBIA — KORDOFATT. 775 

Through twenty-four centuries Egypt has been subject to the dommation of foreign rulers. It was overrun 
by the Persians under Cambyses, 525 B. o., who spoiled many of the monuments ; it was next conquered by 
Alexander; falling, upon his deatli and tlie division of his empire among the generals, to the lot of the 
Ptolomies. Upon the extinction of this dynasty, shortly before the Christian era, it became a Roman province. 
In the seventli century it was seized by the Arabs, and became a Mohammedan state. After being governed 
by a hue of califs, the famous Saladin obtained possession of the country. He organised the Mamelukes, a 
mihtary body which supplied princes to the throne till the Turkish conquest under Selim I, at the commence- 
ment of the sixteenth century. It has remained in connection -with that empire down to the present datcj 
except during the temporary occupation by the French in 1798, and the short-lived independence of 
Mohammed Ali in 1832. The government is now a hereditary viceroyalty, vested in the successors of 
Mohammed Ali, who are perfectly despotic, but acknowledge subjection to the court of Constantinople 
by an annual tribute. 

Egypt contains an estimated population of 5,225,000, iacluding tlie tribes wandering or 
permanent in the desert. The great majority of tlie people are of Aiahic descent, speak 
the Arabic language, and profess the Mohammedan religion. They are chiefly fellahs, or 
peasantry, located in villages by the Nile, occupying a very low social position, clamorous for 
bucJcsheesJi, or presents from the passing traveller, whether services are rendered to him or 
not. The oppressive manner in which they are treated by the government has contributed 
to their degradation. Besides beiug subject to military conscription, they were liable to be 
dragged off at a moment's notice from their homes to labour on the public worlis at the 
■win of the pasha, receiving scant remuneration^ but a recent edict of the sultan has some- 
what altered their condition. The construction of the Mahmudieh Canal by Mohammed 
Ali employed 250,000 of these unfortunates for a year, who were allowed a penny a day 
and a ration of bread, and of whom no less than 20,000 perished. Turks, poHticaUy 
dominant) fill most of the public stations. The Copts, supposed to represent the 
old inhabitants, profess a corrupt form of Christianity under a patriarch resident in 
Cairo. They live principally in the towns, are industrious and trustworthy, and 
foUow various handicrafts. Jews, Armenians, and Franks compose the remainder of 
the population. 

NUBIA — KOEDOPAN. 

Nubia, a thinly-populated region of great extent, embraces the country on both banks 
of the Nile, from the Egyptian to the Abyssinian border, bounded by the Eed Sea on the 
east and the Libyan Desert on the west. It is circuitously traversed by the river, which 
forms five cataracts within its limits, receives its principal tributary, the Atbara or 
Teccazee, and is fully formed near Eiartoum by the junction of its two main branches. 
The peninsular district included between the NUe Proper, the Atbara, and the Blue NUe, 
called by the ancients the Island of Mero'e, corresponds in part to the vaguely-defined 
Ethiopia of antiquity. It contains remnants of mighty buildings, covered with sculptures 
representing battles or priesUy ceremonies, with half-defaced inscriptions, and abounds 
with mutilated sphynxes and colossi. Lower ISTubia, the northern portion, apart from the 
inundations of the great water-course, is a dry, burning, and sterile wilderness of rocks, 
shingle, and sands. But the upper or southern part of the country has a totally different 
character, being within the range of the tropical rains. The surface is largely clothed with 
mimosa forests, parasitical plants, and arborescent grasses, remarkable for an extraordinary 
number of wild animals, herds of elephants, troups of hyenas who make the night dismal 
by their howls, droves of antelopes, with the rhinoceros, Ken, and giraffe, the crocodile in 
the waters, much fiercer than in Egypt, and huge hippopotami. The inhabitants are 
partly of Arab descent, but chiefly Nubians proper, a muscular, finely-moulded, dark- 
complexioned race, with whom true Negroes intermingle in the southern districts. They 
are principally agriculturists, raise dhourra, maize, and dates for food, grow some cotton 
and tobacco, which, with natural products of the soU, as senna, myrrh, and frankincense. 



776 NOETH-EASTEEN AITOOA. 

are sent into Egypt, along witli hides, ivory, ebony, and ostricli fealliers. Owing 
to tlie depth of the bed of the Nile, its waters cannot he led off by artificial channels, and 
the annual rise of the river only at intervals occasions an overflow. Hence water- 
wheels are in constant rise along its course, for [.the purpose of irrigation. Koedofan, 
the ' White Land,' on the south-west, is a coUeotion of small oases, inhabited by Arabs and 
ISTegroes, who cultivate the soil, rear cattle, and possess herds of camels, which are let 
out on hire for the transport of merchandise. 

Both NuMa and Kordofan are subject to the pasha of Egypt. They were conquered by the army of 
Mohammed AK, under his second son Ismayl, in 1820 — 1822, whose atrocious cruelties exposed him to a 
fearful fate. He was surprised at a nocturnal banquet, while at a distance from his camp, and burned to 
death. In Nubia the people are chiefly grouped in ■villages on the river, enclosed with date-groves. Deyr, the first 
town met with after quitting Egypt, is on the east bank, but unimportant. New Dongola, on the opposite 
side, above the thu'd cataract, contains about 6000 inhabitants. It is a military depot, and has an indigo 
factory belonging to the pasha. Shendi, more considerable, above the junction of the Atbara, is a market 
for live-stock, wheat, cotton, and senna, raised in the vicinity. Many ruined pyramids in the neighbourhood 
probably mark the site of the ancient city of Meroe, once the capital of a powerful and highly-civilised state, 
but already desolate in the early days of the Roman Empire. Khartoum, near the confluence of the Blue 
and "White Nile, entirely modem, is the largest town, with a population of 40,000. It is the seat of the local 
government, the centre of several converging caravan routes, and the head-quarters of ivory hunters, and of 
travellers bent upon exploring the countries in the basin of the Upper Nile. El Obeid, the chief town of 
Kordofan, consists of several vUlages of mud houses thatched with straw, clustered together in an oasis, said 
to contain upwards of 20,000 inliabitants. 

Types of all the architecture of Egypt are foimd in the ancient monuments of Nubia, from the first rude 
attempts to cut a temple in the rock, to the detached edifices erected under the dominion of the Greeks and 
Eomans. This fact seems to intimate that in far bygone time the stream of civilisation and religion 
followed in this region the course of the Nile, or passed from south to north, while its fountam-head is even 
more obscure than the source of the river. The most remarkable of the rock-cut temples are at Abusambul, 
Ebsambul, or Ipsambul, as the name is variously written, between the first and the second cataract, on the 
western side of the stream. There is no village at the spot, but one appears at no great distance on the 
opposite bank in the midst of fine spreading palm-trees. A high sandstone rock is seen, the termination of a 
moimtain-ridge, which closely approaches the river-, and commands a beautiful view of its course. Its face 
has been cut so as to form the fronts of two temples, at a short distance from each other, with chambers in 
the bowels of the rock. The larger has four enthroned colossi sitting at the entrance, supposed to represent 
Eameses the Great, the Sesostris of Herodotus, the pride of Egypt, the terror of Africa and Asia, whose name 
and titles repeatedly occur in interior inscriptions. Heproductions of these colossal figures, of the size of the 
original, are striking objects in the Crystal Palace at Sydenham. Sir F. Henniker remarks : ' Ebsambul is 
the ne phis ultra of Egyptian labour, and is in itself an ample recompense for my journey. There is no temple 
at Denderah, Thebes, or Philo3 that can be put in competition with it ; and I am well contented to finish my 
travels in this part with having seen the noblest monument of antiquity that is to be found on the banks of 
the Nile.' 

ABYSSINIA. 

Abyssinia, on the south-western shore of the Eed Sea, bordered by Nubia on the north, 
is for the most part a grand highland region, bounded by a narrow lowland zone on the 
maritime side, and by plains in the direction of the Nile, bat is connected with the great 
plateau of Southern Afi-ica, of which it may be regarded as a north-eastern promontory. 
High table-lands crowned with mountains rising to the hue of perpetual snow, intersected 
by deep ravines cut by torrents and streams, and overspread with several lakes, are the 
conspicuous features of the country. It gives birth to the Blue Nile, which issues from 
fountains on the elevated plain of Dembea, and flows through the spacious lake of that 
name ; and to the Tacazze, or ' Terrible,' the last affluent of the Nile Proper, so called 
from its impetuous descent in foaming cascades from the upper to the low grounds. 
During the rainy season the showers are everywhere perfect deluges. In the valleys and 
on the coast the heat is excessive and the chmate unhealthy, but on the elevated tracts 
the air is cool and bracing. Beautiful and large specimens of the acacia, cedar, sycamore, 
and other trees, form extensive forests ; the table-lands furnish excellent pasturage ; the 
coffee-shiub, cotton-plant, and sugar-cane gTow wUd; medicinal plants are numerous; 



ABYSSINIA. 777 

and fniits are abundant. Besides the common cereals, a grain called Teff, Poa Ahjssinica, 
is principally cultivated for the daily bread of the people. Various parts of the country 
swarm mth almost all the wild animals of Africa. The population, supposed to exceed 
3,000,000, consists of a medley of races. There are descendants of the old Ethiopio 
stock, a large number of Arabic origin, many Jews forming distinct colonies with the 
name of Palashas, or ' Exiles,' savage Gallas in the southern districts, and IsTegroes in a 
state of slavery. To this diversity, Habesh, the Arabic name of the country refers, 
signifying 'mixture' or 'confusion.' Christianity, Judaism, Mohammedanism, and 
Paganism co-exist within its limits. 

Abyssinia was formerly included in a single sovereignty, which, in remote times, embraced part o£ Arabia, 
and had commercial intercourse with India. Axuiyi^ the old capital, is now a comparatively deserted place, 
but has some interesting remains, consisting of obelisks without hieroglyphics, of which more than forty lie 
prostrate, and two are standing. The largest of these is a granite monolith, sixty feet high, one of the most 
perfect examples of its kind. Another monument, the Axum Inscription, is an upright slab inscribed with 
Greek characters, referrmg to an event 330 A.D. The Axum Chronicle, of which a copy was brought to 
Europe by Bruce, is a history of the country preserved in the Christian chiiroh of the village. Christianity, 
introduced in the fourth centui'y, survives chiefly as a very corrupt ceremonial. Its professors are under a 
metropolitan, called Abuna, 'Father,' who is subject to the Coptic patriarch of Egypt, by whom he is 
ordained. The churches are almost uniformly very small buildings, thatched with straw, surrounded with 
jimiper-trees forming the churchyards, in which there are no funereal monuments. The old language of the 
people, the Ethiopic, called Leshana Gheez, ' Language of the Kingdom,' is no longer spoken, except with great 
dialectic debasement, but survives in an ancient version of the Scriptures, and other writings understood by 
the educated, and is hence styled Leshana Mazhaf, ' Book Language.' 

Three principal political divisions at present exist, the kingdoms of TigrS, Amhara, and Shoa, respectively 
northern, central, and southern, but with very uncertain limits and unstable governments, owing to the civil 
warfare which has long prevailed. Antalo is the capital of Tigre, but very inferior to Adowa, a place of some 
manufacturing importance. Gondar, the chief town of Amhara, 7420 feet above the sea, and thirty miles 
from the shore of Lake Dembea, has vastly declined, and scarcely contains 7000 inhabitants. Ankoiar, the 
capital of Shoa, with a population of 10,000, enjoys a delightful oUmate, being at the elevation of 8200 feet. 
The present king, Theodoros, was originally a penniless boy in a convent, then a chief of freebooters, next a 
conqueror, who gained the throne by his courage and ferocity. 

The French, in 1863, obtained by purchase a settlement on the Abyssinian coast, near the entrance to the 
Eed Sea, apparently as a counterpoise to the British station on the island of Perim in that locality. 




Scene in the Desert. 




Village of Musgu, Central Africa. 



CHAPTEE III. 



WESTEEN, CaSNTEAL, AND KASTEEN AFEICA. 




ESTEEK AFEICA, tliougli a very vague denomination, is 
usually understood to indicate the country on the shores of 
the Atlantic, between the parallels of 18 degrees north and 
south of the equator, "vvith a considerable but wholly undefined 
extent of inland territory. The coast-line embraces the great 
bend of the Gulf of Guinea, with the western extremity of the conti- 
nent, distinguished by two lofty sand-laills overlooking lesser downs. 
This promontory was called by the early discoverers Cape Verde, 
' Green,' either from the meadow-Uke appearance given to the ocean by the profusion 
of sea-weed afloat upon the surface, or from the verdure of a group of boabab-trees 
seen in the distance contrasting with the arid aspect of the strand. The region 
includes the basins of the Senegal, the Gambia, and the Gaboon, with many streams of 
minor importance, and the lower courses of the Niger and the Congo. An addition to 
knowledge respecting its animal races has recently been made by sober details of the 
habits of the huge anthropoid ape, the gorilla, inhabiting the dense woodlands of the 
equatorial district. This creature, of enormous strength, feeds strictly on vegetable diet, 
moves along the ground on aU-fours, roosts in the trees at night, and, like the elephant, 
the stag, and other naturally timid animals, is not disposed to attack man unless assailed 
by him. The discovery has also been made of native tribes in the same locaHty, similar 
in their superstitions, their ordeals, and their general customs, to those which distinguish 
the great IS'egro family, yet addicted to a system of cannibalism, though, curiously enough, 



BENEGAMBIA — BATHUE3T. 779 

not otherwise remarkable for 'brutality of character. The revolting practice is thought 
to have arisen from some casual failure in. the ordinary supply of animal food, and then 
to have gro-\vn into an established usage, as in the parallel case of the old ITew Zealanders. 
Western Africa, sometimes called Maritime Nigritia, from being occupied chiefly by Negro 
races, thus discriminating them from their bretliren in more continental sites, includes 
three geographical regions, Senegambia, Upper Guinea, and Lower Guinea. 

Sbnegambia, according to the name, comprises the basins' of the two rivers, the 
Senegal and the Gambia, respectively north and south of each other. Both are deep and 
navigable streams, crowded with'crocodiles and hippopotami, deriving their head- waters from 
contiguous sites on the western extremity of the mountains of Kong. Visited periodically 
by abundant rains, and subject to great heat, the vegetation is surprisingly vigorous. 
Forests of acacias, yielding the gum-resin of commerce, boababs, cotton-trees, and butter- 
trees, with ornamental and dye woods, extensively clothe the surface, while maize, rice, 
millet, bananas, indigo, and cotton are cultivated plants. The country is inhabited by 
a great number of petty tribes, under their respective chiefs, but belonging to three 
principal branches of the Negro family, the jet-black Jalufs, and the lighter-complexioned 
Fulahs and Mandingoes, generally superior in inteUigenoe and social advance to 
the race ia other parts of Nigritia. , There are Moors in the northern and eastern 
districts, with Europeans at their settlements. The French were the first to explore 
the course of the Senegal, while the English devoted themselves to the illustration of the 
Gambia. 

St Louis, an island and town near the mouth of the Senegal, is the principal station of the French, founded 
about the year 1626, now containing about 11,000 inhabitants. There arc trading dependencies up the river, and 
southward on the coast, of which Goree, an islet and fort near Cape Yerde, is the cliiet. The French are 
mostly occupied with the gum-trade. To the north of the river, where its fertile borders pass into the 
region of the Sahara, large forests of those species of the acacia, A. Senegal and A. Seyal, grow from which the 
gum is distilled. No incision is necessary. Under the influence of the hot winds the bark dries and cracks in 
various places, and the resin exudes. But by its tenacity it remains attached to the trunks in large tear-like 
drops, which are as clear and transparent as the finest crystal. In these forests the Moors claim property, 
and arrive at the proper season in great crowds, on horses and camels, to collect the product. Six weeks 
are usually spent in the gathering, after which the Moors dispose of the commodity to the French traders. 
The Senegal gum is valued for dressing various textile fabrics, as muslins and silk, and is employed by 
confectioners for the finest kinds of lozenges. 

Batliurst, a town on the island of St Mary, at the mouth of the Gambia, is the principal British settlement, 
of wliich Fort George, on Macartney's Island, and other stations up the river, are dependencies. The whole 
population is under 6000. Ivory, wax, hides, gold-dust, tortoise-shell, teak-wood, pahn-oil, rice, and ground- 
nuts, are the chief exports. The exploration of the Gambia commenced in the year 1618, under the auspices 
of the African Company, and was attended with many mishaps. The river was speedily ascended up to the 
falls of Barraoonda, about 400 nules from the sea, where the navigation is slightly impeded, to which point 
the British trading stations at present extend, though not continuously. Ascending the stream, much the 
same profusion of animal life appears in the water and on the banks, which astonished the early English 
explorers. Sometimes as many as twenty crocodiles were seen at once, and hippopotami were observed tossing 
and snorting on every side. Elephants appeared in herds on the shore, with lions, leopards, and ounces. But 
amid the alarms inspired by these formidable creatures, the sailors were eimused by watching the movements 
of the monkeys. The baboons marched along in great droves, with several of the tallest in front, under the 
guidance of a principal leader. They sometimes mounted the trees as if to obtain a better view of the 
English, a sight which seemed to occasion the strongest dissatisfaction, expressed by grins, shaking the 
boughs violently, and uttering angry cries. The Gambia was the starting-point of Major Houghton and 
Mungo Park, the early adventurers into the interior. On the coast south of the river the Portuguese 
have some small factories. 

The peninsular district of Sierra Leone, ' Lion's Hill,' forms a small British colony in the southern part of 
Senegambia. It has an area of about 319 square miles, and a population of 60,000, nearly all blacks. The 
surface rises in peaked granitic mountains clothed with forests of lofty trees, and is copiously watered in the 
rainy season, when fever is rife, which has been fatal to many Europeans. This territory was purchased by 
a number of private individuals in 1787, for the purpose of being a place of refuge for the Negroes rescued 
from slavery, and a convenient centre for the introduction of civilisation into "Western Africa. But since 
1807 it has been under a governor appointed by the crown, and forms a bishopric of the Anglican Church. 



780 WESTEBN, OBNTBAL, AND EASTEEKT AFEIOA. 

Freetown, ihe capital, is pleasantly situated on the left bank of the Bokelle or Sierra Leone Eiver; has -wide 
streets ornamented -with rows of orange, lime, banana, and cocoa-nut trees; and contains about 16,000 
inhabitants, among -whom are very few whites besides the authorities, the garrison, and missionary agents. 
Moslem visitors have here made proselytes in the colony, who have two mosques, and regularly keep their 
Eamazan. Among the sable families the names of Lumpkins, Lewis, Pratt, and Macarthy are common 
patronymics. In the colony there are said to be members of 17 chief and 200 minor tribes, while 100 languages, 
according to M. KoeUe — 150 says Bishop Tidal — are spoken in the streets of Freetown. 

Upper Guinea extends on tlie northern side of the gulf of that name, inchides the 
lower course of the Mger, and the coimtry ialand to the mountains of Kong, a range of 
moderate elevation, running parallel to the shores, at the distance of about 200 miles. 
The maritime portion of this region is usually divided from "west to east into four sections, 
the Grain Coast, the Ivory Coast, the Gold Coast, and the Slave Coast, indicatiug the 
commodities obtained from them, in addition to which, indigo, pepper, cotton, sugar, and 
palm-oil are products of the soil. The estuaries and borders of the rivers are highly 
pestilential from their mud-banks and decomposing vegetation, but have been ascended 
without ill effects to the crews when the proper season has been selected for the voyage, 
and due attention paid to sanitary precautions. The British and Dutch have settlements 
on the shores, and several powerful Ifegro states occupy the interior, some of which are 
addicted to very barbarous practices, besides engaging in wars for captives to sell into 
hopeless bondage to the slave-dealer. 

The Grain Coast extends from the Sierra Leone peninsula to Cape Palmas, and was so called under the 
idea that the cochineal it once furnished was a vegetable production. Tlie name also refers to a species of 
coarse pepper, termed ' Grains of Paradise,' yielded by a parasitical plant of the region, now obtained chiefly 
from India. Cape Palmas marks the commencement of the great eastward bend of the African coast, and is 
crowned by immense groups of the Borassus uHihiopuni, a tall palm-tree. The natives of the neighbourhood, 
called Kroomen, are an industrious race, very expert seamen, well known to traders from the Gambia to the 
equator. Another species of palm, the Elau Guincetisis, is very abundant, and furnishes the palm-oil of 
commerce, extracted from the seed or nut. Thousands of tons of oil are aimually sent to the ports of London, 
Liverpool, and Bristol for the manufacture of composite candles. The Grain Coast includes the territory of 
Liberia, a settlement founded by some American citizens in 1822 for the purpose of removing to it free 
persons of colour from the United States. It has a coast-line of about 500 mUes, extends to the average 
distance of fifty miles inland, and is divided into five comities, with a population of (1850) 300,000, who form a 
Negro republic under the government of a president, a senate, and a house of representatives. This colony, 
after encountering many difficulties, is now in a iloiu'ishing condition, well supplied with places of worship, 
schools, and public joiirnals. Slonrotia, the chief town, seated upon a lofty promontory, is named after 
President Monroe, during whose government at "Washington the settlement was founded. 

The Ivory Coast, immediately eastward of Cape Palmas, extends from it to the river Assinie, and was so 
called from the tusks of the African elephant, formerly exported in great quantities from it. The Gold Coast, 
further east, lies between the rivers Assinie and Volta, and has been long frequented for gold-dust and other 
products. A gold coin formerly current, the guinea, first coined in the reign of Charles II., received its name 
from the first specimens being of Guinea gold. It originally bore the impression of an elephant. Cape 
Coast Castle, the principal Britisli settlement, dates from the year 1664. It consists of three forts built on a 
rock close to the sea, with a considerable native town adjoining. The place contains the grave of the poetess 
L. B. L., and acquired notoriety from the circumstances of her death. Several trading stations are on the 
shore, east and west, among wluch, James's Fort, near Accra, is ahnost under the meridian of Greenwich. 
Elmina, a fortified Butch settlement, is the oldest European station on the coast, originally founded by the 
Portuguese in 14S1. The interior country is chiefly included in the Negro kingdom of Ashantee, one of the 
most powerful of the native states, a mountainous but very fertile district, generally healthy, watered by the 
Assmie and the Volta. The natives are a courageous race, skilful in various manufactures, as cotton fabrics, 
earthenware, and sword-blades, but addicted to sanguinary rites, as human sacrifices on the decease of royalty 
and other similar occasions. Goomassie, the capital, built on the slope of a rocky liiU, is about four miles in 
circuit, contains at least 20,000 inhabitants (the natives say 100,000), and consists of houses of wood-work and 
clay, thatched with palm leaves, not excepting the king's palace. 

The Slave Coast forms the shores of the Bights of Benin and Biafra, and has long been, according to its 
name, the principal seat of the disgraceful traffic in human flesh. It is extensively included in the native 
kingdom of Dahomey, of which Aiomei;, a populous clay-buHt place, eighty miles inland, is the cliief town. 
The country obtained its name in a singular manner, highly characteristic of the barbarity of the people. 
LTpon a former king, called Da, being killed by 'ripping open his belly,' his conqueror assumed the style of 
king of Da-omi, or 'Da's belly.' This region is the scene of scarcely credible cruelties; human immolations 



LOWER GUINEA. 781 

are regularly established customs, partly religious in their design, partly festive, but perhaps chiefly 
intended to bo demonstrative of power, and thus sustain the autliority of the sovereign. This potentate, tall 
and stalwart, with a skm of much lighter hue than that of his subjects, maintains a regiment of women, to 
tho number of several thousands, who may be properly styled Amazons. Commodore "Wilmot visited the 
barbarous court in 18G3, and witnessed a scene before the palace not readily forgotten. At the further end 
of the courtyard was a largo building, of some pretensions to beauty in that country, being made of thatch, 
and supported by columns of wood, roughly cut. In front of this, and close to it, leaving an open space for 
the admission of the king, was placed a large array of variegated umbrellas, to be used only by the sovereign. 
Near these were congregated his principal chiefs. On either side of him, under the building, were his wives, 
to the number of about 100, gaily dressed, most of them young and exceedingly pretty. The king was 
reclining on a raised dais, about three feet high, covered with crimson cloth, smoking his pipe, while one of 
his wives held a glass sugar-basin as a royal spittoon. He was dressed very plainly, the upper part of his 
body being bare, with only a silver chain holding some fetish charm roimd his neck, and an unpretending 
cloth around his waist. The left side of the courtyard was filled with Amazons, from the walls up to the 
king's presence, all armed with various weapons, such as muskets, swords, gigantic razors for cutting off 
heads, bows, arrows, and blunderbusses. Their large war-drum was conspicuous, being surrounded by human 
skulls. The king gave orders for them to perform a number of evolutions, which they did most creditably. 
They loaded and fired quickly, singing songs all the time. The commodore, both going and returning, was 
received with the utmost hospitality by the head men and the people. They sent him presents of water, 
fowls, and goats, but at the same time expressed the utmost ferocity towards those whom they considered 
pubKo enemies. The war-dance was performed by the women and children, and motions made with swords 
as if in the act of cutting off heads. One singular custom was universal from the king downward, that of 
sending a stick as a token of welcome and friendship. Whydah, the chief seaport of Dahomey, is the principal 
slave-mart, hence closely watched by English cruisers. 

Several small states lie eastward in the basin of the Niger, with populous chief towns. Benin, a place of 
considerable trade, stands on a western arm of the river, seventy miles above its mouth, and is the head of a 
territory of the same name, which contains Oato, lower down the stream, where the traveller Belzoni ended 
his days in 1823. Lagos, the principal seaport, is British, captured in the year 1851, now a flourishing centre 
of legitimate commerce. Ahieolcuta, in the Yoruba country, a cliief mission station, is said to contain 60,000 
inhabitants, who have made no mean advances in civilisation. A recaptured slave, a native of this district, 
is now Bishop Crowther, the only coloured prelate of the Anglican Church. Eyeo, the capital, surrounded by 
a belt of brUliant verdure, has an extensive circuit, but contains many fields and open spaces. When visited 
by Clapperton in 1825, the king boasted that his wives, linked hand in hand, would reach entirely across the 
kingdom, but they were seen acting as porters, carrying enonnous burdens on their heads, and performing 
other servile offices. In the Yoruba country the dark deeds common in Dahomey and Ashantee are generally 
mentioned with abhorrence. The people are industrious, and have extensive fields covered with thriving 
plantations of maize, millet, yams, and cotton. The women spin, work at the loom, and dye cloths with their 
fine indigo. Ec/ga, on the right bank of the Niger, above the confluence with the Chadda, has an immense 
population, occuijying clay-built houses, and engaged in commerce by canoes along the river. 

Lower Guinea, includes the maritime region extending southwaxd from the equator to 
tlie neigkbourliood of Cape iSTegro, in which are the provinces of Loango, Congo, Angola, 
and Benguela, with whoUy undefined inland Hmits, and a population consisting of 
various Negro races. The Portuguese claim the sovereignty of the entire country. They 
occupy the coast with several small towns, have some settlements also far in the interior, 
■with solitary posts stOl more remote from the shores, called feiras, or fairs, which are 
visited by the natives as trading stations. But over a large proportion of the area their 
authority is merely nominal. Their commercial transactions are partly legitimate, but 
though greatly checked, slave-deahng has long been a principal object, and has contributed 
to demoralise the people, instigating them to wars in order to obtain victims for sale to 
the whites. 

San Paulo de. Loando, on the coast of Angola, is the seat of the governor-general, and ranks as the capital. 
It was founded in the year 1578, and contains about 12,000 inhabitants, said to be on the decrease. At this 
town Livuigstone reappeared to European knowledge in 1854, after having been long buried in the -jvilds of 
the continental interior ; he found a single EngUsliman, the acting consul, resident. Gassanga, a principal 
settlement, about 300 miles inland, the traveller passed through on his way to the coast. San Felipe de 
Benguela, the chief town in that province, formerly a great slaving port, is now reduced to insignificance by 
the abatement of the traffic, though stiU carried on as opportunity offers. It occupies an unhealthy site, and has 
a ruinous appearance, to which a troop of wild elephants not long ago contributed. The animals, maddened 
with thirst, rushed into the town in quest of water, and demolished many of the dilapidated buildings. 
Salinas, or salt-lakes, occur on the Portuguese coasts, from the produce of which the government derives a 



782 -WESTERN, CENXHAL, AND EASTERN AFRICA. 

revenue. Iron ores are obtained in various places, and copper is stated to be abundant. Ivory, bees-wax, 
gum-opal, and the arohUla lichen, yielding a rich purple dye, are the ordinary exports. 

Guinea-fowls, a tribe of gallinaceous birds, coraraon in the poultry yards of England, received that name 
from being originally introduced from this part of Africa, though not peculiar to it. Guinea-grass is also a 
naturalised product, of the same genus with millet, but does not grow so luxuriantly as in its native warm 
climate. The guinea-pig, or cavy, a weU-known domesticated little animal, is wild in most parts of the 
country whose name it bears, from which it was first brought. The guinea-worm, an offensive and dangerous 
parasite, which inserts itself beneath the sHn of the human body, and occasionally grows to an enormous 
length, is indigenous in the basins of the Senegal, the Gaboon, and other parts, as well as in most hot, rainy, 
and marshy districts. Negro slaves have taken it to America. 

CENTRAL AFRICA. 

The vast legion immediately south, of the Sahara, extending from Senegamhia on the 
■west, to Kordofan on the east, is comprehended under the general name of Central Africa, 
hut is particularly defined iu relation to its inhabitants hy the title of Belad-es-Sudan, 
or Mgritia, the Country of the Blacks, as the continental home and origiaal seat of the 
Negro family. It embraces the upper course of the Niger flowing westward ; the basin of 
Lake Tchad, central, both bordered with swampy plains of great fertiHty and thickly 
peopled, while sterile sandy or rocky districts occur eastward, very thinly occupied. 
Troops of ostriches, girafies, and antelopes rove amid the luxuriant herbage of the alluvial 
lands ; the white ants rear their habitations, and the earth-hog, fox, and fenel dig their 
burrows. The elephant is also frequently met with, approaching the Asiatic variety in 
size, but with .the weU-known distinctive size of the ear. The rhinoceros is also often 
met with. Dr Earth encountered on one occasion a whole herd of elephants, 
arranged in regular array, like an army of rational beings, slowly proceeding to 
water. In front appeared the males, as was 'evident from their size, marshalled 
in order ; at a little distance followed the young ones ; in a third hue were the 
females ; and the whole were brought up by five males of immense size. Ninety-sis 
were counted. Locusts are of common occurrence, and it is not unusual to see 
whole calabashes filled -with the roasted insects, which occasionally form a considerable 
part of the food of the natives, particularly if their grain has been destroyed by this 
plague, who then take a pleasant revenge on the ravagers of their fields. Tamarinds, 
boababs, and doum-palms appeal among the botanical ornaments of the surface. The 
bentang-tree of Mungo Park, the tallest member of the vegetable kingdom, is planted at 
the principal gate of many of the large towns, probably from motives of superstition. 
' At times,' says Earth, ' the landscape was one of exceeding beauty. The ground was 
pleasantly undulating, covered with a profusion of herbage, and the trees, belonging to a 
great variety of species, were not thrown together into an impenetrable tliicket of the 
forest, but formed beautiful groups, exhibiting aU the advantage of light and shade. 
Eirds of numberless variety were also playing and warbling about in the full enjojment 
of their liberty. Cotton and karkesia fields interrupted the park-like scenery ; nor were 
tilled fields of wheat and onions wanting. Cattle, horses, and goats were everywhere 
browsing about. All the cattle were of a white, and all the goats of a coffee-brown 
colour. So much for despised Negroland.' Eut it must in truth be added, that scenes 
of culture and social comfort have a very uncertain tenure, owing to the collisions of 
bordering tribes, the drum of civil war, and repeated razzias for cattle, general plunder, 
and kidnapping for slaves. 

Besides the true Negro family, distinguished by simple modes of life, a fondness for recreation in the cool 
of the evening far on into the night, and fetish worship ; the population of Sudan includes Moors, Arabs, 
and Berbers ; with mixed races, as the Fulahs or Fellata, who are of lighter complexion, more socially 
advanced, maintain troops of horse and foot, and profess Mohammedanism. As an example of the general 
insecurity of property, not to say life, in the country, the traveller mentions the town of Alamay, which 




Kano. 

he noticed in a complete state of defence, surrounded with an earthen wall, a ditch, and a high thorn 
fence ; exterior to which was a large extent of cultivated ground, with a numerous herd of iine cattle lying 
tranquilly on the open spaces in the interior. But the next time he passed, the place was deserted and 
looked mournful ; not a single cow was to be seen ; and tall reed-grass had grown up on the tilled fields. 
The people are grouped in numerous states, only a few of which are entitled to speci&c notice. 

B6ENn, a sultanate, on the western side of Lake Tchad, is a level district, swampy in the rainy season, 
inliabited by Negroes subject to rulers of Arab descent. Euka, the capital, consists of two distinct towns, 
each surrounded by a wall of earth ; the one for the better classes, containing very large establishments ; the 
other, a congeries of small low dwellings and narrow winding lanes. The towns are half a mile distant, con- 
nected by a broad road, lined on both sides with a medley of largo clay buildings and thatched huts, in 
enclosures of light reed fences. Daily little markets are held, at wliich camels, horses, and oxen are sold in 
considerable numbers. There is also a large market or fair every Monday in the vicinity, wliich brings 
together the people from a great distance with commodities for sale, as corn, butter, dried fish, mats, whips 
made from the skin of the hippopotamus, leather-work, beads of all sizes and colours, neat little boxes made 
of the kernel of the doum-pabn's fruit, and live-stock, among which slaves are conspicuous. The markets are 
all held in the hottest hours of the day, and not, as in other parts, in the cool of the evening. A ngornUy a 
larger town, on the margin of the great lake, is the centre of extensive trade in slaves, cotton, amber, coral, 
and metals. Gummel, the chief place of a dependent province, is a principal mart for natron, which is dis- 
posed of in large masses. Ngurutuwa, on an extensive plain, with houses imder the shade of huge fig-trees, 
contains the ' white man's grave,' that of Mr Richardson, the head of the expedition of which Barth was a 
member. His other companion, Overweg, had the imprudence while shooting to enter deep water in the 
pursuit of water-fowl, remain in his wet clothes, and died at Madiniiari, in the neighbourhood of Kiika. 

Adamawa, a country on the south of Bomu, is separated from it by the great forest of Marghi, full of 
elephants ; it forms a disputed frontier region between the two states. It is traversed by the upper waters 
of the Chadda, the great eastern arm of the Niger, wliich has been explored by Baikie from the ocean for 
300 miles above the confluence, and which Barth crossed in a stiU more interior part of its course, where it 
was nearly half a mile wide, and eleven feet in general depth. Yola, the chief town, a short distance from 
the south bank, is a large open place not less than three miles long, but composed of conical huts in the 
midst of spacious courtyards, and sometimes even of cornfields. Slavery exists upon an immense scale in 
this district. Many private individuals have more than 1000 slaves, who cultivate grain for their use 
or profit, and raise some amount of cotton. This region is one of the finest parts of Central Africa, watered 
by a first-class river, diversified with hiU and dale, but unhappily either in the hands of warlike pagan tribes, 
or subject to ruthless Mohammedan chieftains. 

Bagikmi, a district on the south-east of Lake Tchad, appears to comprise a number of distinct principalities, 
and the dialects vary with ahnost every large town. The vegetation is varied and magnificent, among which 
are beautiful and wide-spreading fig-trees, shading the dwellings of the people, and serving as lounging-places 



784 WESTEEN, CBNTRAI;, AND EASTERN AFEIOA. 

for loiterers. Animal life is also profuse. The ayu, or river-cow, Manetus Vogelii, common io the Niger 
and Chadda, inhabits the streams, leaving them at night to feed on the fresh grass of the banks. Barth here 
experienced his greatest annoyances from insects. Ants, grubs, and a species of beetle swarm by millions, 
and consume an immense proportion of the produce of the soil. But the poor natives do not fail to take 
their revenge, devouring the grubs when they have grown fat and large by the consumption of their crops. 
Mas-ena, the capital, like most of the other towns, has a decayed appearance from disastrous civil wars. 

In the eastern parts of Sudan are the little known territories of Dar-zaleli and Darfur, the latter border- 
ing on the Egyptian pashalic. Westward, between Bornu and the Niger, the country is chiefly occupied by 
the Fulahs, who, about the beginning of the present century, commenced a great religious war on the sur- 
rounding pagans, which ended in the establishment of the great Fulah empire of Sokoto. It contains some 
populous commercial towns. Kano, one of the principal, combines a singular variety in its appearance. 
There are clay houses, huts, and sheds ; green open spaces affording pasture for oxen, horses, camels, donkeys, 
and goats, ia motley confusion ; deep hoUows containing ponds overgrown with aquatic plants ; beautiful 
specimens of vegetation, as the fine symmetric gonda, the slender date-palm, the spreading alleluba, and the 
majestic silk cotton-tree ; and people in diverse costumes, from the almost naked slave to the gaudily-dressed 
Arab. The people are of cheerfiil disposition, and highly industrious. They manufacture and dye cloths, 
make sandals with great neatness, export tanned hides, red sheep-skins, and various articles of leather, and 
have a slave-market. Sokoto, the capital, was the scene of Clapperton's death in 1S27, affectionately 
attended to in his last moments by his faithful servant Eichard Lander. It is situated on an affluent of the 
Niger, and contains about 20,000 inhabitants ; but Wurno, a smaller place, about fifteen miles distant, is the 
residence of the sultan. 

Near Sego, in the Bambarra country, on the upper course of the Niger, the river was first seen by Mungo 
Park. Tlie town has numerous mosques, neatly whitewashed clay houses, many canoes, and a population 
estimated at 30,000. At Bussa, in the territory of Borgu, on the middle course of the stream, the imfor- 
tmiate traveller was killed in an affray with the natives. About midway between the two places stands 
Timbuktu, on an extensive plain a few miles from the north bank, but in water-communication with it, 
skirted in the opposite direction by the Sahara. A mysterious gi'eatness was formerly attached to this toivn 
as the capital of a powerful Idngdom, which recent visitors have completely dissipated. It is surrounded by 
a decayed wall little more than two miles in circuit, which encloses mud dwellings generally one story high, 
with three large mosques, and a population of 20,000. But it is the centre of important commerce by 
caravans across the Desert between Negroland and the Barbary states. Gold-dust is a principal staple, 
though the amount exported is exceedingly small measui-ed by a European standard. Salt, gum, wax, and 
a few native manufactures in wool and leather from the neighbouring districts, are other articles of the trafSo. 

BASTEEN AFRICA. 

The eastern side of tlie continent, -waslied by the Indian Ocean, con-esponds to the 
■western in its hot climate, numerous streams, profuse vegetation, and general insalubrity. 
Only a very limited Icnowledge of its features and people was possessed prior to the pre- 
sent day, as the Portuguese, -vvho once held extensive command of the shores, and still 
retain considerable possessions, discouraged the intrusion of other Europeans into their 
settlements, for the nefarious purpose of concealing then- participation in the slave-trade, 
and carrying it on without interruption. The equatorial part of this region is distinguished 
by the lofty Kilimandjaro, ascended by the Baron von Decken to the height of 13,000 feet, 
where he experienced a fall of snow, the first that has been endured by any white man, 
rarely even by a black one, in tropical Africa. It is also the site of spacious lakes, one of 
which almost certainly contains the head waters of the ISTile. The more southern portion 
embraces the lower part of the river-system of the Zambesi. Prom Cape Guardafui on 
the north, to Delagoa Bay on the south, a distance of more than 3000 miles, the seaboard 
is usually divided into the coasts of Ajam, Zanzibar, Mozambique, and Sofala, the last of 
which makes a close approach to the British colony of Natal. Iforth of the equator, the 
country is occupied by numerous native tribes of Somulis and Gallas. Southward of the 
line, the indigenous people are either pure JSTegroes or Kaffirs. But two foreign races 
politically predominate, Arabs and Portuguese. 

The Ajam Coast has some small ports which are annually visited by traders from Guzerat in India for 
odoriferous gums, myrrh, ostrich feathers, coffee, and other articles. Their Somuli inliabitants are chiefly 
Mohammedans, fishermen, and commercialists. Those in the interior are variously pastoral and cultivators. 
The GaUas, ' invaders,' a vigorous race, partly in Abyssinia, have spread themselves by oonciuest far to the 



ZANZIBAR — TETE. 



785 



southward, and include barbarous tribes entirely heathens. The Galla ox, remarkable for its immense lyre- 
shaped horns, has its name from the people. 

The Zanzibar Coast is mostly included in an Arab sovereignty, which has the insular town of Zanzihar for 
its capital, a higlily-important place, containing the palace of the sultan, an arsenal, several mosques, many 
stone-built houses, and a permanent population of .30,000, which is considerably increased at certain seasons by 
the arrival of foreign traders. The island is separated from the main shore by a chaimel twenty-five miles wide. 
Tlie opposite mainland was the startmg-point of the expedition under Captains Burton and Speke, which led 
to the discovery of the great lake region ; and of the later and more celebrated attempt of Speke and Grant to 
determine the source of the Nile. Momhas, a well-known mission station on the north, occupies likemse 
an island close to the main coast, and is similarly connected with the discovery of the snow mountains, 
Kilimandjaro and Kenia. 

The Mozambique and Sofala Coasts, respectively north and south of the mouth of the Zambesi, are claimed 
by the Portuguese, wlio have settlements on the shores, and in the far interior. To the latter, criminals are 
transported from the mother-country. 3Iozamhiquc, a fortified town, on an island, once considerable, but 
now decayed, is the residence of the governor and of a British consid. Quillimane, a small port, at the out- 
let of the great river, and Tcte, about 300 miles up its course, with Sena intermediate, are the principal 
stations, in a declining condition. Ivory, bees-wax, and gold-dust are exported, with slaves when practicable. 




Falls of the Felou. 




White Quartz Cliifs on the Awass Bogs. 



CHAPTER IV. 



SOTJTHBEN AFEIOA. 



HE Tropic of Capricorn may he regarded as tlie line of di\'ision 
'^^ between the central and soutliern portions of the continent. 
- At this point it extends east and west ahout 1300 miles, and 
stretches upwards of 750 miles, with a gradually-contracting 
breadth, to Cape Agulhas, the south extremity. This sharply- 
defined headland received its name, signifying ' needles,' from 
the Portuguese, which is given also to a vast adjoining sand- 
hanlj, over which rolls a harassing sea, and to an important 
current flowing from the Indian to the Atlantic Ocean. The 
interior country includes very varied scenes, as mountain-chains 
broken by wild, watered, and wooded gorges ; elevated terraces 
alternately flowery and verdureless; low grassy or sandy plains, 
with tracts of desert, as barren and savage as are to be found on the surface of the globe. 
Elvers with a generally rapid descent to the sea are numerous, but none admit of any extent 
of inland navigation. The most important example, the Gariep or Orange, received the latter 
name from the early Dutch colonists in honour of the House of Orange. It has a 
winding course of more than 1000 miles from east to west, flows between banks lined with 




CAPE COLONY. 787 

mimosas, willows, and black ebony ; but can be readily forded at many points in almost 
all seasons, and possesses therefore no navigable value, while sand-banks at the mouth 
proliibit access to it from the ocean. On the north of the river, extendiug to beyond the 
tropic, is the great central Kalihari Desert, a fearful wilderness, which long arrested the 
task of exploration, till the happy thought occurred to Livingstone of sku*ting it on the 
eastern side, instead of attempting the du'ect passage. Eain rarely falls in this district, 
and no water is to be had except at a few springs or ' sucking-places,' which the miserable 
natives who wander over it in search of game carefully conceal. Yet, as a singular feature, 
the surface is not naked, but ia many places well wooded, and largely covered with thorn- 
trees. 

The territorial divisions include the Cape Colony, British Kaf&aria, Ifatal, the Orange 
Eiver Eepublic, and the Trans- Vaal EepubUc, with districts occupied by native tribes 
under then' respective chiefs. 

A bold promontory at the south-west extremity of the continent, originally called Cape 
of Tempests, from the storms encountered by the early navigators in doubling it, but 
wliich was soon superseded by the auspicious title of Cabo cle Bon Usperanga, Cape of 
Good Hope, gives its name to an important British dependency, the Cape Colony, and 
to its capital, Cape Town. The headland, upwards of thirty nules from the town, is the 
southerly termmation of a peninsula occupied with rugged hUls, which culminate in the 
remarkable Table Mountain immediately behind the capital. This peninsular tract, 
connected with the main body of Africa by a flat sandy isthmus, forms the Cape district, 
one of the subdivisions of the colony. The entire territory has an extent of about 550 
miles from the ocean on the west, to the outfall of the Keiskamma Eiver on the east, by 
450 miles from Cape Agulhas to the northern boundary, or the Orange Eiver. Within 
these limits there caimot be less than 200,000 square nules. But the space actually 
occupied by the settlements of civUisation is comparatively contracted ; and a very large 
area in the north must be left to the wild animals or to thinly scattered aborigines, as 
condemned by nature to irretrievable sterility. The coast-hne measures 1200 nules, a 
considerable portion of which on the north-western side lies out of the ordinary track of 
navigation, and is hence imperfectly known, but supposed to consist of sand-plains with a 
scanty clothing of slu-ubby plants. More southerly, promontories and indentations occur 
in an ahnost uninterrupted series. Many of the inlets form capacious bays, with ample 
depth of water, but are very defective roadsteads, being exposed in some direction or 
other to the winds. Saldanha Bay, on the west, afibrds protection in all weathers ; Table 
Bay, the most frequented, having the capital on its shore, is generally secure, except in 
winter, when north-westerly winds prevail ; Simon's Bay, immediately to the south, is 
safe throughout the year, and is the chief naval station of the colony. 

High grounds occupy great part of the interior of the country, consisting of three 
ranges of mountains, which run parallel to the coasts, and rise in succession above each 
other. They are cut by transverse valleys, many of which are mere ravines, but admit of 
communication through them, and have been made practicable as carriage-roads. The 
ranges are separated by terraces or upland plains, each range forming the boundary of a 
lower, and the abutment of the next higher plain. The loftiest and most interior chain is 
known in different parts of its course by the Dutch names of the Eoggeveld Bergen, the 
Nieuveld Bergen, and the Sniew Bergen, or Snowy Mountains. They retain the snow for 
several months upon the most elevated peaks, wHch reach the height of 10,000 feet in 
the Compass Berg, in the neighbourhood of Graaf Eeynet. ^Northward of this chain the 
country descends by a very gradual slope to the bed of the Orange Eiver. The intervening 
upland plains, during the summer heat and drought, aie perfect deserts ; and hence the 



788 SOUTHERN AFEICA. 

term, Imrroo, applied to tliem, signifying ' dry ' or •' arid,' wMoh, has been incoipoiated 
from tlie language of the Hottentots into tlio vocabulary of physical geography for barren 
table-lands in general. But they remarkably change their aspect. In the cool season, 
soon after the rains fall, and soften the soil, the germs of myriads of plants are quickened, 
and the surface speedily exhibits a delicate green covering. This is followed by the 
glowing colours of the full-blown flowers, which almost entirely conceal the green of the 
plants, fUl the air with the sweetest odours, and delight the eye with gorgeous and varied 
hues. At this time the colonist brings his flocks and herds into the karroo-ground, 
where the animals find a plentiful and wholesome supply of food, while troops of ostriches 
and antelopes share the repast and enliven the scene. After a calm day, as the sun 
declines, the landscape is paradisiacal from its beauty and fragrance. But lengthening 
days, and the increased power of the African sun, rapidly obliterate every fair appearance. 
The flowers fade and fall ; the stems and leaves dry ; the streams that have been set in 
motion fail ; the soil bakes, and is covered with a brown dust from the ashes of the 
vegetation ; the farmers, flocks, and wild animals retire ; and the surface is a ghastly 
waste and a dreary solitude tOl the next year's rain renews the verdure. The Great Karroo, 
at the base of the Eoggeveld and ISTieuveld chain, is a belt of table-land 300 miles in 
length, and 80 miles in average breadth, at the height of 2000 feet above the sea. 

Both the fauna and flora of the colony are of singular interest. Towards the close of 
the last century, naturaHsts visited the Cape attracted by the brilliancy of its botanical 
productions, and the remarkable forms of the animal kingdom, which, though widely 
distributed, could there be most conveniently studied. Sparrman, and after him Le 
Vaillant, viewed with admiration the strange outhne of the giraffe and the superb marking 
of the zebra, anunals then nearly unknown in Europe ; the light shape and bright eye of 
the springbok, the most beautiful of antelopes ; and observed with astonishment the vast 
number of gnus and quaggas, with buffaloes, hons, elephants, rhinoceroses, and hippo- 
potami. The large and formidable quadrupeds have extensively fallen victims to the 
hunter's rifle, or been driven into the wilds of the interior by the advance of colonisation. 
The elephant is no longer found south of the Orange Eiver, and the Hon is very rarely 
met with on its borders, but members of the antelope family and of the horse tribe scour 
the plains in great troops, and migrate intermingled with ostriches, when severe drought 
compels them to quit their customary haunts in search of pasture. Singular succulent 
plants abound, with geraniums and heaths growing wild like common weeds, the latter 
remarkable for elegance of form and variety of species, many of which are established 
favourites in the conservatories of Europe. Patches of natural forest are in the higliland 
gorges and on the sides of the mountains, but timber-trees are in general sparely distri- 
buted, except along the southern shore. The prevalent tree in the vicinity of Cape Town 
is the Witteboom, or Silver Tree, conspicuous for the brilliant sUky whiteness of the 
leaves, wliich have a beautiful appearance when agitated by the wind. With the 
exception of grasses and aloes, the indigenous vegetation is of little service to man, but 
most of the grains, fruits, and vegetables of the northern hemisphere have been intro- 
duced, with the varieties of domesticated live-stock with which we are familiar. Agri- 
culture, embracing the cultivation of the vine, and pastoral husbandry, are the leading 
industries. Wool and wines are the most important exports. The climate has great 
summer heat, but is highly salubrious. Its principal disadvantage is the uncertainty of 
the rains, which are sometimes suspended for long intervals, and occasion severe distress 
from drought. 

The country to the north of Orange Eiver, first traversed by Livingstone, is described 
as extremely varied. In his first journey from Kuruman to Lake Ifgami, he determined 




The Zambesi Eiver, from Logier's Hill 

to skirt the eastern flank of the Kalihari Desert instead of going througk it. The space 
to be traversed ' has been called a desert,' he says, ' because, though intersected by the 
beds of ancient rivers, it contains no running water, and very little in wells. Far from 
being destitute of vegetation, it is covered with grass and oreej)ing plants ; and there are 
large patches of bushes and even trees. It is remarkably flat ; and prodigious herds of 
antelopes roam over its trackless plains.' Starting for the unknown region, a range of 
tree-covered hiUs was crossed to Shokuane, afterwards along the bed of an ancient river, 
through a perfectly flat coimtry. On the third day they were traversing a trackless waste 
of scrub, the grass so dry as to crumble into powder in the hands, and, on the 4th of July, 
after a month's toilsome journey, they reached the banks of the Zouga Eiver, which the 
people informed them flowed out of the Lake Ifgama. Following the banks of this 
beautifully-wooded river, ninety-six miles from the point where they first struck it, the 
lake was reached on the first of August. 

In a future journey he reached the Zambesi, a river whose existence was previously 
unlcnown, tluough a country perfectly flat, except where large ant-hills formed mounds a 
few feet high — generally covered with vfUd date-trees and palmyras. Occasional forests 
of mimosEe and mopane also occurred. 

TIio Cape was discovered by tlie Portuguese in 1486, whose fleets ooeasionally stopped for water and 
refreshments, but no attempt was made to occupy the coimtry. In tlie reign of James I. two commanders 
of the English East India Company formally took possession of it, but no settlement followed. The Dutch, 
having found their way into Indian seas, perceived the advantage of having a naval station at the site, and 
m 1650 founded Cape Town. The territory remained in their hands nearly a century and a half, during 



790 



SOUTHERN AFEICA. 



which time colonists from Holland spread themselves as farmers over the interior. Hence the common 
oocui-rence of Dutch names in the nomenclature of towns, mountains, and streams. In 1795 the dependency- 
was taken by a British armament, and after heing restored to Holland, it was recaptured in 1806, and 
permanently annexed to the empire. 

The Cape Colony consists of two provinces, a western and an eastern, each of which is subdivided into 
eleven districts, generally of large extent. The western province, or oldest settled portion, chiefly agricul- 
tural, is imder a govemor-in-chief ; and the eastern, principally pastoral, under a lieutenant-governor. Each 
forms a diocese of the Anglican Church, with an episcopal seat at the capitals, Cape Town and Graham's 
Town. Both provinces have a common legislature, composed of a council of fifteen nominated members, and 
an assembly of forty-six elected representatives. 

Western Province, .... Cape Town, SteUenbosch, Beaufort, George Town. 

Eastern Province, Graham's Town, Port Elizabeth, Graaf Eeyuet. 

The total population is loosely reckoned at 285,000, considerably more than one-third of whom are whites. 
These consist partly of the descendants of the original Dutch colonists, called boers or boors. The majority 
are located on grazing-farms, and have degenerated in the remoter districts from the standard of their 
ancestors, become rude in their maimers, and oppressive in their treatment of inferiors, while very illiterate. 
They are, perhaps, now outnumbered by the new-comers, the British, who are stiU slowly recruited from the 
mother-country; while many of the old settlers, as discovery opened up the region north of colonial limits, 
transferred themselves to it, for the double purpose of escaping a foreign government, and taking by force the 
inheritance of native tribes. There are also some of French extraction, who are chiefly the wine-growers, 
descended from a number of the Protestants who became refugees upon the revocation of the Edict of Nantes 
in 1685. The coloured people consist of the aborigines proper, or tribes of the Hottentot race, with Kafiu-s 
on the border, IsTegroes, Malays, and Africaners, the latter sprang from foreigners by native women. The 
Hottentots were once considered almost without the pale of humanity, so degraded were their habits, and 
inferior their appearance. But subject to proper treatment, they have shewn themselves capable of 
becoming attached and faithful to their masters, make good farm-servants, soldiers, and police. 

Cape Toion, the capital, is situated on the southern shore of Table Bay, in latitude 33° 56' south, longitude 
18° 28' east, and contains a population of nearly 30,000, of a very motley description, Dutch, English, Negroes, 
Malays, and Hottentots, with mixed races of almost every shade of colour. The main streets, arranged in 
straight lines and right angles, are threaded by canals, and have rows of ti-ees, after the style of the original 
founders. Most of the houses are flat-roofed, and have a brick terrace in front, called the stoep, shaded by 
the trees, which forms the usual evening loimging-place of the inmates. Directly facing the mid-day sun, 
with naked moimtains immediately in the background, the town is exposed to great heat from its situation, 
the mean temperature being 58° for the winter, and 76° for the summer. It possesses several good government 
buildings, fifteen churches and chapels, an exchange, a college, a literary institution, a public library, a 
botanic garden, and an astronomical observatory. A regular citadel, with various outworks, protect the 
colonial capital and the harbour. The streets are lighted with gas. Cape Town is under the control of 
a mimicipal body, and returns four representatives to the local parliament. It has a considerable number of 
Mohammedans among its inhabitants, and is perhaps the only place in the world where natives of Britain have 
become converts to their creed. A grand altar-Uke mountain rises immediately behind the town to the 
height of 3760 feet. This is the Table Mountain. The Lion's Head and the Devil's Peak are lower 
adjoining eminences. The three mountains form an amphitheatre of about five or six mUes in diameter, in 
the centre of which Cape Town is placed. 

Graham's Town, the capital of the eastern province, in the district of Albany, is about 500 mUes east of 
Cape Town. It contains an almost exclusively English population of 6000, and occupies an inland site. Port 
Elizabeth, on the shore of Algoa Bay, a flourishing commercial tovm, is the principal shipping-place for the 
whole of the eastern division. About twenty-five mUes inland from it, on a large well-watered plain, is 
Uitenhage, the head of a district of the same name, with 5000 inhabitants. 

British Kaffearia, immediately east of the Cape Colony, extends along the coast between the outlets of 
the Keiskamma and Great Kei Elvers, and embraces an area of about 4500 square miles. It is under a 
separate administration, as the head-quarters of the troops employed to keep the independent Kaffirs beyond 
the frontier in check. The district was wrested from them by the war of 1847, and contains numerous 
military posts established for protective purposes. Many parts of this territory are higlily picturesque, while 
adapted both for gi'azing and agriculture. A considerable number of the soldiers who formed the German 
Legion during the Crimean war, along with British settlers, have here received grants of land on easy terms, 
who probably form a population of 10,000, while the Kafiirs associated with them as fellow-subjects are 
supposed to nimiber 100,000. King William's Town, the capital, situated inland, is stiU in its infancy, but 
issues an English and a German newspaper. East London, at the mouth of the Buffalo Eiver, with good 
anchorage-groimd, is the port. 

ISTatal, a young and rising British colony, derives its name, Terra Natalis, from the 
fact of the discovery of the district by the Portuguese on the festival of the Ifativity, or 
Christmas-Day, 1497. It is situated on the south-east coast of Africa, in 30° south 



NATAL. 791 

latitude, about 800 miles from tlie Capo of Good Hope, and within seven, degrees of the 
Tropic of Capricorn, extending inland to the distance of 100 miles from the shores of the 
Indian Ocean. The Draken-berge, or Dragon Mountains, on the west, form the boundary 
from the Orange Eiver Eeptiblic ; the Tugela Eiver, on the north, defines the frontier from 
Zulu-land ; and similarly the Umzimkulu, on the south, from Independent KafEraria, which 
intervenes between Natal and the eastern part of the Cape region. Within these Umits there 
is a compact territory of about 25,000 square miles. Whether approached by sea or by land 
from the Cape, the country makes a very agreeable impression, owing to its freshly-verdant 
aspect throughout the year, so strikingly different to the general aridity of the regions left 
behind. On gaining the last heights of the Draken-berge range from the interior, after passing 
over dry and sterile lands, the traveller hails with surprise the prospect of a well-watered, 
wooded, and grassy landscape, stretching for miles to the eastward, and can appreciate the 
feeling which led the first Dutch explorers to exclaim at the view, Een andere ivereld! — 
'Another world ! ' On nearing also the strand, the voyager marks with delight a series of 
beautifuUy-sloped and round-topped hiUs, aU green and luxuriant, some covered with 
grass, others with trees, which descend to the very water's edge, or to the white beach 
upon which the waves are playing. This is the appearance of the surface even in the hot 
months, when aU vegetation is parched, brown, and dusty at the Cape. It is occasioned 
by the raias falling ia this part of Africa ia the interval from September to March, or 
during the summer of the southern hemisphere. 

From the coast the land rises rapidly in four distinct steps or terraces, each averaging ahoni twenty miles 
in breadth, and having its own peculiarity of soil and climate. In the maritime region there are fine wood- 
lands and park-like scenery. The temperature ranges high, and though not strictly tropical, even in the 
height of summer, the climate admits of the growth of cotton, sugar, indigo, arrow-root, coffee, pine-apples, 
and other productions of the tropics. Further inland, as the country rises in elevation, the temperature is 
diminished, and the air is refreshing, except when the hot wind blows from the north-west, the direction of 
the sun-scorched regions of Central Africa. This range of land, on which stands the capital, is almost bare 
of trees, but well adapted for the growth of maize and the usual harvests of Europe. Beyond this, the higher 
terraces supply inunense tracts of pasturage, with timber-trees of considerable size and serviceable quality. 
Large wild animals, rhinoceroses and elephants, once numerous, have either been exterminated by the 
hunter, or are only met with in the more retired districts, from which they are rapidly disappearing. 
AUigators abound in some of the rivers, with hippopotami, and serpents aUied to the boa are not uncommon. 
The British government proclaimed the district in May 1343 a regular colony of the crown. Since that 
period it has been under a lieutenant-governor. Eapid advances to prosperity have been made by the arrival 
of English and German settlers, and by the possession of those natural advantages in which the Cape is 
deficient : abundance of wood, water, iron, copper, and other metallic ores, coal, which occurs in various places, 
and a fertile soU. Natives have also flocked across the frontier to enjoy the peace and protection secured to 
them by a strong goverimient. The whites number 10,000, and the Zulus 120,000, who, imder just treatment, 
are docile and industrious, acquitting themselves well in domestic and farm service. Their huts are con- 
structed of t-\vigs thatched with grass. Baskets for carrying produce are made of grass strongly plaited together, 
and calabashes for water consist of a scooped-out vegetable of the pumpkin kind. Natal has recently received 
a representative constitution, and forms a diocese of the Anglican Church. It is divided into seven comities, 
and has Pietermaritzhurg for the capital, near the centre of the province, about fifty miles from the coast. The 
town is neatly laid out in the form of a parallel square, and possesses some substantial pubUc buildings, but 
is only pai-tiaUy buUt. It stands on a branch of the tTmgani Eiver, which has a fall of 262 feet perpendicular 
in the neighbourhood. The name is compounded of the Christian name of Pieter Bietief, and the surname 
of Gei"t Maritz, two leaders of the immigrant boers who first entered the country in the time of the sanguinary 
chief Clioka, Durban, the port of the colony, often called Port Natal, the first settlement, is seated on the shore 
of a fine land-locked bay, but a bar at the entrance prevents the admission of large vessels. Sugar, wool, 
ivory, coffee, and arrow-root are the principal exports. Sugar plantations are extending in the coast region. 

The Orange BrvER Eepoblic, enclosed by two arms of the stream, and the adjoining Tkans-Vaal Ebpue- 
LIC, named after a leading branch, claim to rank as two independent states, westward of Natal, and north-east 
of the Cape Colony. They originated with the Dutch farmers, who, disliking restraint, emigrated at various 
times beyond colonial limits, in order to enjoy a rude freedom wholly in'espective of the rights of the natives. 
They have usiirped their lands, compel them to do their bidding as convenience dictates, assemble in force to 
pmiish the refractory, and have violently opposed the opening of the country northward, whether by mission- 
aries or hunters, in order to keep the trafiic in ivoiy and hides in their own hands. Livingstone's home and 
station, previous to his grand tour, was desolated by them, and his life would undoubtedly have been sacrificed 



792 



SOUTHERN AFRICA. 



but for his absence at tlie time of the attaclc. Blomfontein, tlie seat of goTemment in the Orange Eiver state, 
is a skeleton town with a Dutch and a Eoman Catholic Church, as is Potschcrfstrootn in the Trans- Vaal district. 

Katfkaeia Pkoper, the popular name of the coast country between British Kaifraria and Natal, extends 
about 120 jniles inland, is occupied by the broken remains of once powerful Kaffir tribes. At various times 
they have harassed the frontier of the Cape Colony, penetrated as invaders far into its interior, and baffled 
the imperial troops, though finally driven back with immense loss and the capture of their principal chiefs. 
They are supposed to number 300,000, but are said to be decreasing, and will probably be incoiTJorated, with 
their territory, in the British dominions. The Kaffirs are physically a finely-formed race, brave and warlike, 
but good-natui'ed in time of peace, partial to amusements, and honest except in relation to cattle, which 
bordering tribes are prone to steal from each other as opportunity offers. This has occasioned frequent wars 
among themselves, which, with those against the British, have contributed to a large reduction of their 
numbers. They are strictly a pastoral people, and regard their herds with an intensity of feeling approaching 
to idolatry. The men attend to them exclusively, make them companions as far as possible, address them by 
name, and speak to them in terms of praise, while the women cultivate the soil, fetch water, and gather in 
fuel, in addition to household work. They live in collections of huts, called kraals, several of which are 
mission stations, where the European traveller is sure to meet with an hospitable reception. Polygamy is 
practised, and seems to be a firmly-established usage. The tribes are mider patriarchal government and 
hereditaiy chiefs. They are expert in the use of firearms, can manoeuvre in a style which has frequently 
elicited the admu-ation of English officers, and in conferences with them, on grounds of difference, the 
European has often been foiled by the logic of the native. 

A district further inland, watered by the Caledon branch of the Orange Ever, is inhabited by the Basutos, 
a section of the Kaffir race, but somewhat inferior to the true Kaffirs in physical development. Tribes of 
Kaffir descent, pastoral and agricultural, but differing from the ' magnificent savages ' in bemg of inferior 
appearance and comparatively timid, are spread over a large tract of the interior north of the Orange Paver, 
extending to the Zambesi. They are comprehended under the general name of Becliuanas, occupy a region 
of plains and low lulls, a dry and tliirsty land, where a cloud may not be seen for months, and years have 
sometimes passed away without a shower. In such a district a copious fountain is a thmg of joy. 




Church and Mission on Blackthroat Elver. 



j^ in.'-. 




Panorama of the Centioal Andes. 

PAET IV. 

DESCRIPTIVE GEOGRAPHY OF AMERICA. 

INTEODUCTOEY CHAPTER. — GENEEAL VIEW OP AMEEICA. 

,^3^ MEEICA, one of the principal divisions of the glohe, 
/ o ranks next to Asia in magnitude, and is very nearly equal to 
the joint area of Europe and Africa, -while it forms the largest 
continuous mass of land in the direction of the meridian ; 
entering within the north polar zone, and approacliing the 
confines of the Antarctic Circle. Three great oceans enclose 
the continent ; the Arctic on the north, with its winter- 
frozen surface ; the Atlantic on the east, intervening like a 
grand canal between its shores and those of Europe and 
Africa ; and the Pacific on the west, the largest section of 
the world of waters, forming the separation from Asia and 
the island-realm of Oceania. At the narrow south extremity 
the two latter basins hlend then- hUlows. The northern limit of the mainland, a head- 
land of the Boothian peninsula, and the southern, or Cape Froward, on the Strait of 




794 GENERAL VIEW OP AMEBICA. 

Magellan, are respectively in latitude 72° nortL. and 53° 54' soutli. Between these points, 
following the curving course of the land, the distance is not less than 10,000 miles. In 
the opposite direction the extent is much less, only slightly exceeding 3000 miles, under 
the parallels of 45° north and 5° south, where the greatest expansions occur. But inter- 
mediately the "breadth remarkahly contracts to a mere span, for in the Isthmus of 
Panama, the opposite waters of the Atlantic and Pacific, at their closest approach, are 
only twenty-eight miles apart. This isthmus divides the continent into two gTeat 
portions, or North and South America, which correspond in their general form, being 
rudely triangular peninsulas, and in the westerly position of their principal mountains. 
The northern and largest portion, exclusive of islands, has an area of ahout 8,600,000 
square miles, and the southern of 7,000,000, making a total of 15,600,000 square miles. 
These main divisions have some contrasted features. The northern is specially distin- 
guished hy the number and extent of its fresh-water lakes, and by the broad and deep 
indentations of its coast, especially on the eastern side, where the vast sea-like inlets of 
Hudson's Bay and the Gulf of Mexico occur. It has therefore the greatest extent of 
sea-board, amounting to about 24,000 mUes, while the southern division has only 13,600 
miles, giving for the entire line of the shores a length of 37,600 miles. IS'orth America 
is also characterised by insular dependencies of great extent, with an immense number of 
small dimensions; as Greenland, Iceland, JSTeivfoundland, the Arctic series, the West 
Indies, Vancouver's, Queen Charlotte's, and others. South America has only a few smaU 
appendages of the kind. The principal group, the Puegian Archipelago, may by proximity, 
as well as on geological grounds, be regarded as a southerly continuation of the continent, 
being only separated from it by the narrow Strait of Magellan. This wiU. extend the 
latitude to 55° 58' south, and make the dark and stormy headland of Cape Horn the 
terminating point in that du'ection. 

A m erica derives its name from Amerigo Vespucci, a Plorentine naval adventurer and 
friend of Columbus. It seems to have originated inadvertently, probably in Germany, 
where the narrative of his voyages to the American shores was published, and received with 
intense interest as the first account of the country. Owing to the comparatively recent 
date of the European discovery, it is still commonly styled the Ifew "World ; and also the 
"Western Contiuent, from its position in relation to the prime meridians of European 
geographers. It is not unlikely that the great idea of Columbus, the real discoverer, that 
of opening a western passage to the East, will ultimately be reaKsed by the construction 
of a ship-canal through the narrow central part of the continent, where lakes and rivers 
OGCur to facilitate the enterprise. This would insulate the northern and southern 
divisions, directly connect the navigation of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, and shorten 
by many days the voyage from Europe to Cliina, Japan, New Zealand, Eastern Australia, 
British Columbia, and the whole western coast of America. An iron road, the first 
tropical railway, crosses the Isthmus from AspinwaU on the Atlantic to Panama on the 
Pacific. It follows a cu-ouitous course, and has a length of fifty miles, but the distance 
between the termini, as the crow flies, is only thirty-eight miles. This is one of the most 
profitable undertakmgs of the kind to the shareholders ever executed, ia spite of its 
immense cost ; but a marine route would offer incomparably greater advantages. 

Imposing ranges of mountains, supported by extensive table-lands, occupy the western 
side of the continent, and form a chain of grand highlands stretching through its entire 
length from north to south, subject to comparatively few breaks, but passing under a 
variety of names. From the shores of the Arctic basin, near the mouth of the Mackenzie 
Eiver, the Eocky Mountains extend southward to the Mexican plateau, with bare and rugged 
summits, one of which, apparently the loftiest, Mount Brown, on the inland border of 



AMEKICAN MOUNTAIN-EANGES. 



795 



Eritisli Columtia, attains the lieiglit of 16,000 feet. Parallel to tHs range, on the coast 
of the Pacific, are the Califomian or Maritime Alps, less persistent, but embracing the 
culminatmg-point of North America, in Mount St EHas, 17,860 feet, within the limits of 
the Eussian territory. This highland system is continued southward by a series of table- 
lands studded with volcanic cones to the depression of the Panama isthmus, immediately 




Comparative Height of American Mountains, 
beyond which rise the Andes, which stretch in an unbroken line to the extremity of 
South America, rarely receding far from the ocean, and occasionally forming the coast-line. 
These mountain-ranges, varying widely in their aspects, are so far knit together as to 
constitute a single colossal chain, the great axis or vertebral colunm of the continent, and 
the most important example of a longitudinal chain on the earth's surface. The Chilian 
Andes, though of inferior average elevation, contain Aconcagua, in the background of 
Valparaiso, which has an altitude of 23,910 feet, and is the liighest point of the whole 
surface in the "Western Hemisphere. It will thus be seen that in the disposition of its 
principal moimtains the New World differs decidedly from the Old. They skirt the 
ocean in the former case, and are in central districts in the latter. 

In different parts of its course the Andean chain, consists of a single compact ridge 
shooting up its pinnacles into the realm of eternal snow, and of two or three parallel 
ranges which enclose elevated valleys or plains between them, and form at the points of 
reunion a confused aggregation of masses, or mountain-knots. Three ranges appear in 
ISTew Granada, two in Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia, and only one in ChUi. Though the 
high valleys are treeless, the grasses are luxuriant, and a limited cultivation prevails. 
But the lofty plains, formed by the flat summits of the main mass of a range, are true 
mountainous deserts, never enlivened with fresh-looking verdure. These districts, called 
paramos or punas, are often veiled in fogs for several days in succession, and then 
exposed to the rush of tremendous tempests, which have proved fatal to many a traveller, 
as some of the frequented routes Ue across them. Transverse gaps, or immense chasms, 
termed by the natives quebradas, cut the ridges at icregular intervals, sometimes so 
sharply and deeply that the rocky sides are perpendicular precipices, between which 




Volcanic Mountain of Jonillo. 

Vesuvius might be placed witliout its top rising to their height. The loftiest and most 
powerM volcanoes of the globe are seated in the Andes, or connected with the northerly 
continuations of the highland system, either now or formerly in active ignition. Some 
are cones of prodigious magnitude, as Pichincha, with an elevation of 15,924 feet, 
Cotopaxi, 18,875, and Antisana, 19,132 feet. They do not in general discharge lava, but 
voUies of stones, clouds of ashes, torrents of water, accompanied with mud, mineral pitch, 
and other iluid ingredients. Earthquakes are of common occurrence in all the countries 
associated with this backbone of mountains, and occasionally visit with awful energy the 
shores of Chili, Peru, Venezuela, Central America, and Mexico ; the most singular on 
record perhaps being that of JoruUo, represented above. In the month of June 1859, a 
fertile and liighly-cultivated plain, six days' journey north of the city of Mexico, experienced 
a sudden commotion, a frightful earthquake followed, which continued for two whole 
months. At the end of this time, the fears of the inhabitants were subdued and their calm 
seemed restored, when, in the night of the 28th September, the plain for many leagues round 
was slowly upheaved in a rounded mass truncated at the summit. Prom the summit thus 
formed, volcanic exhalations emanated, all the plain up to the foot of this hill imdulated 
like the waves of a stormy sea ; thousands of little hills from ten to twenty feet high, rising 
very near to each other, opened and closed their summits alternately, finally the mountain 
itself opened; and from this gulf of three or four square leagues, immense masses of flame, 



THE WEED PBAIRIE. 797 

scoria, and roots in fusion were vomited. The eruption continued for a wliole year, 
diminishing slowly, but never entirely ceasing, and JoruUo still continues to discharge its 
torrents of fire and molten scoria. Two rivers which formerly flowed through the plain 
wore engulfed and reappeared in the west, far from their ancient bed — probably after 
traversing the volcanic conduit, for the waters reappear at a temperature of 53°. As a rule 
the Andes present a steep face towards the ocean, but decline gradually on the continental 
side. There the slopes are clothed with seemingly boundless forests, very solitary as to 
human inhabitants, but rife with prodigious swarms of mosquitoes, eager to fasten upon any 
intruder, and never intermitting their attacks in any season of the year, any hour of the 
day or night, so long as there is an object to assaU, a victim to torment. 

Secondary, but locally important ranges occupy a considerable space on the opposite or 
eastern side of the continent. They include in the north division the Alleghany or 
Appalachian chain, a series of parallel ridges stretching from the Giilf of St Lawrence, in 
a diagonal direction, to the state of Alabama, of moderate elevation in general, but con- 
taining a few summits, as Mount "Washington in New Hampshire, which exceed the 
height of 6000 feet. In the southern division a branch of the Andes forms the 
Venezuelan coast chain, which culminates in the remarkable SiUa of Caraccas at the 
elevation of 8600 feet; and nearly the same altitude is attained by narrow ridges in 
Brazil, running parallel to the eastern shores. 

Between the eastern and the western highlands are enormous levels, but slightly 
elevated above the sea, which eminently characterise the superficial aspect of the con- 
tment in both divisions. From the base of the Alleghanies to that of the Eocky Moun- 
tains, and from the Gulf of Mexico to the Arctic Ocean, the whole of ITorth America is 
an immense plain, comprehending more than 3,000,000 square mUes, with very varyiog 
features, but with no irregularity of the surface beyond a few low hiUs and gentle swells, 
while embracing extensive and perfectly flat tracts. Towards the foot of the Alleghanies 
and the shores of Hudson's Bay the country is undulating and well wooded, but at 
the base of the Eocky Mountains the opposite feature is displayed of a true desert, a 
district covered with gravel, boulders, and granitic sand. Intermediate, extending through 
upwards of 1000 nnles, and generally limited by the parallels of 30° and 50°, are prauie- 
grounds, which form the chief part of the basins of the great rivers, the Mississippi and 
Missouri. 

Though the term ' prairie ' strictly signifies a region destitute of timber, and is there- 
fore tlie antithesis of the ' forest,' it is applied to districts where the two mingle with and 
intersect each other. Hence there are ' timber prairies,' but the wooded tracts bear no 
proportion in their extent to that of the open spaces between them. Other prairies, pro- 
perly so caUed, being woodless, have distinctive names from the predominant vegetation, 
grasses or flowers, with which they are clothed. Their features difier in other respects, 
as the surface is often as level for miles as the top of a table, and then becomes billowy, 
while some are constantly dry and others are swampy. The floral verdure of prairie-land 
has been pictured by a vivid sketoher. ' I stand in an open plain. I turn my face to 
the north, to the south, to the east, and to the west, and on aU sides behold the blue 
circle of the heavens girdling around me. Kor rock, nor tree breaks the ring of the 
horizon. "What covers the broad expanse between ? "Wood 1 water 1 grass ? Ifo ; flowers ! 
As far as my eye can range, it rests only on flowers, on beautiful flowers ! I am looking 
as on a tinted map, an enamelled picture brilliant with every hue of the prism. Yonder 
is golden yellow, where the hehanthus turns her dial-like face to the sun. Yonder, 
scarlet, where the malva erects its red banner. Here is a parterre of the purple monarda ; 
there the euphorbia sheds its silver leaf. Yonder the orange predominates in the showy 



798 GBNEBAL TEEW OP AMERICA, 

flowers of the asclepia ; and beyond, the eye roams over the pink blossoms of the cleome. 
The breeze stirs them. Millions of corollas are ■wavuig their gaudy standards. The tall 
stalks of the helianthus bend and rise in long undulations, like bUlows on a golden sea. 
They are at rest again. The air is filled with odours sweet as the perfumes of Araby or 
Ind. Mjrriads of insects flap then' gay wings : flowers of themselves. The bee-birds skirr 
around, glancing like stray sunbeams ; or poised on whu'ring wings, drink from the 
nectared cups ; and the wild bee, with laden limbs, clings among the honeyed pistils, or 
leaves for his far hive with a song of joy. Who planted these flowers? Who hath 
woven them into these pictm'ed parterres ? Ifature. It is her richest mantle, richer in 
its hues than the scarfs of Cashmere. This is the " weed prairie." It is misnamed. It 
is the garden of God ! ' The name originated with the trappers, practical men, indifferent 
to objects which have no bearing upon the immediate demands of existence, intent upon 
furs and skins, fodder for their steeds and food for themselves. Yet the flowers have a 
weed-b'ke distribution, being indiscriminately scattered, and not arranged in beds. 

These floral prairies are found in the greatest perfection in the more southern latitudes, 
especially in Texas, where the traveller may ride through them the entire day without 
observing change in the general aspect of nature. Many are intersected by streams and 
belted with wood ; and thus offer the two essentials of water and timber to the settler, 
invite the hand of industry to raise a homestead, and change them into corn-bearing lands. 
Another variety, the ' grass prairie,' answers to its name. Not a flower appears in sight 
for miles, but there is an expanse of verdure green as an emerald, now darkened in its 
hue by the flitting shadows of the summer clouds, and anon lightened by the returning 
sunbeams. Droves of bisons cover these meadows in compact masses, often a mile in 
length : they are the chief dependence of the Indian tribes ; deer are met with in herds of 
several thousands, suppljing the frontier settlers with venison at every meal ; and wild 
horses are seen ia long columns of eight or ten abreast shaking the ground with their 
stampede. 

South America has its corresponding gTcat central plain, extending between the Andes 
on the one hand, to the Brazilian Mountains on the other, and stretching to the southern 
extremity. This region exhibits great diversity. Northward are the Llanos, or ' level fields ' 
of Yenezuela, singularly flat, bordering on the Orinoco, by which are largely inundated 
in the rainy reason, afterwards clothed with the rankest grasses, and then reduced to utter 
sterility by the succeeding heat and drought. Next, proceeding southward, occur the 
Selvas, or ' forest ' plains of the Amazon, the densest and most extensive woodland on the 
terrestrial surface, where the magical beauty of tropical vegetation is seen in all its glory, 
interspersed with open patches of marsh and meadow. Further south are the Pampas, or 
treeless flats of the La Plata states. They include sandy and stony spaces doomed to per- 
manent barrenness by saline impregnation, but consist chiefly of red calcareous soil, almost 
as level as the sea, part of which is covered successively with a luxuriant growth of grass, 
clover, and thistles, but it varies remarkably in its appearance with the season. As the 
spring advances, the whole region becomes a wood of enormous thistles, which have 
suddenly sprung up to the height of ten or eleven feet, and are in full bloom. Wherever 
there is a road or path it is hemmed in on both sides by the plants, and the view is com- 
pletely obstructed. Not an animal is to be seen, for so strong and close together are the 
stems, that, independent of the prickles with which they are armed, they render the 
country impassable except along the regular thoroughfares. Eut the summer heat is not 
over before there comes a change. The plants lose their verdant appearance, the leaves 
shrink and fade, the stems become dry and black. Por a time they remain rattling with 
the breeze against one another, tni the powerful pampero, a hurricane from the Andes, 



AMERICAN EIVERS. 799 

loTols them with, the ground, rapidly to decompose and disappear. The grass and clover 
then shoot up ; the scene is again verdant ; and the wild cattle return to graze vipon the 
pasture. The soil of this district contains many fossil remains, those of the megatherium 
and mylodon, extinct animals allied to the sloths, and of the glyptodon, a gigantic 
armadillo. 

The JSTew "World has immensely the advantage of the Old in point of fluvial communi- 
cation, possessing rivers unrivalled in length of course, size of basin, volume of water, and 
extent of navigation ; independently of a series of sea-like lakes, with a vast number of 
secondary rank. Owing to the great chain of mountains which traverses the coast of the 
Pacific, only a very small proportion of the surface-drainage finds its way to that ocean, 
but is conducted through the vast central plains to the Atlantic. This statement applies 
with the greatest force to South America ; in the far north, the country slopes towards 
the Aictic basin. Through its entire extent, from the close approach of the Andes 
to the western shore, the streams flowing in that direction are all insignificant, while the 
eastward-bound rivers, the Orinoco, the Amazon, and the Plata, are magnificent, traversing 
nearly the whole breadth of the continent. In Iforth America the more inland position 
of the principal water-shed, the Eocky Mountains, furnishes greater faoihty for hydrographic 
development on the side of the Pacific ; and here are the Colorado entering the head of 
the Gulf of California, the Sacramento dischargiug in the harbour of San Francisco, and 
the Columbia passing into the great ocean. Yet these, though of local consequence, are 
but as brooks when compared with the rivers on the opposite side of the range, the 
Missouri, the Mississippi, and the St La-wrence, which belong to the Atlantic ; but these 
rivers, while naturally of greater magnitude, are iaferior in practical value as arteries of com- 
munication to the Hudson, the Delaware, and the Potomac. The northern rivers, flowing 
to the reahn of the polar ice, the Mackenzie, the Coppermine, and the Great Pish Eiver, are 
of little note from their high latitude, being frozen up through nine months of the year ; 
they can never be utilised in then- brief summer, except by the boats of trappers and the 
canoes of Indians and Esquimaux. 

The Mississippi, ' Pather of "Waters," deserves the name, as by far the largest river in 
the northern section of the continent, and the longest in the world, estimated with the 
channel of its principal tributary, the Missouri. Little more than three centuries have 
elapsed siuce it was first seen by European eyes. It was in 1 541 that De Soto, a bold Spanish 
adventurer, who had gone out into the wilderness in search of gems, gold, and barbaric 
cities, met with the broad stream flowing through tangled forests, wide morasses, and far- 
spread prairies ; but it was not actually traced to its source till the present century, long 
after steam communication had been established on its bosom. It issues from the small 
Lake of Itasca, a transparent sheet of water bounded by woody hills, on the table-land 
westward of Lake Superior. Thence it runs southward through the great central plain, 
receives numerous accessions from either side, describes repeated sweeps and windings, 
returns after long bends to the borders of its own channel as if disposed to re-enter it, and 
has a total course of 3160 miles to a swampy delta in the Gulf of Mexico. The Mississippi 
is clear and placid down to its junction with the Missouri, ' Mud Eiver,' which brings in 
whitish-yellow waters, renders the flow rapid, and is actually the dominant flood. Lower 
doivn, the Ohio, La Belle Riviere of the French, on the left bank, contributes a greenish 
sediment ; and still lower, on the opposite side, the Arkansas and the Eed Eiver enter 
charged with darker soU. Following the channel of the Missouri up to its source in the 
Eocky Mountaius, the whole length somewhat exceeds 4200 miles, embracing more 
degrees of latitude than are traversed by any other American water-course. Hence great 
contrasts in climate and vegetation appear on comparing the extreme points, piues being 



800 GENERAL VIEW OF AMERICA. 

prominent in tlie nortli and tropical plants in. the south. Below the confluence with the 
Ohio the river loses its picttiresqueness. Bluffs hecome rare. The level banks are covered 
with woods, which seem, as endless as they are monotonous, while the surface presents 
only a tedious succession of islands, flat boats, rafts, drifting logs, and panting steamers. 
In the lower half of its course, or downward from the great junction where the Mississippi- 
Missouri is formed, the depth increases, but the width is diminished, and seldom exceeds 
three-quarters of a mUe, except during the sprLag floods consequent on the melting of the 
snows in the high latitudes, when vast tracts of country are occasionally overflowed. To 
guard against these incursions, ' levees,' or artificial ramparts, are raised along the banks 
at the exposed poiuts ; but the mighty current is often too strong to be thus resisted, and 
' crevasses,' or gaps, are opened, through which it pours, converting the cotton plantations 
into temporary lakes. The entire river-system has a basin estimated to include 1,300,000 
square mUes, and is computed to offer not less than 36,000 miles of uninterrupted steam 
navigation. 

If somewhat inferior in the length of its course of 3900 miles, the Amazon, in South 
America, drains a much greater extent of surface, reckoned at 2,500,000 square miles, 
discharges a far larger volume of water, and ranks as the most considerable river of the 
globe. It descends from the higher parts of the Peruvian and Bolivian Andes, pursues a 
general direction from west to east, and enters the Atlantic nearly under the equator. 
While perpetually fed from the snows of the mountains, it flows through a region more 
humid than that of any other part of the world of equal extent. In the wet season the 
rain pours down in torrents ; the drops are of enormous size ; and fall with a violence 
which Europeans who have not witnessed it are unable to conceive. Hence is formed 
that vast flood which is fifty miles broad at the mouth, never less than four miles wide 
through the last 450 miles of its course, the freshness of which is perceptible at a distance 
of more than 500 miles out in the ocean, while the depth is so great that large vessels 
may go up the channel for 2000 miles, and still be in forty fathoms of water. Yet 
flowing through a country very scantily occupied by rude tribes, there are fewer vessels 
upon its surface throughout the year than appear every hour of the day on the bosom of 
the Mississippi. But it may be regarded as the river of the future, opening a splendid 
field fpr enterprise from the exuberance of nature on its banks, admirably adapted for 
navigation, the powerful cu.rrent facilitating it downwards, while this obstacle to the ascent 
is relieved by the prevailing wind, which is uniformly contrary to the course of the 
stream. The Amazon received the name in allusion to a tribe of women accustomed to go 
out to battle, who were rumoured to have once lived on its banks. But above the entrance 
of the Eio Negro it is called the Solimoes, and liigher up the Maranon. By the Spaniards 
the whole river is often styled the OreUana, from the first white who descended it from 
Quito by the K"apo tributary in 1539. Of the two head streams which unite to form it, 
the Tunguragua issues from the Lake of Lauricocha, on the inland slope of the Andes of 
Peru ; and the Ucayali, the longest branch, has its origin more southerly, on the table-land 
of Bolivia. 

In the north of the continent, almost every stream, small and large, paiises in its course 
to expand into ponds or lakes, the number of which is legion, and are supposed altogether 
to contain considerably more than one-half of the entire fresh water of the globe. The 
Great Lakes, as they are called, or the Canadian series, five in number, are expansions of 
the St Laivrence, which, though called by other names in the upper parts of its basin, is 
strictly a single river, with a continued current through the reservoirs. They are properly 
inland seas, subject to all the vicissitudes which attend the navigation of the Baltic or the 
Black Sea ; and form by their position a boundary between the territory and institutions 



Breadth. 


Area, 


lilCB. 


Square Miloa. 


80 . 


. 32,000 


70 . 


24,000 . 


80 . 


. 20,000 


40 . 


9,600 . 


35 . 


. 6,300 



Elevation 

above the Sea, 

Feet. 


Mean Depth 
Feet. 


. 596 . 


. 900 


. 578 . 


. 1000 


. 578 . 


. 1000 


. 565 . 


200 


. 232 . 


. 500 



AMEUIOAN LAKES. 801 

of a monarcliy and a republic, as the frontier line between British America and the 
United States is supposed to run through their centre. 

Mean I/ength, 
^''^^^- Miles. 

Lake Superior, . . 400 

I, Huron, . . 220 . 
ir Mioliigan, . . 240 

.1 Erie, . . . 240 . 
i; Ontario, . .180 

Their united area exceeds that of Great Britain, and their total contents are estimated at 
upwards of 13,000 cubic miles of water. Between Lake Erie and Ontario the connecting 
river has the name of the Niagara, and forms the celebrated falls so called, which the 
Indians of the olden time, their only human spectators, viewed with awe, and applied the 
appropriate epithet of 0-ni-aw-ga-rah, the Thunder of Waters, to the matchless scene. A 
second series of large expanses extends from near the preceding in a north-west direction 
— Wirmipeg, Athabasca, Great Slave, and Great Bear Lakes — ^the first connected by the 
N'elson with Hudson's Bay, and the remaining tliree by the Mackenzie with the Arctic 
Ocean. Owiag to the high latitude, they are re^'ularly closed by the ice through the long 
winter, and traveUed over on sledges by the fur-hunters. Lakes abound on the plateau 
of Mexico, and also in Central America, which are not of comparable magnitude. Two in 
the latter district, the Leon and Nicaragua, connected together, and discharging by the San 
Juan into the Carribean Sea, offer facilities for uniting the opposite oceans by a ship 
channel, as the distance is iaconsiderable between the western extremity of Lake Leon 
and the Pacific, and the Hne is in actual use for transit across the whole breadth of the 
Isthmus. South America, considering its extent and vast volumes of flowing water, is 
singularly deficient in large lakes. One of the most spacious. Lake Titicaca, on the 
Bolivian table-land, overlooked by some of the grandest of the Andes, is remarkable for 
its height above the sea, 12,846 feet. The expanse has aji outlet in the Desaguadero, but 
the stream does not leave the mountain region, losing itseK in a highland swamp. In 
the present century, during the fever for South American mining, an English company 
had the skeleton of a brig transported from the coast of the Pacific to this elevated lake, 
and set afloat upon its waters, the only vessel that ever sailed at nearly the same level 
with the loftiest of the Alps. 

Upon the discovery of the western continent, Europeans viewed with astonishment its 
forms of vegetable life, making acquaintance with them for the first time in tropical 
situations. There is no very surprising contrast in the more northerly localities. The 
forests are there composed mainly of members of European families — oaks, pines, 
birches, willows, poplars, elms, alders, aspens, hazels, and berry-bearing plants. But 
the species differ, and are often developed with a magnitude rarely seen else- 
where, as in the instance of the gigantic pines westward of the Eooky Mountains. 
Approaching the tropic, however, genera appear which are entirely wanting in the 
Old World ; and in the hot, humid equatorial zone, or the basin of the Amazon, the 
vegetable kingdom exhibits a variety and profusion which is unequalled in any other part of 
the globe, whether regard be had to mimber of genera and species, the vast extent of the 
forests, the size and close grouping of the individuals, bearded and clothed from the roots to 
the extremities of the tiniest branches with orchids and flowering climbers. The explorer 
cannot advance a yard without using the hatchet to open a pathway through the underwood ; 
and were it not for the interruption to progress offered by the rivers, the monkeys might 
travel hundreds of miles without once descending from the boughs to the ground. In this 



802 



GENERAL VIEW OF AMERICA. 



zone tlie forest-trees supply much valuatle timber, with ornamental and dye woods, as 
mahogany and Brazil-wood. Some bear huge fruits, used for food by the natives, as the 
well-known Brazil nuts of the shops, from which also a lamp-oil is extracted, while the hard 
thick shells in which the nuts are packed are employed for domestic purposes. Others 
yield a resin which thickens into caoutchouc. The cow-tree of Venezuela is so called 
from a juice exuding on incision, which has many of the properties of milk, and is obtained 
as a substitute for it. 

No true heaths are indigenous to any part of the continent, while all the cactuses belong 

exclusively to its tropical districts, 
though known by introduction in 
other warm climates. The gigantic 
water-lily, Victoria Regia, now raised 
m tanks in the conservatories of 
Europe, is peculiar to a few equa- 
torial streams. Trees of the order 
dnchonce, which yield the celebrated 
Peruvian bark of medicine — the 
naturalisation of which is in process 
on the hOls of India, in order to 
secure an adequate supply of the 
mvaluable febrifuge — are limited to 
tracts on the inland slope of the 
Andes. Few cultivated plants of 
importance for food or luxury are of 
American origin. Maize, tobacco, the 
potato, cacao, from which chocolate is 
prepared, the pine-apple, and the 
artichoke are the most 
Fuchsias and dahlias, 
among the ornamental 
tribes, have theh home 
in the same quarter. 
On the other hand, to 
European colonisation 
America is indebted for 
wheat and other kinds 
of grain, as also for rice, 
flax, the sugar-cane, the 
banana, coffee, and 
cotton. 

The native types of 
animal life are in general 
inferior in size, strength, 
and appearance to those 
of Africa and Asia. l^Tone occur to be compared in bullc to the huge pachyderms, 
the elephant, rhinoceros, and liippopotamus ; and the wUd-boar has no nearly alHed 
representative. The quadrupeds of the largest class are the elk, musk-ox, reindeer, wapiti, 
and bison, commonly but improperly called the buffalo, all confined to the north, with the 
great tapir peculiar to the south. The beasts of prey formidable to man are limited to the 




Virgin Forest of America. 



MINERAL WEALTH. 803 

jaguar found in the tropical forests of South America, the puma ranging northward to the 
borders of Canada, the wolf, and three varieties of the hear. Quadrumanous tribes abound in 
the equatorial region, distinguished from the monkeys of the eastern world by being more 
gentle, of smaller size, and having in most examples long prehensile tails, answering the 
purpose of a fifth hand. Eodents are specially numerous, of great commercial value from 
their furs, embracing the beaver, musk-rat, and ermine, aU in the north, with the 
chinchilla in the south, where also edentata, or tootliless animals, occur, comprising sloths 
and armadilloes. The llama, and its congeners the alpaca and vicuna, of the same order of 
ruminants as the camel, but very inferior in size, strength, and intelligence, are limited to 
the Andes of Peru and Chili, where they are, whether wild or domesticated, important as 
wool-bearing animals. The dog was common previous to the transatlantic passage of the 
Spaniards, but the horse and ox were entirely unknown, though now roaming free by 
thousands in the prairies, llanos, and pampas, where they are captured by the lasso. The 
first horses seen by the natives, descendants of the noble barbs that bore the Moors 
through Earbary and Spain, inspired astonishment, awe, and terror, the steed and his rider 
being conceived to be one and indivisible. The largest of aU birds that take wing, the 
condor, is not found north of the equator. JIumming-bu'ds, of fairy-Kke diminutiveness 
and dazzling beauty, are exclusively an American family. They are common in the 
temperate as well as the tropical zone, and pass northward in the summer along the west 
coast up to the parallel of 60°, owing to the greater warmth of that side of the continent, 
being rarely seen above 42° of latitude in the opposite direction. Pigeons, reckoned by 
millions of individuals, which darken the air in their migrations, are characteristic of 
North America. The common turkey, naturalised in Europe, was obtained from Virginia. 
Eeptiles dangerous to man, the boa-constrictor, the rattlesnake, and the alligator, are 
found in the tropical provinces and the bordering districts. Wild bees of many species 
are indigenous, but the common hive-bee was introduced by Europeans. Insects are found 
everywhere, especially in the hot swampy districts, embracing many species of the noxious 
or venomous class, with brilliantly-variegated butterflies, and fireflies, illuminating the 
woods by night with their phosphorescent lustre. The rich and varied mineralogy of 
America has been proverbial. The old Mexicans obtained silver, lead, and tin from the 
miaes of Tasoo ; copper from the mountains of ZacotoUan ; and gold was gleaned from 
the beds of rivers and superficial debris. The Peruvians likewise gathered gold from 
the deposits of streams, and silver from the bowels of their mountains. The whole 
chain of the Andes is richly metaUiferous, and is supposed by some to have been so 
called on that account, Anta, signifying, in the language of the Incas, metal in general. 
Humboldt calcidated from mining records that in the three centuries following the year 
1499 the mines of Mexico, Peru, and Brazil yielded to the whites a total amount of 
gold and silver of the value of £1,248,000,000 sterling. Brazil at present supplies 
diamonds, other precious stones, and some amount of gold ; Mexico contributes a propor- 
tion of its former products, with the addition of iron, which does not appear to have been 
worked till a recent date ; Chili, in its northern district a sterile, mountainous desert, 
has stores of the purest silver ore, with copper, lead, iron, bismuth, cobalt, antimony, 
arsenic, and quicksilver, which are largely in the hands of an English Mining Company ; 
all the useful metals abound in states of the distracted American Union, with immense 
deposits of coal in nearly all its known varieties; and coal, of good quality and easy 
access, is likewise abundant in ISTew Brunswick, ITova Scotia, and Vancouver's Island. 

In relation to climate South America has in general a higher temperature than the 
ITorth, having a much larger extent of surface within the tropics, while very striking 
inequalities distinguish its raiafall. The annual amount of precipitation is enormous over 



804 GENERAL VIEW OF AMERICA. 

the wliole valley-plam of the Amazon up to the higher slopes of the Andes ; hut on the 
opposite side of the range, the coast of Peru is nearly a rainless region. This is occasioned 
by the direction of the trade-wind, which drifts the vapours from the Atlantic westward 
over the great central plain, tUl their further progress is arrested by the mighty mountain- 
wall. l^Torth America, on the side of the Atlantic, and through the whole of its central 
districts, has a lower mean annual temperature than Western Europe in corresponding 
latitudes, with warmer summers and colder winters. This is the effect of various causes, 
as the direction of the Gulf Stream, which carries its warm water away from the shores, 
while the prevailing south-west winds similarly divert from them the circumambient air, 
warmed by contact with the current ; the great polar stream which annually brings down 
the icebergs to the coasts of Newfoundland and Labrador ; and the broad expanse of land 
towards the Arctic zone, without mountains to prevent the free egress of the chiU 
northern blasts. The western side of the continent, in its north division, is much warmer 
than the eastern, and has not the same extremes of summer heat and winter cold. Thus 
Sitka Island, in Russian America, has a mean annual temperature of 45° Fahrenheit, while 
at ITain, on the shore of Labrador, in the same latitude, it is only 28°. The different 
temperatures of the Pacific and Atlantic coasts is most perceptible in the winter months. 
Eoferring to the mouth of the Columbia Eiver, Sir George Simpson states that the first 
half of December presented one deluge of rain after another, the weather winding up with 
a sborm of thunder and lightning, while, ' to mark the difference of climate between the 
two sides of the continent, the good folks of Montreal, though occupying a lower parallel 
than ourselves, were sleighing it merrily through the clearest and driest of atmospheres.' 
Only slight frosts occur in this locality, when at Quebec, in a corresponding latitude, the 
cold is intense, the streams are ice-bound, and the snow lies for five months hard and deep 
upon the ground. The milder temperature experienced on the Pacific co»st is due to the 
warm winds from its surface, and to the great barrier of the Eocky Mountains, which acts 
as a screen from the biting breath of the polar zone. The political divisions of the 

continent are as follows : Area in Sq. MUes. Population. 

^ ... . -r , ;> n 1 ,f Iceland, .... 38,000 65,000 

Danish Americju-Iceland, Greenland, ■j(.j,^^jjj^j^^_ .... 400,000 9,400 

Eussian America, . ■ 394,000 66,000 

British America. — Canada, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince '\ 

Edward's Island, Newfoundland, New Britain, V 2,500,000 2,800,000 
British Columbia, Vancouver's Island, . / 

XTnited States, 3,000,000 29,900,000 

Empire of Mexico, 750,000 7,800,000 

Central States of America. — Guatemala, Honduras, San Salvador, > 

Nicaragua, Costa Eica, British J. 190,000 2,500,000 

Honduras, / 

West Indian Islands ( British, Spanish, French, Danish, Dutch, \ 

and Bermudas.— \ Swedish, and Independent, . . . ) ^^'°°^ 3,700,000 

Colombian Kepublics.— New Granada, 380,000 2,363,000 

Venezuela, 416,600 1,356,000 

Ecuador, 325,000 665,000 

Guiana, British, Dutch, and French 136,000 222,000 

Empire of Brazil, 3,000,000 9,000,000 

Peru— Eepublio, 530,000 2,400,000 

BoHvia, « 374,000 2,326,000 

ChUi, 170,000 1,439,000 

Argentine PvepubUc, 1,120,000 1,224,000 

Uruguay, Paraguay— Eepublics, 194,000 850,000 

Considerably more than one-half of the population are Europeans by descent, chiefly 
P)ritish, Spanish, and Portuguese, mth a sprinkling of French ; and newly-arrived 
European settlers, among whom the Germans form an important body. The remainder 



POPULATION. 



805 



consist of Indian tribes and Esquimaux, tlio indigenous people; of African Negroes, 
partly in slavery, partly free ; and of mLsed races, tlio offspring of the European and 
tlie Negro, tlie European and tlie Indian, the Indian and the Negro. In Mexico, 
Central and South America, the pure aborigines and the mixed races preponderate. The 
Esquimaux, few in number, and limited to the far north, correspond to the north Asiatics, 
and are classed with the Mongolian division of the human race. The Indians constitute 
a distinct variety. Though usually called the red men, the complexion has no rmiform 
hue, but varies from nearly black, or deep bronze, to light cinnamon, and even fair. Yet 
by certain physical characteristics common to the race, with a structural bond of imion 
in then- verbally discordant languages, they are identified as a single family. At the time 
of the first Em'opean inroad, their ancestors were found organised as flourishing nations in 
Mexico and Peru, in possession of a comparatively advanced civilisation. They inhabited 
great cities, built temples, palaces, and mausoleums, constructed roads and other public works, 
the remains of which have in many instances been discovered in our own age, on the long- 
deserted shores of lonely lakes and buried in the depth of gigantic forests, beneath their 
ruidergrowth, in vegetable tombs. But monuments of a hoary antiquity are scattered over a 
■\vido area in the vaUey of the Mississippi, consisting of conical mounds of sepulture, 
sacrificial mounds, temple mounds, beacon mounds, and systems of fortification, with 
earthenware vessels, vases of copper, weapons of the same metal, and personal ornaments. 
Who handled the weapons, reared the mounds, and formed the circumvallations, are 
questions which can never be satisfactorily answered. 




Glaciers of Chili. 




Mount Heola. 



CHAPTER I. 



DANISH AMERICA — ICELAND, GREENLAND. RUSSIAN AMERICA. 

( HE large volcanic island of Iceland, a possession of the Danish 
crown, is connected with. Europe hy its people and language, but 
belongs by proximity to the western world, being separated by a 
comparatively narrow channel from the east coast of Greenland, 
while it is divided by the breadth of the open ocean from the 
nearest main shores in the opposite direction, the British and 
Norwegian. It is situated on the confines of the polar circle, 
t^-^— v=i /7 ^^^ contains an area very little short of 40,000 square miles. 
(J ^- The interior exhibits the most extraordinary spectacle to be 

seen on the surface of our planet, and no known parallel to it exists in the domain 
of nature, except perhaps those savage sohtudes which science has revealed in lunar 
scenery. There are vast desolate plains of black fractured lava, jagged and sharp, 
liable to wound the incautious wayfarer; deep yawning crevasses, swollen unbridged 
streams, and treacherous bogs apt to arrest Iris course ; natural warm and steam baths 
in hot waters and vapours ; ice and snow mountains, yokuls, as they are called, many of 
which are volcanoes occasionally in tremendous action; sulphur and brimstone ridges 




THE GEYSERS. 807 

exhibiting the most glaring yellow and brick-red hues; and caldrons of huge diameter 
boiling with slaty-blue mud, which splutters up at intervals in jets five or sis feet, and 
diffuses clouds of sulphureous vapour in every direction. Hence not more than one- 
eighth of the surface is habitable ; and a large portion of the remaiader never has been 
and never can be, even traversed. Insurmountable obstacles are presented by cono-lomera- 
tions of ice, and by the lava-fields, once red hot, but suddenly cooled, being now rent, 
torn, twisted, and tormented, as the French say, in every possible manner, into every 
conceivable shape. Beautifully-executed maps have been produced by the Danish 
government, excelling in minuteness of detail. Each little crevasse, mountain-torrent, 
and lava-flood is shewn with remarkable distinctness, except over a portion of the country 
towards the south-east coast, which is left blank. This region, of about 400 square mUes 
embracing the Skapta, Vatna, and Klofa Yokuls, defied the investigation of the surveyors, 
and will probably remain for ever untrodden. 

The loftiest of the ice-mountains, as at present known, is the Oraefa Tokul, 6426 feet above the sea, near 
the south-east coast ; next is Sn^feUs, 5965 feet, on the west coast ; then Eyafialla, 5579 feet, near the south- 
west coast ; and Hecia, in the interior, due north of the latter, 5110 feet. Travellers are most familiar with 
Hecla, from its proximity to the Geysers, the great object of attraction to them ; and readers likewise are 
well acquainted with the name from the frequency of^ its eruptions. It is in sight at the famous boiling 
springs, rising cold and clear against the sky, and has a iircuit of at least 12 miles at the base, occupying the 
margin of an extensive plain, completely isolated, and terminating upwards in three peaks, on the western 
sides of which are the craters. The central peak is the highest. Snow in summer clothes the moimtain 
about two-thirds of the way down the slopes. The eruptions on record, commencing with the tenth century, 
are forty-three. After rather a long interval of repose, it became active in September 1845, and continued 
so with little intermission till November 1846. Some of the ashes thrown out descended in fine dust on the 
Orkney Islands ; masses of pumice-stone weighing half a ton were projected to the distance of more than a 
league ; and a torrent of lava was poured forth, which, at two miles from the point of discharge, was a nule 
in width, and from forty to fifty feet in depth. Light wreaths of vapour were ascending when Commander 
Forbes went up in 1860, who succeeded in lighting a fusee, and subsequently his pipe. The Great Geyser, a 
true aqueous volcano, is only a giant example of water in ebullition among a hundred similar displays upon 
a smaller scale in the neighbourhood. It resembles an artificial intermittent fountain. At irregular 
intervals the boiling water is thrown up, accompanied with violent detonations underground, sometimes 
rising to the height of 100 feet or more, giving off clouds of vapour. The display is commonly over in a 
tew minutes ; and when quiescent, the Geyser is a small pool, clear as crystal, in a basin at the top of a mound 
composed of siliceous incrustations derived from its spray. In the absence of roads, all the traffic of the country 
is conducted by means of horses along the bridle-paths which centuries of travel have worn in the lava plains. 
As inns are entirely wanting, strangers arriving to see the 'lions' must either procure a troop of baggage-ponies 
to carry a tent, bedding, and provisions, or take then' chance at parsonages, solitary farmliouses, and peasants' 
dwellings. Lord Dufferin's equipment, who entertained Prince Napoleon at the Geysers in 1856, consisted 
of three guides, twenty-six steeds of every colour the race is heir to, with as many pack-saddles. The clergy 
very commonly officiate as hosts, with whom conversation may be maintained in corrupt Latin, and should 
their dwellings be fuU, the pews and chancels of churches serve as dormitories for the night without thought 
of sacrilege. Mr R. Chambers and his party passed two nights in the church of ThingvaUa, a low cottage- 
like structure of tarred deal and rough masonry — the roof covered with the green sod — the pulpit, barely 
sufficient to stand in, and without a seat — the pews, five or six in number on each side, of the rudest 
carpentry — the door, four and a half feet high — the floor, bare earth — and the whole interior measuring 
twenty-five feet long by ten feet three inches wide. ' It was,' says he, ' with an uncontrollable feeling of 
amusement, strangely mingling with intense feelings of personal discomfort, that I examined the place and all 
its miniature features. It was cirrious,' he adds : ' to waken in the morning, and by peeps through the 
opening eyes, under the imperfect light, to catch the singular features of that dwarf church, its pictures, 
candlesticks, legends, and little windows, while the mind as yet was scarcely alive to a whereabouts.' 

Vegetation is confined within narrow limits. The so-called trees, the service-tree and 
the birch, seldom rise higher than six feet, and never above ten. But a valuable 
quantity of drift-wood is borne to the shores by the oceanic currents. Grain wiU not 
ripen in the climate, but many garden vegetables are raised, and a belt of rich grass- 
producing land generally fringes the coasts, and extends in places some distance into the 
interior along the margin of the streams. This is the inhabited district, where the great 
bulk of the people dwell, and their horses, cattle, and sheep are sustained. Fiallagrass, 



808 DANISH AND RUSSIAN AMERICA. 

or Iceland moss, a lichen of medicinal value and an article of food, carefully collected for 
home consumption and export, grows on rocks and stones in the more desolate parts of 
the island. It is gathered hy the -women in summer time, who go out in parties for the 
purpose under the care of experienced matrons, and dweU. in tents for the interval amid 
scenery of the wildest description. After heing hoiled, dried, and reduced to powder, it 
is either made into hread, or used mixed with milk. Sea-fowl, including the eider-duck, 
are very abundant ; the ptarmigan, curlew, plover, and tarn occur among the game birds ; 
splendid trout are in the streams ; salmon, cod, haddock, and seal fisheries are conducted 
along the shores. Eeindeer, imported originally from ITorway, run wild in large herds in 
the interior ; and the polar hear occasionally arrives as a passenger on the drift-ice. The 
animal is readily despatched, heing exhausted for want of food during the voyage from 
distant shores. Sulphur is the most important mineral, but is only beginning to be 
tiu-ned to account, cMefly by English enterprise and capital. 

Tlie island is divided into three amis or provinces— Nordlendinga, tlie northern ; Snnlendinga, the southern ; 
and Westfyrdinga, the western — which are subdivided into syssels or counties. The latter have each a 
principal officer, or syssehnan, chosen hy the people, who is sheriff and magistrate, convenes pubUc meetings, 
presides over elections, and maintains order. Each syssel, o£ which there are twenty, returns one member to 
the Althing or Icelandic parliament ; and in addition, six members are nominated by the Danish government. 
Acts o£ the legislature must be approved by the crown to become law. The governor, or stifftamptman, 
usually a poor noble, is sent out from Copenhagen, serves for five years, and has a very moderate salary. 

Bcikiavik, ' Eeek Town,' a name referring to steaming springs, is not equal to many a village, and of very 
homely appearance. It is seated on the south-west coast, on the shore of a fine bay ; and is simply a collec- 
tion of small wooden dwellings, one story liigh, coated with tar, and therefore black, with which white 
painted sash windows contrast strongly. As a further set off, there are curtains of white muslin, sometimes 
crimson, with pots of flowers, as roses, geraniums, fuchsias, which speak of comfort and taste. "Wood being 
brought across the sea, chiefly from Norway, and therefore expensive, accounts for the diminutive size of the 
houses ; and as all coal is likewise sea-borne, scant room economises fuel. The poorer classes throughout the 
island have recourse to extraordinary firing Material, as the dried dung of sheep and cows, dried sea-weed, 
fish-bones, the entrails and bones of birds, the odour of which renders their cabins unendm-able to strangers. 
A recently-modernised cathedral of stuccoed brick, the governor's house, without locjy, bell, or knocker, a 
college, a hotel, with the house of assembly, a public library of 8000 volumes, a Eoyal Icelandic Society, an 
observatory, and a neatly-kept cemetery, complete the public establishments of the little capital. The 
cathedral contains a font executed by Tliorwaldsen, and presented by him to Iceland, as the birthplace of his 
father. In an apartment under the roof there is a hbrary of a few thousand volumes for the benefit of the 
inhabitants. Down to the present century, instead of meeting at Eeikiavik under a roof, the parliament held 
its sessions beneath the canopy of heaven, in a kind of natural amphitheatre, on the shore of the Thingvalla 
Lake. The total population amounts to about 64,000, descended from Norwegian immigrants, who began 
the permanent colonisation of the island in the ninth century. 

Gebknland, on the north-east of the American continent, appears an immense mass of 
contiauous land on our maps ; but as the interior is quite unexplored — covered with ice 
and snow, it may consist of several large insulated tracts, with many minor dependencies, 
the whole welded together and concealed by the perpetual congelation. It stretches from 
the parallel of 60° north to an unknown extent towards the pole. Cape Farewell, the 
south poiat, is a ciiS at the extremity of a small island, visible far out at sea, which may 
have received its name from some home-sick mariner glad to escape from the dangers of 
northern navigation, and resolved not to encounter them again. It is the Staaten Hoek, 
' States Promontory,' of the Dutch. The east coast has not been completely traced, 
and can rarely be approached, owing to the masses of ice which in summer are drifted 
down from higher latitudes, and form a broad margin along-shore. The western shores, 
washed by Davis Strait and Baffin's Bay, are well known, regularly touched at by whalers, 
and sparingly occupied by small Danish settlements, and a few Esquimaux. They are 
rugged, mountainous, and barren, indented with numerous bights, creeks, and fiords, and 
fringed with many islands. The lofty interior has the appearance of one vast glacier, 
with occasional bare tracts. Large fragments of ice, becoming detached from the parent 




Eloafcing Ice Moiuitaiiis, with Galleries, 

mass along-shore, are often set afloat as iceliergs — a process locally termed the ' calving ' 
of the glacier, which gives note of its occurrence by the noise like thunder 'which the dash 
into the sea occasions. Streams appear in the warm season of the year, and lakes are 
formed, supplied solely by the melting of the snows. For a short period in summer, slips 
of land along the fiords are verdant, and furnish tolerable pasturage. But no trees grow 
except in the most favoiuable situations, where the birch, willow, and mountain-ash form 
bushes. A few culinary vegetables are cultivated with success, but all attempts to raise 
the hardiest cereals have failed. Wo description can give an adequate idea of the rigour 
of winter in the northerly localities. Yet hot springs occur, which, unaffected by change 
of season, flow all the year round with a high temperature, and form three pools in the 
island of Outarnok. About 1000 Danes are constant residents, in connection with a 
native and mised population of 7000. The commerce consists in the exchange of the 
skins of seals, reindeer, and other animals, with eider-down, train-oil, whalebone, and fish, 
for European products. Greenland is divided into two Inspectorates, southern and 
northern. 

Tlie Southern Inspectorate contains, passing from south to north, JulianasTwab, Juliana's Hope, one of the 
largest settlements, near which the most numerous remains of the old colonies have heen found ; and Frederic- 
shaah, where Pastor Otto Fabricius spent the long winter nights compiling his Lexicon and Fauna Grcenlan- 
dica in a dreary cabin. At Fiskernaes, huts of Esquimaux appear, roofed with sods, but scarcely distinguishable 
from the ground, being let into the soiL Peas persistently sown here for some years usually produced leaves 
and once yielded a crop of di min utives for the table. Tui-nips attain the size of a pigeon's egg, and very 
dwarfish cabbages are raised. The radish is scarcely checked at all in its growth. Oodhaab, the residence of 
the inspector, was the home of Hans Egede, and has Nevj Serrnhut, the first settlement of the Moravians, 
founded in 17-33, close adjoining. Passing ZuMertoppen, 'Sugarloaf,' so called from a singular conical moun- 
tain, Holsteinhorg occurs, a little beyond the Arctic Circle, the only part of the country where earthquake 
shocks have heen experienced. 

In the Northern Inspectorate the principal place is Godhavn, on the shore of Disco Island, a well-known 
rendezvous of whalers, possessing stone-quarries, beds of coal, and the centre of an important fishery. The 
scenery here is of the grandest description, the north end of the island rising 4000 feet, almost a precipice to 
its snow-capped summit. On the mainland are Gkristianshaab, Jacohshaah, and Egedes-minde. The latter has 



810 DANISH AND BUSSIAN AMERICA. 

an archipelago of islets in front, of the same name. Upernimk, in latitude 73°, enjoys the distinction of being 
the most northerly permanent abode of civilised man. Further north, in Melville Bay, a mighty glacier takes 
the place of the coast-line, extends unbroken upwards of 40 miles, and stretches inland to an unknown 
distance and elevation. Though the icebergs detached from it are of the loftiest description, they can only be 
likened to mere chippings off its edge, and the floe-ice to the thinnest shavings. There is here an uniisual 
dearth of animal life — a painful stiUness— save when with a rumbling crash the glacier ' calves,' parts with 
one of its progeny, and launches it on the deep. The highest latitude hitherto reached on this coast, 81° 20', 
was gained by Dr Eane in 1854, when accompanying the American expedition in search of Franklin. 

A remarkable spot, Jan Mayen Island, lies nearly equidistant from the east coast of Greenland and the 
northern shores of Iceland, but <;onsiderably removed from both. It bears the name of the captain of the 
Dutch whaler who discovered it in 1611, and was claimed by Holland, but is now ' no man's land.' Seven seamen 
were induced to stay upon it for the winter in 1635, in order to test the climate, but none survived when the 
fishing-vessels returned in spring. The island is several degrees within the Arctic Circle, about sixteen miles 
long by four broad, surrounded with stormy waters in the open season, but often so beleaguered vrith drift-ice 
as to be inaccessible. Though smaU and isolated, it shoots up in the snow-covered cone of Mount Beerenberg, 
like a church-steeple, to the height of 6780 feet above the sea. This peak, as far as at present known, is the 
most northerly of all volcanoes, as well as the highest point of the north polar zone. In 'July 1856, Lord 
Dufferin landed on the shore, but it is very rarely visited. 

EussiAN America emliraces the north-west corner of the continent, hounded inland hy 
the meridian of 141°, with a strip of maritime territory extending southward to the border 
of British Cohimbia, and a fringe of islands. This region has an immense area, equal to 
twice the size of France, but the interior is wholly uninhabitable by civilised man, subject 
to terrific winter cold, with a very scanty vegetation, occupied by a few Indians and Esqui- 
maux, the reindeer and the musk-ox. Mount St EUas, the highest summit of Iforth 
America, falls within its limits, situated on the coast, with Point Barrow, one of the most 
northerly projections of the continent, and Cape Prince of Wales, its western extremity. 
This district is held by the Eusso- American Eur Company under an imperial charter. 
Skins of the sea-otter, bear, fox, hare, and other animals are obtained by barter from native 
hunters, and the seal-fishery is extensively prosecuted. The Eussians maintain a few 
trading forts on the coast of the mainland, and have their head-quarters at New Archangel, 
a village-like town on Sitka Island. This place is nearly on the same parallel as St 
Petersburg, 6300 miles distant following its course. But in the line of the meridian, 
which is nearly common to both, the distance is only 4200 mUes, though to pass from 
the one to the other ia that direction the whole polar zone must be intersected. 




Eeikiavik, Iceland, 




Horse-Shoe Fall, Niagara. 
CHAPTEE II. 

BEITISH AMERICA. 

^ ITH tlie exception of the north--western section, wliich lielongs 
to tlie Eussian dominions, tlie entire nortli of the continent, 
where distances may he measured hy thousands of miles, hoth 
in the direction of meridians of longitude and parallels of 
latitude, is included in the empire of Great Britain. Its limits 
are the Atlantic Ocean on the east; the Pacific and the 
meridian of 141° on the west; the Arctic basia on the north; 
and the parallel of 49° in its extension from Vancouver's 
Island to the Lake of the "Woods, on the south. This 
southern frontier-line then passes to the great lakes and 
through their centre. It descends with them to a lower 
latitude, ascends to the parallel of 45° along the St 
Lawrence, and then follows a tract of high ground on the southern side of the stream, 
proceeding hy a very circuitous route to the Eiver St Croix, by which it is continued 
to the Bay of Pundy. In the latter part of its com'se it separates Canada and ITew 
Brunswick from the states of New York, Vermont, lHew Hampshire, and Maine; and 
through its entire extent it is a dividing-line between the territory of a monarchy on the 
north and a republic on the south. Within the boundaries named there is an area of 




812 BRITISH AJfERIOA. 

more tliaii 3,000,000 square miles, nearly equal to the whole extent of Europe; and 
though the larger proportion of it is by rigour of climate and sterUity of soil not 
permanently habitable by civilised man, and must contiaue a mere hunting-ground, there 
is a vast extent of useful space remaioing for the accommodation of an immense 
population. Important insular dependencies adjoin the continental territory on the east 
and west; and on the north the islands and archipelagoes of the frozen zone, to which 
British enterprise has penetrated, belong by right of discovery to the British crown. 
Seven colonies are regularly constituted : live western, I. Canada ; II. l^ew Brunswick ; 
III. If ova Scotia; IV. Prince Edward's Island; and V. Newfoundland — ^two eastern, 
VI. Vancouver's Island ; and VII. British Columbia. Intermediate lies the vast tract 
of Ifew Britain, or the Hudson's Bay Company's Territory, long under the jurisdiction of 
that mercantile body, and studded with its trading-posts. In addition, but apart from 
the limits and districts named, Great Britain holds in the western world portions of 
Honduras and Guiana, most of the West India Islands, the Bermudas alid the FaUdand 
group, which are noticed separately. 

I. CANADA. 

This extensive province occupies both banks of the St Lawrence, from its mouth to 
St Regis, sixty miles above Montreal. From this point westward, it is wholly on the 
northern side of the river and the great lakes into which its waters expand. The limit in 
this direction has not been defined, but it is generally placed at the further end of Lake 
Superior, a direct distance of 1200 miles from Cape Gaspe, at the eastern extremity. 
Iforthward, the frontier is also undetermined, but it may be fixed with propriety at the 
line of water-shed between the streams flowing to Hudson's Bay and those which descend 
to the St Lawrence. The extent, north and south, varies from 200 to 400 miles ; and the 
area may be stated at not less than 350,000 square miles. 

The prime natural feature of Canada is the great river, with its romantic shores, 
numerous tributaries, thousand isles, sea-like lakes, and magnificent water-falls. "With a 
little artificial aid from canals, a navigation is afforded in the summer season more 
extensive and convenient than is to be found in any other region of the same extent. In 
the upper part of its basin it has the name of the St Louis, the remotest feeder of Lake 
Superior. In the successive continuations, it is called the St Mary between Lakes Superior 
and Huron ; the St Clair between Huron and Erie ; the Niagara between Erie and 
Ontario; and thenceforward to the ocean preserves its proper denomination of the St 
Lawrence. It follows a curving course of at least 2000 miles, and takes high rank among 
the hydrographical systems of the globe. 

After emerging from the last of its great basins, the Ontario, the channel of the riv6r becomes spacious, 
and forms the Lake of the Thousand Islands. This number was viewed as a vague exaggferation till they were 
counted, and found to exceed it by more than one-half. They are of varying size, shape, and appearance, 
from patches of a few square yards to several acres ; and offer such picturesque combinations of rock, wood, 
and water as imagination is apt to attach to the Happy Islands in the Vision of Mirza. Lower down, 
formidable rapids occur at intervals, which are avoided by short canals for the river-steamers, but are safely 
passed by hardy boatmen famihar with them in flat-bottomed barks. The Ottowa, the subject of the well- 
known song, enters on the north bank, and forms by its junction with the main stream several large islands, 
on one of which is MontreaL On the same side the St Maurice debouches about seventy miles above Quebec, 
and the remarkably deep Saguenay 130 miles below. The shores between these two tributaries, on both 
sides, are generally bold, and exhibit the finest scenery, especially in the neighbourhood of Quebec. Higher 
up they are low, or oiJy moderately elevated, and the country is a spacious and fertile plain, with gentle 
eminences to diversify the surface. This aspect is continued far beyond Montreal, along the northern shores 
of Lakes Ontario, Erie, and Huron. The principal aifluents on the south bank are the Eicheheu and the 
Chaudiere, the former entering below Montreal, and the latter just above Quebec. The valley of the 
EdcheUeu, which widens to embrace Lakes Champlain and George, the shores of which belong to the states 
of Vermont and New York, was called by the old French settlers the ' Gate of Canada.' By the Iroquois 
it was termed, in their picturesque tongue, the ' Mouth of the Country.' 



THE ST LAWRENCE AND ITS TRIBUTARIES. 



813 



The St Lawi'onoe, at its mouth, is not less than 90 rnUos in breadth ; at 260 miles above the embouchure, 
the wijth is still 18 miles; at 400 miles, opposite Quebec, it narrows to tliree-quai'ters of a mile, but 
again expands ; and at Montreal, 560 miles from the sea, to which it is navigable for vessels of 600 tons, it is 
still more than two miles from shore to shore. Above Quebec the navigation is arrested by the ice from the 
beginning of December to the middle of April. Below the capital, though the river is not entirely frozen 
over, owing to its great breadth and strong current, it is not open to vessels till towards the middle of May, 
on account of the masses of ico floating down. Along the St Lawrence rmis the grand trunk railway of 
Canada, uiifortimately on the southern side. It extends from the Kiviere du Loup, or Fraserville, 120 miles 
above Quebec, the eastern terminus, to Montreal, where the Victoria Bridge is within forty miles of strong 
positions in the United States. 

Forests of immense extent, as ■well as 'v^aters, are eminently characteristio of tlie country, 
though a vast siu'face has been cleared of its timher by the settler's axe. It is surprising 
how completely the trees have been swept away from many of the long inhabited grounds, 
once covered with the unbroken forest, not a row or clump left standing, generally esteemed 
essential to an agreeable landscape. Man has waged war against them with lire and steel, 
as though they were his most inveterate foes. The reason assigned is, that though of 
magnificent appearance when viewed in mass, the trees are so close together, that while 
they rise to a great height, the roots have httle hold in the earth, and the few short lateral 
branches are almost without foHage. Hence, left singly, they would not be ornamental, 
or long withstand the violence of the winds. ^ StUl, notwithstanding the havoc, the forest 
shews a bold front over the greater part of the country, and will do so for generations to 
come. In the woods, in proportion to their distance from the long occupied districts, the 
black bear is found, which, when pressed by hunger, wiU approach the soUtary homesteads 
in search of prey. Wolves are numerous, and make the winter nights dismal to the lonely 
settler by their fearful howling. They often suffer severely from famine when the deep 
and long-enduring snow is on the ground, and would be troublesome neighbours if their 
courage was equal to their rapacity. Small herds of the elk or moose-deer, the most 
gigantic of the genus, roam the solitudes of the country. Over a wide area the interesting 
beaver, formerly very abundant, has been extirpated by the fur-himters. Eich copper 
ores abound on the northern shores of Lake Superior ; and gold is disseminated through 
the deposits of a wide region on the southern side of the St Lawrence in sufficient abund- 
ance to repay industry. Coal, except in small quantities, cannot be registered among 
the economic minerals, but there are large beds of peat, and mineral oils are accumulated 
in surface wells, or in the shales which overhe the true oU-bearing rock. In the eastern 
or maritime parts of the colony, spring, smnmer, and autumn are crowded into five 
months, from May to September inclusive, while winter reigns during the remaining 
seven. An almost tropical temperature is experienced in the height of summer, and 
polar cold in the opposite season. Heavy snow-storms precede the interval of greatest 
severity, after which the atmosphere becomes clear and the sky cloudless. In the western 
portion of the province, especially in the vicinity of the great lakes, the winters are 
shorter, and the seasonal extremes of heat and cold are much less marked. Sudden and 
gi-eat changes of temperature in spring and autumn are trying to persons of deUcate 
constitution, but to the healthy the cUmate is favourable. 

The forests consist of numerous varieties of pine, oak, birch, ash, beech, cedar, alder, willow, and maple, 
beneath which a host of flowering plants in summer put forth their adornment. The species which may be 
most usefully preserved are the sugar-maple ; the beech and white-ash for firewood ; the oak, cedar, and 
hemlock-spruce for fences ; and the hard woods in general for timber, or the ashes, from which soap may be 
made. In the decline of autumn, two or three frosty nights suffice to change the verdure of the forests into 
every possible variety of hue, brUliant scarlet, vivid violet, with shades of blue, brown, and glittering yellow. 
No language can adequately describe the gorgeous beauty of the woodland. Only the stem, inexorable fir 
tribes maintain their livery of dark green. In winter again, the whole forest occasionally puts on an almost 
magical appearance, when a heavy fall of snow is followed by a thaw, or misty rain falls. The next frost 
coats the trees, every trunk, branch, and twig, with transparent ice, and in the sunshine all vegetable natui'e 
seems decked with diamonds, from the myriads of the sparkling crystals. 




Scene on the St Fiancis, Loivei Canada. 

The timber is felled by wood-cutters who form what is termed a 'lumbering party.' It consists of persons 
who are all either hired by a master-lumberer, who pays them wages and finds them in provisions, or of 
individuals who enter into an understanding with each other to have a joint interest in the proceeds of their 
labour. The stock taken out by a party includes tools, cooking utensils, a cask of spirits, tobacco and pipes, 
a sufficient quantity of biscuit, pork, beef, and fish, peas and pearl-barley for soup, with a cask of molasses to 
sweeten a decoction usually made of shrubs, or of the tops of the hemlock-tree, which is taken as tea. Two 
or three yokes of oxen are necessary to haul the timber out of the woods, with hay to feed them. Thus 
equipped, the lumberers proceed up the rivers in autumn to the place fixed on for their winter establishment, 
which is selected as near a stream as possible. They commence by clearing a space of ground, building a 
shanty, or camp of logs, seldom more than four or five feet high, "with a roof covered with bii'ch bark or 
boards. A pit is dug to preserve anything liable to injiuy from the frost. The fire is either in the middle 
or at one end ; the smoke goes out through the roof ; the floor is strewed with hay, straw, or fir branches, on 
which the men sleep, with their feet next the fire, which is kept in all night by tliose who chance to waken. 
One person is hired as cook, whose duty it is to have breakfast ready before daylight, when each one takes 
his ' morning,' or dram, before the meal. The men then go out to work in three gangs. One cuts down the 
trees ; a second hews and trims them ; the third is employed with the oxen in hauling them to a site 
convenient for launching them on a stream. 

The winter is thus spent in unremitting toil. When the snows begin to melt, the rivers swell, or, in the 
lumberers' language, the ' freshets come down.' All the timber cut is then thrown into the water, and floated 
down by the powerful current till the river becomes sufliciently wide to arrange the logs in distinct rafts, 
which descend to the St Lawrence. No course of life can well be more laborious or undermining to the 
constitution, yet the wild freedom connected with it is relished, and when onoe adopted, it is preferred to 
any other. Night-blindness is a very peculiar complaint to which the lumbermen are subject, the causes of 
which are obscure, but a complete change of diet and air is the best remedy. Those affected in this way can 
see as well as usual in the blaze of day, but as the shades of evening fall they fail to distinguish objects, and 
are stone-blind in a dull natural or an artificial light. The night-blind men always endeavour to reach home, 
or a shelter before dusk, because after that time they are perfectly helpless, and some have encountered 
terrible adventures, 

Tlie country was discovered, colonised, and long held by the French, but has been a 



THE CANADAS. 815 

British possession rather more than, a century. It includes the two main divisions of 
Canada East and Canada West, of tolerably equal size, separated generally hy the liver 
Ottawa. These sections were formally distinct colonies, and though no longer politically 
apart, they are naturally as well as ethnologicaUy different districts, and are conveniently 
recognised as such in popular speech. Canada East is maritime, situated in general at a 
higher latitude than Canada West, and has a population of Erench descent numerically 
predominant. 

Provinces. Cities and Towns. 

Eastern or Lower Canada, . . Quebec, Montreal, Trois Eivieres, Sorel, Sherbrook. 
'Western or Upper Canada, . . Ottawa, Toronto, Kingston, Hamilton, London, Queenstown. 

The administration is conducted by a governor appointed by tlie crown, who is at the same time governor- 
general of the adjoining colonies ; a legislative council ; and a representative assembly, elected upon a very 
broad basis for four years. The latter consists at present of 130 members, equally distributed between the 
two divisions. 

Quebec, the military capital and the oldest foundation, in latitude 46° 48' north, longitude 71° 11' west, is 
situated on the north bank of the St Lawrence, at the influx of the river St Charles, on the summit and at 
the base of a lofty promontory oocupjring the angle between them. It consists, therefore, of an upper town, 
containing most of the public buildings, the dwellings of the wealthy classes, and the best shops, enclosed 
\vithin foi'tifications ; and of a lower town, extending feom two to three miles on a narrow strip of land 
between the river and the cliffs, crowded "with wharves, stores, timber-yards, merchants' offices, and inns, the 
general seat of commerce. Nothing can be finer than the site of the city, or more imposing than its aspect 
when approached by the voyager. The citadel crowns Cape Diamond, the highest point of the cliffs, 350 feet 
above the river, strong by nature and art, the Gibraltar of the New World. The view from the battlements 
is magnificent. Directly in front, on the opposite bank of the stream, the eye rests upon Point Levi, a large 
and pictui'esque village, vnth brightly-painted cottages and a romantic little church ; and by a slight 
shift of position, the grand Falls of Montmorenci are in sight. Quebec was founded in the year 1608, 
and wrested from the French in 1759, by the battle on the adjacent Heights of Abraham, in which they 
were defeated by the British. Both commanders, General "Wolfe and the Marquis de Montcalm, fell in the 
action, and are commemorated by the same monument on the plain. The city contains a population of 51,000. 

Montreal, the commercial capital, occupies an island in the St Lawrence, 180 miles above Quebec, and 
fifteen nules below the confluence of the Ottawa with it. The site was occupied by the Indian village of 
Hochelaga when the first French adventurer reached the spot in 1536. He ascended a lofty hill, the only 
eminence that diversifies the neighbourhood, overlooking a prospect of singular beauty, and called it Mont 
Eoyal. The name has since been corrupted into that of Montreal, given to the handsome city on the site of 
the old wigwams, the largest in Canada, and to the island on which it stands. The inhabitants, amounting 
to about 100,000, are distmguished by mercantile activity and public spirit. They are chiefly of French 
origin, and Eoman Catholics, have a cathedral of rich Gothic architecture, reputed to be the largest buUding 
of its kind on the American continent. The churches, banks, colleges, coui-t-houses, hotels, and other pubUc 
edifices, are both substantial and attractive. Montreal is the seat of vast commerce, as the natural outlet for 
the produce of the fur countries and the grain districts on the shores of the great lakes. It is the centre 
of an extensive system of railways, and possesses in the Victoria Tubular Bridge an unequalled monument 
of engineering skUl. The bridge, opened in August 1860, is nearly two miles long, and conveys the Grand 
Trunk Eailway across the St Lawrence. It has been constructed with special reference to sustaining the 
enonnous pressure of the ice annually brought down by the stream. La Prairie, Chamhly, St John's, and 
Sha-hrook are small towns on the line of communication with the United States. La Chine, on Montreal 
Island, connected with the city by canal, received the name from the chimerical idea of the first European 
explorers that they were on the route to China. Trois Rivieres, an old French town, midway between Quebec 
and Montreal, stands at the influx of the St Maurice, here divided into three channels, to which the name 
' Three Kivers ' refers. 

Ottawa, the legislative capital, on the river of the same name, at the head of its navigation, is a com- 
paratively small but rising city— the population in 1861, was only about 14,700— selected recently by the crown 
to be the seat of the Canadian parUameut. The foundation-stone of the requisite buildings was laid by the 
Prince of "Wales during his visit in 1860. Its convenient position as central to the two main divisions of the 
colony led to the selection. Magnetic iron ore occurs in great abundance in the vicinity. Toronto, formerly 
the colonial metropolis, the third Canadian city in size, is seated on the north-west shore of Lake Ontario, in 
command of an excellent harbour. It is weU built and prosperous, thoroughly EngUsh, and entirely modem. 
Population 44,800. At the time of the British conquest the whole country westward of Montreal contained 
no place of importance. Here and there might be seen a neat wooden church,' the centre of a few farms 
closely bordered by the encumbering forest. The fine grain region on the shores of the lakes Erie and 
Ontario had been but very partially explored, chiefly by the fur-hunters, scarcely less luda than the 



816 BRITISH AMEBIC A. 

savages in tlie wilderness. Wliere Kingston now stands, a few dwellings clustered around Port Frontenao. 
Niagara was a small hamlet. Myriads of water-fowl had undisturted possession of the bay, on the shore 
of which Toronto is seated, where parliaments have met, ships are buUt, trade is active, and an intelligent 
population is grouped. The city was founded in 1793, and was at first called York, a name properly 
superseded by the old Indian appellation of Toronto, signifying ' place of meeting.' The thriving 
towns of Fort Hope, Gdburg, and Belleville are eastward, on the shores of the lake, with Kingston, near 
the issue of the St Lawrence from it, which was for a few years the seat of the general government 
upon the union of the two Canadian provinces. It contains an admired City HaU, with other important 
public buildings, and has recently been made the seat of the Anglican bishopric of Ontario. Hamilton, near the 
opposite extremity of the lake, is connected with a fine agricultural coimtry, in which are the homesteads of 
many Dutch and German settlers. . Niagara, at the outlet of the river of that name, and Queenstown, seven 
miles along the channel, are annually passed by crowds of tourists on their way to the world-renowned Falls 
eight miles higher up, where stately hotels on either bank offer them accommodation. The broad river is 
here precipitated over a ledge of rocks, and formed into two cataracts by the intermediate Goat Island. The 
Horseshoe Fall, so called from its former curvilinear shape, now worn somewhat angular, on the Canadian 
side, is by far the most effective, being the broadest, above 600 yards wide, though with a slightly inferior 
height to the other branch. The respective descents are about 151 and 162 feet. Miles away from the 
spectacle the boom of the waters is heard and the spray seen. At a short distance below the Falls the river 
is spanned by the celebrated wire suspension-bridge for the Great Western EaUway, with a road underneath 
for ordinary vehicles and foot-passengers. It is distinguished by extreme lightness and beauty, to which the 
roaring waters below ofier a striking contrast. In the roughly triangular district between the lakes Ontario, 
Erie, and Huron, London, on the Thames, and other towns, are rapidly increasing their population, and 
improving in appearance. Port Sarnia, on the last-named lake, is the western terminus of the Grand Tinink 
Railway from below Quebec, which has a total length of 870 mUes. Timber, pot and pearl ashes, fui'S, grain, 
and flour are the important exports of Canada. 

The total population of Canada amounts to 2,507,000 (more ttan one-lialf of whom 
are British), which includes a number of Germans, white and coloured natives of the 
United States, with 12,700 of the aboriginal Eed Indian race. Under the auspices of its 
present possessors, the Hngeriag natives are no longer treated as a people without rights. 
Canals have been constructed to connect rivers and avoid rapids. Good macadamised 
roads have been substituted for the pathless wilderness. More mUes of iron for the 
locomotive are laid down than in any other country in proportion to the population. 
Ocean steamers go up to Montreal, where the most gigantic bridge ever erected carries 
the railway across its magnificent stream. Light-houses illuminate the lakes ; sea-going 
vessels ascend to them by means of artificial cuttings where natural difficulties beset the 
river route ; and though in close proximity to negro slavery, the colony has never been a 
house of bondage, but often a secure asylum to those who have fled from oppression. The 
means of general education are liberally provided for by universities and colleges, grammar 
and common schools. 

n. NEW BETJNSWIOK. 

This province is a compact territory enclosed generally by a portion of Lower Canada 
on the north, the Gulf of St Lawrence on the east, the state of Maine on the west, and 
the Bay of ^Pimdy on the south. It forms an irregular parallelogram, extending about 
200 miles in length from north to south, by an average width of 130 miles, and contains 
an area of 27,100 square miles. The coast-line abounds with bays, inlets, and creeks, 
with deep water for shipping, in which salmon, herring, and other fisheries are conducted, 
while the ilat shores have in many parts deep fertile soil stretching for some mUes inland, 
admirably adapted for agricultiu'e. But the greater part of the surface, especially towards 
the Canadian border, is densely clothed with the natural forest, and to the timber trade, 
with the fisheries, the industry of the people is principally directed. Carboniferous strata 
are extensively developed, containing highly bituminous coal in apparently inexhaustible 
quantities. Iron ore, plumbago, gypsum, and freestone, with excellent salt-springs, are 
other elements of mineral wealth. The largest river, the St John, enters the province 
from the state of Maine, and foUows a south-easterly course to the Bay of Pundy. It is 



NEW BRUNSWICK — NOVA SCOTIA. 817 

navigable for large vessels near the sea, and for steamers up to Fredericton, seventy miles 
above its moutb. Tbe Eestigoucbe forms the boundary from Canada, and, together with 
the Miramichi, flows eastward to the Gulf of St Lawrence. 

New Brunswick, in conjunction with Nova Scotia, originally formed a French colony, 
under the name of Acadia, or New France. It was ceded to Great Britain in 1713, and 
constituted a distinct colony in 1784. A lieutenant-governor, a legislative council 
appointed for life, and a representative assembly of forty-one members elected for four 
years, conduct the administration. The population, 252,000, consists of Acadians, the 
descendants of French settlers ; Anglo-Americans, sprung from the royalists who retired 
from the United States on the Declaration of Independence ; British settlers ; and rather 
more than 1100 native Indians. The first British emigrant arrived from the north of 
Scotland in 1764, and reared his log-cabin on the banks of the Miramich^ This district, 
in the year 1825, was the scene of one of the most dreadful, and certainly the most 
extensive conflagration on record — the noticeable event in the history of the colony. The 
fire desolated the country for more than 100 miles along the river, to the extent of sixty 
nules from the south bank, and to a great distance on the northern side. At least 500 
persons lost their lives, with an immense mmiber of bears, wolves, deer, foxes, snakes, 
and other wild animals. Even the birds of strong wing could not save themselves, being 
confused by the smoke ; and the fish perished in. the lakes and streams, poisoned by the 
alkali formed by the ashes precipitated into the water. 

Fredericton, the seat of government, a small inland town on the river St John, is 
chiefly built of wood, except the public buildings, one of , which. King's CoUege, is 
maintained by an annual grant. The winter cold is frequently excessive, indicated by 
35° below zero ; but the season is supposed to be becoming less severe, by the clearing 
away of the timber, and drainage of the ground. Ordinarily the river here is frozen up 
147 days in the year, and open the remaining 218 days. St John, the commercial 
capital and largest town, on the estuary of the river so called, has a population of 27,000, 
with an excellent harbour protected by forts, open at aU seasons to vessels of the largest 
class. Ship-building, the lumber trade, and fisheries are the prominent industries. A 
railway connects St John with Shediac on the east coast, and another, only partially 
open, diverges fcom St Andrew's, a rising town of 7000 inhabitants, on the shore of 
Passamaquoddy Bay, northward towards Quebec. 



lU. NOVA SCOTIA. 

The peninsula of Nova Scotia is connected by a narrow isthmus with the south-east 
angle of New Brunswick, and enclosed in other directions by the Bay of Fundy, the Gulf 
of St Lawrence, and the open ocean. It forms, with the closely-adjoining island of Cape 
Breton, a single colony, which has a total area of 18,670 square nules. The narrow 
channel separating the two portions, only three-quarters of a mile wide, called the Gut of 
Canso, having deep water throughout, is a navigable passage by which ships enter the 
St La^vrence Gulf from the south. The island is singularly formed, being nearly cut in 
two by the Bras d'Or, a deep and irregular inlet of the sea. Both peninsula and island 
are rich in coal of the best quality, iron ore, gjrpsum, with other minerals ; and attention 
has recently been directed in Nova Scotia to its auriferous quartz rocks. The coal is 
worked for local consumption, the supply of the Cunard steamers, and export to neigh- 
bouring districts. Valuable tracts of timber remain, and the coasts swarm with cod, 
haddock, herring, mackerel, and other varieties of fish. 

2z 



818 BRITISH AMERICA. 

Ifova Scotia received that name upon its cession by the French to the British in 1713. 
Cape Breton Island was obtained by the capture of Louisburg in 1758, after an obstLuate 
resistance. Scarcely a trace remains of this formidable stronghold, but a few hovels 
occupy the site. The colony is under a lieutenant-governor, a legislative council, and a 
representative assembly of fifty-one members. It has a popxilation of 332,000, which 
includes some ]S"egroes sprung from runaway slaves, and a few Indians descended from 
the Micmacs, a tribe of warriors, who foiight gallantly for the French in their struggle 
with the British. Timber, dried fish, fish oil, coal, and grindstones are exported. In 
S"ova Scotia a considerable extent of the surface adjoining the Bay of Fundy is under 
tillage, but com haa to be imported. This bay is remarkable for its high tides, 
amounting to a rise of from sixty to seventy feet, which sometimes takes place so 
suddenly that c^tle have been swept away from the shores. 

Halifax, the seaTl)t government, on the southern coast of the peniusiila, is beautifully placed on an arm of 
'the sea -which forms one of the finest harbours in the world. It is the principal transatlantic station of the 
British navy, possesses a large dockyard, a military hospital, a good public library, two colleges, and contained, 
in 1861, a population of 49,000, mostly intelligent, hospitable, and enterprising. Province Building, erected for 
the accommodation of the legislature and the government offices, is one of the best edifices in British America. 
But nearly all the houses are of -wood. The churches likewise are mostly of the same material, and being 
painted white, the spires included, they present a curious appearance to the visitor fresh from Europe. Fires 
are hence of common occurrence, for which there is a well-organised fire-brigade ready to turn out at a 
moment's notice. Halifax is the nearest port of the American mainland to England, about 2700 miles from 
Liverpool, from which the Cunard steamers make the passage mth great punctuality in ten days. A railway, 
partly open, diverges from it northward, to be continued through the heart of New Brunswick to Quebec, 
which will bring that city within twelve days' distance of the mother-country. 



IV. PRINCE EDWAEB ISLAND. 

This small crescent-shaped tract is situated in the southern part of the GuK of St 
Lawrence, separated from I^ew Brunswick and Nova Scotia by Northumberland Strait, 
a channel which in various places is httle more than ten miles mde. It has a length of 
140 miles from east to west, but the breadth very rarely exceeds thirty mUes, and no part 
of the surface is said to be more than eight miles from the sea owing to the deeply- 
indented coast-line. The island has an a,rea of 2137 square miles, and possesses blander 
natural features than the adjacent colonies, with a much milder climate. Very beautiful 
scenery marks the northern shores, where the hills are well wooded, but interspersed with 
pleasant villages and homesteads, while the chief part of the surface has been cleared for 
agricultural and pastoral purposes. 

Prince Edward Island, originally called St John, received its present name in honour of Edward, Duke of 
Kent, fatjier of the Queen, -who paid attention to it while commander of the forces in British America. It 
was first settled in the year 1715, and has now a population of 80,800, a large number of whom are of Scotch 
descent. King's County, Queen's County, and Prince County are the insular divisions. Besides a lieutenant- 
governor, there is a legislative council, elective since 1863, chosen for nine years by the holders of property, 
and also a house of assembly of thirty members, chosen for four years without any property qualification 
being required of the voters. Clmrlottetoicn, the seat of government, on one of the northern bays, contains 
6700 inhabitants, two banks, and the Prince of "Wales' College, founded in 1860, the most important educa- 
tional institution. The island is in the Anglican diocese of Nova Scotia. 



V. NEWFOUNDLAND. 

This old British dependency is one of the largest of the American islands, situated on 
the north-east side of the Gulf of St Lawrence, separated from the mainland by a narrow 
strait, and from Cape Breton by a broad channel, which forms the maritime highway 
between the Atlantic and Canada. It resembles iu shape an equilateral triangle, of which 



NEWFOUNDLAND. 819 

Cape Eace is the south-east corner, a point so often mentioned at present in our inter- 
course with the United States, being commonly the last left, and the first gained hy 
vessels making the transatlantic passage. The island has a circuit of 1000 miles, and 
an area of 36,000 square miles. The coasts are deeply penetrated with hays and inlets 
forming excellent harbours ; hut the vast proportion of the interior is a dreary region of 
lakes, swamps, thickets, and hare sterile ground, with a severe climate, restricting settle- 
ments and cultivation entirely to the sea-hoard, and chiefly to the south-eastern shores. 
Except at a few spots, there is scarcely a single house more than a mile apart from the 
coast-line. The reindeer, black hear, and wolf occur among the wild animals ; and the 
well-known E"e-\vfoundland dog, famed for size, temper, sagacity, and swimming power, 
received its name from being derived originally from the island, probably indigenous to it. 
Numbers at present are employed for draught, but are left to take care of themselves for 
long periods when their masters are at sea in the fishing season. The aboriginal inhabit- 
ants have aU perished, though a few survived to a very recent date. 

The island was visited by the early colonists of Iceland and Greenland. Being rediscovered by John 
Cabot in the reign of Henry VH, it was called the new found land, and claimed as a British possession by 
right of discovery. It contains a population of 122,630, under a governor, a nominated legislative council, 
and an elected general assembly ; and forms a diocese of the Anglican Church. St John's, the capital, and the 
only to"\vn deserving of the name, occupies an inlet of the south-east coast, which forms a spacious harbour 
well defended by forts. It contains a population of 25,000, whose priijiary business, that of curing fish, and 
extracting oil from them, contributes to render the place offensive to the stranger. Telegraphic communi- 
cation is maintained with New York. Steamers an'iving from England carry out epitomes of English news 
in tin cases attached to floats, which are thrown overboard off the adjoining Cape Eace, picked up by boats, 
taken ashore, and the news is telegraphed to New York fljree days before the packets can reach the 
port. In like manner, steamers as they pass Cape Eace on their way to England receive there New York 
telegrams, with three days' later news to bring over the Atlantic. Sometimes the darkness of night and rough 
weather prevent the telegrams from being put on board, and in the winter months the steamers dare not 
approach the coast owing to the fogs and icebergs. 

The Great Bank of Newfoundland, a rocky submarine plateau, is the largest known formation of the kind. 
It extends full about 600 miles in length by 200 in breadth, and has a depth of water over it varying from 20 to 




820 



BRITISH AMERICA. 



100 fathoms. The sides descend precipitously as appears from the soundings. Hither resort enormous shoals 
of small fish, capelin and lance, which attract the larger cod and others to prey upon them. Kights of fishery, 
and of curing the produce on certain unoccupied parts of the shore of the island, are specially guaranteed to 
the French and Americans. The French have also had ceded to them for the same purpose the small isles of 
St Pierre and Miguelon, off the south coast, subject to the stipulation that no fortifications are to be erected. 
Anticosti Island, at the mouth of the St La'vvrence, and the coast of Labrador, are included in the govern- 
ment of Newfoundland. The island, 125 long by 30 broad, has low southern and high northern shores, with 
a swampy interior studded with birch-trees and firs. It is only occupied at a few stations established for the 
purpose of rendering assistance to crews in cases of shipwreck. Labrador, a vast adjoining peninsula of the 
mainland, extending northward to the entrance into Hudson's Bay, is in its more interior districts a wilder- 
ness of forests, with a broad maritime border utterly naked and sterile, blocked up with ice through the 
winter months. But the fisheries are valuable, especially that of the seal, conducted by the agents of 
mercantile companies in decked vessels from Newfoundland and the United States. Large herds are met 
with on the field ice, which are called ' seal meadows,' on which the animals are surprised while sleeping, and 
despatched by the hunters with guns or bludgeons. There are a few stations on shore mth permanent 
residents — fur-traders and seal-catchers, along with Esquimaux families, and some Moravian missionary 
settlements. Nain, the oldest of the latter, founded in 1771, in about the same latitude as Edinburgh, has a 
mean amiual temperature of, as we have seen, 4°, or 28° below the freezing-point. 

VI. AND VII. Vancouver's island and British Columbia. 

These tmn colonies, on. the opposite or Pacific side of the continent, closely contiguous, 
and founded recently at nearly the same period, may he regarded as practically a single 
dependency, heing under a common governor, and possessing the power of incorporation. 
Vancouver's Island, intersected centrally by the parallel of 50°, is separated from British 
Columbia on the east by the Gulf of Georgia, and from the territory of the United 
States on the south by the Strait of Juan de IFuoa. Both are narrow channels, and 
complete between them its insulation. The island extends 275 miles from north-west to 
south-east, and has an average breadth of 50 miles, with an area of 16,000 square miles. 
It possesses no iavigable rivers, but is penetrated deeply by several arms of the sea, 
which form excellent harbours. The surface is finely timbered ; the valleys have fertile 
sou ; and the natural resources are varied and valuable. 

Captain Cook passed along the west coast under the impression that it belonged to the mainland. He 
entered the bay which received from him the name of Nootka Sound from an Indian village at the spot. 
Captain Vancouver, who had been one of his midshipmen, first threaded the separating channels ; and the 
island is therefore properly called after him. It was not till the spring of 1843 that any settlement of 
civilised men was effected. The Hudson's Bay Company then landed some of their servants under Mr 
Pinlayson, who soon constructed a picketed enclosure containing the buildings for the storing of furs and for 
dwellings. Upon their completion, they began to bring sufficient ground imder cultivation for the support 
of the establishment. Nothing at that period was contemplated beyond a new trading-post, which received 
the name of Fort Victoria. In 1849 the island was granted by charter to the Company on certam conditions, 
but in a few years it was formed into a regular colony. Tall pines, cedars, cypresses, and various kinds of 
oaks are prominent in the woods. Hoses, with the hawthorn and myrtle, are indigenous. The strawberry, 
raspberry, currant, and gooseberiy are native fruits. Fish swarm along the shores and in the lakes. The 
elk, deer, and fur-bearing animals are found, with numerous game-bird3 and wild water-fowL Coal, copper, 
and magnetic iron ore are abundant. The climate resembles that of England, but with a warmer summer 
and a moister winter. The total population may amount to 20,000, of whom full 12,000 are Indians of 
various tribes. They are peaceable towards the whites, but quarrelsome among themselves, and at one 
period raised their war-whoops in the streets of Victoria. The singular custom prevails among them of 
flattening the skull in infancy into a kind of sugar-loaf shape, by artificial means, but it does not seem to be 
productive of any mental deficiency, 

Victoria, the capital, and now the seat of government for British Columbia, is seated on a sheltered river- 
like harbour of the south coast, and has rapidly acquired a town-like appearance, fronx being in ISoS a 
small collection of log-built dwellings. Temporary wooden shells of houses and shops, hastily run up 
when the place was an experiment, have been replaced by substantial brick ones, and the streets have been 
macadamised. There are two churches, Christ Church, of wood, and St John's, of iron, with a nimiber of 
chapels. The town contains the government buildings, a small neat theatre, a public library, a concert- 
room, gas-works, a fire-engine house and brigade, and a brick prison, in which the inmates are usually 
those guilty of selling ardent spirits to the Indians. Tlie inhabitants number 6000. Beacon HiU, a 
grass-covered mound, is their favourite promenade, enclosed by a natural park of oaks and other trees, 
with a race-course and cricket-ground at the immediate base. From its summit the snow-capped Mount 



BRITISH COLUMBIA — NEW BRITAIN. 821 

Baker, which rises upwards of 10,000 feet, witliin the territory of the United States, is a grand object on 
tho eastern horizon. Nanainio, on the east coast, has attracted a population engaged at the coal-mines 
in the vicinity, and in the shipment of the produce, an increasing quantity of which is regularly exported. 
There is an Episcopal Church and a Wesleyan Chapel. Coal was discovered here in 1850 of excellent quality, 
in great abundance, and veiy accessible, as it cropped out at the surface. The principal seam, called the 
Douglas, after the name of the governor, has a general thickness of from six to seven feet. The produce was 
first exported to San Francisco, in 1853, in the ship William, and was taken alongside the vessel by the 
Indian women in canoes. The mines are worked by a company. 

British Columbia includes the mainland from tlie Pacific Ocean to the Eocky Moun- 
tains, between tlie parallel of 49°, the frontier-line of the United States on the south, and 
Simpson's Eiver, in latitude 55°, on the north. The extent is of about 700 mUes from 
north to south, by a breadth of 500 miles from east to west ; area, about 236,500 square 
miles. The country comprises bold mountain-ranges and large open plains, with numerous 
rivers, the principal of -which, the Eraser, 900 miles long, and navigable for steamers for 
200 miles, enters the sea opposite the southern end of Vancouver's Island. The discovery 
of gold in the alluvial deposits of their afduents — the far-famed Carriboo Gold-fields — 
brought this region into prominent notice, stimulated an eager rush of adventurers to it, 
many of whom had been trained in the rough school of California. This led to the 
constitution of the colony, in 1858, for the purpose of introducing organised government, 
and placing natives and foreigners as far as possible under the control of the law. 

New Westminster, on the banks of the Fraser, about fifteen miles above the mouth, is a town stiE in its 
infancy. It is incorporated, and has a representative council, with power to levy rates for purposes of public 
improvement. It contains a court-house, an assay-office, and several places of worship. The total white 
population of the colony is perhaps not more than 10,000, which includes a sprinkling of Chinese. The 
native Lidians are thinly spread over the surface, but are supposed to form an aggregate of 60,000. In 
1861 gold was exported from Victoria, amounting in value to £500,000, the produce of British Columbia. 
But independent of auriferous deposits, which are disappointing in general to the many, while the few 
extract wealth from them, there can be no doubt that a large proportion of the country is eminently 
adapted by soil, climate, and natural productions for civilised occupation, and will afford a permanent 
recompense to patient industry and prudent thrift. Varieties of pine and firs attain enoi-mous dunensions 
in height and girth, from which the noblest spars in the world may be taken. A settler laid a wager that 
he would cut through a single tree in three weeks' time with an axe, and lost his money. Steam-mills have 
been established which quickly bring down the timber-kings. 

Vin. NEW BRITAIN. 

The coimtry included imder the name of New Britain, one of recent adoption, embraces 
the remainder of British North America, lying principally between Hudson's Bay on the 
east and the Eocky Mountains on the west, and extending from the shores of the Arctic 
Ocean on the north, to the frontier of the United States on the south. The area of this 
immense region can only be approximately stated as bordering on 2,000,000 square mUes. 
It has a generally low and level surface, abounding with lakes, rivers, swamps, and 
inhospitable land. Only a few diminutive woods occur in the far north, with creeping 
plants, mosses, and lichens ; but more southerly are extensive forests of pines, alders, and 
other trees, with vast tracts of prairie-ground eminently adapted for agriculture, yet chiefly 
supplying pasture to herds of bisons, elks, and deer. The winter cold is severe through- 
out, and rigorous in the extreme in the higher latitudes, where the subsoil is permanently 
frozen, and only a thin superior stratum thaws in summer. Fur trading-posts, with hardy 
Scotchmen for their occupiers, are distributed through the country at wide intervals 
apart from each other. The Eed Eiver Settlement, towards the southern border, is an 
important agricultural station. Indians of numerous tribes are thinly scattered over the 
surface in diminishing numbers, and a few Esquimaux are found on the north coast. 

New Britain is commonly designated the Hudson's Bay Company's Territory, from that body having had 
a monopoly of the fur-trade for nearly two centuries. It is also called Eupert Land, from the cn-iginal 
charter of incorporation having been obtained under the auspices of Prince Eupert, in 1670, the reign of 
Charles II. The right of exclusive trade ceased in 1860. Skins of the beaver and the marten supply the 



822 



BRITISH AMERICA. 



most valuable furs, and with those of the musk-rat, bears, foxes, and wolves, are the main staples. Accord- 
ing to a living writer, Dr Lankester, the traders buy in a cheap market while selling in a dear one, tor the 
natives are paid by a fixed tariff, which is made wholly independent of the value of the skins. They are often 
purchased by barter. Thus a fourpenny comb will be given for a bear's skin worth two pounds, and a sixpenny 
knife for three marten's skins, which in London will sell for four guineas. Fort York, near the western shore 
of Hudson's Bay, is the head-quarters and principal depot of the company, in latitude 57° 2' north. The site is 
low and dreary, enclosed with stunted pine-woods, a swamp in summer when the surface thaws, and hard as 
iron through the winter months. The thermometer sometimes descends to 50' below zero ; brandy freezes 
to a solid substance in rooms with a constant fire ; and but for supplies obtained from more temperate regions 
existence would be impossible. 

Martin's Fall, on the Albany, which flows into the southern extremity of Hudson's Bay, is exactly in the 
latitude of London. This circumstance renders a record of the progress of the seasons of interest. ' Dec'etiiher, 
January, Fehruary. — Dead winter months ; intense frost ; snow permanently hard. 3Iarch 15. — Snow often 
melts at mid-day. 20. — Tops of the higher grasses appear. April. — Slight crust on the snow from the day 
thaw and the night frost. A few insects appear in bright mild weather. 22. — The gray goose of Canada and 
stock ducks sometimes appear ; often forced back to the soUtll by northerly blasts. 25. — ^A few spots of 
ground bare. 28. — The American robin and other birds are now arriving, feeding on benumbed grubs and 
caterpUlars. May. — Ground getting barer ; snow melting rapidly. 10. — Ermines and rabbits become altogether 
brown. 12. — The buds of poplar, aspen, and various willows swell. 15. — The larger rivers break up ; swamps 
and stagnant pools are thawed, June. — Insects on wai-m days are busy on the bushes and the ground. lO. — 
Wight frost sometimes occurs. 15. — Country covered with verdure ; the latest shrubs have leaves ; birds are 
nestling. July. — Summer month ; weather often very warm ; strawberries ripen ; mosquitoes numerous. 
August. — Summer monih ; raspberries and currants ripen. September. — The air generally cooler; winds 
stronger ; frosty nights looked for. 10. — Many insectivorous birds leave ; night frosts frequent. 15. — Leaves 
rapidly turn yellow ; gray goose of Canada begins to pass southward. October. — ^Pools and swamps crusted 
mth ice ; mosquito utterly defunct. 5. — Foliage falls ; snow succeeds to rain. 20. — Small lakes and rivers 
sometiaies fast frozen ; the American hare ahd the ermine change colotir. Noveinber. — Groimd covered with 
snow ; strong rapids closing fast with ice ; swamps passable ; rabbits and ermines entirely white.' The most 
northerly stations are in the basins of the Mackenzie. At Fort Norman, in latitude 65°, a small quantity of 
barley has been raised, with potatoes about the size of marbles. At Fort Good Mope, 66° 16', there is 
only very diminutive wobd. 

The Red Eiver Settlement, which makes the only approach to a colony in the whole of this vast region, 
is situated on the wooded banks of the stream, the upper course of which is in Mmnesota, one of the United 
States. It was founded by the Earl of Selkirk in 181.3, and has a population of about 6500, consisting of 
retired servants of the company, Scotch emigrants, a few Didians, and half-breeds. They have a governor, 
Council, recorder, sheriff, coroner, trial by jury, and a prelate of the Anglican Church, with the style of 
Bishop of Rupert Land, whose diocese is co-extensive with the fur-trading stations. The Red River joins 
the Assiniboine at Fort Garry, in the neighbom-hood of the settlement, and proceeds thence to Lake 
"Wiimepeg. From this point the late Sir G. Simpson, an officer of the company, accomplished the following 
journey in the winter in sledges over the ice and Snow : 

Fort Garry to Port PeUyj on the Upper Assiniboine, s . ; . 394 miles, in 15 days: 
Fort PeUy to Fort Carlton, on the Saskatchewan, . . . . .276 « 12 ii 

Fort Carlton to Fort La Crosse, on the lake of that name, . . . 236 n 7 .i 

Fort La Crosse to Fort Chippewayan, on the Athabasca Lake, . . 371 li 12 ,i 

mi 48 

At the Bath meeting of the British Association, in September of the present year, 1864, a paper was read 
detailing a recent joutney made by Lord Milton across the Rocky Moraitains to British Columbia, taking the 
Athabasca River in his route; His party crossed the mountains by the Yellow Pass, which he recommends 
in preference to all others for road or railway connecting British Columbia with Upper Canada. 

The Red River freezes in November and opens in April, but Lake Wiimepeg remains closed till the end of 
May. The settlement has woods of oak, ehu, maple, and pine ; the introduced live-stock common to English 
farms ; and a soil from which large crops of grain are raised. 

The Arctic Islands of the Western World t3eat the hahies of Melville, Batiks, 
Corilwalli^, Wollaston,'^ibtoria, King William, fioiltreal, and others, and are parts of 
British Ainerica by discoTery. Though not of the slightest value, they will ever he of 
interest as scenes where the skill, endurance, and heroism of oiir fellow-countrymen have 
heen signally illustrated id attempts to thread the icy labyrinth. Of difficillt access in 
the height of summer, and Completely frozen up in winter, these lands must be left to 
their proper native tenants, the prowling white bear, the roviag musk-ox and reindeer, 
the ptarmigan, polar fox and hare, with the few families of Esquimaux. 




Potomac and Shenandoali at Harper's Ferry, 

dittAP^rlE in. 

THE UNITED STATES. 

HE great Transatlantic Eepublic, at tlie head of the civilisa- 
tion, commerce^ wealth, and power of the "Western World, and 
entitled to rank with the first-class states of Europe, extends 
i across the continent hetween the Atlantic on the eastj the 
Pacific on the west, the British Possessions on the north, and 
Mexico on the south. The northern boundary in general is 
) formed by the great lakes of Canada and the parallel of 49° ; 
the southern, by the Gulf of Mexico, the Eio del Norte 
flowing into it^ and a line dfawii from the upper channel of 
the river, to the head of the Gulf of California. Twenty-foiLt 
degrees of ktitude are embraced within these limitSj from 
Cape Sable, in Florida, 25° north, to the parallel named. 
In the opposite direction the country iucludes fifty-eight degrees of longitude, from 
the shores of Passamaquoddy Bay, 67°, to the coast of the Pacific, 125° West. The 
total area is estimated at nearly 3,000,000 square miles, acquu-ed chiefly by successive 
extensions of territory during the present century. The greatest linear distances amoimt 
to about 2800 miles east and west, and 1600 miles north and south, while the frontier- 




824 UNITED STATES. 

line measures at the least 10,000 miles, of which considerahly more than one-half is 
either sea-board or lake coast. 

Square Miles. 

Area of the Eepublic at the peace with Great Britain, in 1783, .... 820,680 

Louisiana, obtained by purchase from the French in 1803, added about . . 899,579 

Plorida, acquired from Spain in 1819, added 66,900 

Texas, admitted into the Union in 1845, made an addition of ... . 318,000 

Oregon Treaty with Great Britain, added 308,052 

Treaty with Mexico, in 1848, made a cession of • , 522,955 

2,936,166 

The land on the shores of the Atlantic is generally low and level, broken by many 
inlets of the ocean, the estuaries of rivers. It forms an undulating plain extending for 
some distance into the interior, on which are the cities and towns of the oldest date. 
From the breadth of only a few miles in the extreme north, this plain expands southward 
to the width of more than 150 miles in the Carolinas, and becomes stiU more spacious as 
the coast of the Mexican Gulf is approached. Its maritime districts, in their southerly 
extension, contain extensive swamps haunted by alligators and water-fowl, and also mono- 
tonous tracts of sand, called Pine Barrens, which are clothed with forests of giant pines. 
The Atlantic plain is bounded inland by the Appalachian Mountains, which stretch in 
a south-westerly direction from the interior of Maine to the borders of Alabama, and 
divide generally the rivers which flow directly to the ocean from those which descend to 
the channels of the St Lawrence and the Mississippi. They do not form a water-parting 
through their entire length, being crossed by the Hudson, the Connecticut, and the 
Delaware streams, nor are they any barrier to convenient communication, being intersected 
at various points by railways and canals. This chain is known by various names in 
different parts of its course, as the "Whits Mountains, in New Hampshire, from the hue of 
the exposed rock ; the Green Mountains, in Vermont, from their mossy summits and 
wooded slopes ; the Catskill Highlands, in New York, which present fine Ehine-lilce 
scenery to steam-boat voyagers on the Hudson ; and the Alleghanies, in Pennsylvania and 
Virginia, the ' Endless Mountains ' of the old Indians, where the chain consists of several 
parallel ridges separated by valleys or plains, and attains its greatest width. The Peaks 
of Otter, within the limits of Virginia, rise to 4260 feet, but are exceeded in height by 
Mount Washington, 6234 feet, one of the "White Mountains. In this group the remarkable 
Gap occurs, called the ' Notch,' which is in some places not more than twenty-two feet 
wide, with wild and lofty precipices on either hand, and is used as a thoroughfare. 

"Westward of these highlands the surface falls by a very gradual descent to the Mis- 
sissippi and its mighty arms, with their varied and apparently interminable prairies, level 
and roUing, grassy and timbered. Dense forests line the banks of the rivers, and park- 
like clumps of trees adorn the surface apart from them, with copse woods, the ' islands,' 
as they are called, of the grassy sea. This region is solitary league after league in the ' far 
west,' with exception of the wild animals and wilder Indians, but at intervals nearly 
throughout, more or less extended, the outposts of advancing civilisation appear. In the 
woods, huge trunks stand thickly around, with snake-like parasites coiled around them, 
and the Spanish moss hanging in festoons from the branches, whUe prostrate trunks, 
yards in diameter and haK decayed, lie along the ground, in the ends of which the 
porcupine and the opossum hollow out their homes. The moss, of a silvery-gray colour, 
gives a somewhat mournful appearance to the forest. Trees are frequently met with of 
remarkable girth, with cavities in their stems, while standiug, capable of entertaining both 
man and horse, particularly those of the sycamore and button-wood species. Captain 
Mayne Eeid mentions coming upon a squatter who, with his wife and children, was 



ATLANTIC EIVERS. 825 

living and actually liuming a fire witliiu the trunk of a standing sycamore. In this 
singular natural hahitation the party had passed the winter. 

Approaching the furthest west, the region of the Eocky Mountains, between the 
parallels of 32° and 43°, the ground gradually rises, and the aspect of the surface is 
altogether different. Verdure becomes thin and less -vivid, till it passes away entirely ; 
water grows scarce, and ceases to he found for many a league except impregnated with salt ; 
the bare ground appears, sand or gravel, bestrewed with large boulders ; and the sterility 
is nearly total. Trappers here distinguish the ' sage prairies ' — plains besprinkled with the 
wild wormwood ; the ' sand prairies ' — ^barren and trackless wastes ; the ' salt ' and the 
' soda prairies ' — where the country is covered with a salt or soda efflorescence — ^features 
these of the true desert. Bones mark many a spot where the horse and his rider have 
fallen together, overcome with fatigue and thirst, the water brought along with them 
having failed, while ignorant of the sites where a little further effort would have brought 
them to the source of a fresh supply. Fragments of clothing, old hats, bruised canteens, 
stirrups red with rust, strewed here and there, tell a melancholy tale of mischances to 
adventurers. The perils of the passage of the chain, now greatly abated, are proclaimed 
by the significant name of the 'Journey of Death,' while a spacious expanse, pleasant to 
the eye, but briny and bitter to the taste, has^ the ominous title of the ' Lake of Death !' 
The Eocky Mountains, within the limits of the United States, appear to culminate in 
Fremont's Peak, fijst ascended by the distinguished explorer of that name in 1842. It 
attains the height of 13,570 feet, lies a little to the north of the South Pass, one of the 
practicable routes across the range. Nearer to the Pacific Ocean, and parallel to the 
chain, is the Sierra Nevada, rising to the snow-line, as the name implies. The two 
enclose the high tract of country known as the ' Great Basin,' which contains the Great 
Salt Lake, with its Mormon city and strange community. Between the Sierra Nevada 
and a Pacific coast-chain, lies the long broad valley of the San Joaquim and Sacramento 
Elvers, the gold-bearing region of California. A northerly continuation of the maritime 
chain, beyond the Columbia Eiver, called the Cascade Eange from its numerous water- 
falls, has the culminating-point of the entire United States, in Mount St Helens, with an 
elevation of 15,750 feet. 

Though the Atlantic side of the country has no river of considerable magnitude, yet 
several are of high value as lines of inland navigation, extended by a net-work of canals. 
The principal examples from north to south are the Penobscot, the Connecticut, the 
Hudson, the Delaware, the Susquehanna, and the Potomac. The important rivers of the 
Pacific basin, from south to north, are the Colorado, the Sacramento, and the Columbia. 
The latter has the upper part of its course in British territory, and is remarkable for its 
rise close to the source of the Saskatchwan, the waters of which are conducted finally into 
Hudson's Bay. Sir George Simpson states that he could ' fill his kettle for breakfast out 
of both at the same time.' On the coast of the Mexican Gulf the Mobile has its outlet, 
with the Eio del Norte, and the mighty Mississippi-Missouri, the grand artery of 
internal communication, already illustrated in its course, affluents, and features. The 
States share vrith Canada in the navigation of the great lakes, and command the whole 
basin of Lake Michigan. By means of a canal of 363 miles, which unites the Hudson 
with Lake Erie, and another of 324 miles connecting that expanse with the Ohio, there is 
iminterrupted inland navigation from New York to New Orleans. 

In the northern part of the Atlantic region the climate is distinguished by great annual 
extremes of temperature, the winters being very severe, and the summers excessively hot, 
while striking variations of temperature in each season are frequently experienced. 
Proceeding southerly, the seasonal differences become less marked, and the temperature 



826 UNITED STATES. 

approximates to tropical uniformity throughout the year below the parallel of 35°, which 
defines in general the northern limit of tropical cultivation, indicated by rice-grounds, 
cotton and sugar plantations. The most productive cotton districts are maritime. They 
are famous also for the quality of the produce, denominated ' Sea Island,' from being 
raised on the low coasts and islands of the Caroliaas and Georgia, where the plantations 
are exposed to the spray of the ocean. It is found that at a certaia distance inland the 
fibre deteriorates^ and hence it is inferred that the saline properties of the soil and the 
atlnosphere have a beneficial influence upon the growth of the plantj contributing to 
Tender the cotton fine and long in the staple. If the weather is fine, and no frosts linger, 
the sowing commences in March or ApriL Blooming takes place towards the end of 
May or the beginning of June, and the picking in July or August. The first seeds were 
sown in the year 1786 in Georgia, probably introduced from Barbadoes; and the first 
export of a smaU quantity of the crop was made in 1790. Tobacco and maize are grown 
over a wide area j and an immense amount of ordinary cereal produce is raised in the 
western states for export across the Atlantic. Manufactures, fisheries, and general 
Commerce chiefly engage attention in the north maritime districts. Coal-mining, iron- 
smelting^ and hardware production are prominent industries in connection with the 
central portion of the Appalachian chain. This range has a great bituminous coal-field 
extending through 800 mUes from the north of Pennsylvania to the middle of Alabama, 
with a, breadth in places of 180 miles, and a total area estimated at upwards of 50,000 
square mUes. 

The republic, at the date of its formation, included thirteen provinces federally united* 
It now embraces forty-three political divisions, states or organised territories, between two 
Sections of which, styled Federal and Confederate, the bond is for the present broken. 
These divisions are as follows : 1, Six Iforth-Eastern States — Maine, *ISrew Hampshire, 
Vermont, ^MassachusettSj *Ehode Island; '"'Connecticut; 2, Five Middle Atlantic States 
— ^IN'ew York) *NeW Jersey, *Pennsylvaniaj '""Delaware, '* Maryland; 3, Five Southern 
Atlantic States — *+ Virginia, *tNorth Carolina, '*+ South Carolina, *t Georgia, t Florida; 
4, Four Gulf States — ^tAlabamaj tMississippi, tLduisiana, tTexas; 5, Twelve Western 
States — Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, t Arkansas, Missouri, Kansas, Illinois, Indiana, 
Michigan) Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota; 6, Two Pacific States — California, Oregon; 7, 
Nine Territories — ^Arizona, Colorado, Dakota, Idaho, !N"ebraska, ISTevada, New Mexico, 
Utah, Washington. In this enumeration the states to which an asterisk is attached are 
the provinces which signed the Declaration of Independence in 1776, and formed the 
original Union. The dagger deflnies those which are distmguished as Confederate in the 
present struggle with the Federal. Territories may be described as states in embryo, to be 
recognised as such when a certain proportion of population has been attained. In the 
meantime they can send delegates to the ISTational Congress^ Who have the right to speak, 
but not to ■vote. In addition, there is the Federal district of Columbia, which contains 
the capital. Under distinct jurisdiction) and the Indian Territory, a tract of countl-y in the 
far-westetn wilds set apart for the unfortunate Eed men, dispossessed of theu" htmting- 
gtoundsj who are disposed to place themselves Under the care of the wldteS, adopt settled 
habits and industrial pursuits; 

The small district of ColUinbia, on the Potomac, drlgliially ehibraeed a tract On both 
sides of the river, or portions of Maryland and Virginia. Since 1846 it has been 
toniined td the north or Maryland bank, and forms a single county, with dn area of only 
sixty square mUes. It is imdeif the immediate government of Congress, but has no 
representation in it, and contains the two cities of Washington and Georgetown. 

Washington, the political inetropolis of the TJilited States, in latitude 38° 55' north, longitude fV 1' Vrest, 



NORTH-EASTERN STATES. 827 

is beautifully situated on the left bank of the Potomac, the ' Eiver of Swans,' nearly surrounded by an 
amphitheatre of hills, which were recently covered with trees and shrubberies, hut now bristle with forts and 
cannon. It is the ordinary residence of the President and the foreign ambassadors, the seat of the 
government offices and of the annual sessions of the legislature. The Capitol, containing the halls of the 
senate and the representatives, the library of congress, and accommodation for various departments of the 
executive, occupies a commanding site, and is a noble structure of white marble, perhaps on the whole the 
finest in the New "World. It is suiinounted in the centre by a lofty massive dome, and has an imposing 
Corinthian portico at the main entrance, which furnishes a fitting site for the presidential inaugurations. 
Pennsylvania Avenue, the principal street, lined with handsome blocks of pubHo and private buildings, 
radiates from the Capitol to the White House; the official dwelling of the Presidents, Si mile and a half 
distant, in the centre of a small park. The objects of interest in Washington are Very lilnitbd. In the 
Museum connected with the. Patent Office is preserved tlis printing-press at whick j?rahklitl Wotkbdj with the 
' Declaration of Independence ' in a glass case, not far frdin which appears the feniled skill dt att African. 
An early number of the Pennsylvania Odsittc, SlleWii iri the Btatfe-Papfei' df&be; BBhtftihs tile curious 
announcement : ' Printed by B. Franklin, who will git^ ready money for old ra^Sj arid BetlS glftKed, fulling, 
and bonnet papers.* The Smithsonian Institution, founded fdr the diffusion of kiibi^'ledge hf tiillds bequeathed 
by ah Englishman for that purpose, and the ObServatoryj ftl-e tile other publib establishteeatd lif httte^ The 
latter, well supplied with the best instruments, tveIs brdligllt lid a high stilts oi workitlg eBibigilby by the late 
director. Commander Maury, the eminent physlctll gedgrapheirj who, being Ji Yirgihiiinj left \Ai Jidst in 1861 
to join the Confederates. An assistant here added the thirty-fltst asteroid, Eilplltdsyrie, td tlie lollg eatillogue, 
being the first star discovered on the Americ^ti bdntinent. Ihe Capital eolltairis fl l3bpiilitidti sbarcely 
exceeding 40,000, but greatly increased by the arrival of stl-angelS wheii the legislatute IB felttifig; Having 
been planned originally upon a scale of magnitdde for beydlid that wlligh haS beBh ftttftillSd) it wears an 
unfinished, disjointed appearance, luiless fancy call seB 

' Squares in mbHSSSSj biielUfeS 111 tf 665:' 

An aqueduct, opened in 1863, brings a copious silpi^lj^ «f Wiltbi: frditi the Falla tif Mlg fetdfiifte, fiftg§tl miles 
distant. About thirteen miles lower down the river, on tiie ojpposile bank, is Moiitit Verhbiij WliSfb General 
Washington resided, with his tomb in the groundSj close io the Ivatei'-side) shaded Mith bftfeS aiid Bedar. In 
a husible oahoe he conducted the first survey o{ tbe Btt^ftttl "W-ith rBferellSB to its liatigatiBH above tidal 
T^ater; 

I. NOBTH-^ASTiMMf g$4l&@t 

i Atigusta, B*hgbi-j PttftlsHdi 
Concord, Poi-tsMdtlthi 

i Mbiltpeliets BlirliUgtoh. 

Bostdtti Cattibridgei LfHh, fofrelli 

1 fedtidBtide, ISTewporti 
I Hartford, Newhavetti 

The collective name of New England is coffiiilbhly giv6H te Mltese states, it briginated with the Pilgrim 
Fathers, the first colonists, from various parts of England, but chiefly from Lincolnshire, who landed on a 
southern point of the coast in November 1620. The country then wore a very wild aspect, was covered with 
thickets and dense woods, and snow lay upon the gi'ound. The population at present is mainly English by 
descent, or Scotch, the Irish infusion being comparatively smaU, and the German quite insignificant. But 
this region may now as properly be called Old England, in relation to other parts of America occupied by the 
Anglo-Saxon race. It contains traces of their handiwork to which some venerableness is attached, whUe 
such expressions of the modern spirit as mammoth hotels, gigantic stores, and palatial-looking warehouses 
are but rarely encountered. The names of towns and villages are also prominently English, or have a sober 
stamp, instead of being collected as elsewhere from every countiy under heaven, the records of antiquity, and 
the realm of romance, while most incongruously associated. It is possible in Maine to visit Portland, and to 
reach Northampton without going out of Massachusetts, but no Pekin, or Bagdad, or Jericho is to be found 
witliin their limits, nor do they include a Sty.'C, an Aladdin, or a Rough and iteady. The New Englanders 
are the Yankees proper, lean, lank, and nasal, in comparison with their cousins on tliis side of the Atlantic. 
But the women, not far out of their teens, have a reputation for great personal beauty. 

Maine, the most easterly of the group, borders on New Brunswick and Lower Canada. 
The settlement of the boundary between them is quite of recent date, and was not 
arranged without disputes ominous of war. It has a remarkable coast-line, not extending 
to 300 miles in direct distance, but measuring more than 2400 following the various 
sinuosities. The interior is hilly in general, and boldly rugged in the north, where the 





Square MileSi 


Fo^filatlSU 


Maine, 


. 31,766 . 


628,276 


New Hampshire, . 


9,280 


. 32Bi()?9 


Vermont, 


. 9,056 . 


315,098 


Massachusetts, 


7,800 


. 1,281,088 


Ehode Island, i 


i 1,306 . 


i%m 


Connecticut, 


4,674 . 


. 460,147 



828 



UNITED STATES. 



woods are still extensive, teing nominally distinguished as tlie Wilderness. The principal 
rivers are the Penobscot and the Kennebec, the latter issuing from the large Moosehead 

Lake. JN"ew Hampshire, on the 
west and south-west, has only 
about eighteen miles of coast, 
chiefly a sandy beach bordered 
with salt-marshes. The surface 
IS low for some distance from 
the shore, and then rises into 
the grand heights of the "White 
Mountauis, the summits of 
which are generally covered with 
snow from the close of October 
to the end of May, and are 
sometimes not wholly divested 
of their winter clothing tUl 
August, to be speedily resumed. 
Granite for architectural pur- 
poses, of the best texture and 
colour, is very abundant, and 
largely quarried. Vermont, fur- 
ther west, is entirely inland, 
separated from the territory of 
New York by the spacious and 
many-islanded Lake Champlain, 
so called after the founder of 
Quebec, the issue of which is 
conducted by the Eiohelieu to 
the St La'WTence. The state has 
its name from the Green Moun- 
tains, VeHs Monts of the Prench, 
distinguished by soft wooded 
slopes. 

Augusta, on the banks of the 
Kennebec, and Banc/or, an important 
lumber depot, on the Penobscot, are 
the chief towns in tlie interior of Maine, but taken together they are smaller than Portland, on the coast. 
Tliis place contains a population of 27,000, has extensive commerce with tlie "West Indies and Europe, an 
excellent harbour, easy of access, deep and spacious, protected by islands from the swell of the ocean. Tlie 
first settlement in Maine was made in the year 1625. For some time afterwards every twentieth settler is 
said to have been killed by the Indians. It fonned part of Massachusetts, and became a distinct state in 
1820. New Hampsliire dates its settlement from 1623. Concord, on the Merrimac, the state capital, is 
inferior to Portsmouth, a naval station and considerable shipping port. In 1761 the Boston Evening Post 
contained the announcement of 'a large stage-chaise, with two good horses, well equipped,' to make the 
journey from Portsmouth, 5i miles, once a week, stopping a night on the road, going and returning. Hanover 
is the seat of Dartmouth College, an old and respectable institution. Burlington, a small town in Vennont, 
but tlie largest, is charmingly placed on the shore of Lake Champlain, the surface of which is aUve with 
steamers through the smnmer. This state lias a very democratic constitution. It did not subscribe to the 
Declaration of Independence, but declared for independence of both parties, and remained neutral to the 
year 1791, when deputies were first admitted to Congress. 

Massachusetts, on the south of Ifew Hampshire and Vermont, by far the most 
important of the New-England States, is distinguished by its manufactures of textile 




Wilderness of Maine. 




White Mountain, Vermont. 

fabrics, enterprise in the fislieries, general commerce, and literary cultivation. The 
maritime border is extensive, marked by the long tapering curve of Cape Cod, with the 
islands of Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard, and many of smaller si^e. The surface is 
naturally sterUe, consisting for the most part of a mass of granite covered -with a thia 
layer of soU, and swamps are numerous. But skilled industry has introduced fertility, and 
there are productive farms, with homesteads almost buried beneath the green foliage of 
overhanging trees, and whole tracts cultivated like a garden. The lower course of the 
Merrimac, and the middle part of the Connecticut, faU within the limits of the state. 
Ehodb Island, the smallest member of the Union, directly on the south, consists of the 
island of that name, which was formerly supplemented with that of Providence 
Plantations, and a tract of the adjoining mainland. Connecticut, the most southerly part of 
'New England, is divided into two nearly equal parts by the lower course of the river of the 
same name, along which there are fertile lands, well tUled, and abounding with orchards. 
Long Island, extending to ISTew York, fronts the whole length of the shore, and facilitates the 
coasting-trade by sheltering vessels in the intervening sound from the gales of the Atlantic. 
Boston, the fourth city of the TTnited States in population, 200,000, including the suburbs, the second perhaps in 
commerce, and the first in literature, is situated principally on a peninsula projecting into Massachusetts Bay, 
and derives its name from the fact of the founders emigrating from Boston in Lincolnshire. The oldest 
portion, built on the uneven ground of the peninsula, consists of narrow, crooked streets of brick-built houses, 
though some stiU remain of wood, seeming as if a dozen generations had been born within them. One in 
■Washington Street bears the inscription, ' The oldest house in all Boston, built MDCLVI.' Before many of the 
houses there are ' little patches of grass-plot gardens, hemmed in by iron railings of substantial respectability. 
At the corners of the streets, perched at the most inconvenient localities, there are old stone-built churches, 
which must have heard King George III. prayed for on many a Sunday. In quaint nooks, right in the city's 
heart, stand old-fashioned English graveyards, shaded over by trees.' In the very centre is the Common, 
originally a cow-pasture on the skirts, now a public park with turf and knots of trees. FaneuQ HaU, once used as a 
market-place, as well as for public meetings, is an interesting historical spot, where the revolutionary orators 
roused the people to resist what was called British oppression. A granite obelisk on Bunker's TTill, in the 



830 TTNITED STATES. 

neighbourliood, commemorates the battle fought there in 1775 between the American and the royalist forces. 
Boston has many literary institutions and large libraries. The pubKc library contains 110,000 volumes, the 
Athenaeum has 80,000, and the Mercantile 21,000. The city is the cradle and principal seat of the ice trade, 
which has attained wonderful development since its commencement about the year 1820. Several hundred 
tlioijsand tons are aviually exported. The Wenham Lake ice, well known in London, is obtained in the 
vipijuty. The lake occupies an elevated position, and is surroiinded by hiUs, It has great depth, and no 
visible affluent, but depends upon springs which issue from the rooks at the bottom. In 1833, the iirst cargo 
pf ice from Boston was ijisoharged at Calcutta. Cambridge, foirr miles distant, with villas and houses, standing 
each in its own garden, nearly all the way, is the seat of Harvard University, the oldest and one of the best in 
the United States, founded in 1638, possessing a library of liO,000 volumes. Under a tree on the grounds, 
jailed Washington's Oak, the general is said to have signed the Declaration of Independence ; and Whitfield, 
explifded from the college chapel, preached beneath it. The names of Enierson, Longfellow, and Hawthorne 
^re fissopiated with adjqining sites, Lynn, nine miles north of Boston, is celebrated for its boot and shoe 
manufacture, pro4ucing annually 5,000,000 pairs. Lowell, twenty-five mUes distant, is distinguished as the 
American Mspchester from its cpttau-mUls. It contains a populatipn of 40,000, l)Ht h^^ fialy * f^w dwellings 
in the year 1820. 

Pravidencf, at the head of Ifavvagansett Bay, T/fxih 47,000 inhabitant?? U the seat of t}}e loes^J gpven>fljgi»1j 
pf Bbpda Island, but alternately with Newppri, ^ much smaUer tpwil pn the jslajld itself, greatly resprteS 
to in supimer ^s a watering-place. ffartfQrd, an inland town qu the river Oouneptiput, ^s tl^P e£>pit4 
pf tlf^t sta^te, ftltepiately with Newhavm} on the coast, much idaxp impprtaut, pp^it^ining ft pppuj^tipji pf 
39,000, d?ei(}ed pne of the most beautiful of the Ameficau cities. It is en;iuputly the * pity pf elms,' bptb 
venerable and ypung. The streets arp li4ie(i with grajid old examples, or with luxuriant uiaples, forming 
Ipng vistas pf arched ver4ure, and tbe publip ^quwes peeiu notliing fcut gvpyp^ at S/ distanpe. Teiuple Street 
;g the adfliirstipn of strangers find i-he prld^ of the natives. JTewhaven is the seat pf Yale College, ' Old Yale,' 
as it is ponnnonly paUsd, fi weH-knSWn Uterary instituMon, possessing fi libra^;y pf 48,000 volumes, and SI} 
excellent minPralDgical ppllpptipn, Tliwe are }wgB iron and india-rubbpr works, witli m^nuf aptures pf cIpp1?3 
Etnd leather, Ejrst planned in 163? liy a pplpuy pf !Puritans from Loudon, who were mpn pf prppprfy ^.nd 
statipu, the settlefftent SPPSdily bPCS'We rup pf the inpsi; flpurishing in New England, and was very sfifictly 
governed by the elders. Three of the regicides, Goff, WhaUey, and DixweU, who sat in judgment upon 
Charles I. and fled beyond seas at the restoration, spent the remainder of their days at Newhaven. Though 
large rewards were offered for their apprehension, their secret was faithfully kept by those intrusted with 
it. When closely pursued by the royalists, they retired to the Kocks, tvro miles and a half from the town, 
and were concealed in a cave for weeks together, This spot, stUl called the ' Judges' Cave,' is a favourite 
resort of excursionists. 

II. IJIDDLE ATLANTIC STATES. 





Area in Sq. Miles. 


Population. 


Capitals and Chief Towna. 


New Tprk, , 


, , 46,000 . 


3,880,700 . 


Albany, New York, Troy, Buffalo. 


Pennsylvania, . 


46,000 . 


. 2,906,100 . 


. Harrisburg, Philadelphia, Pittsbiu'gh 


New Jersey, . 


. 8,320 . 


672,000 . 


Trenton, Newark, Atlantic City. 


Delaware, . 


3,120 


112,216 


. Dover, Wilmmgton. 


Maryland, , 


. 9,356 . . 


687,000 . 


Annapolis, Baltimore. 



The state of JSTew York is the wealthiest and most populous member of the whole 
federation, distiaguished by the great diversity of its industrial pursuits^ commercial relations 
with all maritime countries, and varied means of intercommunication profusely supplied 
by nature and art, which embrace ocean, lake, river, and canal, with plank-roads, common 
roads, tram-roads, and railways. It resembles an irregular triangle in shape, and though 
the apex alone reaches the ocean, yet still the coast-line is considerable, as Long Island is 
included, extendiag upwards of 100 mUes from east to west. New England forras one 
side of the triangle; E"ew Jersey and Pennsylvania supply the second; and the St 
Lawrence, with Lake Ontario and part of Lake Erie, the third. The territory shares the 
Falls of Magara with Canada, and has several magnificent water-falls on its own streams in 
the highland gorges. Besides the great frontier lakes named, with that of Champlain, also 
on the border, a large number are wholly interior and much admired, as Lake George, 
remarkable for its transparency and picturesque shores, a Loch Katrine on a larger scale. 
The most important river, the Hudson, traverses the eastern section of the country from 
north to south, and supplies a long line of navigation, being ascended for 150 miles by 
tidal water. It flows through scenes of striking grandeur, and has its sources in a very 



NEW TOBK-^AI;BANT. 



831 



wild region, west of Lake Champlaia, wliere mountainous heigMs appear, th.e loftiest of 
wliicli, Mount Maroy, has an elevation of 5300 feet. Mineral springs in its basin, at 
Saratoga and Ballston, attract a crowd pf summer visitors. Of the total population pearly 
one in every four is foreign born. The Irish are in the greatest force, being about 500 000 ■ 
the Germans next, 256,000; numbers which immigration has kept up iu spite of the 
havoc made among them by the war. ]S[ames of places have been liberally culled from 
sources ancient and modern, sacred and secular. The state has a Troy, Attica, Ithaca, 
and Marathon; a Eome, Carthage, Syracuse, and Uticaj a Carmel, Gilboa, Saleip, and 
Zoar J a Peru and Lima, China and Pekin, Eussia and Warsaw, Cairo and Delhi j and 
even a Paradox. 

New York, called the ' Empire City' by the inhahitants, is the ooimuercial metropolis of the United States, 
the largest city in the 'Western Hemisphere, and entitled to rant with the great capitals of the globe. It is 
situated on the south extremity of Manhattan Island, at the moijth of the Hudson, 225 miles from Washington, 
1397 from New Orleans, 210 from Boston, and 372 miles almost due south of Montreal. Long Island opposite, 
and Staten Island on the south-west, form a nearly land-locked bay for the port, which has space and depth 
sufficient for whole fleets of vessels of the largest size, and is but rarely obstructed or much incommoded by 
ice. Including Brooklyn, on Long Island, and other suburbs within a radius of fire miles from the centre, 
the city contains a population of about 1,200,000. It is traversed by wide streets in straight lines, crossed by- 
others at right angles, lined with handsome housed and shops, but has, like other places of similar extent, its 
low, filthy, and wretched quarters. Broadway, the principal thoroughfare, more remarkable for length 
than breadth, stretches upwards of three miles, and combines the aspect of our Regent Street and Cheap- 
side. Several of the public buildings are large and costly, as the City Hall, the Merchants' Exchange, the 
Custom House, the Cooper Institiite, and Trinity Church. The hotels are upon a vast scale, magnificently 
fitted up, and ample provision is made for recreation in open groimds laid out with great taste. One of the 
most important of the publio works, the Croton Aqueduct, the execution of which involved an outlay of 
£4,000,000 sterling, brings a stream of pure soft water to the city from the river of that name, a small affluent 
of the Hudson, through a total distance of forty miles. Objects are of course wanting which time has rendered 
venerable, and history invests with interest. Nor is there any edifice commanding admiration by stupendous yet 
harmonious proportions, like many iu the Old-World cities, while the site has no natural picturesqueness. But 
for bustle in the streets and on the waters, shops, stores, wharves, steamers, and ships, New York is only second 
to London. It is honourably distinguished also by philanthropic and literary institutions, as grammar-schools, 
colleges, art schools, and libraries. The Astor Free Library contains 120,000 volumes ; the Mercantile, 64,000 ; 
the Society, 50,000 ; the Historical Society, 25,000 ; and the Apprentices, 19,000. Local general usages include 
the three o'clock hour for dinner ; the display of the whole refeCTion at once, and not in courses ; changes of 
residence previous to ihe full setting in of spring, with wholesale house-cleaning at the same date ; and the 
observance of May Day for marriages. 

The bay of New York was entered in the year 1523 by Verrazzano, an Italian in the service of the French, 
its first European visitor. He described it as ' a gulfe wherein are five small islands, very fruitful and 
pleasant, fall of hie and broad trees, among the which islands any great navie may ride safe, without feare of 
tempest or other danger. The land is situated in the parallel of Eome, but somewhat more cold by 
accidentaU causes.' Hudson, the English navigator, discovered the river which now bears his name. The 
Dutch colonised the country, and founded the city as New Amsterdam in 1621. Governor Stuyvesant 
surrendered it to the English in 1664, when the name was changed to New York, in honour of the Duke of 
York, afterwards James II. It was the seat of the first American Congress, and of the inauguration of 
Washington as thff first President of the Eepublio. 

Albany, the state capital, is an important commercial town of more than 60,000 inhabitants, the seat of a 
university. It is situated 144 miles up the Hudson, reached by steamer and rail, both passing West Point 
— ^the Military Academy of the United States, in which the Generals Lee and M'CleUan received their 
training — on a height above the river. Troy, six miles higher up the stream, has manufactures of hardwares 
and machinery, with a timber trade, for its noticeable features ; and contains a Eeusselaer Institute for 
scientific and practical instruction, founded by the wealthy head of an old Dutch family. In fantastic keeping 
with the classical name of the place, two small hills in the vicinity have the high-sounding titles of Ida and 
Olympus. The town is on the great thoroughfare from the south to the Saratoga Springs, the most fashion- 
able watering-place, about twenty-five miles distant. The waters here have a carbonated saline quality. 
Congress Spring, the principal, has been so called from its discovery by a member of the legislature in 1792. 
This locality is of special interest to the American, as the scene of the surrender of the English General 
Burgoyne, with his whole army, in 1777, which virtually settled the question of national independence. In 
the western part of the state, on the line of the Erie Canal and the Western Railway, are Syracuse, the seat 
of an extensive salt manufacture from brine-springs ; Eochester, a few miles from the southern shore of Lake 
Ontario, a city of flour-mills ; and Buffalo, near the outlet of Lake Brie by the river Niagara, wWch supplies 



832 



UNITED STATES. 



an instance of wonderful advance. It was first laid out at the commencement of the century, and contained 
200 houses in 1814, when it was burned by the British, with the exception of two buildings. It has now a 
principal street two miles long, three squares shaded by rows of trees, many ship-yards, iron-foundries, saw- 
mills, and wool stores, a court-house, lyceum, and university, with a population of 84,000. The Erie Canal, 
wliich connects BuiTalo mth the Hudson, and makes it the entrepot between the north-western states and 
the Atlantic sea-board, has been the main cause of its prosperity. 

Pennsylvania, on the south and south-west of JSew York, is an extensive district with 
the general outline of a parallelogram, slightly touching Lake Erie at the north-west 
corner, and bordering the tidal waters of the Delaware at the opposite south-east extremity. 
It has essentially a mountaiaous surface, being traversed by the Alleghany ranges in a 
broad band, which are divided by valleys as fertUe as they are lovely, while containing 
vast stores of coal and iron, with marbles, slates, building-stone, and briae-springs, from 
which salt is abundantly obtained. Eastward, besides the frontier stream of the Delaware, 
the country is intersected by the Susquehanna, winding through beautiful scenery, but 
obstructed in its navigation by faUs and rapids in the lower part of its course. West of 
the mountains, the waters of the Monongahela and Alleghany \mite at Pittsburg to form 
the Ohio, one of the leading tributaries of the IMississippi. There are rich agricultural 
tracts within the limits of the state, but mining and iron manufactures are the prevailing 
industries. It has rapidly increased in population at a recent date, owing to the demand 
for labour created by the extraction of its mineral wealth, and contains at present the 
largest number of foreign born inhabitants after New York. Of these about 138,000 are 
Germans and 202,000 Irish. 

Philadelphia, the largest city, is the second in the Union as to population, 568,000, but considered to be the 
first in wealth and refinement. It is situated on a gently-swelling plain between the Delaware and its 
afHuent the SchuyUdll, a little above their junction, and 120 miles from the ocean by the river-channel, which 
is ascended by the largest sea-going vessels. The city is laid out upon a very regular plan, adorned with fine 
trees, and contains many good public biiildings of white marble, with important charitable institutions. 
Girard College, founded by a citizen for the education of orphans, and amply endowed, is one of the number. 
The Library Company possesses 80,000 volumes ; the Mercantile Library contains 25,000 ; that of the 
Athenaeum, 20,000 ; and the Apprentices, 17,000. Before the Hospital stands the statue of William Penn, 
the celebrated Quaker, founder of the city and father of the state, whose name, combined with sylva, * wood,' 
foims that of Pennsylvania. Eeceiving tffi grant of an immense territory from Charles IL in 1682, he 
purchased portions for colonisation from the Delaware Indians. The oak arm-chair in wliich he sat, in a 
kind of audience-hall at his country-house, Pennsburg Manor, while negotiating treaties with them, is 
preserved. Philadelplxia has since been the principal seart of wealthy and influential members of his communion 
in the United States. In its state-house the Declaration of Independence was signed in 1776, and the 
convention sat to draw up the constitution. The room is kept in its original state ; and the bell in the 
steeple, cast many years before, is still in being, inscribed with the verse of Scripture — ' Proclaim liberty 
throughout this land, unto all the inhabitants thereof.' — Leviticus, xxv. 10. Harnshurg, in the midst of 
splendid scenery on the Susquehanna, is chiefly of note as the state capital, and the centre of several 
diverging railways. It was first settled by an Englishman named Harris, in 1733, under a grant from the 
Penn family. About thii-ty-six miles on the south, in a fertile farming country, a place before obscure, 
Geiiyshurg has been made known by the terrible three days' battle between the armies of Lee and Meade, in 
June 1863, with indecisive results. Filtshurg, at the junction of the two streams which form the Oliio, in 
command of an extensive river-navigation, is the great seat of the iron manufacture, the Birmingham of the 
States, where the machinery for the Mississippi steamers is chiefly made. It consisted of a few cabins half a 
century ago, and has now a population of 110,000, with foundries, glass-factories, steam-engines, and ship- 
yards on every hand. 

New Jersey is enclosed between Pennsylvania and the ocean, with the state of New 
York on the north. Delaware, the smallest of the territorial divisions after Ehode 
Island, extends southward in a narrow strip along the shore of Delaware Bay. Mary- 
land, a very irregular tract, chiefly on the west, curves round the great inlet of Chesapeake 
Bay, and forms thence the north bank of the Potomac, by which it is divided from 
Virginia. The river is navigable by ships of the heaviest burden to the Falls above 
Washington. 

These states have greater importance than might be inferred from their limited area, having an extensive 



SOUTHERN ATLANTIC STATES. 



833 



sea-lioarj. New Jersey was first planted by the Dutch and Swedes in 1G27. Taken hy the English, it came 
under the control of Penn for firrther settlement, whose communion is represented witliiu its limits. It 
forms the west bank of the Hudson for some distance above its mouth, and includes that remarkable feature 
of the river scenery called the Palisades, where a long and high wall of trap-rock hems in the sea-Uke 
stream. The Falls of the Passaic, a small affluent, "nithln easy excursion-distance of New York, are 
frequently visited by picnic-parties. Trenton, the scene of one of "Washington's victories, is the state 
capital, much exceeded in size by Newark and other places. Atlantic City, on the coast, connected with 
Philadelphia by raU, is the resort of the Pennsylvanians for sea-bathing, who visit also Cape May for the 
same purpose, naturally a quiet spot, recently furnished with a hotel, the Mount Vernon, large enough to 
accommodate the inhabitants of a township. The building is, palatial in the Italian style. It consists of a 
front, four stories in height, and 306 feet long, with two wings extending backwards at right angles, of 
similar height, but each 506 feet in length. Enclosed between the wings is a large garden, beautifully 
planted, with a fountain of elaborate construction in the centre. Balconies and verandahs are continued 
round the structure in front of each story, which have a total extent of one mile and a half. The hotel 
contains 3500 sleeping-rooms and beds, besides saloons for dining, and drawing-rooms for separate parties, all 
fitted up in a costly manner. 

Delaware State, River, and Bay commemorate by name a numerous and powerful Indian tribe with whom 
Penn chiefly negotiated. About 1000 of the Delawares are now in the Indian Territory in Kansas. Dover, 
and the other towns, are of little note. 

Maryland was first settled by an English colony of Roman Catholics under Lord Baltimore in 1634, who 
originated the name in honour of Henrietta Maria, the queen of Charles I. It is described in the royal 
charter as ' part of America, not yet cultivated or plaijted, though in some parts thereof inhabited by certain 
barbarous people having no knowledge of Almighty God.' The Crown stiprdated for 'the yielding and 
paying to us two Indian arrows of those parts every year on Easter Tuesday.' Formerly, before the eman- 
cipation edict, the traveller from the north made his first acquaintance with negro slavery in this state. It 
has only been retained in the present contest on the side of the Federals by a strong military force. 
Annapolis, of no importance except as the seat of local government, was so constituted in the reign of Queen 
Anne, and hence the name. In the senate-chamber of the state-house, "Washington formally resigned his 
commission at the close of the revolutionary war. Baltimore, at the head of an inlet of Cliesapeake Bay, is 
the third city of the Union in size, containing a population of 214,000. It has been called the ' city of 
monuments,' having a Monument Street, in which stands a noble Doric column of white marble, 196 feet 
high, surmounted by a colossal statue of "Washington. The 'Battle Monument' commemorates the successful 
defence of the place against an attack of the British in 1S14. Fort M'Henry protects the harbour and 
commands the city. Baltimore is the principal port for the shipment of tobacco, and a great mart for flour. 

III. SOUTHERN ATLANTIC AND GULP STATES. 

Capitals and Chief Towns. 

Richmond, Petersburg, Norfolk. 
Raleigh, "WUmington, Fayetteville. 
Columbia, Charleston, Georgetown. 
MiUedgevUle, Savannah, Augusta. 
Tallahassee, St Augustine. 
Montgomery, Mobile. 
Jackson, Natchez, Ticksburg. 
Baton Rouge, New Orleans. 
Austin, Galveston, Houston. 

Virginia, tlie largest of tlie Atlantic states, and the first pait of tlie entire continent 
planted by an English colony, comprehends a low maritime region, broken by inlets of the 
ocean ; the estuaries of rivers, in some places marshy, in others sandy, but clad with pitch- 
pine trees. The whole of this flat country is unhealthy during the summer heats. But 
from the limit of tidal water in the rivers, the land rises gradually towards the Alleghanies, 
which, in successive ridges, divided by long valleys or table-lands containing rich soil, 
occupy a great breadth of the siu'face. This district has fine woods, iron ore in abundance, 
striking scenery, and a very healthy climate. Beyond the mountains the country descends 
by undulations to the course of the Ohio, to which it contributes several feeders. The 
Potomac rises in the interior of the state, but flows chiefly along the northern border, 
receiving the Shenandoah at Harper's Ferry, where the joint stream passes through the 
Blue Eidge of the AUeghanies, and forms a scene of great natural beauty. The other 
3 a 





Area in 
Square Miles. 


Population. 


Virginia, . 


61,352 . 


. 1,654,600 . . 


North Carolina, . 


. 45,000 


. 992,622 


South Carolina, 


34,500 . 


703,700 . . 


Georgia, 


. 5S,000 


. 1,057,200 . 


Florida, . 


59,268 . 


140,425 . . 


Alabama, . 


. 60,722 . 


. 964,200 


Mississippi, 


47,156 . 


791,300 . 


Louisiana, . 


. 46,341 


. 708,000 . 


Texas, . 


237,321 . 


604,215 . . 



834 



OTTITED STATES. 



rivers of importance are the Eappahannock, the York, and the James, now associated mth 
the crossing of armies and terrible battle-fields. Spriag is the lovely season of the year, 
often declariag itself on the lowlands when terrific snow-storms are heard of westward ui 
Kansas, as well as northward at ISTew York. For many weeks in. the woods the abundant 
and pure white blossoms of the cornel contrast strikingly with the dark cedars and sombre 
pines; the rich bloom of the magnoha and lofty tulip-tree £11 the air with their fragrance; 
and the Virginian creeper becomes as the season advances the crowning glory of the trees 
and hedges, hanging on them its large clusters of bright scarlet and orange flowers. 
Maize, wheat, and tobacco are very largely grown, with cotton and flax to a less extent. 
Minin g and ordinary farming are pursuits in the mountain districts. 

Virginia was so named ia honour of Queen Elizabeth, who granted the country by charter to Sir "Walter 
Ealeigli. But the first settlement did not take place till the reign of her successor, in 1607, when Jamestown 
was founded on the river James, 32 miles above its mouth, both being called after James I. Not a single 
house now remains. None of the states have given so many great names to the nation as this — Jefferson, 
Patrick Henry, Clay, Madison, and Monroe, belonging to the past j Lee, Maury, and many others, to the 
present. 

Bichtnond, the state capital, and present head-quarters of the Confederates, is agreeably situated on the 
north bank of the James, about 100 miles from its mouth, at the point where the navigation ends and rapids 
commence. Interrupted by rocks which are strewed about in the most picturesque manner, the waters 
foam over and around tliem in beautiful cascades. The suburbs of Manchester and Spring Hill are on the 
opposite side of the stream, to which three bridges extend. Previous to the war the city contained about 
35,000 inhabitants, one-third of whom were blacks, either slaves or free. It has good civic pubUo buildings, 
several colleges, about thirty churches, and large tobacco stores, many-storied and windowed, like factories in 
England. The Capitol is a fine edifice, splendidly placed on an eminence overlooking the river, from which 
the view is superb. A central hall contains a statue of 'Washington, of remarkable interest, being by far the 
best likeness in existence, so that almost all portraits of him have been copied from it. The French artist, 
Houdon, was expressly invited across the Atlantic for the purpose of modelling a bust ; and resided for some 
weeks with the patriot commander at Moimt Vernon, returning to Paris, where it was executed, with the 
model for the present statue. A brief inscription on the pedestal, tradition states, was penned by Madison 
on his knee in the midst of the legislature of Virginia. Richmond has its slave-mart, resembling an 
ordinary place of business, the operations of which may have been suspended by the war, but were recently 
often signified by the announcement at the door, ' Negroes for sale at auction this day at twelve o'clock.' 
Petersbuiy, the scene of Grant's mining attack and fearful repulse, is twenty-three mUes to the south, on the 




Potomac at "Washington. 



NORTH AND SOUTH CAEOLINA. 835 

Appomatox, an affluent of the James, and lately contained about 14,000 mliaTjitants. Norfolk, tlie principal 
port, near the mouth of the river, and a naval station, was abandoned and dismantled by the Federals on the 
secession of Vii'ginia, to prevent ships and stores from falling into the hands of the Confederates. A few 
miles on tlie south the tract known as the Dismal Swamp commences, extending into North Carolina. It is 
about tliirty miles long and ten broad, thickly wooded with pine, juniper, cypress, and, in the drier parts, with 
white and red oak, in some places almost impervious from the dense growth. A canal runs through the 
swamp, and a lake occupies the centre. Fredericlcshurg, midway between Bichmond and 'Washington, with 
other small towns and villages on the route, have been brought out of obscurity by severe skirmishes and 
great engagements, ffarper's Ferry, often mentioned in the story of the struggle, is on the Potomac, fifty- 
tliree miles above 'Washington. It was the scene of John Brown's imprudent enterprise in 1858, and the 
site of a national foundry, armoury, and arsenal, destroyed by the United States government. 

The western part of Virginia, adhering to the Federal cause, constituted itself into a separate state in 
1861, and was reorganised by Congress in the following year. It embraces an area of 20,000 square miles, 
.and has Wheeling on the Ohio, the seat of extensive glass and iron manufactures, for its chief town. Its 
Great Seal is two and a half inches in diameter, and bears the legend, ' State of "West Virginia,' with the 
motto, Moniani semper liheri, * Mountaineers always free.' In the centre is a rock, with ivy, considered by 
the National Almanac emblematic of stability and continuance. 

The Caeolinas, JSTorth and Soutli, originally constituted a single province; and the t-wo 
are still commonly associated in popular speech, being bordering districts, distinguished 
by the same natural features and industries, a remark ■which applies also to Georgia, their 
southern neighbour. These states have islet-fringed shores, on -which the celebrated ' sea 
island cotton ' of commerce is grown, -with a broad belt of lo-w country extending to the 
distance of from 80 to up^wards of 100 miles inland. This district is nearly a dead-level, 
swampy in many places, -where fine rice-grounds are formed ; sandy in others, but thickly 
clothed 'with pine forests supplying pitch, tar, turpentine, and timber. More in the interior 
the surface s'wells into hUls and rises into mountains, forming part of the Alleghanies, 
•which attain in Mitchell's Peak, N'orth Carolina, to 6000 feet above the sea, and sustain 
table-lands of considerable elevation. The chief rivers are the Santee, in South CaroHna, 
and the Savannah, -which forms the border between it and Georgia. Flortoa, the most 
southerly member of the confederation, is one of the least populous and important. It is 
mainly a long and broad peninsula, projecting between the Atlantic and the GuK of 
Mexico, and containing more prominently the low, marshy, sandy, and -woody belt of the 
preceding districts, possessing a very dangerous sea-board. Making a close approach to 
the tropics, oranges, lemons, figs, pomegranates, and dates are common fruits. 

The Carolinas are named after Charles II. The king made a grant of the whole country from the Atlantic 
to the Pacific Ocean, between the parallels of 29° and 36° 30', to eight needy courtiers, who forthwith engaged 
in the most enormous land speculation on record. The allotment embraced the present provinces of North 
Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas, much of Florida 
and Missouri, nearly all Texas, and a large portion of Mexico. The charter constituted them absolute 
proprietors of the soil, with power to establish cities and manors, baronies and counties, create orders of 
nobility, erect fortifications, and levy troops. The most active member of the incorporation was Ashley 
Cooper, Earl of Shaftesbury, whose name is commemorated by the Ashley and Cooper Bivers flowing by 
Charleston. Emigrants were offered land cheaply, and invited to meet the agent of the proprietors, at the 
' Caroline Coffee House, Birchiu Lane, near the Boyal Exchange, every Tuesday morning at eleven o'clock.' 
The first settlers sailed in January 1670, and founded Charleston. Locke, the philosopher, drew up officially 
a scheme of government for the dawning states, the Constitutions of Carolina, much vaunted of in their 
day, but impracticable and fantastic. His autograph is said to be preserved in the Charleston pubUc 
library. 

Baleigh, in North Carolina, and Cohimiia, in the southern province, are small but pleasing interior towns, 
the seats of their local legislatures. Charleston is maritime, and the most important city on the Atlantic 
sea-board south of the Potomac. It occupies a tongue of land between the rivers Ashley and Cooper, 780 
miles from New York. The confluent streams form a bay two miles wide, and extending seven miles to the 
ocean, studded with small islands occupied by forts, now dismantled by the guns of the Federals. The site 
was called Oyster Point by the first settlers, from shell-fish being numerous. Amid ancient groves of pine, 
cedar, and cypress, that swept do-wn to the water's-edge, covered with the yellow jasmine, the rude cabins of 
husbandmen antedated the modem city of merchants and planters, now of soldiers. It was long renowned 
for its splendid vegetation, especially in the Broadway, the present Meeting Street. Houses, furnished with 
piazzas, and ornamented -with vines ; gardens of orange-trees, peaches, and magnolias ; and streets lined with 



836 UNITED STATES. 

the ' Pride of India,' and other beautiful trees, were lately prominent in its appearance. Before the war 
(Charleston contained a population of 41,000. Though gallantly defended, it must have suffered severe 
material injury from the furious attacks of the northerns. The city will have a place in history, as having 
hy its Act of Secession and the attack on Fort Sumter, when held by a small national garrison, taken the 
initiative in the most bloody civil contest which has marked the annals of the world. 

Georgia was the last planted of the states which formed the original Union, and has its name from 
George II., in whose reign the first white settlement was made. Savannah, on the estuary of the river so 
called, is the largest and most commercial town, with an excellent harbour, and a population of 28,000. 
Florida, nominally a Spanisli possession down to the year 1819, was so denominated from being discovered on 
Palm Sunday, Pasqua Florida. Favoured by the swamps, the Seminole Indians long maintained their 
independence, after the amiexation of the territory to the great republic. The region is very remarkable for 
a vast amount of surface water, which forms the extensive grass-ponds called the ' Everglades.' Low islets 
off the south coast, known as the Florida Keys, have always been the dread of mariners. St Augustine, a 
decayed place, two miles from the Atlantic shore, is the oldest town in the United States, having been 
founded by the Spaniards in 1564. 

Alabama, the first in order of the Gulf states, proceeding from east to west, has only a 
limited extent of coast-line ia direct distance, but embraces the deep and spacious inlet of 
MohUe Bay, which includes several harhoiu's. Inland, the territory assumes the form of 
a rectangle of considerable breadth and length, in the northern section of which the 
iUleghanies terminate. Thence the surface declines from mountains into elevated hills, 
clothed with oaks, poplar, hickory, elm, chestnut, and mulberry ; and into a low country 
in the southern part of deep rich soil, often swampy. Here the natural forests are of 
pine and cjrpress, while groves of oranges and lemons are lusuriant, and cotton, rice, and 
sugar are raised. The two principal streams are the Alabama and Tombigbee, both 
navigable for steamers, which imite to form the Mobile, at the outlet of which the city of 
the same name is situated. The states of Mississippi and Louisiana, westward, 
correspond generally to the preceding district in natural features and cultivated products, 
with the exception of having only very slight elevations of the surface within their limits, 
with a larger proportion of woodland, marsh, and open prairie. The great stream is for 
several hundreds of miles the dividing-line between them, and receives the Eed Eiver on 
the west bank, the Yazoo and the Big Black on the east. But its outlet and entire delta 
belong exclusively to Louisiana. Extensive portions of both states are below the high- 
water level, and have to be protected from submergence by levies or dykes, the rupture of 
which by the power of the current occasions destructive inundations. 

Tlie number of foreign-bom inhabitants in these states is by fax the greatest in Louisiana, though its 
population is inferior to either of the other two. In 1860 it amounted to 81,029, whUe Alabama had only 
12,352 and Mississippi 8558. Of the total, 101,939, there were 29,223 Germans and 37,764 Irish. 

Alabama was admitted into the Union iu 1819. The name is Indian, signifying ' Here we rest,' said to 
have been the exclamation of a cliief iu allusion to its well-stocked hunting-grounds. Deer and wild turkeys 
are still abundant in the woods; and aquatic fowl are plentiful. Mineral waters of various kinds are 
numerous. Blount's Springs, chieily sulphureous, in the northern district, is a fashionable watering-place. 
Montgomery, the seat of government, is handsomely buUt, occupies a central position, and was the capital of 
Secession prior to Eichmond. Tuscaloosa, on the Black Warrior River, possesses the state university, a very 
fine pile of buildings. Mobile, the important city and only seaport, stands at the outlet of the river, and the 
head of the bay wliich bears its name. Before the blockade it was one of the largest of the shipping ports 
for cotton, which always commanded a high price in the Liverpool market, and contained a population of 
29,000. It occupies a spacious plain elevated above the highest tides, open to the sea-breezes, and overlooks 
beautiful prospects. The bay is thirty miles long by from three to eighteen miles broad, protected at the 
entr.^nce by Forts Morgan and Gaines, taken by the Federal squadron under Admiral Farragut in 1864. 

The state of Mississippi became a member of the Union in 1817. Jackson, centrally placed on the Pearl 
Piver, the seat of the legislature and pubhe institutions, was captured and partly destroyed by the Federals 
in 1863. It connnmiicates by railway with Vicksburg, forty miles westward, on the left bank of the 
Mississippi, forced by famine to surrender in the same year to General Grant. Watches, lower down on the 
river, derives its name from a tribe of Indians who destroyed an infant settlement at the spot, were afterwards 
defeated, and the survivors sold into slavery in St Domingo. 

Louisiana, planted by the French in 1699, has its name from Louis XIV. of France. In 1803 it was 
purchased by the "Washington govei-nment from Napoleon L for 16,000,000 dollars, and became a recognised 



TEXAS. 837 

state in 1812. Baton Rouge, the seat of its legislature, is a small modem town on the east bank o£ the 
Mississippi, occupying the first bluff met with on ascending the stream. The bluffs are masses of limestone 
on its banks, often perpendicular, seeming at a distance like the walls and battlements of a city. They are 
striking objects, and relieve the monotony of the channel in its lower course. New Orleans, the commercial 
capital, called the ' Crescent City ' from the shape of the older portion, is situated on the same side of the 
gi-eat river, about 100 mUes from its mouth following the current, 1172 miles from ■Washington, 1397 from 
New York, and 1612 mUes from Boston. Though on the eastern bank of the stream, it occupies a bend so 
deep and sinuous that the inhabitants see the sun rise over the opposite shore. The site is several feet below 
high-water mark, protected from the invasion of the flood by a broad lev^e, which forms a splendid promenade, 
and is convenient for shipping purposes. Owing to the soil being saturated with water, no underground 
cellars can be made, and the dead are not buried in the cemeteries in excavated graves, but in tombs above 
the surface, called ' ovens.' The hotels, theatres, and public buildings are magnificent, and the vUlas of the 
wealthy in the subui-bs are very beautiful. They are bmlt of planks, called frame-houses, painted white, with 
green Venetian blinds ; and have verandahs running round them, with which tropical plants entwine, while 
gi'oves of orange-trees are in the gardens. But yellow fever occasionally visits the city with fatal effect, 
especially to the unaoclimatised. Previous to the outbreak of hostilities it contained a population of 168,000, 
of a most promiscuous description, but chiefly Americans, French Creoles, and Negroes ; and was the seat of 
a vast commerce in cotton and sugar. In the streets might be seen the ' dark, sallow, black-bearded, and 
moustached Spaniard ; the smooth, clean-shaved, lantern-jawed Yankee ; the Ught-haired, greasy, and red- 
faced German ; the smug Englishman ; the cautious, keen Scot ; the Celt, with his rich brogue ; the proud 
southern planter, in Panama hat, purest of linen and whitest of clothes ; the reckless Texan, ivith broad felt 
sombrero, and trousers tucked into his high boots ; thg tail flat-boatman, in hunting-shirt and leggings ; and 
the Mexican, with his everlasting corn-shuck cigarita in his mouth.' In 1862 the city surrendered to the 
Federal navy under Parragut, and has since been subject to military government. 

Texas embraces the coast from Louisiana to Mexico, and tas a vast inland extent, being 
larger than the whole of France, possessing natural resources as well as space to sustain an 
immense population, and form the seat of a flourishing independent empire. The country- 
is flat for some distance from the shores, and exhibits an uninterrupted sea of verdure, 
the view of which is only bounded by the horizon. Then the surface rises in gentle 
knolls formiag the ' rolling ' prairies, some of which are park-like, being dotted with single 
trees, or with clumps of timber called 'mottes,' behind which fancy is apt to picture the 
lordly castle or stately mansion, where there is probably not a single hut for mUes. More 
in. the interior, the elevations become hiUs of considerable height, and then mountains on 
the north-western frontier, the summits of which are covered with snow for many months 
of the year. Few districts are so well supplied with springs, streams, and rivers. All the 
latter flow from the north-west, and eventually pay tribute to the Mexican Gulf. The 
Colorado and the Brazos are the most important. Wood generally form their border, 
varying from a few yards to twenty miles in width, but occasionally the grass of the 
prairies runs up to the bluff banks. Cotton, sugar, and tobacco aie raised, and cattle 
breeding is very extensively conducted. Many of the ranoheros, or stock-owners, possess 
20,000 head, have good houses, generally built where tall trees afford a shade, with which 
orchards of peach, nectarine, fig, an.d other fruits are connected, as well as gardens of 
tropical plants and flowers. 

The name Texas is Indian. It is related that a tribe driven from their hunting-grounds by more powerful 
neighbours wandered south. Beaching a high prairie swell, the chief gazed with silent delight upon the 
plains, covered with vast herds of deer, bisons, antelopes, and other animals. "Waving his ann, he called the 
attention of his warriors to the fair landscape with the exclamation, 'Texas, Texas !' or 'Plenty, plenty !' 
Texas, originally part of Mexico, gained independence under General Houston by the decisive battle of San 
Jacinto, April 21, 1836. It remained a separate republic till the year 1845, when by vote of the people it was 
annexed to the United States. Austin, on the Colorado, about 200 rmles from its mouth, ranks as the seat of 
government ; Houston, on the Buffalo, is larger ; but Galveston, at one extremity of an island of the same 
name, is the principal place, containing 10,000 inhabitants and some good public buildings. The island is a 
long narrow tract of sand, destitute of timber, except three trees, called the 'lone trees,' which form a well- 
known landmark for coasting vessels. Lafitte's Fort is at one end of the town, the stronghold of a notorious 
bucaneer of that name, ultimately pardoned by General Jackson, for services rendered to the Americans 
during the British attack on New Orleans in 1815. His story is said to have suggested adventures connected 
with a different sea in Lord Byron's Cm'sair, 



838 



UNITED STATES. 



IV. WESTERN STATES. 





Area in Sijnare Miles. 


Population. 


Ohio, . 


. 39,964 . 


2,339,502 . 


Michigan, 


. 56,243 . 


. 749,113 


Indiana, 


. . 33,809 . . 


1,350,438 . 


Kentuclcy, 


. 37,680 . 


. 1,155,684 


Tennessee, 


. . 45,600 . 


1,109,801 . 


Arkansas, 


52,198 


. 435,450 


Missouri, 


. 67,380 . . 


1,182,000 . 


Kansas, . 


80,000 


. 107,200 


Illinois, 


. 55,409 . 


1,711,951 . 


Iowa, 


55,045 


. 674,948 


Wisconsin, 


. . 53,924 . . 


775,881 . 


Minnesota, 


83,531 . 


. 173,855 



Capitals and Chief Towns. 
Columbus, Cincinnati, Cleveland. 
Lansing, Detroit, Monroe. 
Indianopolis, New Albany, Madison. 
Frankfort, Louisville, Lexington. 
Nashville, Murfreesboro', Memphis. 
Little Eock, Van Buren. 
Jefferson City, St Louis, Independence. 
Topeka, Lecompton. 
Springfield, Chicago, Galena. 
Des Moines, Burlington. 
Madison, Milwaukee. 
St Paul, St Anthony. 

Ohio, on tlie west of Pennsylvania and Virginia, is extensively enclosed by the river 
Ohio, and the south-western waters of Lake Erie, which give it a fluvial boundary of more 
than 400 miles, and a lake frontier of 230 miles. It embraces a large section of the 
miaeral region of the Alleghanies, where coal and iron are worked ; possesses prolific salt- 
springs and oil-wells ; includes important remains of the natural forest ; and the heaviest 
crops of cereal produce are obtained without manure from the alluvial soil of the valleys, 
which contribute numerous streams to the bounding lake and river. Most of the hiUs 
have also deep rich soU, and are capable of being cultivated to their summits. Thus 
endowed with great advantages by the bounty of nature, this territory has rapidly 
accmnrdated a large and prosperous population, while the unoccupied and even untouched 
tracts are stDl extensive. Michigan, on the north-west of Ohio, is chiefly included within 
the great horseshoe bend of Lakes Erie, Huron, and Michigan, a level tract covered with 
pine woods interspersed with prairies, but has a detached portion between the last-named 
expanse and Lake Superior, boldly rugged and also forest clad. An enormous quantity of 
timber is annually prepared for export ; the agricultural produce is considerable ; and 
pastoral husbandry is also pursued. Indiana touches the southern shore of Lake 
Michigan, extends thence to the banljs of the Ohio, and has its afiluent, the Wabash, 
running along the greater part of its western border. It is a region of alternate forest and 
j)rairie, with tUlage and the rearing of live-stock for prevailing pursuits. 

The state of Ohio was admitted into the TTniou in the year 1803, and ranks the third in the number of its 
foreign bom inhabitants, or next to New York and Pennsylvania. Germans vastly preponderate. In 1860 
they amounted to 168,210, while the Irish only numbered 76,826, the English 32,700, and the Scotch 6535. 
Cohiinhus, the political capital, on an affluent of the Ohio, is a town of moderate size, possessing a state 
library of 26,000 volumes. Its site was part of the wUdemess in 1812. Cincinnati, situated on the north 
bank of the main river, the pride of the "West, is the largest city between the Alleghanies and the Pacific 
Ocean. It was founded in 1789 by a few families from New England and New Jersey, and was only a log- 
built village of 750 souls at the beginning of the century, and has now a population of 160,000, with palatial 
banks, hotels, and warehouses, from forty to fifty churches, a Roman CathoHc cathedral, an observatory, 
several markets, and all the appurtenances of a great metropolis. The Public School Library contains 25,000 
volumes, the Mercantile 21,000, and St Xavier's College 17,000. The manufactures are various ; that of 
household furniture, chiefly sent down the river by the steamers for the rising places in the far western wilds, 
is veiy extensive. Cleveland, on Lake Erie, is the principal grain mart, containing 55,000 inhabitants. The 
com is thence shipped to Buffalo, and reaches the Atlantic sea-board by the Erie Canal. 

Michigan, a youthful state, dating from the year 1837, has Zaiisinr/ for its seat of government, where the 
fii'st settlement was made in 1847. Detroit, the principal town, is of old establishment, having been founded 
as a fur-trading post by the French Canadians nearly two centuries ago. It stands on the river of its own 
name which connects Lakes Huron and Erie, and forms the frontier from Upper Canada. The place is 
actively commercial, containing a population of 45,000. Thousands of emigrants annually disembark here 
bound for the far west, Indiana became a member of the Union in 1816, and has Indiano'polis for its 
capital, with 30,000 inhabitants, near its centre. 

Kentucky, one of the older states, has the course of the Ohio for its northern border, 



TENNESSEE — AEKANSAS. 



839 



and that of the Mississippi for the western, -which forms in that direction the limit of 
Tennessee, a southerly adjoining district. Both have a generally hilly surface, abund- 
antly -wooded, with the Cumberland Mountains on the eastern side, a branch of the 
TUleghanies. They correspond in their staple agricultural products, wheat, maize, and 
tobacco, while cattle-rearing is pursued upon a great scale, and enormous numbers of 
swine are fed on mast in the forests. Limestone is likewise the prevailing substratum in 
both states. It abounds with fissures, called ' sinkholes,' in which entire streams dis- 
appear in the dry season ; it also contains some chambered stalactital and osseous caverns 
of immense dimensions. 

Kentucky dates as a state from the year 1792. Frankfort, the legislative seat, is of far inferior importance 
to Louisville, an increasing city of 69,000 inhahitants, at the Rapids of the Ohio. A short canal obviates the 
obstruction offered here to the navigation, but when the water is high the largest steamers traverse the river 




Mammoth Cave, Kentucky. 

without difficulty. The great Mammoth Cave, in Edmonson County, once containing remains of the fossil 
elephant, is the largest kno^wn cavern in the world. Tt consists of a series of chambers connected by passages, 
which have been explored through a length of ten miles, and has probably been the bed of a subterranean 
river. Tennessee was received into the Union in 1796. Nashville, the capital, on the banks of the Cumber- 
land, contains a costly state-house, with about 16,000 inhabitants, and has the ' Hermitage ' in the vicuiity, 
once the residence of President Jackson. It was taken in 1862 by the Federals under General Eosencrans. 
Afterwards (Jan. 1—3, 1863) the Confederates under Bragg were defeated in a great battle at Murfreesboro\ 
a to^vn on the south-east. Memphis, seated on a fine bluff of the Mississippi, above its highest floods, was 
highly prosperous before the war, as the outlet of a cotton region, containing a navy-yard, fifteen cinirches, 
vnt\\ daily and weekly newspapers, and a population of 22,000. Captured by the Federals in 1862, it became 
the base of their operations against Vicksburg, lower down the river. 

Akkansas, separated by the Mississippi from the southern part of Tennessee, derives its 
name from a priucipal affluent of the great river by which it is iutersected, and divided 
into two nearly equal portions. It contains a large extent of prairie-ground, with the 
usual animals ia abundance, but has a very spare population ia proportion to the area, 



840 UNITED STATES. 

wMch is about the same as that of England, -with no settlements ranking above the size of 
villages. MissouEi, on the north, extends along the course of the Mississippi-Missouri, 
and embraces a series of roUiug prairies, occasionally sweUing into hills stored with 
mineral wealth, bitumiuous coal, iron, and lead ores. Kansas, on the west, is a similar 
district, but more extensively iu a state of nature. 

Both Arkansas and Missouri had at an early date a few French settlements, and were included in the 
Louisiana purchase from Napoleon L They were admitted into the Union, the former in 1S36, the 
latter in 1821. Kansas was received in 1861. No towns occur entitled to notice except St Louis, the ' Queen 
of the Mississippi Valley,' belonging to the state of Missouri. This is the commercial emporium of the West, 
and the principal depot of the American Pur Company, a scene of extraordinary activity. It is seated upon 
one of the limestone bluffs of the ' Father of Waters,' eighteen miles by the stream below the junction of 
the Missouri, 1100 below the Falls of St Anthony, 1132 above New Orleans, and 808 miles from 
"Washington. The spot was selected by Lacede, a French trader from Canada, in 1764, for a trading post 
with the Indians, who foretold its rise to distinction from the favourable site, in command of a vast river- 
navigation. But half a century ago it was stiU. only a paltry hamlet. St Louis has now a population of 
160,000, chiefly collected since the year 1840, with spacious streets, costly public edifices, several colleges, a 
United States' arsenal and barracks, a full complement of churches, and a vast transit trade. The city pre- 
sents a beautiful appearance as seen from the opposite bank of the river, and as approached on its surface. 
Long caravans of emigrants leave it annually for the country beyond the Eocky Mountains, and on the 
western side of the state, at the small town of Independence, make the final start for the weary pilgrimage. 

Between the tlrree states of Kansas on the north, Arkansas on the east, Texas on the south and west, lies 
the Indian Territory, set apart by Congress for the native tribes compelled to remove from the Atlantic side 
of the Mississippi, owing to the ' pale faces ' taking possession of their land. The district contains 70,000 
square miles, abounds with game, and is plentifully watered. Remnants of the red race brought from dis- 
tant points are here located, provided with industrial schools, and allowed an annual grant to aid in prociuing 
the means of subsistence. A Commissioner of Indian Affairs, to take charge of these sons of the wilderness, 
Cherokees, Creeks, Seminoles, Clioctaws, and others, was appointed by the "Washington legislature in 1862. 

Illinois touches upon the southern shore of Lake Michigan, and extends along the 
eastern side of the Mississippi to the confluence of the Ohio, contributing to the great 
central water-course the river from which the state derives its name, and other affluents. 
It is eminently a region of fertile prairies, with great depth of vegetable soil, a few low 
Mils, interspersing groves of timber, rich lead deposits, iron and coal in abundance. Iowa, 
westward, has the same superficial aspect and natural resources, in which "Wisconsin 
shares, extending northward from the shores of Lake Michigan to the far extremity of 
Lake Superior. Minnesota stretches from the last-named expanse to the Lake of the 
"Woods, and along the parallel of 49°, which forms the dividing-lLne from British ground. 
It includes a tract of limited extent, but remarkable importance in the hydrography of the 
continent, or the table-land of no considerable elevation, where, within a few miles of 
each other, rivers begin, their flow in opposite directions, the Eed Eiver communicating 
with Hudson's Bay, the St Louis with Lake Superior and the Gulf of St Lawrence, and 
the ^Mississippi with the Gulf of Mexico. 

Illinois was received into the Union in 1818. The population has increased with marvellous rapidity from 
12,282 in 1810 to 55,211 in 1820, 157,445 in 1830, 476,183 in 1840, 851,470 in 1850, and 1,711,951 in ISfaO^ The 
state ranks the fourth in the niunber of the foreign bom, who amount to nearly one-fifth of the whole. These 
included at the last-named date 130,804 Germans and 87,573 Irish. Illinois abounds with the tracts called 
' bottoms ' and ' barrens ' in the peculiar dialect of the "West. The bottoms are on the river-margins, and 
consist of the richest land, formed of alluvial deposits. An extensive tract of this description commences at 
the mouth of the Kaskaskia, on the Mississippi, and runs up the course of the latter for the distance of ninety 
miles, having an average -width of five miles. It bears the name of the ' American bottom.' Hedges of the 
Osage orange are common in many parts, and make good fences. Spriiigfield, in the centre of the state, was 
laid out as the seat of its public institutions in 1822, but has lagged behind other to-wns of more recent date. 
Chicago, the largest, at the outlet of a river of the name into Lake Michigan, has a singularly advantageous 
site. There is a fine expanse on the one hand, a fertile prairie on the other, -with extensive tracts of timber 
at hand, and a good river harbour in its centre. This is perhaps the most remarkable city in the world for 
rapid gro-wth. The name, which is Indian, pronounced She-kaw-go, has long been known, and the place Was 
occupied by the frontier military post of Fort Dearborn do-svn to the year 1831, around which the wolves 
howled, and the natives had their -wigwams. There were then about seven families of whites, besides the few 
soldiers, for whose wants a single log-tavern sufficed. In the brief interval since, a population of 160,000 has 



PAOIFIO STATES. 



841 



teen gathered, in posscBsion of flrst-olass public buildings, immense storeliouses, numerous shipping, and the 
place is second to none as a great grain-dep6t. It has its Historical Society, with a library of 15,000 volumes, 
and a Yomig Men's Association, with 10,000. Galena, in the north-west corner of the state, is the metropolis 
of the load-mining region, to which it owes its origin and name. The town contains about 14,000 inhabitants, 
and sent out annually upwards of 42,000,000 lbs. of the metal before the war. Nauvoo, on the Mississippi, 
was the original seat of the Mormon community, where their first prophet, Smith, was killed by the mob in 
1844, which led Ito the exodus of his followers, 20,000, to the Great Salt Lake, and leduoed the place to 
insignificance. 

Iowa was recognised as a state in 1846, 'Wisoonsin in 1848, which contains Mihoaukee, a town of 40,000 
inhabitants, on Lake Michigan, and Minnesota in 1857. This last, in 1862, suffered an awful calamity. 
Instigated by reports concerning the war, as well as by some real grievances, the Sioux Indians rose against 
the settlers, burned their houses, murdered the inmates or carried them into captivity, sparing neither age 
nor sex, and ravaged a broad tract of country upwards of 200 miles in length. A military force hastily 
collected checked the massacre, and finally wholly dispersed the natives, taking many of them prisoners, of 
whom thirty-eight were hanged on the same scaffold. St Paul, the state capital, is on the Mississippi, first 
settled in 1846 by about ten persons, and possessing 10,000 inhabitants in 1856. The Falls of St Anthony, 
fourteen miles above, mark the head of the navigation, and were so named by Eriar Hennequin, the first 
European who reached them, about the year 1680, from his patron saint. The river is here divided by an 
island into two branches, the largest of which is about 300 yards wide. The perpendicular descent is not 
considerable, but rushes down a steeply-inclined bed with great grandeur. A beautiful cascade in the 
neighbourhood has the name of Minnehaha, or the ' Laughing Water.' Minnesota contains an immense 
number of small clear lakes, abundantly stocked ynm fish, the shores of which have generally features of the 
bland d ^cnption 




California, 
Oregon, 



Minnehaha Falls, Minnesota. 

V. PACIFIC STATES. 
Area in Square Miles. Population. 
188,982 . . 379,994 
. 95,274 . 52,465 



Capitals and Chief Towns. 
Sacramento City, San Francisco. 



California, on the Pacific Ocean, emliraces as a state only a small portion of the 
geographical region known by the name, parts of which have been assigned to other 



842 



UNITED STATES. 



sectional divisions, while a sotithern tract remains -within the limits of Mexico. It extends 
northward from the long narrow peninsula and Gulf of California to the border of Oregon, 
and from the sea-board inland to the high chain of the Sierra Nevada. Parallel to the 
coast, and only a short distance from it, runs a subordinate range of mountains, between 
which and the inner range lies a grand longitudinal hoUow, the distinguishing feature of 
the country. This great valley has a length of 500 miles from north to south, by an 
average breadth of 50 miles, but includes valleys of smaller extent, formed by lower 
lateral ridges along the main chains. It is traversed from the north by the Sacramento 
Eiver, and from the south by the San Joaquin, which come to a confluence towards the 
termination of their course, and enter as one stream the noble harbour of San Prancisco. 
While renowned for gold, other metals are either obtaiued or are known to exist in this 
region; as silver, quicksilver in the form of cinnabar, platina, copper, and iron. The 
finest timber ia the world is also found witliin its limits in piaes of giant height and 
girth j and aU the fruits of the warm and more temperate countries of Europe are raised 
in perfection, from the apple to the olive, from the grape to the orange. 

California was obtained by cession from Mexico at the close of the war with that country in 1848. It was 
then very scantily peopled by cattle-breeders and trappers, who exported liides, tallow, and furs. But the 
discovery of gold, which had just before been made, in Sutter's mill-race, Sacramento Valley, changed as if by 
magic its industry and aspect. Thousands poured in from the Atlantic states and other quarters ; and the 
territory speedily acquired a population sufficiently large to be received as a state into the Union, which took 
place in 1850. In the interval from April 1849 to December 1856, gold was exported of the average value of 
more than £9,000,000 per year. It was entirely obtained at first from the drift in the great valley, composed 
of a heterogeneous mixture of clay, sand, gravel, and pebbles, varying in thickness from a few inches to 
several feet. But quartz-crushing mills were speedily introduced for its extraction from the solid rock. In 
1861 there were 192 quartz-mills in operation, and the mining ditches, or * diggings,' numbered 481, having a 
total length of 4300 miles. The gold has attracted a large body of foreigners. There are Dutch, Swedes, and 
Norwegians, Greeks, Italians, and Swiss, French and Spaniards, Kussians and Poles, West Indians and 
Sandwich Islanders. The three largest numbers are contributed by the Germans, 21,646, the Irish, 33,147, and 
the Chinese, 34,935. But during the last ten years the yield of gold has immensely diminished. In 1852 
diggers commonly earned ten dollars per day, but can scarcely obtain one-fifth of that amount at present. 
Many anticipate that by the year 1872 no white man will be found in California engaged in gold-digging, and 
hence attention has been turned to other pursuits. 

Permanent snow caps the higher summits of the Sierra Nevada, while the lateral ridges are clothed with 
forests of oak, fir, arbor- vitae, and various pines of huge dimensions. Fremont measured one tree that was 21 
feet in diameter, or 66 in circumference ; and larger examples are met ivith. Some pines in the vaUey of 
Murphy's, locally called the ' Big Trees,' have made the site a place of pilgrimage. The village is about 2000 
feet above the sea, and the trees, fifteen miles distant, require an additional ascent of 2500 feet to reach them. 
' Huge shafts of fir, arbor-vitse, and sugar-pine,' remarks a visitor, ' arose on all sides, and the further we 
advanced the grander and more dense became the forest. "Whenever we obtained an outlook, it revealed 
to us hills similarly covered ; only now and then, in the hollows, were some intervals of open meadow. The 
air perceptibly increased in coolness, clearness, and delicious purity. The trees now rose Uke colossal 
pillars, from four to eight feet in diameter, and 200 feet in height, without a crook or a flaAV of any kind. 
There was no undergrowth, but the dry soil was hidden under a bed of short golden fern, which blazed like 
fire where the srmshine struck it. Our progress, from the ascent, and the deep dust which concealed the 
ruts, was slow, and would have been tedious but for the inspiring majesty of the forest. But when four 
hours had passed, and the sun was near his setting, we began to look out impatiently for some sign of 
the Trees. The pines and arbor-vitse had become so large that it seemed as if nothing could be larger. As 
some great red shaft loomed duskily through the shadows, one and then another of us would exclaim, "There's 
one," only to convince ourselves, as we came nearer, that it was not. Suddenly, in front of us, where the gloom 
was deepest, I saw a huge something behind the other trees, like the magnified shadow of one of them, thrown 
upon a dark-red cloud. While I was straining my eyes, in questioning wonder, the road made a sharp curve. 
Glancing forward, I beheld two great circular — shot towers ? Not trees surely ! — ^but yes, by all the Dryads, 
those are trees.' The colossi, to the number of ninety, are scattered through the forest over a space half a 
mile in length. They have all received names, more or less appropriate, as the * Beauty of the Forest,' the 
' Three Graces,' ' Uncle Tom's Cabin,' the 'Old Bachelor,' the ' Old Maid,' ' Hercules,' and the ' Mother of the 
Forest.' The last is 93 feet in circumference and 325 feet high. The bark, which has been stripped off to the 
height of 110 feet, represents her in the Ci-ystal Palace, Sydenham. 

Sacramento City, the state capital, on the river of that name, and Stockton, near the San Joaquin, are the 
principal inland towns. San Francisco, the commercial metropolis and great shipping port, contains a 



TBERIT0HIE3. 



843 



vaiyjng poiralation of from 50,000 to 60,000. It is seated on the shore of a landlocked bay, resembling a lake 
in its placid aspect, and a highland loch from the adjacent mountain scenery, with space enough to contain all 
tlie navies of tlio world, and depth of water for the largest vessels. Many islands dot the surface. The 
entrance to the bay, a few miles distant, is comparatively narrow, and bears the not inappropriate name of 
the ' Golden Gate.' Being buil,t almost wholly of wood, the city has often suffered from fires. But it was 
visited by an opposite calamity in 1861-62, a succession of tremendous floods, which submerged the lower 
rooms of the houses, converted the streets into navigable canals, and suspended communication through a 
wide area of the countiy except by the telegraph-wires. Large quantities of snow had fallen in the moun- 
tains, followed by warm rains, wMch, as estimated by the rain-gauge at some stations, amounted to the extra- 
ordinary fall of three feet nine inches in a single month. Hence the lower part of the great valley was changed 
for a time into a spacious lake — nearly the extent of Lake Michigan — and property was destroyed valued at 
several millions of dollars. But unquestionable evidence was afforded, by the age of the trees swept down, 
and other circumstances, that no such deluge could have occurred for several centuries. Benicia, on 
Karquenas Strait, possesses an arsenal, a navy-yard, and large docks, with a name rendered tanuliar as the 
cognomen of the ' Boy ' who crossed the ocean to figlit liis battle with the champion of England. 

The vegetation introduced into California is now very varied, and has succeeded remarkably weU. In 1861 
there were, in round numbers, 2280 pomegranate-trees, 3700 of olive, 5700 orange, 19,000 fig, 50,000 apricot, 
53,000 nectarine, 115,000 plum, 212,000 pear, 960,000 peach, and 1,170,000 apple-trees, with 10,590,000 gi-ape 
vines, estimated to cover 11,500 acres. 

Oregon extends northward on. the coast from California to the Columhia Eiver, and is 
a similarly mountainous and woody region. The state is the youngest member of the 
Union, admitted in 1859, at present in an early stage of transition from the natural 
wilderness to civilised occupation and culture. One hranch of the frontier river descends 
from British America, and the entire navigation is open alike to British and Americans, 
hut is of little value, as the stream is hroken up hy falls and rapids into many separate 
portions. Its mouth was the site of the fur-trading post founded in 1811 by Mr Astor, 
the enterprising merchant of I^ew York, a commercial adventure which forms the subject 
of Washington Irving's Astoria. 

VI. TEREITORIES. 



New Mexico, 
Utah, . 
Washington, 
Nebraska, . 
Colorado, 
Dakota, 
Nevada, 
Idaho, 
Arizona, . 



1850 
1850 
1853 
1854 
1861 
1861 
1861 
1863 
1863 







Square Miles. 


Capitals. 


121,450 . 


Santa Fe. 


. 109,600 


. Groat Salt Lake City 


71,300 . 


Olympia. 


. 63,300 . 


. Omaha City. 


106,475 . . 


Golden City. 


. 152,500 


. Yangton. 


83,500 . 


Carson City. 


. 333,200 


. Florence. 


130,800 . 


Tucson. 



The population of these territories has in some instances not been taken, and in others, returns have been 
rendered fallacious by a redistribution of then- limits. "Witli few exceptions, the towns are infant settle- 
ments. Only a general idea of the relative position of the districts need be given. 

New Mexico, ceded at the close of the war in 1818 by the Mexican government, is immediately west of 
Northern Texas, and contains the head waters of the Rio Grande, in the long valley of which the greater part 
of the inhabitants are settled. They consist of wliites chiefly of Spanish descent, ivith semi-civilised Indians 
in villages, and wild predatory Indians in the open country. Santa Fe, twenty miles east of the great river, 
is a small old town of Spanish foundation, maintaining trading commimication by mule and wagon trains 
with St Louis in Missouri. The full name is Santa Fe da San Francisco, ' Holy Faith of St Francis.' 

Utah embraces the central part of Fremont's ' Great Basin,' or the valley between the Sierra Nevada and 
the Eocky Mountains, distinguished by the Great Salt Lake, about 75 miles in length, and 4200 feet above 
the sea, supposed to be the Lake Temponogos visited by the early Spanish ecclesiastics. Fremont conducted 
the first boat expedition ever attempted on the surface in 1843. It contains several mountainous islands. 
The water is strongly charged with common salt, almost transparently clear, and of an extremely beautiful 
bright-green colour. The shores are whitened with incrustations of the mineral from the spray of the waves. 
A smaller fresh-water expanse on the south. Lake Utah, at a higher level, pours its overflow into it by the 
river Jordan. The mhabitants of this region are mostly Mormons, or, as they style themselves, the ' Church 
of Jesus Christ of the Latter-Day Saints,' who originally emigrated from the state of lUinois, in order to 
secure freedom from molestation in the great mountain valley, and have been aimually joined by recruits 



844 



UNITED STATES. 



from the old countries o£ Europe. However -wild their religious views, fantastic their ecclesiastioal 
organisation, and odious their polygamy, no colonists have ever been more energetic and successful, having 
converted a naturally barren laud into a lovely region of cultivated fields, rich orchards, flower-filled 
gardens, and pleasant residences. Essentially agricultural iu their industry, they are strongly opposed to 
mining adventures wliioh might be profitably conducted. Polygamy, considered to have attained a 
respectable standard when five wives are possessed, is here productive of a large preponderance of female 
births, as in other parts of the world where it is practised. Great Salt Lake City, near the south-east 
border of the lake, is regularly built, and contains a population of 15,000. The houses are almost all of the 
same plain pattern, widely apart from each other, and therefore extend over a great space. The broad 
streets are lined with trees, and have streams of sparkling water led through them from the neighbouring 
hills. The site is 776 mUes from San Francisco by the ordinary route of land travel, and upwards of 1100 
miles from St Joe on the Missouri. In the whole territory the Mormons number iO,000, occupying small 
towns, many of whom are emigrants from Great Britain and Denmark. 

The territory of Washington extends along the coast of the Pacific, northward from Oregon to British 
Columbia. That of NEBRASKA lies directly west of the state of Iowa. The route of emigration overland to 
Salt Lake, California, and Oregon passes through it up the great valley of the Platte or Nebraska Kiver, 
Dakota is immediately on the north, and west of the state of Minnesota, named after an Indian tribe. 
Nevada embraces part of the mountain region between Utah and California, rich in mines of the precioiLS 
metals, especially of silver. In 1862 one of its counties contributed to the United States Sanitary War Com- 
mission eight massive silver bars, five of which weighed 111 lbs. each. Quicksilver, lead, and antimony are 
also found in great abundance. Arizona, east of Southern California, and Colorado, west of Kansas, are 
both important mineral districts. Denver City, the chief town in the last-named territory, contains 5000 
inhabitants, and issues two daily papers, the Gomimonwealth and the Boclcy Mountain News. Idaho, the 
youngest organised district, lies north of Utah and Colorado, and extends in that direction to the frontier of 
British America, an immense region destined at no distant date to be subdivided. It contains the upper 
waters of the Missouri, fcemont's Peak, and the South Pass of the mountain-range, the great route between 
the Atlantic and the Pacific states. 

The South Pass of the Eocky Mountains is approached by the westward-boimd traveller over plains covered 
with artemisia, or wUd-sage, which grows as well on the hiUs as the river-bottoms, and impregnates the air 
with the odour of camphor and turpentine, which combine in the plants. In the later stages of the weary 
journey, the upper valley of the Platte is followed, and then that of one of its head branches, the Sweetwater. 
North of the first-mentioned river are the Ked Buttes, a famous landmark, consisting of lofty escarpments of 
red argillaceous sandstone. The distinctive name is naturahsed in the mountain-region from the French 
iutte, and applied to all detached hUls and ridges which rise abruptly. Along the course of the Sweetwater, 
the noticeable object is the dome-shaped Eock Independence, an isolated mass of granite, everywhere 
inscribed with the names of wayfarers, where the surface is sufficiently smooth. A few miles beyond is the 
Devil's Gate, where the stream cuts through a granite ridge, and flows between vertical walls of rock. The 
summit of the Pass is gained by a long and very gradual ascent. At the height of about 7000 feet above the 
sea, the traveller suddenly finds himself in the presence of waters flowing westward to the Pacific Ocean. 
This is the route of the celebrated Pony Express between California and St Joe on the Missouri. The riders 
accomplish 100 miles at a time with four changes of horses, and secure communication between San Francisco 
and New York in less than tliirty days. 

The general government of the United States is conducted hy a President, a Senate, and 
a House of Eepresentatives, collectively called the Congress, -which meets annually at Wash- 
ington ia the month of December. The President is cotti m ander-ia-chief of the army and 
navy ; and has power, with the concurrence of the Senate, to declare war, make treaties, 
appoint ambassadors, judges, and other officers of the executive. He must he a native-horn 
citizen, not under thirty-five years of age, and is popularly elected for the period of four years, 
but eligible for re-election. He takes the following oath at his installation : ' I do solemnly 
swear (or affirm) that I wUl faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, 
and will, to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the constitution of the 
United States.' The current presidental term, ending March 3, 1865, is the nineteenth 
since the establishment of the EepubUc, but owing to the double terms of Washington and 
others, the present president is only the sixteenth in the high office. Virginia has con- 
tributed five presidents ; Massachusetts two ; Tennessee two ; New York two ; and Ohio, 
Louisiana, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, and Illinois, one each. The Senate is composed 
of two members from every state, chosen for six years by their respective local legislatures. 
The House of Eepresentatives consists of members elected for two years by the people in 
each state according to population. Both senators and representatives are paid eight 



RELIGIOUS COMMUNIONS. 



845 



doHars a day during the period of their attendance in Congress, with, eight dollars for 
every twenty miles' travel, by the usual roads, in going to and returning from the seat of 
government. At the close of the year 1863, the United States contained a white and free 
coloured population amounting to nearly 30,000,000. Immigration has mainly contri- 
buted to this majestic aggregate. It has been calculated, that if there had been no foreign 
arrivals during the present century, the sum-total would scarcely have reached 10,500,000, 
by the slow increase produced by the excess of births over deaths. 

Since the year 1800, the inunigi-ants and their descendants are estimated at 19,000,000. 
Since n 1810, « r. n i, ii 17,000,000. 

Since v 1820, n « :i » « 15,000,000. 

Prior to the war, there were nearly 4,000,000 Ji^Tegro slaves, a sad additional item to the 
population under the ' Stars and Stripes,' and a dark blot upon the fame of the 
Eepublic, subject to the reproachful reflection upon its statesmen, that previous to the 
outbreak of existing hostilities no measure was ever submitted to the legislature providing 
for the abolition of slavery by legal and peaceful means. The great body of the slaves were 
in Virginia, the Carolinas, Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, and 
Kentucky, with a limited number in Missou^, Maryland, Florida, Texas, and Arkansas, and 
some in Columbia within the very shadow of the Capitol. ISTo . religious communion is 
established or sustained by the government, but liberally is the voluntary system put in 
action by the people. The Presbyterians, Baptists, and Methodists are numerically the 
most important denominations ; and next the Congregationalists, Episcopalians, Eoman 
Catholics, and Lutherans. Some of these bodies are divided into very numerous sections. 
The Baptists include the Eegular, the Anti-Mission, the Seventh-Day, the Six-Principle, 
the Pree-Wni, and the Eiver Brethren communions, with the Winebrennarians, Dunkers, 
Mennonites, and CampbeUites. The Presbyterians are of the Old School, the New 
School, the Cumberland, the Eeformed, the United, and the United Synod Associations. 
In most of the states large sums are voted by their legislatures for the support of free 
primary schools, as well as for high schools, gymnasiums, colleges, and universities. 
School libraries are diffused by thousands throughout the country, and are estimated to 
contain an aggresiato of from five to six miUions of volumes. 




Great Salt Lake. 




Jalapa, from the High Road between Vera Cruz and Mexico. 



CHAPTEE IV. 

MEXICO, CENTPvAl AMERICA, AND WEST INDIES. 

I. MEXICO. 

HIS country, one of the most remarkable in its physical 
features, is for the most part an isthmus gradually contracting 
in width from north to south, intersected somewhat centrally 
hy the Ime of the tropic, so that the two halves are respec- 
tively hi the temperate and the torrid zone. It has for its 
houndaries the Pacific Ocean on the west, the Mexican Gulf 
on the east, the United States on the north, and the terri- 
tory of Guatemala on the south. The Gulf of California, on 
the western coast, upwards of 700 mUes long, hut compara- 
tively narrow, is the most considerahle iolet on that side of 
the American continent, formerly the site of an important 
pearl-fishery, now abandoned owing to social distractions and the diminution of the 
supply. Early navigators styled it the Vermilion Sea, from the reddish colouring of the 
waters, probably occasioned by the presence of minute animalculas. The Spaniards name 
it from its discoverer. Mar de Cortez. The distance from sea to sea across the isthmus, 
where the greatest expansion occurs, scarcely exceeds 500 miles. It decreases southerly 
to little more than a fourth part of that measurement, but owing to the extension north 
and south, the area comprises not less than 750,000 square miles. Belts of lowland form 
the coasts, the broadest of which is on the side of the Atlantic. Between them is an 




PHYSICAL FEATURES. 847 

immense plateau, tlie main mass of the coimtry, divided into a series of table-lands, ranging 
in height from 6000 to 8000 feetj on which are populous cities, spacious lakes, mountain- 
ridges, and numerous volcanic cones, -which rise to more than double the elevation of 
the general surface, far above the snow-liae. This plateau region presents a steep face 
towards the Pacific, but slopes in the opposite direction, and declines gradually towards 
the north-east. It is formed by the main chaiu of the Andes, which, after traversing the 
whole of South and Central America, with a few slight interruptions, ramifies over the 
greater part of Mexico, and connects itseK with the grand chains on the western side of 
the north section of the continent. Except the Eio del ISTorte, part of the frontier from 
the United States, and chiefly in the hands of that power, there are no rivers of navigable 
value. Most of them have short courses, and either a torrent-like character, or are 
obstructed by bars of sand at their mouths. This deficiency of water-communication 
renders it necessary to employ mules for the transport of goods in the interior ; and in 
prosperous times as many as 70,000 of these useful animals have been engaged in the 
carryiag trade between the port of Vera Cruz and the capital. The numerous lakes are 
the remains of immense basins of water which formerly existed on the elevated plains, 
and appear to be stdl annually decreasing ia size. 

Conical colossal summits rise from the plateau as from an elevated platform, the principal of which extend 
in a line from east to west, nearly coincident with the parallel of 19°. They are the sites and monuments of 
volcanic action, some extinct or dormant, wliile others are frequently in a state of activity. Afar on the 
waters of the Gulf of Mexico, the seaman hails the snow-crowned peak of Orizaba, also called Citlal-tepetl, 
the * Star Mountain,' from its appearing at a distance like a star when fire has been emitted from the summit. 
It has an elevation of 17,388 feet, occupies the eastern edge of the plateau, is some sixty miles inland, con- 
nected by a chain of liiUs with the Coffer of Perote. This mass of basaltic porphyry is not so lofty, 13,415 
feetj but remarkable for a large square box-like rock at the top, which has originated the name, as also that 
of Nauhcampa-tepetl, or ' Square Mountain,' another denomination. More interior is the stupendous and 
beautifully-shaped Popocatepetl, ' Smoking Mountain,' 17,735 feet, the highest point of the country, and in 
near neighbourhood the somewhat broken and irregular Iztaccihuatl, ' White Woman,' not far short of the 
same height, both overlooking, like guards, the valley of the capital. More to the westward, seen from the 
waters of the Pacific, is the volcano of Colima, generally with snow on the crest. Prom many points of the 
road between Vera Cruz and the city of Mexico, the traveller may look around, and see most of these grand 
heights at once. Diego Ordaz, in the train of Cortes, with nine companions, made the first attempt to 
reach the simimit of Popocatapetl, a feat which has often been perfonned since his day, for which the 
Emperor Charles V. gave him permission to enter a volcano in his coat-of-arms. Clouds of sulphureous 
vapour, with ashes, issue at intervals from the crater of the ' Smoking Mountain,' but no tradition lingers of 
the fieiy activity of his lady, the ' White Woman,' and Orizaba has long been dormant. Earthquakes, 
especially of the slighter kind, are common, but have occasionally occurred with tremendous violence, accom- 
panying volcanic eruptions, by which the features of the surface have been permanently changed. 

The conformation of the country gives it three distinct zones of climate, and a 
correspondingly diversified vegetation, indigenous and ctdtivated. The lowlands belting 
the whole coast of the Mexican Gulf, extending from the sea-level to the height of 2000 
feet, form a hot region, the tierra caliente, where the usual high temperature of an 
equinoctial clim.e is experienced. This district extends about fifty mUes into the interior, 
and has tracts of desolate sand, the nursery of myriads of sand-flies, a perfect pest to the 
traveller. They bite with sharpness, and are so small that nothing wiU exclude them, but 
fortunately they disappear at sunset, and afford a chance of sleep if the mosquitoes allow of it. 
Deep black mould of fertile soil appears in other places, where the eye is bewildered with 
the variety of trees, shrubs, and creeping plants, generally thrown, together in such extreme 
confusion as to render their classification difficult. The air is perfumed with brilliantly- 
coloured aromatic wUd-flowers, while the vamlla, banana, mai^e, indigo, cacao, cotton, and 
sugar plants flourish luxuriantly. But the oppressive heat, the abundant rains, and the' 
decomposition of the rank vegetation engender the malaria which produces yellow fever, 
the scourge of the coast in the summer months. Ascending the plateau, a temperate 
region is entered, the tierra templada, which ranges from the altitude of 2000 to 5000 feet. 



Here tlie deadly fever of the lower zone is unknown ; the extremes of heat and cold are 
never felt j majestic cypresses, forests of the Mexican oak, wheat, and the ordinary cereals 
of Europe are met with; hut thick fogs are common, consequent on the rise of the land to 
the height to which the clouds usually ascend ahove the sea. All who have the means leave 
the lower for the upper zone, Vera Cruz for Jalapa, in the more unhealthy season of the 
year, to avoid the pestilence. A cold region, tierra fria, so considered hy the natives, 
co m mences at the height of 5000 feet, and enihraces the general surface of the table- 
lands, where, and on the lower slopes of the projecting mountains, pine-woods occur. 
But only to those who have just left the lowlands is it reaUy cold, as the ordinary warmth 
is equal to that of Eome. At the altitude of 8000 feet, the atmosphere becomes frigid, and 
at 14,800 feet the Une of perpetual snow is encountered. 

The vegetable productions include a splendid variety of flowering shrubs, which have contributed to enrich 
the gardens of Europe, as in the instance of the well-known dahlia, and several of the fuchsias. At the time 
of the Spanish conquest of the country a passion for flowers distinguished the natives, and it is still a charac- 
teristic of their descendants, exhibited in household life and on festive occasions. Curious and highly useful 
as well as beautiful species occur. The hand-plant, as it is popularly called, a tree of some size, has the name 
from the organisation of its bright-scarlet flowers, the central part of wMoh is in the form of the human hand 
with the fingers a little bent inwards. Around Jalapa grows the convolvulus, the root of which supplies 
the jalap of medicine, so called from the site. The plant is a parasitical creeper, with leaves like the ivy, and 
a red flower which shuns the light, opening as the day declines, and hence styled by the French &eHe de nuit. 
From Mexico we have both the use and the name of chocolate, chocolatl, still grown, but supplanted largely 
by the superior cacao of other countries. The cochineal cactus is abundant, upon which the cochineal insect 
subsists, feeding only upon the leaves, which are carefully tended by Indian women in the plantations to keep 
them clean. Another cactus, the maguey, is extensively reared, the leaves of which are usually from five to 
eight feet in length, but often considerably exceed these dimensions. The juice supplies the lower classes with 
a, favourite beverage. Of the leaves the old Mexicans made their paper. The more fibrous parts furnish a 
strong thread or twine, stiU made up into ropes. The prickles were formerly used for pins and naUs, and the 
priests pierced their arms and breasts with them in their acts of expiation. A third species looks exactly like 
an old man's head, as it is covered with long gray hair, which completely conceals the thorns. Nutritious 
bread is prepared of flour of the manioc root, which in its raw state is an active poison, but loses its deleterious 
qualities upon the juice being expressed. In the temperate region, cypresses, Gupressus disticha, attain 
extraordinary dimensions. 

Wild animals of the formidable class are scarce, though both the jaguar and the puma are met with in the 
hot region, and the common black bear of the continent is found in the upland forests. The bison and musk- 
ox wander in immense herds over the northern plains. Birds of resplendent plumage are numerous, parrots, 
paroquets, and humming-birds of many varieties, the gay feathers of which are still worn by the Indians for 
ornament as in the time of Monte2nima. Feather-painting, an arrangement of the colours so as to produce 
pictures, was an industry with his subjects, and is not yet obsolete. The low grounds swarm with noxious 
insects, and snakes are very common, but not generally dangerous. All the domestic quadrupeds introduced 
by the Spaniards, horses, oxen, sheep, and hogs, have multiplied surprisingly, and may be seen running wild 
over the open country. The mustang, or wUd horse, of which there are vast droves, a spirited, hardy, and 
active animal, becomes very docile and useful, il captured young, although apt to rejoin the tree rovers when- 
ever an opportunity occurs. 

From the time of its discovery by Europeans, the country has been reno-ivned for its wealth in the 
precious metals, especially silver, of which, perhaps, it has yielded a larger supply than any other part 
of the world. To capture the treasure-ships sailing from Vera Cruz to Spain, or from Acapulco to the 
Philippines, was long a favourite object with the bucaneers, and with British naval oficers in time of war. 
But the useful metals are not wanting, iron, copper, lead, and tin, though they have been neglected in the 
anxious quest for the more costly. The total number of mines, of all kinds of produce, worked and disused, 
has been stated at 3000. 

Mexico was conquered by Cortes, who landed upon the Atlantic coast in 1519, at the 
spot where Vera Cruz now stands, and after two years of warfare, added it to the crown 
of Spain. It remained in that coimection for nearly three centuries, then became an 
independent state for a short time under an emperor in 1822, and was constituted a 
Federal Eepublic in 1824, but has since been subject to the rule of unprincipled military 
dictators, and the scene of great crimes and public disturbances. Aggressions against 
foreigners led to the French intervention in 1862, and the conquest of the country, with 
the recent elevation of an Austrian prince to the sovereignty. The name of Mexico 



PROVINCES. 849 

originated with tlie Spaniards, wlio derived it from Mexitli, the god of war of the natives. 
The dominant people at the time of the Spanish invasion were the Aztecs, under 
Montezuma, who fell in defending his inheritance. 



Northern Provinces. 



Central Provinces. 



liower California, 
Chihuahua, 
Sonora, . . 
Coahuila, , 
Sinaloa, . 
Durango, . . 
Wuevo lieon, . 
Tamaulipas, 
San Luis Potosi, 
Zacatecas, . 
Aguas Calientes, 
Xalisco, 
Guanaxuato, . 
Queretaro, . 
Mexico, . 
Colima, 
Michoacan, 
Guerrero, . V . 
Puebla, . 
Vera Cruz, . 
Tlaxcala, 
Oaxaca, 
Tabasco, . 
Chiapas, 
Yucatan, 



Chief Towns. 
La Paz. 

Chihuahua, San Jose de Parral. 
Ures. 

SaltUlo, Santa Rosa. 
Culiacan, Sinaloa, Mazatlan. 
Durango, San Juan del Rio. 
Monterey, Linares. 
Victoria, Matamoras, Tampico. 
San Luis, Guadalcazar. 
Zacatecas, FresniUa, Sombrerete. 
Aguas Calientes, Lagos. 
Guadalaxara, San Bias. 
Guanaxuato, Leon, Salamanca. 
Queretaro, Cadereita. 
Mexico, Tezcuco, Toluca. 
Colima. 

Morelia or VaUadolid, Zamora. 
Tistla, Acapulco. 
Puebla, Cholula, Tehuacaro. 
Vera Cruz, Jalapa, Orizaba. 
Tlaxcala. 
Oaxaca, Mitla. 
Vma Hermosa. 
San Christoval, Chiapas. 
Merida, VaUadolid. 



Southern Provinces. 



Tlie city of Mexico, the capital, is very grandly situated on the central plateau, in the centre of an oval- 
shaped valley, in latitude 19° 25' north, longitude 99° west, the lowest part of which is stiU 7483 feet above the 
sea, while overlooked by towering volcanic mountains. How the Spaniards were filled with admiration at 
the sight of this valley has been vividly described by Robertson and Presoott, and with simUar feelings 
present external appearances are noted by all travellers. The city stands on perfectly level ground, near the 
margin of an extensive lake. The streets are broad, and drawn at right angles ; and hence looking along any 
of them, east, west, north, or south, the grand barrier of the mountains appears. Though at the least fifteen 
mUes distant, yet in fine weather, owing to the extreme purity of the air, they are so distinctly seen, that 
from the intersections it seems as if the streets led directly to them. The houses are substantial, spacious 
and terrace-like, having flat roofs. Most of the public buildings are deficient in height, partly owing to the 
difficulty of securing a firm foundation in a swampy site, and partly from the frequency of earthquakes. Few 
features of any metropolis are finer than the Plaza Mayor, or Great Square, paved throughout, and embracin" 
twelve acres of ground. The north side is wholly fiUed up with the cathedral and its appurtenances ; the 
east, with the government palace, the former residence of the viceroys ; on the west and south are buildings 
occupied as shops, with covered colonnades, forming a favourite evening promenade. The Alameda, a kind 
of park at the west end, and the Paseo, a long avenue of trees connected with it, are places of fashionable 
resort, crowded on a Sunday or Dia de Fiesta. Churches and convents are extremely numerous. Bell 
ringing is hence incessant, yet the tones are very sweet, said to be owing to the silver in the composition of 
the metal. Trading life has no noticeable features, except the profusion of rich flowers and fruits exposed 
for sale on the stalls, brought in by the country-people ; and the odd circumstance that the milliners, those 
who veritably make up ladies' dresses, are not women, but brawny fellows of all complexions, with 
moustaches. Gambling, cigar-smoking, and intrigue are the popular pursuits, in which both sexes, and 
priests as well as seculars, are pretty equally proficient. The population is supposed to number 170,000, 
embracing a large class of lazzaroni, wretched beings without homes or decent raiment, who live and sleep in 
the streets, or occupy filthy dweUiugs in the subiu-bs. 

Travelling from the capital in a northerly direction, along what is called the road of the interior, Queretaro, 
Guanaxuato, Aguas Calientes, ' warm waters,' Zacatecas, Sombrerete, and Duranr/o are successively passed. 
Some of these are celebrated mining localities, but have only ordinary features. Along part of this route the 
electric telegraph has been introduced, but it does not seem to have prospered. Von Tempsky, in 185i, 
noticed the high posts by the wayside, but the wire had snapped, or been intentionally broken, and was 
lying on the ground, kicked by the mules and asses in the dust of the road. Upon representing the matter 
to the official in charge at the next diligence station, he coolly answered : ' It always breaks, and so we don't 
trouble about it any more, as there has been no occasion for it ever since it was first used.' The towns 

3 B 



850 MEXICO. 

coiTespond in their general plan as far as variations o£ site will allow. They are built in rectangular streets, 
yery regularly laid out, and have at least one square, plaza, at or near the centre. In those of the larger 
class, the central or great square, plaza grande, has the cathedral on one side, the governor's residence and 
government houses on another, offices of the municipality on a tliird, and usually shops on the fourth. There 
is also a pubUo promenade, alameda, with shady trees and benches, resorted to in the evening ; and a circus 
for bull-fights, plaza de torros, commonly near it, chiefly a Sunday recreation. The best hotels, fondas, offer 
rooms very scantily furnished to the traveller, with sorry fare, but with no lack of vermin ; while the countiy 
inns, posadas, are wretched cabins for the sale of pulque, the national nectar. Between the towns, in the 
more peopled districts, numerous villages are passed, with vineyards, fields of bright-green maize plants, and 
large cattle estates, sometimes so extensive as to be stocked with 10,000 head, while more than an entire 
day's journey is required to traverse the limits of a single property. Droves of pack-mules are frequently 
encountered on the roads, small, smooth, light limbed, and heavy laden, sometimes amounting to several 
hundreds, as almost all goods are transported in this way. They are trained to follow a leader, or beU-mule, 
and to kneel until the load is packed on them, when they are helped up by one or more of the muleteers. 
These men, generally a very honest class, mounted on mustangs, riding to and fro, form a striking picture, 
with their high-peaked saddles, huge spurs that tinkle at every step, picturesque dress, and incessant shouts 
of encouragement or rebuke to the lagging animals. But brigandage, involving both robbery and murder, in 
case of resistance, is almost everywhere to be apprehended by passengers, unless sufficiently numerous and 
well armed. If either of these points is neglected, the siunmons is certain to be heard, 'Pace to the groimd!' 
C'ara en tierra I analogous to the Italian, Face en terra I Many a rude cross looming from the shadow of fir- 
trees, or heap of stones, marks the spot where some murdered traveller has been interred. The diligences 
in Mexico, from their frequent stoppage by robbers, have been styled an institution set on foot for the 
purpose of securing a certain revenue to the Mexican highwaymen. 

Puehla, or, according to its fuU name, La Puebla de los Angeles, ' The Town of Angels,' on the route from the 
capital to Vera Cruz, ranks after it in extent and population. It is celebrated for the number and splendour 
of its ecclesiastical foundations, and the fierce intolerance of the inhabitants, while the wealth and influence 
of the priests, with the popular submission to their unblushing licentiousness, has won for it the title of the 
'Paradise of Priestcraft.' There are not less than 69 churches, 9 monasteries, 13 nunneries, and several 
colleges. Indians and the female part of the population receive the tale with implicit faith, that during the 
erection of the cathedral angels made their appearance every night, and carried on the building. Hence the 
name of the town. Vera Cruz, on the shore of the Mexican Gulf, a well-built town in the old Spanish style, 
is the principal port, defended by the strong castle of San Juan d'Ulloa. The place is notoriously the 
metropolis of pestilence, the head-quarters of death, owing to the yellow fever, here known by the name of 
the black vomit, vomito prieto, so called from one of the symptoms by which dissolution is usually preceded. 
It is common more or less to the whole coast, almost certain to attack newly-arrived strangers from other 
climes, more pai-ticularly in the hottest months. Through the remainder of the year, from the middle of 
October to the close of March, boisterous north winds blow at intervals, cool the ah', purify the atmosphere, 
and render the maritime lowlands, though never a safe, yet not a very dangerous place of residence to the 
foreigner. On the opposite coast of the Pacific, the once flourishing Acapulco has lost nearly all its 
consequence, though still visited occasionally by foreign men-of-war for the convenience of its fine harbour. 
Mazatlan, further north, has experienced (an opposite change, and become a neatly-buUt town, while an 
active shipping port, since the discovery of gold in California, owing to the number of passengers arriving 
and departing, and its proximity to the blockaded American ports. 

The population of Mexico lias been returned at 7,800,000, a recent estimate, but 
founded upon very uncertain data. It consists of miscellaneous elements. 1. Whites of 
pure extraction, called Creoles, the direct descendants of the Spaniards, are few in number, 
but constitute the aristocracy of the country, as the largest landed proprietors. 2. A much 
larger body are those who consider themselves whites, but are not of pure lineage, being 
the descendants of Spanish and Indian parents. Most of the military, the lawyers, the 
government officials, and the owners of small cattle estates belong to this class. 3. Indians 
of the indigenous copper-coloured race form the great bulk of the population, follow 
agriculture, live in villages, often in a state of abject misery and servitude. Though 
slavery is not recognised by law, yet practically many of these people are slaves. 
Eeceiving very inadequate remuneration for daily labour, they are obliged frequently to 
apply to their employers for a loan, and thus become involved in such an inextricable 
slough of debt that they must work to the end of their days with little hope of retrieving 
their condition. 4. ISTegroes, formerly slaves, are a small and decreasing remnant. 
5. Mixed races, mestizos, are found in every part of the country, distinguished by various 
names. The issue of an Indian and a Negro is called a zcmibo ; that of a white and a 



liANGUAGE — MAEKET CUSTOMS. 



851 



E'egress, a mulatto ; of a wliite and a mulatto woman, a terzeron ; of the latter and a 
white, a quadroon. 5. Foreigners are tolerably numerous, chiefly French and Germans, 
There is scarcely a town in which a French tailor and a German watchmaker cannot he 
found ; and in the most out-of-the-way places some stray Teuton or Gaul may he met 
with, as doctor, barber, bootmaker, or general shopkeeper. While connected with the 
crown of Spain, great importance was attached to the complexion in Mexico, white being 
the master-colour. Any marked removal from it placed the individual under disqualifi- 
cations for social and political advancement, unless formally removed by decree of the 
government, expressed in the words, Que se tenga por hlanco — ' Let him be considered 
white.' In quarrels, the saying was frequently heard : ' Is it possible that you think 
yourseH wliiter than I am?' Distinctions of colour lost their importance during the 
struggle for independence, which compelled the whites to court the aUiance of other classes. 

The Mexican Indians, though resembling each other in colour, and in some general characteristics, differ in 
costume, habits, and very decidedly in speech. More than twenty languages are known to be spoken within 
the limits of the country, many of which are not dialects, traceable to the same root, but differ as completely 
as the German and the Greek. In the language of the Aztecs, the tribe dominant at the time of the Spanish 
conquest, and stiU in use, the letter r is unknown, though common in almost every word spoken in adjacent 
districts. It does not occur in the names of the mountains, Popocatepetl and Iztaccihuatl, or in Tenochtitlan, 
the old denomination of the capital, or in that unpronounceable word given by Himiboldt, notlazomaJiuistes- 
pixcatatzin, signifying ' Venerable-priest- whom-I-cherish-as-my-father,' used in addressing the priesthood. 
But in the prevailing names of places in a neighbouring district the letter is prominent, as Ocambaro, 
Puruuudiro, Zitacuaro, and Cinepecuaro. Most of the Aztec words are of excessive length, as tetennami- 
qiiiliztli, ' a kiss ; ' tetlatolaniliztli, ' a demand ; ' tetlayhiouiltUiztli, ' a torment.' The terminal fin indicates 
the plural, which is often formed by the duplication of the first syllable, as miztli, ' a cat,' mimiztin, ' cats ; ' 
tochtli, 'a rabbit,' totochtin, 'rabbits.' This radical difference of language among the indigenous races 
powerfully contributed to their European conquest, and has tended to keep them in subjection. Besides 
the settled and peaceful aborigines, IncUos manzos, ' tame Indians,' as they are called, there is a class of very 
dissimilar habits on the northern frontier, Indios liravos, warlike tribes of Apaches and Comanches, roving 
about to plunder and destroy. 

The gi-eat majority of the Mexicans subsist almost entirely upon maize flour, made up into thin cakes, 
called tortillas, which are eaten warm. They form nutritious bread, but are very insipid t.o the taste, and 
are hence accompanied with some highly-seasoned sauce, in the composition of which chUe, a kind of 
capsiciun, is the prime ingredient. Whole estates are devoted to the cultivation of this powerful stimulant, 
of which all classes of the people are extremely fond, though its ptmgency is so great as to produce absolute 
excoriation among the uninitiated. The tortilla answers the double purpose of a viand and an implement to 
eat with, being used to raise the peppeiy sauce or stew to the mouth, while at each mouthful a portion of 
the temporary spoon is bit away, and another is soon required to take its place. Eggs, beans, and milk are 
also common articles of diet. Early in the morning, Indians from the neighbouring hamlets crowd into the 
larger towns, belabouring their donkeys as they go, laden with fruit, vegetables, and other commodities of 
daily consumption. They squat down at the corners of the streets and in the plazas, arrange their wares 
beside them, and then commence a chorus inviting custom, while laughing, singing, and chattering, by way 
of interlude. Among the more frequent ejaculations may be distinguished, HuevosI ' Eggs !' LechS I 'Milk !' 
Frijoles I ' Beans ! ' Tortillas calientes I ' Hot tortUlas ! ' Chila hue.no 1 excellente J ' Good, excellent chUe ! ' 
■while Fan fino / pan hlanco/ 'Fine bread! white bread I' cries the baker; Agual arjua limpial 'Water! 
pure water ! ' shouts the aguadore ; Carhon / carhon I ' Charcoal ! charcoal ! ' screams the charcoal-burner ; and 
AtoU, atoUl a, kind of gruelly compost of maize, is heard from the vendors of the compound. In general 
the men are far more addicted to showy attire than the other sex. An important article in the equipment 
of equestrians is the spui-, very varying in shape, sometimes costly, and always heavy, for which no 
intelligible reason can be assigned. The rowels frequently carry jingling appendages, campanulas, or little 
bells, which, it may be presumed, tinkle agreeably to the ears of the riders. Most Mexicans are admirable 
horsemen, and manage their steeds with imexceptionable ease and grace. The animals are chiefly the 
descendants of the horses first carried by the Spaniards to the New World. While some broke loose, others 
were set free by the death of their masters in battle. Reaching the great savaimahs, there they interbred, 
and originated the droves of wild horses which roam the prairies in incalculable numbers, and are now 
captured by the lasso. 

Monuments of the age of Montezuma — ^remarkable vestiges of ancient Mexican civilisation — are found in 
various parts of the country. Such is the famous pyramid or teoccali of Cholula, a few miles to the west of 
Puebla, consisting of four distinct and decreasing stories, which appear to have been constructed exactly in 
the direction of the four cardinal points. It is built of sun-dried bricks and clay, in alternate layers ; and is 
now covered with evergreen trees and shrubs, among which flights of birds nestle. The base is almost double 



852 STATES OP CBNTRAIi AMERICA. 

that of the great pyramid of Cheops, heing 1423 feet on each side, but the height is very inferior to it, only 
164 feet. The object of the erection was undoubtedly religious ; but it seems to have answered as well the 
purpose of a sepulchre, for in cutting into it a square chamber was discovered, without an outlet, supported by 
means of cypress-wood, in which were two skeletons, a number of curious vases, and some idols made of basalt. 
On the elevated platform at the summit there is a small chapel dedicated to the Virgin, raised by the 
conquerors, as if to mark the substitution of another creed and another race for the nation by whose united 
exertions this stupendous monument must have been reared. At Mitla, in the province of Oaxaca, are very 
striking groups of ruins, apparently those of a palace or palaces, with arabesque-like ornaments, 'and the 
singular feature of six porphyry columns, placed in the midst of a vast hall, as supports to the ceiling, almost 
the only examples of the kind in the w-estern world, which go back to the age of its European occupation. 
They bear, however, strong marks of the infancy of art, having neither pedestal, capital, nor architrave. Near 
the village of Palenque, in the adjoining province of Chiapas, are considerable remains of a city — palaces, 
temples, public buildings, decorated with paintings and sculptures, along with humbler dwellings suited to the 
mass of the inliabitants — accidentally discovered in the last century, entombed beneath the luxuriance of 
tropical vegetation, in the midst of a fertile country, but almost entirely depopulated. A fortnight was 
occupied by a corps of pioneers, despatched by the government, in felling and firing the timber, and clearing 
away the creeping plants, with which the monuments were closely matted. 

n. STATES OF CENTRAL AMERICA. 

Central America, in tlie geographical sense, embraces the whole of the narrow portion 
of the contiaent between its two maia masses. But the political signification is restricted 
to the space occupied by the states within its limits, which are included between the 
northern isthmus of Tehuantepec, belonging to Mexico, and the southern isthmus of 
Panama, a part of the Granadian confederation. This territory is washed on the eastern 
side by the Caribbean Sea, an arm of the Atlantic, which deeply invades the shores, and 
by the waters of the Pacific on the western, which have a comparatively smooth coast- 
line. It has a length of abovit 900 miles from north-west to south-east, by a very varying 
breadth, contracting from 300 to less than 80 mUes ; and an area computed at nearly 
190,000 square miles. High table-lands traversed by mountainous ridges and overtopped 
by volcanic cones occupy a large proportion of the interior, where the scenery is splendid, 
and the climate is rendered singularly balmy by the elevation, while the fierce heat of the 
torrid zone is experienced on the maritime lowlands. But the beautiful in the landscape 
is often seen in close alliance with memorials of a terrible agency ; and the calm of nature 
is frequently interrupted by physical convulsions. In many parts, sudden chasms, deep 
rents, and capricious twistings of the surface, bear unmistakable evidence of having been 
caused by violent paroxysms of volcanic action ; and few regions at present are more 
subject to furious outbursts from the constantly-smoking craters, with displays of the 
earthquake's dreadful power. Upon the achievement of independence from the Spanish 
monarchy, the five states which then formed themselves into a federation adopted for their 
national cognizance, in allusion to the natural peculiarities of the country, the figure of five 
volcanoes on a plain bordered on either side by the ocean. 

The indigenous vegetation is very diversified, and rendered luxuriant by heavy seasonal 
rains in connection with the hot climate. It constitutes the main source of wealth, 
embracing magnificent trees of cedar, mahogany, and dye-woods, with sarsapariUa, vanilla, 
balsams, gums, and other medicinal plants. The cultivated products include the cochineal 
plant, indigo, sugar, cotton, coffee, tobacco, cacao, and fruits. Some of the bu'ds are of great 
beauty; as the quesal, most frequently met with in Guatemala, remarkable for its exquisite 
green plumage, spotted on the wings with briUiant red and black, while the long feathers 
of the tail are of green powdered with gold. The population, upwards of 2,000,000, consists 
of whites chiefly of Spanish descent, and a large number of native Indians, with a mixed 
race called Ladinos, and a few Negroes. Though converts generally to Eoman Catholicism, 
and speaking the Spanish language, some of the Indians, in the secluded mountain 
districts, adhere to ancestral forms of idolatry, and retain their native dialect. 



GUATEMALA — HONDUEAS. 



853 



litical Divisions. 


Area in Sq. Miles. 


Population 


Gautemala, . 


. 40,700 . 


850,000 


Honduras, 


. 47,000 . 


. 350,000 


San Salvador, 


. 7,300 . 


600,000 


Nicaragua, 


57,000 


. 400,000 


Costa Kica, . 


. 21,000 . 


126,700 


Belize, 


14,000 


11,000 



Towns. 

Guatemala, Antigua, Quesaltenango. 
. Comayagua, Omoa, Truxillo. 

San Salvador, Cojutepeque, Sonsonate. 
. Managua, Leon, Blewfields, Greytown. 

San Jose, Cartago, Alajuela. 
. Belize. 

Central America was discovered by Columbus in the course of his fourth and last voyage. He coasted it 
from Cape Honduras to Cape Gracios a Dies, and established the first European colony in the New World 
on the shore of Costa Kica in 1502. The countiy became a Captain-Generaloy of Spain, and remained in that 
connection to the year 1821, when the struggle for a separate political existence commenced. But the Spanish 
flag continued to float on the battlements of Omoa, in Honduras, to the year 1832. After a brief term of union 
between the five states at the head of the table, the federation was dissolved, and they now exist as separate 
republics, but, with the exception of Costa Bica, internal troubles have been frequent, to wliich a war was 
superadded in 1863. These disturbances have checked industry and social improvement. The roads are very 
generally mere trackways, and the vehicles are of the most wretched description. 

Guatemala, tlie most northerly state, bordeiiiig oil Mexico, extends from sea to sea, 
hut only touclies the angle of the Eay of Honduras on the Atlantic side, whUe possessing a 
considerable coast-luie on the Pacific. The surface has very remarkable objects ia its fire 
and -water volcanoes, and singularly charming features in the course of the river Montagua, 
distinguished by falls and rapids, with the silvery expanse of Lake Atitlan, slumbering in 
its cradle of rocks and mountains. Cochineal is very largely produced, and is the principal 
export. 

Nueva or New Gfauiemala, the capital, is an inland city on the table-land, 4960 feet above the sea, 45 miles 
from the coast of the Pacific, containing a population of 60,000. At tliis elevation the climate coiTesponds 
to that of Italy, subject to less cold in winter. The production of muslins, cotton yarn, artificial flowers, 
plate, and embroidery are the chief industries. Water is brought from a spring five miles distant by an 
aqueduct, and conducted to twelve reservoirs, from which it is distributed to the private dwellings. The 
houses have generally but one story, with very thick walls, and gardens attached to them, as a precaution 
against earthquakes. An old viceregal palace, a university, a great hospital, a superb cathedral, and many 
richly-ornamented churches are the principal public buildings. Keligious observances are incessant, chiefiy 
attended by the women, who throng the churches at matins and vespers. Antigua, or Old Ouatemala, 
twenty-one mUes distant, occupies a beautiful valley between the two volcanoes, called Del Agua, ' of water,' 
and Del Fuego, 'of fire,' both lofty and wonderfully-grand objects. The place was the capital of the coiuitry 
till the year 1773, when, after having been repeatedly damaged by earthquakes, it was dreadfully desolated, 
and the seat of government was in consequence removed. Still, many survivors of the catastrophe clung to 
the site, and acquired the name of the ' Incorrigible ' from their attachment to it. Euins of the old buildings 
remain as monuments of the former grandeirr of the place, upon which its founder, the conquering Alvarado, 
bestowed the singular name of the ' City of St James of Gentlemen.' The Water Volcano, so called fr-om 
its discharging water during eruptions, rises to the height of 13,758 feet. The Fire Volcano is slightly lower, 
distinguished by three peaks, the southernmost of which is the Fire Peak, constantly emitting steam and 
sulphureous vapour. 

Quesaltenango, next to the capital in extent and trade, possesses well-paved streets, picturesque houses, a 
richly-decorated cathedral, and a fine fountain in the centre of the Plaza. Totonicapan is chiefly occupied 
by Indians, who speak the Quiche language, manufacture earthenware, woollen cloths, and wooden utensils 
for their own use. Istapa, on the Pacific coast, and St Thomas on the Caribbean Sea, are the shipping ports. 
The territory contains the remains of ancient cities, similar to those in Mexico, which were flourishing at the 
time of the Spanish conquest, and are now overgrown with vegetation. Guatemala, nominally a republic, is 
governed by an oligarchy, at the head of which is the celebrated Carrera, sustained by a profligate aristocracy 
and a bigoted priesthood. This successful chief, originally an obscure half-breed, was appointed president 
for life in 1851, with the style of Captain-General, and signally defeated the united forces of Honduras and 
San Salvador in Jiine 1863. 

Honduras, eastward of Guatemala, extends chiefly along the southern shore of the bay 
of that name, an inlet of the Caribbean Sea. It contains valuable mines, though they 
are but little worked at present, with extensive forests of mahogany and logwood. 

Comayagua, the capital, formerly called VaUadolid, is an inland town, on one of the projected lines of 
railway across Central America, containing 18,000 inhabitants. Omoa, one of the hottest places in the world, 
very unhealthy, and Truxillo, are the principal ports. At the latter the notorious filibustering adventurer 



854 



STATES OF CENTEAL AHEEICA. 



"Walker, from the ITmted States, was shot in 1860. The Bay Islands, close inshore, consisting of Euatan, 
Bonacca, and Utila, with several islets, were proclaimed a British colony in 1852, and attached to the govern- 
ment of Jamaica. But chiefly to avoid unpleasant altercations with the cabinet at Washington, they were 
relinquished in 1856, and finally ceded to the Honduras republic in 1860. 




Harbour of Bay Islands. 

Sait Salvador, the smallest state, but the most densely peopled, is entirely confined to 
the Pacific seaboard, enclosed inland by Guatemala and Honduras. Like most parts of 
Central America, it has its tale to teU of grave misfortune from natural convulsion. 

The seat of government, San Salvador, twenty-two miles from the coast, contains many memorials of the 
disaster of 1854, previous to which it was a beautiful city of 28,000 inhabitants. In that year, on the 
Thursday before Easter Sunday, movements of the earth were felt, preceded by sounds like the rolling of 
heavy artillery over a pavement. On Friday and Saturday all was quiet. The heat was considerable on 
Sunday, with the atmosphere very calm. In the evening a severe shock alarmed the whole city, and shortly 
before eleven o'clock, without premonition of any kind, it was entirely prostrated with the exception of a 
single building. Nearly 5000 persons perished in the ruins. Cojutepeque, with 15,000 inhabitants, Sonsonate 
10,000, and San Vincents 8000, are the other inland towns. Acajutla, Libertad, and La Union are the 
seaports. The trade is extensive in tobacco and indigo. In November, after the indigo crop, a great fair is 
held at San Miguel, near the southern border for the disposal of the produce to foreign merchants and 
others. A part of the coast region is remarkable for producing the famous Balsam of Peru, so called from 
having been originally shipped for Spain from a Peruvian port, and hence supposed to be a native product. 
It is obtained by the Indians from a tree — common in the district between the ports of Libertad and Acajutla, 
but not known to grow elsewhere — by incision of the trunk. 

IfiCARAGUA, on the south, now embraces the whole country between the two oceans, 
having recently been put in possession of the Mosquito territory on the Atlantic side. 
It is in many parts richly wooded, commands the navigation of the spacious lake which 
bears its name, and contains a very small proportion of whites compared to the Indians 
and half-breeds among the population. 



COSTA EIOA — THE WEST INDIES. 855 

Managua, the capital, on the shore of a lake, is chiefly inhahited hy ahorigines, who number 10,000, and 
are noted for the facility with which they imitate foreign manufactures. Leon, the principal city, nearly 
midway between Lake Managua and the Pacific, contains a popxilation of 35,000, a university, a stately 
cathedi'al, many large chui'ches, and other public buildings, which rank with the finest in Central America. 
Rcahjo and San Juan del Sur, seaports on the Pacific, ship the produce of the state, consisting of various 
woods, cacao, ijidigo, sarsaparilla, ipecacuanha, ginger, aloes, and liides ; but political distractions have 
interfered with the attainment of commercial prosperity. The great lake of Nicaragua, its prime natural 
feature, is a fresh-water basin more than 300 miles in circuit, studded with beautiful groups of islands, and 
admits of being navigated by the largest vessels. It is only separated from the Pacific by a low narrow 
isthmus, whUe sending its overflow to the Atlantic by the river San Juan. Hence, this point has long been 
regarded with interest as suitable for the construction of a maritime highway from sea to sea, by cutting a 
channel from the lake to the ocean on the one side, and canalising the river on the other. 

The Mosquito territory includes the eastern coasts of Nicaragua and Honduras. It was never conquered 
by the Spaniards, and had its own Indian king, who, with the consent of his chiefs and people, applied for 
British protection to the governor of Jamaica in the reign of Charles II., which was accorded. This 
protectorate continued to a very recent date. But in order chiefly to pacify the United States' government, 
the protectorate was relinquished, and in 1S60 Mosquitia was made over to the Nicaraguan republic. 
Skiofields, the nominal capital, is a collection of mean huts. Gi'eytown, at the mouth of the San Juan, with 
an excellent harbour, is the residence of many foreigners, and much frequented by adventurers on their way 
to California. 

Costa Eica, ' Eioli Coast,' the most southprly state, and perhaps the most prosperous, is 
distributed into two priacipal departments separated by a range of mountains, the Oriental 
on the side of the Atlantic, and the Occidental on ^that of the Pacific. Intertropical 
productions iu general are raised, hut coffee is the priacipal export. ISo ISTegroes are 
iucluded in the population. 

San Jose, the capital, about midway between the opposite coasts, and 4500 feet above the sea, contains 
30,000 inhabitants, Carthago, fifteen miles distant, was originally the caj^ital, but is now extensively a ruined 
city, so dreadfully visited by an earthquake in 1841, that out of 3000 hoirses and eight churches, only 100 of 
the former and one of the latter were left standing. A volcano of the same name rises in the vicinity to the 
height of 11,4S0 feet, and is a noted landmark to mariners. Both oceans are visible from the summit. 
Puntas Arenas on the Pacific, and Matimi, on the Atlantic, are the seaports. 

Belize or Balize, a British dependency, embraces part of the west coast of the Bay of 
Honduras, but the inland limits have never been strictly determined. It contains a river 
and town of the same name, with a large proportion of If egroes among the inhabitants, who 
are under a superintendent subordinate to the governor of Jamaica. The territory is only 
valuable for its forests of mahogany and logwood. FeUing the trees, trimming the trunks, 
and conveying them to the rivers are the occupations of the dry season, from February to 
the close of May. The rains begin to descend in -June, when the streams swell, and the 
timber is drifted down by the powerful currents, but prevented going out to sea by strong 
booms across the outlets. The town of Belize is almost whoUy of wood. Besides the 
timber trade, it is the general depot of British manufactures intended for Central America. 

ni. THE WEST indies AND BERMUDAS. 

The remarkable collection of islands which forms the West Indian Archipelago includes 
four of large dimensions, about fifty of the smaller class, and many thousands of islets, 
rocks, reefs, and sand-banks. They extend in a curving chain between the two great 
masses of the American mainland, from the shores of Florida on the north, to the mouth of 
the Orinoco on the south, and separate the broad expanse of the Atlantic from the 
subordinate basins of the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico, Their total area is 
estimated at 92,000 square miles, more than one-haK of which has long been held by 
Spain, while nearly another third, in Hayti, which has been under two independent govern- 
ments, may perhaps be destined by present hostilities to aggrandise the Spanish monarchy. 
Great Britain possesses the next largest share, about one-seventh ; and comparatively 
diminutive portions belong to France, Holland, Denmark, and Sweden. The islands vary 
greatly in theic structure and aspect. Many are boldly mountainous, and of volcanic 



856 



THE WEST INDIES. 



origin ; others are low, flat, and cliiefly of coralline formation ; and some exhibit both 
coralline and volcanic rock in alternate layers. Situated almost wholly in the torrid zone, 
the summer heat is excessive on the low grounds, but the sea-breezes are felt with 
refreshing effect, and are generally the strongest in the afternoon, when their cooling 
agency is most needed. In winter, snow is never known to fall on the loftiest of the 
highlands, but slight frosts occur. A long dry interval, and another shorter, alternate in 
the year with corresponding periods of heavy rain.. Everywhere the nights are supremely 
beautiful, the stars shining out with signal lustre through the transparent atmosphere. 
Some of the smaU islands are in the path of the intertropical hurricanes ; others are 
occasionally disturbed by earthquakes ; and yellow fever is a scourge in the rainy season. 
The indigenous vegetation is varied and luxuriant, distinguished by the profusion of ferns 
and orchidaceous plants. Coffee, sugar, tobacco, spices, maize, and mahogany, with the 
most delicious fruits of different kinds, are the staple products. 

The aggregate population is computed at 3,700,000, consisting entirely of foreign races 
of whites and Kegroes, with mulattoes, except a few families in Trinidad, said to 
represent the aboriginal Indians. That island has also some Mohammedan Negroes, one 
of the few communities of the kind in connection with the western world. The coloured 
people are free, except in the Spanish possessions, where unmitigated slavery is main- 
tained. The popular name of the Archipelago originated with 'Columbus, its discoverer, 
who supposed that he had reached the portals of India by a western route. But the 
Antilles is a common denomination, or the 'forward islands,' alluding to their position in 
relation to the continent. A triple distribution is made of the series : 1. The Bahamas; 
2. The Greater Antilles ; 3. The Lesser Antilles. 




BAHAMAS — ANTILLES. 



857 



THE BAHAMAS. 



Principal Islands. 



Grea* Bahama, Great Abaco, New Providence, Eleuthera, \ 
Inagua, Andros, Exuma, Cat Island, Harbour Island, Tui'k's ^ 
Islands, &c., / 



Area in „ 
Square Miles. PoP^Iat'on. 

)800 30,900 



This cliaiii numljers iipwards of 500 components, including the islets, hut not more 
than twenty are permanently inhabited. It forms the most northerly portion of the West 
Indies, and closely approaches the Florida shore, extending thence through 700 miles to 
the north of Cuba and Hayti. 

The Bahamas are a British colony, under a governor, council, and house of assembly. New Providence 
contains the seat of government, N'assau, a neat town, with a good harbour, healthy climate, and 7000 
inhabitants. Its name has recently become notorious in connection with the blockade runners of the 
American poi-ts. The island was once a stronghold of the bucaneers. It received the first English settlers 
in the year 1629, Eleuthera is the principal fruit-growing island. Andros is celebrated for its cedars. Cat 
Island is commonly supposed to represent the Guanahani or St Salvador of Columbus, the first land of the 
New World on which he gazed. Shell-work, palmetto, sponge, bark, fibres, cotton, arrowroot, and other 
articles were displayed in the Bahama department of the International E.-shibition, London, in 1861. The 
islands are all low, and consist of coral-rock covered^with a thin layer of soiL On the side of the Atlantic 
they rise steeply from an unfathomable depth of ocean, but in the opposite direction are vast submarine reefs, 
which render the navigation highly intricate and perilous. Many of the inhabitants are ' wreckers ; ' but not 
in the vulgar sense, being licensed by the government to recover property from wrecks, receiving a salvage 
upon it according to the value. Turk's Islands, a south-eastern offshoot of the chain, have a distinct 
administration, and form a dependency of Jamaica, 

THE 6KEATER ANTILLES. 

e ,,., Population. Government. Chief Towns. 

, Square Miles. ^ 

Cuba, . 42,383 1,450,000 Spanish, Havana, Matanzas, Santiago. 

Hayti, . 28,000 760,000 Partly Spanish and Independent, St Domingo, Port au Prince. 

Poi-toEico, 3,800 380,000 Spanish , San Juan. 

Jamaica, 6,400 379,000 British, Kingston, Port Bayal, Spanish Town. 

These large islands extend through 20° of longitude, equal to a linear distance exceeding 
1200 miles, from the ■western limit of Cuba to the eastern extremity of Porto Eico. 
Traversed by highlands in the direction of their length, they appear to be parts of a grand 
mountain-chain, interrupted in its continuity by deep valleys and depressions occupied by 
the sea. 

Cdba, the largest and most westerly member of the entire Archipelago, has an extent of 750 miles from east to 
west, mth an average breadth of more than 50 miles, and well deserves the title of the ' Queen of the Antilles,' 
for its displays of scenic beauty and abundant natural resources. A range of mountains runs through the island, 
which attains the height of 8000 feet at the eastern extremity, and is there distinguished by the name of the 
Sierra del Cobro, or the Copper Mountains, from vast stores of the metal. The slopes and the plains on either 
hand are richly tunbered with mahogany, cedar, and other valuable woods, while the tropical jungle, com- 
posed of a host of brilliant flowering-plants, proclaims the fertility of the well-watered soil But more than 
two-thu'ds of the surface have never been submitted to cultivation, and extensive tracts have had no human 
visitor except the now extinct aboriginal savage, the outlaw, or the absconded slave. The monopolising spu-it 
of the government officials, who are Spaniards from the mother-country, represses native mdustiy and enter- 
prise. Sugar, tobacco, and coffee are the principal objects of culture, and the main exports, with copper ore, 
hides from the cattle-farms, and mahogany. Nearly three-fourths of the population are slaves, who are 
recruited by the illicit importation of cargoes from Africa, when opportunity offers, often with the connivance 
of the Captains-GeneraL Havana, the capital, on the north coast, is by far the largest city in the "West Indies, 
containing nearly 200,000 inhabitants, among whom are many foreign commercialists, British, French, German, 
Dutch, and American. Cigars are manufactured to an enormous extent, and have universal celebrity. The 
harbour is a noble expanse, with a narrow entrance guarded by forts ; the opera-house is magnificent ; and 
the promenades are delightful, shaded with trees and adorned with fountains. The cathedral contains the 
grave of Columbus. The shops display costly silks and shawls from Europe, glass and china ware, upholstery 
in fancy woods, fruits and birds. Shops for the sale of saints are not wanting, where their images may be 
bought from that of a shepherdess to a venerable graybeard. Eailways diverge from the city to several places 
in the interior; and one leads to Matanzas, a considerable seaport 50 miles on the east. The name is 



858 



THE WEST INDIES. 



remarkable. It signifies ' the Massacres,' and is said to be a memorial o£ the last wholesale slaughter of the 
aborigines by the early Spanish conquerors. Their first settlement was made in 1511, at Santiayo de Cuba, 
a fortified town on the south-east coast, enclosed with mountains, now next to the capital in importance ; 
and by the year 1560 all the natives were extinct. 

Hayti immediately eastward of Cuba, has its greatest length in that direction, amounting to nearly 400 
mUes. It contains mountainous ridges of volcanic origin, with a general surface largely covered with splendid 
forests and rich tropical verdure. Two Negro republics recently divided the island between them, the Domini- 
can on the east, with St Domingo for its capital, and the Haytian on the west, with Port au Prince for the 
seat of government. But in 1861 the Dominican voluntarily united itself to Spain, and the attempt is at 
present in process to reduce the Haytian to the dominion of the Spanish crown. St Domingo, a fortified 
seaport on the south-east coast, is the oldest existing city in the New "World founded by Europeans, dating 
from the year 1504 It is regularly built in the old Spanish style, and contains about 15,000 inhabitants. 
Port au Prince, at the head of the fine Bay of Gonaives on the west shore, is a larger place, chiefly of wood, 
supposed to have a population of 30,000. An inglorious historical distinction belongs to Hayti. Near Cape 
Samana, a high and beautiful headland at the eastern extremity, which Columbus rounded in January 1493, 
the first blood was then shed by white men in the Western Hemisphere in an affray with the natives. At 
the ports of this island, also, the first Negroes brought across the Atlantic were disposed of, and an Englishman, 
Sir Jolm Hawkins, commenced the abominable traffic, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth. PoKTO Eioo, the third 
of the Spanish islands in extent, is eastward, about 105 miles long by 40 broad. San Juan, on an islet of 
the north coast, connected with the mainland by a bridge, is the chief town, well built and commercial, 
containing 10,000 inhabitants. 

Jamaica, the most important of the British possessions in the Archipelago, is situated on the south-east of 
Cuba, and e-iitends about 150 miles from east to west, by 50 miles where the breadth is the greatest. Its 
aspect corresponds to the meaning of the aboriginal name from which the present is derived, Xaymaca, ' the 
land of wood and water.' The Blue Mountains run through the centre, rising to 7000 feet, greenly beautiful 
with tropical vegetation. They send rippling streams down the slopes on either hand to the plains belo\r, 
where sugar, coffee, pimento or allspice, with cocoa, indigo, and tobacco, are the commercial crops. But 
unfortunately they are vastly diminished in amount since the passing of the Slave Emancipation Act, as tho 
Negro obtains with little exertion the means of subsistence from the bounty of nature, and is hence unwilling 
to devote liimself to onerous agricultural toil. Sugar plantations are now few and far between. But by the 
roadsides, on the edge of the wood and jungle, the gardens or provision-grounds of the Africans may be seen, 
pleasant-looking spots, where cocoa and bread-fruit trees are cultivated, with oranges, mangoes, plantains, 
and yams. Some of them pay a trifling rent, but the majority have squatted on the waste lands, asldng no 
man's permission. The island was discovered May 3, 1494, and colonised by the Spaniards in 1503, but passed 
from Spain to England in 1655. It is distributed into three counties, Middlesex central, Surrey eastern, and 
Cornwall western ; and forms a diocese of the Anglican Church which includes the Bahamas and Belize. 
The administration is conducted by a governor and council appointed by the crown, and a house of assembly 
chosen by duly qualified electors, in which coloured persons have long been prominent. The centres of 
population border on a spacious inlet of the south coast. They consist of Kingston, the commercial capital 
and principal port, with 35,000 inhabitants ; Port Boyal, at the entrance of the harbour, with 15,000 ; and 
Spanish Town, a few mUes inland, only of note as the seat of government. 



1. The Virgin Islands, 



2. The Leeward Islands, 



3. The Windward Islands, 

4. The Venezuelan Coast Chain, 



THE LESSER ANTILLES. 

British — Tortola, Anegada, Virgin Gorda. 
Danish — St Thomas, St John, Santa Cruz. 
. Spanish — Culebra. 

To all the tlu-ee Powers — Bieque or Crab Island. 
( British — ^Antigua, Anguilla, St Christopher, Nevis, Barbuda, 

■ ( Montserrat, Dominica. 

(Ereuch — Guadeloupe, Marie-Galante, Desirade, North St 
t Martin. 

Dutch — South St Martin, Saba, St Eustatia. 

Swedish — St Bartholomew. 

t British — St Lucia, St Vincent, Barbadoes, Grenada, Tohago, 

■ ( Trinidad. 

French — Martinique. 

Dutch— Curafao, Oruba, Bueu Ayre. 



The Lesser Antilles extend in a vast semicircular sweep from tlie east of Porto Eioo 
to the shores of Venezuela, and are -with few exceptions of very unimportant size, but 
highly beautiful and productive. The Virgin and the Leeward groups are to the north of 
the parallel of 15°, and the remainder to the south. But the popular disttQction between 



THE LESSER ANTILLES. 



859 



them has no foundation, in nature. The entire series is windward in relation to the trade- 
wind, except the Venezuelan, -vvhich are alone properly the Leeward Islands. It is, however, 
retained from convenience as famihar, 

Santa Ckuz and St Thomas are the most important of the Virgin Isles, both Danish. The town of St 
Thomas is the station of the Eoyal Mail Steam Packets plying between Southampton and the West Indies, 
wliere passengers and goods are distributed to other vessels and received from them. It is the central seat of 
three lines of steam communication — one to Havana and the Mexican GiUf ; another to Jamaica and Central 
America ; a third by the Leeward and "Windward Islands to British Guiana. "Wliile traffic is hence active, 
the place is a dep6t for all goods in demand along the respective routes. Shops and stores exhibit a peU-niell 
mixture of light dresses and cigars, boots and brandy, straw hats and eau de Cologne. The population is also 
miscellaneous, collected from different quarters for trade. A few government functionaries, custom-house 
officers, and soldiers are Danes. 1 1 The remainder have been described as an Anglo-Hispano-Dano-Niggery- 
Tankee-doodle people. St Thomas is pleasantly seated on three hills sloping down to the water's-edge, each 
topped by some public building, and backed by higher hills green to their summits. But it is notoriously 
unhealthy from yellow fever, which has been fatal to many of the steamers' crews. Large quantities of coal 
are stored for the supply of the vessels. 

ANTiaOA, at the head of the British Virgin and Leeward Islands, contains St John, the seat of the general 
government, with 15,000 inhabitants, on the north-west coast. It has a bishop of the Anglican Church, 
whose diocese is co-extensive with the dependency. The island has only an area of 108 square miles, is not 
remarkable for beauty, and is without streams or springs but what are brackish, which compels the inhabit- 
ants to depend upon the rain collected in large tanks. It was the first of the West Indian colonies to advocate 
the abolition of slavery, and the only one that adopted complete emancipation at once, without the intermediate 
apprenticeship. English Harbour, on the south coast, spacious and pictiiresque, is a convenient naval station 
much used in time of war. MoNTSBRKAT, of volcanic formation, is distinguished from afar by the sharp peaks 
of the twin mountains which compose the greater part of its mass. It was discovered by Columbus, and 
named by him from its resemblance to the famous mountain so called near Barcelona in Spain. Lofty trees, 
and tropical slirubs clothe the heights. Plymouth, a small well-built town, is on the coast, but has no harbour, 
nor is there one along the whole shore. A peculiar kind of craft, called a ' Moses boat,' is used for conveyance 
to and from the sliips in the roadstead. Si Cheistophek, or St Kitts, contains Basse Terre, and Nevis, its 
neighbour, CharlGstoivn. Both are mountainous, beautiful, and fertile, separated by The !N"arrows, a channel 
two mUes wide. DOMINIOA contains an area of 275 square mUes, and the small town of Roseau. Mountains 
rise in the centre to the height of 6000 feet, clothed with the greenest foliage, forests of rose-wood and other 
trees, wliich render its appearance exquisitely lovely from the sea. The name refers to the discovery of the 
island on a Sunday. 

GuADAlODPE, midway between Antigua and Dominica, is the most important of the French islands, 
containing 534 square mUes, and a population of about 135,000, three-fourths of whom are coloured people. 
There are really two islands,'but only separated by a channel forty yards wide, yet of a mdely different 
character. The one is generally low and coralline. The other is mountainous and volcanic, with vents 
emitting smoke, and sometimes sparks. Basse Terre ranks as the capital, but Point-d-Pitre is the largest town, 
and the chief seat of commerce. Maetinique, also French, one of the Windward Islands, is covered with 
high rocky masses, many of which are extinct volcanoes. Port Royal is the seat of government, but is much 
inferior in size to St Pierre, the principal port. Slavery was abolished in these colonies by decree of the 
French Republic in 1848. Their towns are generally superior in their appearance and appointments to those in 
the British settlements. The streets are neat, orderly, and clean, often shaded with trees, and supplied with 
conduits, or channels of running water. The reason is said to be that the French colonists look upon the 
West Indies as their home, while the British are intent upon a return to Europe as soon as sufficient means hava 
been acquired to retire from commerce. 

Bakbadoes, politically at the head of the British Windward Islands, as the residence of the governor- 
general, is a kind of outpost of the series, being somewhat advanced in the Atlantic, containing 166 square 
mUes, and a |)opulation of 140,000. It is the oldest British possession in the Archipelago, having been 
iminterruptedly occupied since the year 1625, when all the aborigines had been destroyed by the Spaniards. 
Vast coral-reefs nearly enclose the shores. The surface has no picturesqueness, being generally low, but it is 
so cultivable, and so thoroughly ocoupied with sugar-plantations, that upon the passing of the Emancipation 
Act there was no waste land upon which the Negro could squat and easUy subsist upon its produce. Hence 
here he has been compelled to labour as much as ever for hire, and Barbadoes has consequently escaped the 
disaster which has fallen so heavily upon Jamaica. The island is the seat of an Anglican diocese which 
embraces its dependencies. Codiington College, on the eastern side, a foundation of the family of that 
name, is the best educational institution in the West Indies. Bridgetmm, the capital, on Carlisle Bay, a 
strong military post, contains upwards of 30,000 inhabitants. The streets converge to a Trafalger Square, 
which, like its London namesake, has a Nelson statue in the centre, with a tree in addition. St Ldoia, 
St Vincent, and GkeNADA are in a line from north to south, and with Tobago, on the south-east, have in 
succession for their chief towns Castries, Kingslovm, St George, and Scarborough. They are all volcanic, rich 
In striking scenery, possess good harbours, and yield delicious fruits, but along with Barbadoes, and other 



860 



THE WEST INDIES. 



neighbouring islands, are specially in the track of the West Indian hurricanes. These whirl-storms sweep up 
with tremendous power from the adjoining ocean, follow thence a general direction west-north-west, and 
either veer round with the Gulf Stream, re-entering the Atlantic, or proceed across the Gulf of Mexico to 
exhaust their fury on its shores. They occur with varying energy at intervals a few years apart, and are most 
frequent in the months of August, September, and October. 

Tkinidad, the largest of the Lesser Antilles, and the southernmost part of the West Indies, is situated off 
the mouth of the Orinoco, and nearly touches at two of its corners the mainland of South America. The 
name refers either to its discovery by Columbus on his third voyage, or to three mountain-ranges by which it 
is intersected from east to west. It contains an area of 2000 square miles, and is remarkable for its pitch- 
lake, or plain covered with bitumen, which boils up in the centre, but is hard along the shore, used 
for coating the bottoms of vessels. Many parts of the island are imperfectly known. The occupied districts 
are highly fertile, producing sugar, coffee, cocoa, tobacco, ginger, cotton, cedar-wood, and various fruits. 
Eecently, cultivation has been stimulated by the importation of Coolies from Calcutta and Madras. Trinidad 
was Spanish down to the year 1797, when it was taken by Abercromby, and has since been a British 
possession, under a governor, who is aided by a council, but without a house of assembly. Port of Spain, 
the capital, is a handsome Tegularly-bmlt town of 18,000 inhabitants, with the streets running at right 
angles to each other, after the modem fashion, a very convenient harbour, a good pubho library, and 
magnificent scenery around it. 

THE BEEMUDAS. 

This group is remarkable for its isolation in the IsTortli Atlantic, being 580 miles from 
Cape Hatteras, a projection of North Carolina, and 640 miles from the Bahamas, the 
nearest points of land. Though mere islet-specks in the ocean, they are of interest as 
forming the oldest British settlement in the Western Hemisphere. 

Though popularly said to correspond to the days of the year in number, the group consists of five small 
islands, with many hundreds of rocky patches, all low, but very pleasing from innumerable little bays and 
creeks of the clearest water, the whole surrounded by a belt of coral-reefs only passable through narrow 
channels. The total area is about twenty-two square miles, and the population 11,000. Tliere are two small 
towns on different islands, St George, the military head-quarters, and Hamilton, the seat of government, 
consisting of a governor, council, and legislative assembly. As the summer naval station of the admiral in 
command on the North American waters, large sums have been expended in forming a dock-yard, and in 
fortifications. Arrowroot and various vegetables are raised for export; early potatoes are sent to Kew York; 
and the whale-fishery is pursued. The Bermudas have that name from the Spaniard, Juan Bermudez, who dis- 
covered them ; and are also called the Somers' Islands, after Sir George Somers, who was wrecked upon them 
in 1609, when their British occupation commenced. A convict establishment foimded here in 1825 has recently 
been abandoned, when those felons whose sentences had not expired were removed to "Western Australia. 





'^tr^^'fi'- ' k-»^ ~.j.„ i.-#4ir 





Eope Bridge on the Magdalena. 
CHAPTEE V. 



COLOMBIA — VENEZUELA — GULiNA, 



I. COLOMBIA. 




HIS state, formerly called New Granada, an old viceroyalty 
of Spain, includes a north-western section of South America, 
with a link of the chain by which it depends upon JSTorth 
America, or the Isthmus of Panama. It has a maritime 
border in the waters of the Caribbean Sea on the north, and 
those of the Pacific on the west, while enclosed on the east 
by the state Venezuela, and on the south by that of Ecuador. 
The minor inlets of the Gulf of Darien and the Bay of 
-Panama indent the opposite sides of the remarkable isthmus, 
a portion of which is, by special convention with the United 
States, considered as neutral ground for the railway by which 
it is crossed. Colombia, in a southerly direction, stretches a little to the south of the line 
of the equator, and embraces eastwardly the upper branches of the river Orinoco. It 
contains an area of 333,000 square mUes, and consists mainly of two regions of nearly 
equal extent, -with strongly contrasted superficial features. Grand highlands occupy the 
whole of the maritime side, declining inland into low level plains. The latter are partly 
forest clad, but more generally are almost treeless, alternating from fine pastures in the 
rainy season, which sustain vast herds of cattle, to verdureless and dusty deserts under 
the burning sun at the opposite interval. Erom south to north, the Andes traverse the 
country in three parallel ranges, which are known as the western, the central, and the 
eastern cordiUera. The central range is the highest. It contains the culminating point 
of all America north of the equator, in the truncated Nevada de Tolima, an active 
volcano, the summit of which sHghtly exceeds the elevation of 18,000 feet. The more 



862 COLOMBIA, 

interior range is the broadest, spreading out into tatle-lands, which have a temperate 
climate, and are the chief seats of population. Between these two ranges lies the long 
valley of the Magdalena, the principal river, which rises near the equator, receives the 
Cauca from the enclosure of the central and the maritime cordillera, and flows with great 
force and volume into the Caribbean Sea. 

The mountain region abounds with strildng scenery, extraordinary natural objects, and 

4h«.1*> -^Ssmssssr ,,f y :i ^ i^'i^^ V/ '." . '-< *® evidences of stupendous 
3 1 - ftjy j 't ,iif ' derangements. It is rich in 

I Wii'^fji' ^^'^ precious metals, with 

'1 J copper, iron, lead, platina, 

, and coal, and supplies many 

,| ' / precious stones to commerce, 

»*i*saisf especially emeralds. There 

are mines also of rock-salt, 

with sulphureous hot springs, 

"W^ '' if ijBliilPli iiitrous caves, and the singular 

air volcanoes emitting azotic 

^^^ , (iiiiHi|i*^S iii'i gas and mud. Different zones 

«& 'tm i«i«f » -''^'1 !■ ' ifelHlHiKiP ^^ vegetation appear with the 

TjT 7S»jM » ' n ''^^^^^^m^^^Si changing elevation of the 

'^"f ' ?1|f'jli^ j^lt 'jWW^ i "'j^^^^^^^^mmSBH •20''^*ry> ^°™- the tropical in 

ft » ^\]L'* F ''^tf^V^^^^^^fflHI *^® valleys and on the low 

■^ '-«»«. , W^X t\ )\ I T ::^^^HHlM!Millli I plains, to the productions 

II I r?^^^P''*K^ilWro common to temperate climes 

"■ I ' Z' -^^^ ^M^/^^^^ '^^ t-'^® table-lands. Coffee, 
\ A I J0 , J A jMU^MB y cacao, tobacco, cotton, sugar, 
and maize are raised, but culti- 
vation, mining, and industries 

in general have often been 

/^af-mwf^HHffllWlI/ j^SJH^^^g" paralysed by political distrac- 
tions, while the indolence of 
the people is at variance with 
an adequate development of 
Natural Bridges on the Icononzo. their natural advantages. The 

total population is estimated at nearly 2,300,000, composed in nearly equal proportions of 
the descendants of the Spanish colonists and the native Indians, with a few Negroes. 

New Granada was first colonised by the Spaniards in 1510, and became a vioeroyalty in 1718. Becoming 
independent of Spain in 1819, it united with Venezuela and Ecuador to form a federal republic. This 
compact was dissolved in 1830, and the three members were constituted separate republics. After various 
changes of the constitution. New Granada received a fresh organisation, carried into effect in May 1863, by 
which its provinces were converted into states federally united, to be officially designated ' The United States 
of Colombia.' 

States. Chief Towns. 

Federal District, Santa Fe de Bogota. 

Cundinamarca Honda. 

Magdalena, • Santa Marta. 

Cauca, Popayan, Cartago, Pasto. 

Eoyaca, Tunja Socorro. 

Antioquia, Antioquia, Medellin. 

Bolivar, Cai-thagena. 

Santander, Pamplona. 

ToUma, ToUma. 

Panama, Panama, Aspinwall, Porto Eello. 




BOGOTA — OARTHAGENA — ASPINWAH. 863 

Bor/ota, the capital of the confederation, is seated on a table-land of the eastern Andean ridge, 8690 feet 
above the sea, considerably higher than tlio Alpine hospices of the St Gothard and the Great St Bernard, 
At this elevation in the torrid zone the cUniate is delightful — a perpetual spring. The population is about 
41,000. Besides the cathedral and churches there are no buildings of importance ; and being an earthquake- 
shaken city, the houses are all low and the walls thick. It was founded by the Spanish conqueror of the 
country, Ximenes de Quesada, in 1545, with the name of Santa Fe de Bogota. There are remarkable objects 
in the neighbourhood. From the high plain, the river of Bogota descends rapidly into the valley of the 
Magdalena, and forms by a single leap of 574 feet the Falls of Tequendama, a magnificent scene in the rainy 
season when the stream is full. The column of spray is seen from the capital, seventeen miles distant. In 
the same range of the Andes are the two natural bridges of loononzo, masses of rock arching over a deep 
ravine, one above the other. The upper is 300 feet, and the lower 250 above a torrent at the bottom. 
Another locality, the ' Treasiu'e Lake of Guatavita,* has had many eyes directed wistfully to its surface. 
The name was originated by the tradition that at tlie time of the conquest the Indians threw all the 
gold they could collect into its waters, to disappoint the rapacity of the Spaniards. Popayan and Pasto, 
between the central and tlie maritime cordUlera, in the valley of the Cauca, are at a high elevation, with a 
lovely climate, the former 5800 feet above the sea, and the latter 8500. Cartago, similarly situated, com- 
municates with Bogota by a road across the central range, which rises in the Pass of Quindio to the height 
of 11,400 feet. 

Gartjiagnna, the principal seaport, is on the shore of the Caribbean Sea, south-west of the mouth of the 
Magdalena, in command of a harbour naturally good, but now extensively obstructed. It was once a great 
commercial mart, from which rich freights were sent to Spain ; strong also in war, a point where maaiy a 
grandee has landed. The town and its trade have greatly decayed, though there are said to be stUl 10,000 
inhabitants ; b\it the place is very unhealthy, chiefly caused by neglect. Old buildings, once noble abodes, 
in various picturesque stages of decay, barred-up windows, and desolate court-yards, offer a melancholy 
contrast to the profuse tropical vegetation on every hand, shewing every diversity of vivid tint, to which 
flights of paroquets add their gorgeous pliunage of scarlet and pea-green. Panama, on the Pacific coast of 
the isthmus, an old and once important Spanish city, exhibited similar decline previous to the opening of the 
railway to Aspinwall on the Atlantic side, which has brought to it jjassengers and commerce. A few miles 
out in the ocean there are several picturesque islands, on two of which are the depots of two great steam- 
packet companies. One, American, carries on the traffic with California. The other, English, plies its 
vessels between Panama and the ports of Peru and Chili. A small colony of captains, doctors, engineers, 
officers, artificers, and sailors have here a little town of their own, without women. The Panama railway is 
a single line of fifty miles. It follows for a considerable distance the course of the river Chagres, and runs 
through tropical forest scenery. So rapid is the growth, that the ground on either hand has to be cleared of 
jungle every six months, or the line would be obstructed. At intervals of a few miles there are wooden 
houses, built with much taste, in each of which a superintendent resides, with some labourers. In 1861 the 
passengers by railway to Panama amounted to 20,049, and from it to 10,920. The fare is enormously high, 
and there is only one class. 

Aspiniiiallf the Atlantic terminus of the railway, on the shore of N*avy Bay, is a hastily-buUt, bustling, and 
thriving place, virtually Yankee, created for the passenger and goods traffic which comes to it both from 
Southampton and New York. That from N'ew York is of course immensely the greatest, as this is the main 
route to California and Oregon. Porto Bello, eastward on the coast, was so called by Columbus in allusion to 
its fine harbour, but acquired the name of * the grave of the Europeans,' JJa SepuUura de los Europeanos, 
from its notorious unhealthiness, and has long been wretchedly dilapidated. The deep inlet of the slioro 
unmediatcly east, or the Gulf of Darien, is historically distinguished. At the upper extremity, where the 
river Atrato enters, the first European settlement in South America was established in 1509. Tliis was 
called Santa Maria del Antigua. It adopted for a cognizance the figure of a golden castle, with a jaguar on 
one side, and a pmna on the other. A second settlement soon followed a few miles inland, from which the 
earliest expeditions to the Pacific Ocean and Peru set out. Both were ultimately abandoned. In 1698 the 
western shore of the gulf was the scene of an attempt to plant a Scotch colony on an inlet which received 
and stiU bears the name of Caledonia Bay, entered by the Caledonia Eiver. It was made by Mr "W. Paterson, 
who afterwards planned and founded the Bank of England, but this proved a most disastrous failure. In 1854, 
British, French, and American men-of-war anchored for the first time in Caledonia Bay. They were connected 
with an engineering survey of the isthmus for a sliip-canal, from the deep water of the Caledonia Eiver to that 
of the Savana on the opposite side, which enters the Gulf of San Miguel. The distance is under forty-five 
mUes, with a hiUy ridge only two miles wide at the base, and 150 feet high, for the chief difficulty on the 
route. In 1857 a Commission of Engineers, to whom the question of practicability was referred by the 
Emperor Napoleon, reported in favour of it. 

II. VENEZUELA. 

Ventszuela, a territory of great extent, stretches along the Caribbean Sea from 
Colombia to Britisb. Guiana, and is bounded southerly by the Brazilian Empire. In the 
last direction the mountains of Parime rise and form the border j a chain also runs along 



864 VENEZUELA. 

the coast, subject to only a few interruptions ; and a branch divergiug from the Andes 
enters the country on the north-west. But three-fourths of the surface consist of llanos 
or plains, traversed by the Orinoco and its afHuents, ia many parts weU wooded, iu others 
entirely bare of arborescent forms, with the exception of a few clumps of palms. The 
open plains are grassy after the rains, occupied by immense droves of cattle ; but in the 
dry season, baked by the sun, they are completely parched and desert-like, being thickly 
covered with the dust of the pulverised vegetation. So low and level are these tracts, 
that the annual rise of the Orinoco converts them into spacious lakes, when the cattle 
take refuge on gently-rising mounds, whUe the Indians ascend the palms, make hammocks 
of the broad long fronds, and subsist upon the fruit. This change of aspect is of regular 
annual occurrence. The basin of the great river is almost entirely within the limits of 
Venezuela, through which it follows a very winding course of 1900 miles, setting out 
from east to west, then turning north, and finally running from west to east, so as to 
bring the termination and the source into nearly the same longitude. At upwards of 250 
miles from the mouth, which is the head of the tidal water, it is four miles wide, and 
more than 300 feet deep. The estuary is historically celebrated for having been entered 
by Columbus, who sagaciously inferred from the vast body of fresh water the continental 
character of the adjoining region ; and the basin is physically remarkable for uniting itself 
with that of the Amazon by the natural canal of the Cassiquiari. The Orinoco may be 
styled the NUe of South America, corresponding strikingly to the African river in its 
delta, its regular rise and fall, its numerous saurian reptiles, with the cataracts and rapids 
of the upper part of its course. The open plains are generally on the left bank, and the 
woods on the right. On the left bank also the principal affluents are received, the 
Guaviare, the Meta, and the Apure. The hydrography includes further the beautiful 
Lake of Valencia, eighty miles in circuit, and the guitar-shaped sea-lake of Maracaybo, 
which covers an area of about 8000 square miles, and is connected by a narrow channel 
with a gulf of the same name. 

The TegetaUe produce of Venezuela is singularly diversified, and constitutes the chief part of its wealth. 
Of useful plants which are cultivated there are said to be not less than 180 varieties, whOe the forests 
•contain 240 species of valuable woods, 36 plants yielding gums and resins, and 45 from which medicinal drugs 
are obtained. The most extraordinary feature of the native botany, the cow-tree, Palo de Vaca, has no 
prepossessing appearance. It grows on the parched sides of rocks in the mountain region, seems scarcely to 
penetrate the ground mth its roots, while the foliage is dry and leathery. Yet though months may pass 
away without the leaves being moistened by a shower, and the branches seem withered and dead, the trunk 
yields a nourishing milk with an agreeable taste upon being pierced. These vegetable fountains flow most 
freely in the early morning, at which time they are regularly visited by the Indians. A species of mimosa, 
the zamang, is remarkable for the immense extent of its branches, which form a hemispherical top like a vast 
umbrella, in some instances COO feet round the rim. The chief objects of ciJture are coffee, cacao, sugar, 
tobacco, cotton, and indigo for export, with maize for home consumption. The exports also include live- 
stock reared on the llanos, sent to the West India market, with dried meat, liides, and leather. There 
appears to be no important amount of mineral wealth, though imagination fixed the original El Dorado 
on the banks of the Orinoco, the grand object of early adventurers. It led to the fitting out of many 
expeditions for its search ; among others, to that of Sir Walter Ealeigh in 1595, which contributed to his 
unjust doom upon the scaffold. 

Venezuela contains an area of 426,000 square miles, and an aggregate population of 
1,565,000, consisting of whites of Spanish descent, Indians, and Jffegroes, but principally 
of mixed origin. Thirteen provinces are enumerated, one of which, Margarita, is an 
island in the Caribbean Sea, formerly the site of a profitable pearl-fishery. 

In the year 1848 the Venezuelan republic began to be disturbed by warring factions, and tranquillity was 
not restored till the mouth of October 1863, when Puerto CabeUo, the last stronghold of the insurgents, 
surrendered to the existing government. New political arrangements have been adopted, converting the 
provinces into states, and increasing the number to twenty, but it remains for time to shew whether the 
constitution and the public peace will be permanent. Meanwhile, General Falcon, the president, has decreed 



BEITISH GUIANA. 865 

the abolition of the death penalty, the inviolahility of private residences escept in cases of crime, the freedom 
of the press, and the extinction of slavery. 
Provinces. Chief Towns. 

Caracas, , Caracas, La Guayra, Calabozo. 

Maracaybo, Maracaybo, Alta Gracia. 

Coro, . . Coro. 

Bai-quisimeto, Barquisimeto, Carora, Tuouyo. 

TruxUlo, . Trrudllo, Araure. 

Merida, . Merida. 

Varinas, . Varinas. 



Provinces. 
Carabobo, . 
Barcelona, 
Cumana, , 
Guiana, 
Apiire, 
Margarita, 



Chief Towns. 
Valencia, Puerto Cabello. 
Barcelona. 

Cumana, Cumanacoa. 
Angostura, or Ciudad Bolivar. 
Achaguas, San Fernando de Apure. 
Assuncion. 



Caracas, the capital, occupies an elevated site, sixteen miles inland from the Caribbean Sea, but carries on 
foreign commerce by means of two ports, La Guayra and Puerto Gahdlo, on the coast. It contains about 
40,000 inliabitants, and has a large cathedral which withstood the terrible earthquake of Holy-Thursday in 
the year 1812, when most of the people were assembled in the churches, and 12,000 perished. The church of 
Alta Gracia, for the coloured population, is, however, the most imposing edifice. The city was the birthplace 
of the illustrious Bolivar. In the background the Saddle Mountain, SUla de Caraocas, so named from the 
depression between its two peaks, rises grandly to the height of 8600 feet. Cumana, a seaport, the oldest 
Venezuelan city, was formerly the seat of great commerce. It had long been declining, when, in July 1853, 
.in earthquake levelled the buUdings, involving a large loss of Ufe. Maracaybo, on the western side of 
the channel coimecting the lake and gulf of that name, is a considerable town, well bmlt, with a population 
of 20,000. In this part of the coast the early Spanish explorers met with native villages bmlt upon piles on 
the flat shore, which originated the name of the countiy, Venezuela, or ' Little Venice.' The neighbourhood 
abounds with petroleum and asphalt, occasionally in ignition, forming the ' Lantern of Maracaybo.' The 
chief inland towns are Valencia, finely situated near the border of its lake ; Varinas, known throughout 
Europe for the quality of its tobacco; and Merida, with a richly-adorned cathedral, near the divergent 
branch of the Andes, one peak of which approaches the snow-line, hence styled the Sierra Nevada de Merida. 
Ciudad Bolivar, formerly called Angostura, is the only place of consequence on the com-se of the Orinoco, 
240 mUes above its mouth, a small town, but a scene of active industry and some political celebrity. The 
new name was conferred in honour of the patriot leader, who, in 1819, here assembled the first Venezuelan 
congress.- During the periodical rise of the river the streets are often under water; alligators have been seen 
tumbling about in them ; and the unwary have occasionally suffered from their ferocity. 

m. BKITISH, DUTCH, AND PEENCH GUIANA. 

Guiana Peopeb embraces tlie -whole tract of country bet-ween the Orinoco, the Amazon, 
its affluent, the Eio ISTegro, and the coast of the Atlantic. But the larger part of this 
region is included -within the southern limits of Venezuela, and the northern border of 
Brazil, -while the maritime portion, still an extensive territory, is divided het-ween 
three European powers. The name is either derived from an aboriginal tribe, the 
Guayanoes, or is a form of Wai-ini, a small tributary of the Orinoco. It appears to have 
been first adopted as a distinctive title for the district by the Dvitch. The inland limits 
of these foreign possessions have never been decisively arranged, and portions nominally 
included in them, especially in the British, are claimed by the Venezuelan and BraziHan 
governments. Though long occupied by European settlers on the coast, little has been 
kno-wn till recently of the country at any considerable distance from the sea-board, and 
many of the more interior parts have yet to come -within the range of exploration. 

British Guiana extends from the mouth of the Orinoco to the river Corentyn, by 
■which it is separated from the Dutch colony. Inland, an area of 76,000 sc[uare miles 
is claimed, -which considerably exceeds that of the other t-wo territories taken together. 
Population 147,000, exclusive of aborigines. Three rivers traverse the surface from 
south to north, the Essequibo, the Demeraia, and the Berbice. The first mentioned 
is much the largest, and expands into a noble estuary full eight miles -wide for some 
distance above its mouth. The shores are lo-w and flat, profusely clad with the brightly- 
green verdure of the tropics. Such is the depth and fertility of the soil that the same 
land has been productive annually through more than half a century -without manure, 
without rotation of crop, and without a pause. But the whole maritime region is 
swampy; the rains are tremendous j and the heat is great. At the distance of from 
twenty to forty miles from the coast the surface becomes hilly, and ia mountainous in 
3o 



866 GUIANA, 

the far interior. AH natural features are here developed on the largest scale, as ia -wide- 
spread savannahs and endless forests ; rivers flowing deep and still, with streams foaming 
in rapids and roaring in cascades ; while the profusion and variety of living thiags, 
animal and vegetahle, strike the heholder with astonishment and admiration. 

Two intrepid exploring naturalists, Sohomburgh and 'Waterton, tave graphically illustrated the rocks, 
the ■woods, and the waters, with their animal inhabitants, though many wilds remain to be penetrated. 
Eoraima, or ' Bed Eock,' in a remarkable sandstone group, rises 7500 feet above the sea. The upper 1500 feet 
form a mural precipice as perpendicular as if erected ■mth the plumb-line, but overhung with low shrubs, 
while numerous cascades rush down the face. The Indians, alive to striking natural objects, sing of ' Eoraima, 
the red rocked, wrapped in clouds, the ever-fertile source of streams.' It is also called the ' Night Mountain,' 
in reference to the gloom which prevails when mists gather round the summit. The Ataraipu, or ' Devil's 
Eock,' remarkably isolated, is wooded for about 350 feet, above which rises a mass of granite devoid of every 
trace of vegetation, in a pyramidal form, for about 500 feet more. Masses of granite, fantastically shaped, 
occui^y elevations on the banks of the Essequibo. These ' giants of the hiU ' are frequently found inscribed 
with hieroglyphics, the picture-writing of the Indians, consisting of rude outlines of men and women, birds, 
animals, and even large vessels with masts. 

Prominent members of the forest include the dark-leaved majestic mora, the mimosa of the "Western 
Hemisphere, equal to the best timber for ship-bnUding ; the scarcely less stately and useful saioari, bearing a 
rich and nutritious nut ; the sirwabally, noted for resisting the attack of worms ; the cccropia, or trvmipet- 
tree ; and the water guava, which replaces the mangrove of the sea-shore, and has an aromatic leaf useful in 
dysentery. Parasites and climbers, with glorious flowers, thicken and adorn the woodland. The wild vine, or 
bush-rope, twists itself like a cable round the loftiest trees ; the wild fig occasionally takes root in the topmost 
branches of the mora, deriving nourishment for its sap ; scarlet or snow-white passion-flowers appear in pro- 
fusion ; bignoiua of various species, the most beautiful of climbers in the conservatories of Europe, hang in 
natural festoons ; and the whole is rendered more gay by the brilliant blossoms of the incense-tree, which 
perfumes the forest at the same time with its odorous medicinal resin. In 1837, Schomburgh made his famous 
discovery of the giant water-Uly, Victoria Begia, in the upper waters of the Berbice Eiver. The wooded world 
is alive with howling monkeys, weeping monkeys, spider monkeys, preaching monkeys, fox-tailed monkeys, and 
squirrel monlceys. There are tiger-cats and wild dogs ; deer, wild boars, tapirs, sloths, armadillos, ant-eaters, 
and opossums ; birds of melodious song, of rich plumage, and game birds ; arboreal and water snakes, 
venomous and harmless ; alligators in the streams and pools ; and insect nuisances are in full force. 

The English were settled on the banks of the Berbice as early as the year 1634, but the territory was after- 
wards wholly resigned to the Dutch. It was reoccupied in 1796, resigned again in 1802, and resumed the 
foUoiving year, since which time it has been a British colony. Public affairs are administered by a governor 
invested with large powers, responsible to the Queen in council, aided by a peculiarly constituted colonial 
assembly. There are three counties, Essequibo, Demerara, and Berbice, which foim a diocese of the Anglican 
'Church. In 1861, excluding aborigines, troops, and seamen afloat, the population amounted to 147,700, of a very 
miscellaneous description, the descendants of Dutch settlers, free Negroes, a few English, with Portuguese, 
Chinese, and East India natives, imported in large numbers to supply the labour-market. The Chinamen 
are liked by the planters, who have an agent regularly stationed at Canton to procure recruits. Sugar, 
molasses, rum, and tunber are the staple exports. 

Georgetown, the capital, situated on the river Demerara, near its outlet, contains 25,000 inhabitants, the 
great majority of whom are Negroes or persons of colour. It is regularly built of neat wooden houses, 
embosomed in trees, with verandahs in front, and canals are in the streets after the Dutch fashion. There is 
an Episcopal cathedral and a Smith chapeL The latter commemorates the missionary who suffered in the 
cause of the Negroes during the struggle for emancipation. Ifeio Amsterdam, on the Berbice, is a much 
smaller town, of Dutch foundation as implied in the name. Settlements are scattered for some distance up 
the rivers, one of which has been recently planted on the Essequibo, with the name of Hyde Park. In the 
International Exhibition, London, 1862, the products of the colony were well represented. There was a 
collection of substances connected with food, of fibrous articles used in manufactures, and a display of not 
less than 225 native medicinal drugs, with a notice of their application in various maladies. The forest 
produce was illustrated by a loo-table, made of 913 pieces, from thirty-three kinds of ornamental timber. 

Dutch Guiana, iatervening between the British and French territories, is separated from 
the former hy the river Corentyn, from the latter by the Marony, and traversed centrally 
by the Surinam, the name of which is often given to the colony. Population, 53,000. 
pRENOH Guiana, the most easterly and the smallest district, extends from the Marony to 
the Oyapok, the boundary stream from Brazil, which has been the scene of tragic crimes and 
wild adventures. The entire region has generally the same physical aspect, soU, climate, 
native products and inhabitants, while the respective political divisions differ as to intro- 
duced population, special objects of culture, amount of social improvement, and the extent 



DUTCH AND FEENCH GUIANA. 



867 



to wliioli natuial advantages have been developed. A long lainy season sets in about the 
middle of AjDril, and lasts tiU August, followed by a long diy season continuing tiU 
November. Showers begin to fall ia December and prevail through January, to which a 
dry interval succeeds, lasting till the great rains commence. Thunder-storms are common 
and violent during the rains, but the hurricanes of the "West Indies are xihknown. 
Population of the colony, 21,400. 

Paramaribo, the Dutcli Ixead-quarters, and the central seat of commerce, is situated on the Suiinam, and 
contains about 20,000 inliahitants. The broad regular streets are traversed by canals, and lined with orange, 
lemon, and tamarind trees. Fort Zeelandia, in the vicinity, at the mouth of the river, is the residence of the 
governor. The export trade is considerable in sugar, molasses, rum, coffee, cacao, and cotton, with woods, 
gums, and drugs. Negroes, emancipated from slavery in 1S51, are the most numerous class in the colony. 
Maroons, or runaway slaves, remain in parts of the interior to which they fled. There are several communities 
of Jews, both on the coast and inland, who have their synagogues. 

Cayenne, the French capital, occupies a river-island of the same name, wliich is frequently given to the 
entire colony. The town is small and mean looking, containing about 8000 inhabitants. The name origin- 
ates in a spice, Cayenne Pepper, made of the dried seeds of a native plant, a species of capsicum. It is also 
applied to a fruit esteemed for its flavour, the Cayenne Cherry. This colony at its origin bore the liigh- 
soimding title of ' Equinoctial France.' Its history presents an almost imintermpted succession of misfor- 
tunes and crimes. The first immigrants settled on the'-river Sinnamary in 1624, and soon afterwards came 
under the control of a company formed at Eouen for the nurture of the infant settlement. But the violent 
proceedings of the governor sent out, led to an Indian [revolt, and he was massacred, with most of his 
associates. Under the auspices of a second company formed at Paris in 1652, Equinoctial France was 
launched. The members, twelve in number, styled themselves the 'twelve lords.' They collected emigrants, 
and sailed across the Atlantic. On the voyage the commander was murdered. Within three months after 
landing, one of the ' lords ' was executed, three were banished, three died from the effects of dissipation, and 
another Indian revolt nearly annihilated the entire colony. In 1763 the French govenmient made a great 
effort to re-establish it at the cost of 30,000,000 francs. But of 12,000 emigrants despatched, 9000 soon 
perished of disease in the swamps, more than 2000 returned home, and only seventy famflies became 
permanent. A second effort failed as completely. During the revolution, political victims began to be 
transpoi-ted to Cayenne, and French Guiana is now the principal seat of the penal settlements of the mother- 
coimtry. It is divided into two cantonal districts — Cayeime and Sinnamary. All who are sentenced to 
eight years' penal servitude are doomed to remain for life in the colony. No returns of the death-rate among 
the prisoners are made by the French government, but the mortality is believed to be very considerable. 




Eoad to Honda, Colombia. ; 




Gold-washing on tie Itocolami 



CHAPTEE VI. 



BRAZIL — ^PABAGUAX — ^URUGUAY, 



HE Brazilian Empire, a compact dominion of gigantic 
extent, "but of no commensurate political importance, 
embraces tlie central and eastern districts of Soutli America, 
touclies aU its covmtries •with the exception of CMli and 
Patagonia, and corresponds in general shape to that of 
the contiaent itself, a triangle, with the apes directed to 
the south. It embraces the coast of the Atlantic from 
French Guiana to Uruguay, a sea-board of 3700 miles ; 
stretches through 2600 miles from north to south, by nearly 
the same distance from east to west ; and comprehends an 
area falling but little short of 3,000,000 square miles, if 
not exceeding that measurement. But though nearly equal 
to the whole of Europe in size, the population is ioferior in numbers to the aggregate 
found withia the limited dimensions of Belgium and Holland. M'orthward are the 
Guianas, Venezuela, and Colombia ; westward are Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia ; south- 
ward are Paraguay, Uruguay, and the Argentine Eepublicj eastward rolls the ocean. 
This vast emphe lies between latitude 4° 30' north and 33° 45' south, and between 
longitude 34° 47' and 72° west. It thus passes north beyond the equator, and 
advances considerably in the opposite direction beyond the liue of the southern tropic. 
Low levels, generally densely wooded, are in the north and west, with moderately high 
table-lands crossed by mountaiaous ridgea in the east and south, which have likewise 




BRAZILIAlSr FORESTS. 869 

•woodland tracts, but include extensive pasture-grounds. These two legions divide nearly- 
equal proportions of the siu'face between them. The greatest elevations are in the more 
maritime ridges, as the Sierra do Mar, or Sea Eange, immediately in the background of 
Eio Janeho ; and a northerly continuation of it, the Sierra do Espinhajo, at a somewhat 
greater distance from the coast. But the highest points range only from 6000 to 7000 
feet above the sea. ■" The hydrography of the country comprises the great iiood of the 
Amazon, travelling through its whole extent from west to east, with its numerous and 
mighty tributaries, of which the ISTegro from the north, and the Madeira, the Tapajos, and 
the Xingu, from the south, are the largest ; the Tocantins, flowing from south to north, 
and entering the same estuary ; the San Francisco, in the east, watering the provinces of 
Bahia and Pernambuco, on its passage to the Atlantic; and the Upper Parana and 
Paraguay in the south, which form by their united volume the Eio de la Plata. Before 
quitting the Brazilian territory, the channel of the Paraguay is contracted at a place 
called the Peohos dos Morros, or ' Barricade of Eocks,' where a vast temporary lake is 
formed, when the annual rains are unusually heavy, by the inability of the waters to 
effect at once their disengagement. , 

The occupied and cultivated districts in BrazU are chiefly maritime. At no great 
distance from the coast at any point, the country is largely in a state of nature, and 
completely so through an immense extent of the remote interior. But everywhere both 
animal and vegetable life is developed with astonishing profusion and diversity. The 
jaguar is lord of the woods and jungle, sharing the dominion with the boa-constriotor, the 
' bush-master,' often of enormous length. The emu and the vulture are the largest of the 
birds ; the various parrots are the most beautiful ; the toucan the most eccentric-looking ; 
and the humming-birds of many species the most interesting. The plumage of the 
latter, purple, crimson, and copper-coloured, taken from the breast and head, is used for 
the manufacture of feather flowers. Insect life, while including the class of tormentors 
in abundance, embraces the largest of all butterflies, splendidly arrayed; and fireflies 
abound, whose phosphorescent lustre has a magical effect in the forest at night. It is 
stated that the hum and noise of the myriads of insects in the woods may be heard on 
board a ship at anchor some distance from the shore. 

The natural flora receives a distinctive physiognomy from the multitude of its pahns, 
no fewer than a himdied species, and the host of myrtles which perfume the air with 
their exhalations. ITo language, it has been said, can adequately describe the glory of the 
Brazilian forest, the variety of the trees bearing brOliant blossoms ; the contrast of their 
coloiu' and size, and the thickets formed by the creepers hanging from branch to branch, 
with the endless diversity of the flowering-plants. Dye-woods are abundant among the 
forest produce. Some of the early cargoes being of a bright-red colour, were called 
hrazas, literally meaning ' coals on fire,' and hence the name of Brazil-wood, Ccesdipinia 
acliinata, with that of the country. The parent tree of the weU-known Brazil-nuts, 
Bertholitia exeelsa, answers to its name, rising commonly to the height of 100 feet, and 
being two or three feet in diameter. The nuts are enclosed in a sheU. half an inch thick, 
hard as iron, and so neatly packed together, that when once disturbed, no human art 
could possibly re-iusert them aU. They are the castanhas or chestnuts of the natives, an. 
article of food with them, and greatly relished also by the monkeys. 

The mineral resources of Brazil include gold, diamonds, topazes, and other precious 
stones, with vast quantities of iron ore which compose almost the entire mass of several 
mountains. Gold is obtained from auriferous rooks connected with the Sierra Espinhago, 
and from alluvial deposits on the slopes and at the base. The province has the name of 
Minas Geraes, or General Mines. It includes the principal diamond district, where also 



870 BRAZIL. 

the most valuable topazes are found in the sands and mud deposited by the upper waters 
of the river San Francisco and its feeders. The first diamonds Tvere obtained in the year 
1710j by the miners in washing for gold. They were jpreserved as pretty stones, deemed 
of no more value than beads, till recognised by an official who had been in the East 
Indies as diamonds of the purest water. This district has been, and still is, one of the 
richest on the earth in the costly gems ; and the province of Matto Grosso is scarcely 
inferior to it. But the cultivated vegetable products constitute an item of far greater 
wealth than the minerals. They consist of coffee, sugar, and cotton, the' staple exports, 
with cocoa, tobacco, indigo, dye-woods, balsams, almost aU kinds of fruits, all sorts of 
scents and spices. Manioc, the flour of which is used for bread by the humbler classes, 
plantains, bananas, and rice are extensively grown ; and hides are prominent in the 
foreign commerce. Since 1820 the Chinese tea-plant has been introduced with perfect 
success, and is now a highly-flourishing and remunerative branch of the national agri- 
culture. The produce retains its oriental name, did. Outside the vendas or restaurants 
the inscription is commonly seen, (Jlid Nacional, as well as one referring to the foreign 
commodity, did da India. 

Brazil was accidentally discovered by a Portugtiese navigator on tlie 3d of May 1500, who, while on a 
voyage to India, was wafted by the trade-wind to the shore, near Mount Pascal, on the south of Cape 
St Augustin. The country was gradually colonised, and remained a dependency of Portugal to the year 
1S08, when it became the refuge of the royal family, driven from the mother-state by the French, and was 
constituted a kingdom in connection with it. This tie was finally broken in 1823, and an independent 
empire created imder a Portuguese prince, with a liberal constitution. The government is a hereditary 
monarchy limited by a representative assembly of two chambers, one of senators appointed for life, and 
another of deputies elected for four years. Each province has also a legislative assembly for local laws, 
taxation, and administrative purposes, under presidents appointed by the crown. 

Chief Towns. 
Manaos or Barra del Kio Negro. 
Para, Cameta, Maoapa, Santarem. 
San Luis de Maranhao, Casias. 
Oeiras, Paranahiba. 

Araoate, San Joao do Principe, Campo Mayor. 
Natal, Porto Alegre. 
Parahiba. 

PernambucOj'.Goyana. 
Porto Calvo, Penedo, Macayo. 
Sergipe del Eey. 

Bahia or San Salvador, Caxoeira. 
Vittoria, Benevente. 
Eio Janeiro, Petropolis, Parati. 
San Paulo, Porto Feliz. 
Curutiba, Principe. 
Desterro. 

San Pedro or Eio Grande, Porto Alegre. 
Ouro Preto, Joao del Eey, Piranga. 
Goyaz. 
Mato Grosso, Cuyabo, Diamantina. 



North Maritime Provinces. Amazonas, . . 

n PI Gran Para, 

rr II Maranhao, . 

n II Piauhi, 

a II Ceara, . 

ri n Eio Grande del Norte. 

Central Maritime Provinces. Parahiba, 



Pernambuco, 
Alagoas, 



South Maritime Provinces. 



Inland Provinces. 



Bahia, . 
Espirito Santo, 
Eio Janeiro, 
San Paulo, . , 
Parana, . , 
Santa Catherina, 
Eio Grande do Sul, 
Mtnas Geraes, . 
Goyaz, . 
Mato Grosso, . 



Bio Janeiro, the capital of the empire, commonly called Bio, is the largest city of South America, containing 
perhaps a population of 400,000, situated in latitude 22° 53' south and longitude 43° west. It occupies the 
south-western shores of a landlocked and exquisitely beautiful bay, to which the name, signifying Kiver of 
January, was originally restricted, first applied to it from the month of its discovery. The place itself was 
founded in the year 1556 by a French colony, with the name of San Sebastian. It was intended to be the 
capital of a region called ' Antarctic France,' but little more than ten years elapsed before the Portuguese 
took possession of the settlement. The bay, the city, and its rocky sentinels of remarkable form, the Sugar 
Loaf, the Gloria Hill, and others, bare at the summit, green on the sides, with the loftier Organ Mountains 
rising in the distance, form one of the finest panoramas in the world. Eio possesses no imposing street 
architecture, but has some good public buildings in the European style. The private houses are not 
outwardly attractive, but vUlas in the environs evince great taste, and are rendered extremely lovely 
by tropical flowers, fruits, and foliage. The royal palace at Boa Vista in the suburbs is a plain mansion. 



BRAZIIilAIT TOWNS. 871 

picturesquely seated at the toot of mountains. An aqueduct seven miles in length brings water to the city 
and fountains are numerous. Churches and convents crown the top of almost every hill, but their con- 
dition proclaims the relaxed hold of the Roman Catholic faith on the population, which is very apparent in 
every part of Brazil. Some have remained unfinished for half a centiuy; others are dilapidated; and not a 
few are deserted. The pubUc institutions include the Santa Casa da Misericordia, or Holy House of Mercy 
for the sick and destitute ; the Hospital dos Lazaros, for the cure of cutaneous disorders, which aare very 
prevalent ; the Casa da Eoda, or House of the Wheel, a foundling hospital ; the Theological Seminary of St 
Joseph; a Medical College; Military and Naval Academies; the College of Dom Pedro II., a national 
university ; and the National Library, containing 100,000 volumes, chiefly brought over from Lisbon, upon 
the retirement of the Portuguese court from it. The English residents have also an extensive and valuable 
library ; and a Protestant chapel in the Eua dos Barbonos, built in 1823. 

Life in Eio presents many interesting phases to the stranger. The commerce Is vast, and by day the streets 
are scenes of great animation. Vehicles aie rarely employed in the transport of merchandise to and from the 
quays, but Negro porters who work in gangs of from ten to twenty, and are generally the most powerful men 
that can be found. The coffee-carriers are a celebrated race. Under a captain, a troop will hoist, each of 
them, a bag of coffee upon his head, weighing 160 lbs, ; and unencumbered by any clothing but short trousers, 
v^ill start off at a sharp trot which gradually becomes a rapid run. One hand steadies the load ; the other 
grasps a kind of cliild's rattle, the noise of which is accompanied by a loud shouting song. In the great 
square the market presents a picturesque spectacle, with its choice fruits, vegetables, poultry, and fish, black 
cooks and hoxisemaids chaffering with the vendors. Peather fiowers are extensively made of the plumage of 
the humming-birds, to wliich the wing-cases of beetles a)re often added, and have the sparkling effect of precious 
stones. The ' padres ' in the streets at once arrest the attention of the traveller, with large hats and close- 
buttoned gowns, dressed in the height of the tropical summer as if tor a Canadian winter. Metropolis and 
Thercsopolis, called after the emperor and empress, Peter and Theresa, are two new towns inland among the 
hills, containing many German colonists. PetropoUs, reached by steamer across the bay and then by a 
railway, has become the most important, being the simimer residence of the emperor, whose palace is in the 
centre. The diijlomatic body and wealthy citizens annually repair to the place to spend the hot and imhealthy 
season. The population, 10,000, is rapidly increasing, owing to the beauty and salubrity of the site, about 
2500 feet above the sea, surrounded by hUls covered with the virgin forest, in which tree-ferns are prominent, 
with their drooping fronds of exquisite green, moulded into lace-like forms by nature's delicate working. 
Sparkling streams and.cascades are in the valleys and glens. The Falls ot Itarmarity, ' Shining Stones,' m the 
vicinity, are remarkable for combined beauty and grandeur. 

Sahia, ' Bay,' the second city and port ot the empire, about 800 miles north of the capital, is very finely 
seated at the base and on the summit of a rock projecting into All Saints' Bay, and has a noble appearance 
from the sea. It is the oldest city in BrazO, having been foimded by the first governor-general, was the 
capital until 1763, when the seat of government was transferred to Eio. It is also the only archiepiscopal city 
of the empire. The cathedral and some of the churches, erected by the Jesuits, are imposing structures. A 
fabrica de imagens, or image-factory, is said to carry on a flourishing trade, Bahia has the full name of 
Gidade de San Salvador da Bahia de todos os Santos, ' The City of the Holy Saviour of the Bay ot AH Saints.' 
But formerly St Anthony was held in such esteem, that in 1705, at the request of the town-council, the viceroy 
issued an order granting to the defunct the rank and pay ot a captain in the fortress. The inhabitants are 
estimated at 125,000, among whom are a large number of Negroes fi'om the coast ot Benin. They are a 
powerful and independent race, occasionally turbulent ; all Mohammedans, speaking a language unknown to 
the other Negroes. Pcrnamhuco, a more northerly port, and the most easterly city of the empire, consists of 
three divisions ; Eecife, or ' Eeef,' on a peninsula opposite a coral-reef which protects the harbour, the seat 
of foreign commerce ; St Antonio, on an island approached by a bridge, where the shopkeepers reside in lofty 
substantial houses, with many windows and verandahs to admit the sea-breeze; and Boa Vista, on the 
mainland, from wliich villas extend a considerable distance into the country. The population is about 60,000. 
Sugar and cotton plantations are extensive in the neighbourhood, and yield the staple exports. The cotton 
known in the Liverpool market as Pernambuco, Bahia, and Maranhao is the produce of Gossypium Peruvi- 
anum. The plant attains the height of from ten to fifteen feet, has large leaves, yellow flowers, and yields a 
long stapled wool. Hides are also largely exported, the produce of the interior districts, where vast herds 
of cattle are bred. The city and the province contain a number of Sebastianists, found also in Portugal, a 
fanatical people who believe that the young king, Don Sebastian, slain in 1577 by the Moors in Africa, is still 
alive, and will reappear to inaugurate a millennium. They were guUty of dreadful excesses in the Pernambuco 
province in 1838, and had to be put down by the troops. 

Maranhao, on a river-island ot the north coast, with a population ot 36,000, is the best built city in the 
Brazilian empire, and is a remarkably clean, gay, hospitable, and prosperous place. It has a remarkable 
rain-fall, amounting to an annual precipitation of 280 inches. J'ara, near the outlet of the river Tocantins, 
possesses the largest cathedral in Brazil, with other public buildings far beyond the wants of the inhabitants, 
therefore neglected. It exhibits a singular blending ot town and country. The squares are green with grass, 
and studded with palm-trees. Tines and climbing plants have overgrown the theatre ; and the dense forest 
presses close upon the houses, A considerable quantity ot cacao is raised in the province, on the banks of the 
Amazon. The cacao-trees are not more than from fifteen to twenty feet in height, and have yellowish-green 



872 BRAZIL. 

leaves, in marked contrast -with the full vivid green of the smrounding woods ; three years after planting, 
the trees yield, and afterwards require no attention ; a large herry grows direct from the trunlc, and the 
tranches contain tlie seeds wliich are the cacao of commerce. San Paulo, the largest inland city, in the 
southern part of tlie empire, is the seat of an old university, and contains about 40,000 inhabitants, who, 
together ivith those of the province, have long been prominent in Brazilian history for pubUc spirit and 
influence. Tlie ridge of the Sierra do Mar intervenes between the city and its port, the small town of Santos. 
Across the Sierra a railway is in process of being conducted, in tlio hands of Enghsh capitaUsts and contractors; 
it runs for eight miles from the sea over a swampy plain reeking witli miasma, to the foot of the mountain- 
chain, which assumes its grandest proportions at the point where the San Paoli province is entered from the 
coast. Science has here been called in to grapple with the difficulty of carrying the line through the dividing 
ridge. This is done by a series of inclines up the gorges, one of which has the name of Bocca do Inferno, 
from its wUdness and gloom. In the space of five rmles the railway rises to the height of 2600 feet above the 
sea, and then passes out through an opening in the ridge, on to the table-land of the interior. 

The population of Brazil was estimated at 9,000,000 ia the year 1863, consisting of 
whites chiefly of Portuguese descent, Negroes, mostly in a state of slavery, ahoriginal 
Indians, and mixed races. 

The aborigines are found in most of the provinces, hut under different circumstances in 
the interior and the maritime districts. In the upper part of the hasin of the Amazon 
there are tribes in a condition of wild independence, retaining the barbarous customs and 
superstitions of their ancestors, as if the foot of civilised man had never trod the soU. 
Some of these are undoubtedly cannibals, eating the flesh of their enemies, and preserving 
it smoked and dried. Others more contiguous to the chief settlements of the whites, have 
been partially civilised, brought into subjection to regular government, and are very 
stringently protected by the laws. Imprisonment has been inflicted upon the white man 
for strOiiag his Indian neighbour. These natives, though disposed, like all the other 
members of the race, to look with aversion upon settled industry, yet till the soU, manage 
the boats which bring down produce on the rivers, compose part of the national army ; 
and traces of iatermarriage with them are observable in some of the town families. They 
make baskets, boxes, and india-rubber shoes neatly, and are unequalled in the production 
of feather-work. The Negroes are supposed to number nearly half the population, sub- 
ject to a slavery where they are bondsmen of the mildest type ; so much so, that many 
refuse to purchase independence when they have the means, and will deoHne to accept it 
as a gift. Not only are natives slaveholders, but foreigners, French, German, and English 
also j for instance, the great Anglo-BrazUian Mining Company of St Joao do Eey hold 
slaves. By law the slave-trade was prohibited in 1850; in 1853 there was not a single 
disembarkation ; and it is probable that in a few years slavery itself will be extinct. It is 
a pleasant circumstance that throughout the empire colour has no influence upon social 
standing, and persons of every shade are eligible for official employment and political 
privileges. 

The Brazilians proper, or native whites, amount to about one-third of the population. 
They are landholders, gentry, government employes, military and naval o£S.cers, or members 
of the priesthood ; while Portuguese, who come over in youth to make money, and return 
home again, mth other foreigners, have the principal management of trade and commerce. 
The established church is the Eoman Catholic. But while sustained by the state, the 
hierarchy are controlled ia the exercise of many important functions by the civil 
government ; and toleration is enjoyed by other communions, subject to the restriction of 
not building steeples and riaging bells. Official statements are scarcely credible respecting 
the ignorance, sloth, and vices of the clergy, who are regarded with contempt by the better 
classes, and have recourse to shows and festivals to maintain influence with the populace. 
These are duly announced in the newspapers, in connection with some amusement to 
collect a crowd, as 'brilhant horse-racing, after which a Te Deum, and magnificent fireworks.' 
Several papers of large size, well printed, on good paper, appear daily in the capital, 



PARAGUAY — URTJGtTAT. 873 

•witliout exception being made in favour of Sunday. There are two universities of law, 
one at San Paulo and another at Pernamhuco ; two medical universities, one at Eio and 
another at Bahia ; an Imperial Academy of the Fine Arts ; a Geographical and Historical 
Institute ; and pubUc instruction has an official superintendent. The people are in general 
keen politicians, and take a lively interest in. the elections. Senators are chosen by pro- 
vincial electors, who submit three candidates to the emperor, one of whom he selects. The 
party appointed takes his seat for life, and generally receives a title if without one. For the 
deputies every citizen of full age, in possession of a small property qualification, has a vote, 
with the exception of monks and domestic servants. By the constitution aU elections are 
to be held ia churches. This regulation the framers of it thought would give solemnity to 
the proceedings. But during severely-contested elections, when party-sphit has run high, a 
free use has been made of the metal candlesticks and statues, in the place of legitimate 
arguments. 

n. PAEAGUAT. 

Paeagxjay, formerly under the rule of Spain as part of the viceroyalty of Buenos 
Ayres, is now the only independent state oi\ South America entirely inland ; and main- 
tained a singular attitude of political isolation relative to all other countries, from the 
formation of a separate government down to a recent date. It embraces the peninsular 
tract lying between the two great rivers, the Paraguay and the Parana, above their 
junction ; and is bordered by Brazil on the north and east, and by the states of the 
Argentine Eepublic on the west and south. This territory extends upwards of 400 miles 
along the east bank of the Paraguay, which was ascended considerably beyond its limits 
by the United States steamer, the Water Witch, in 1855. It has an area computed at 
74,000 square miles, with a surface hUly towards the Brazilian frontier, flat and marshy 
in other directions, abundantly clothed with forests, in which not less than sixty varieties 
of serviceable timber are enumerated. The botanical product of the greatest commercial 
and social value is the Ilex Paraguayensis, found also in the Brazilian woods, which 
supplies a substitute for the tea of China, and is an article of export. The population, 
reckoned in 1857 at 1,337,000, consists of whites of Spanish descent, with a much larger 
proportion of Indians, nominally Christianised by the Jesuits, who established and 
conducted missions among them during the former part of the last century. 

Upon shaking off the Spanish yoke, Paraguay refused to join the other states which formed the Argentine 
Confederation, and declared for a separate existence. In 1S14 the celebrated Francia was appointed dictator 
for three years, and subsequently for life. He governed the country absolutely, forbade all intercourse with 
foreigners, and detained Bonpland, the companion of Humboldt in his travels, a prisoner for many years, who 
had ventured for scientific purposes witliin the sphere of his dominion, but otherwise displayed great adminis- 
trative capacity. Soon after his death, in 18iO, the rule excluding foreigners was relaxed. At present (1864) 
Paraguay professes to be a constitutional republic, but the president has almost dictatorial power. Assumption 
or Asuncion (Ascension), the capital, stands on the left bank of the Paraguay. It was founded by a Spanish 
colony in 1535, and rose to the rank of an archiepisoopal city, but is now a mean small town of 8000 inhabit- 
ants, yet with considerable trade in farming produce, and Paraguay tea. The Hex Paraguayensis is a kind of 
holly growing wild in the forests, and covering literally many of the hiUs. The leaves and branches are 
broken off, kiln-dried in the woods, then pounded in a mUl, and the coarse powder is the Paraguay tea of 
commerce. It supplies a beverage not only in daily use in the country, bxit with the lower classes in Brazil, 
Peru, and CSiili, who call it meat and drink, and never travel without a supply for refreshment. 

in. URUGUAY. 

Uruguay is enclosed by the wide embouchure of La Plata on the south, Brazil on the 
north, the Atlantic on the east, and the river Uruguay on the west. This district was 
called Banda Oriental by the Spaniards, as it formed the eastern boundary of their 
possessions in South America. It contains an area of nearly 70,000 square miles, and has 
a level surface along the coast, destitute of wood, with an undulating interior, except in 



874 URUGUAT. 

tie centre, •wMoh is crowded ■with, heights, ravines, and forests, forming a southerly 
prolongation of the Sierra do Mar, or sea-range of BrazU. The greater portion of the 
country consists of pasture-land, distributed into grazing farms. "Wealthy proprietors 
often possess thirty or forty square miles, mth thousands of semi-wild cattle, besides 
horses, mules, and sheep. Hence live-stock, hides, horns, taUow, and jerked beef are the 
main exports, the commerce in which is very extensive with England, "'other parts of 
Europe, the West Indies, and Australia. The population, perhaps about 300,000, includes 
a number of industrious German settlers, with some "Waldensians from their Alpine valleys. 
After separating from Spain, the country was seized by Brazil, but recovered its independence in 1828, and 
became a republic. The constitution includes a president, elected for four years, a senate, and a house of 
representatives. 3Ionte Video, the capital and chief shipping port, stands on the north bank of the Eio de 
la Plata, here more than sixty nules wide, and has its name from an abrupt hiU by which it is overlooked. 
It has the best harbour on the broad estuary, though exposed to the pmnperos, violent south-west winds, 
and is more favourably situated for foreign commerce than Buenos Ayres, on the south bank of the channel, 
being much nearer the Atlantic. The trade is very great, and rapidly increasing. Steam-communication is 
maintained with Southampton, Genoa, and other ports. The city is bmlt in squares, in the old Spanish 
style, and contains a population of 45,700, including the small suburbs of Agnada and Cordon. From the want 
of wood and fresh-water springs, the inhabitants suffer great inconvenience. They collect the rain in cisterns 
placed in the courtyard of every house, and have water carted to them from a distance. The trade with the 
"West Indies is in dried beef ; with England in hides, horns, and tallow ; and with Australia in mules. 




The Alpaca. 





Peuate del Inca, Chili. 



CHAPTER VII. 



ECUADOR — ^PERU — ^BOLIVIA— CHIU. 



I. EC0ADOH. 



HE territory of Ecuador is named from its position Tinder 
the line of the equinoctial. It occupies the shore of the 
Pacific from Colombia on the north to Peru on the south, 
and extends inland on the east to the borders of Brazil. The 
coast-line embraces the Gulf of Guayaquil, a spacious and 
beautiful body of water studded with islands, the only inlet 
of importance on the western side of South America. It 
receives a river of the same name, which is the only stream 
between the whole chain of the Andes and the ocean, with 
any considerable length of navigation for large vessels. In two great ranges the mountains 
traverse the maritime region from north to south, which contain many of the loftiest 
and most magnificent masses of the entire series. Vast forests clothe the interior 
declivities, which slope gradually into extensive plains — still woodlands, but with 
iaterspersing savannahs. The drainage is conducted by many large rivers to the 
Amazon, the main channel of which forms part of the southern border from Peru. This 
inland coimtry is through great spaces very imperfectly known, and exploration is beset 
with almost insuperable difficulties from the density of the woods and jungle, the myriads 
of mosquitoes and reptiles, annoying or dangerous, and the paucity of human inhabitants. 
Ecuador contains an area of 325,000 square miles, a population of more than 1,000,000, 



876 ECUADOR. 

of wliom 665,000 are wMtes of Spanisli descent, and has suffered from internal dissen- 
sions, like most of tlie sister-states. 

Originally one of three states wliioh formed the Colombian republic, Ecuador became a 
republic at their dissolution. The republic is divided into three departments. 

Quito, or Ecuador, Quito, Eiobamba, Imbarra. 

Guayaquil, Guayaquil, Tumbez. 

Assuay, Cuen5a, Loxa. 

The western or luaritrine range of the Andes runs near the coast, and is distinguished by the mass 
of Kchincha, with an elevation of 15,976 feet above the sea; lUiniza, 17,380; and the dome-shaped 

__^ _ Chimborayo, 21,424 feet, 

^pf long regarded as the 

sR-^ loftiest point of the 

' -7 : ~ globe, but not even the 

-j-^"*'^ monarch of the Andes. 

^ajji-'j^l^ _ _ The inland range has 

'^7 /~\ ^ Cotopasi, 18,875 feet, 

the most beautiful of 

all volcanoes, and one 

of the most terrible in 

iM J|' ' -^^ ^^^ 4'ii: ^— — = its eruptions ; Antisana, 

Hlmif -<^^aj ^ 19,137; and Cayambe, 

19,386 feet, on the linb 

iJ'^^^^^^^^^^^p=^= of the equator. Many 

V^'^l^^^^^^^^^^^^^^S °^^^^ summits are not 

a)''.d^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^E= ™'^*''^ inferior in height, 

^^^^^^^"^^^^i and have diversified 

H"'JP''^M^'SS^SSMIiSlS!P^SS^^!!'^!y^^h ^^^*"^^^- ^^^^ volcano 

"^^^^^^^^^^^^M^ of Maeas is remarkable 

:JS?^^^^W'*^'&5JVi^'^^*^53— for its exactly conical 

_, , . outline, and the snow 

Cotopaxi. 1 . -J. • 1 -i 

^ lying on it m longitu- 

dinal stripes, as well as for the cloud of smoke continually hovering over it. The truncated summit of El 
Altar is jagged with eight peaks of nearly equal elevation, and clad with an unbroken covering of snow. 

Tunguragua is a bluff 

irregular peak with a 
- rounded apes capped 
with snow, which also 
descends in streaks far 
down its sides. 
1^ Quito, the capital, 

the seat of a modem 
university, is an in- 
~"*r— oja i^'" ^^ ' """'5 * ^*^^~~ land, city, containing a 

■'"^~ "~ ^^^' . .ft .... jf iiffiij — -A,.«^. j.,.,jnaiBaii«i fiill complement of old 

churches and convents, 
with about 76,000 inha- 
bitants. They are said 
to be generally kind and 
^^^^g^^T^^^^'^'^'^^'^—^j^^^j^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^SE' courteous to strangers, 

■vr , rj.1. x>- ,.• 1 but singularly deficient 

Volcano of the Pichincha. . j. • • , • 

m enterprises involving 

any social improvement, a detect which specially applies to the government. The only road to the coast, 

which descends from highlands to lowlands, has undergone no repair for more than a century. Its 

termination in the low maritime region is nearly concealed by rank tropical vegetation, or so obstructed 

by fallen trees in various stages of decay as to be scarcely passable. Hence it has been said that 

though only 90 miles from the Pacific it might as readily be reached from the Atlantic, 3000 mUes 

distant, owing to the navigable rivers. No city, perhaps, occupies such a remarkable position. It 

stands on a table-land 9528 feet above the sea. The particular site is a kind of ledge on the eastern 

side of the volcano of Pichincha. This mountain, 15,976 feet high,' is crowned by a wall of trachytio 

rocks surrounding the crater, the depth of which is 2460 feet; and consequently the bottom, where 

volcanic agency is in active operation, is nearly 4000 feet above the level of the capital. The summit can at 





PEEu. 877 

no time be seen from ihe city, but from the greivt square no less than eleven snow-capped peaks are in siglit. 
Such an elevation near the equator renders the climate very agreeable and salubrious. The thermometer 
never rises above 64"^, nor sinks below 46^ There is a perpetual spring, and hence the common phrase of the 
' evergreen Quito.' But by a very tew hours' journey the traveller may ascend to the region of eternal 
frost, or descend into valleys where the heat is tropical. This variation of elevation and temperature, 
occurring within narrow limits, supplies the market %vith a diversity of vegetable produce, from plantains, 
pine-apples, oranges, and lemons, to the wheat, potato, and apple, with the other grains, roots, and fruits 
of Europe. But calamity from physical convulsions is at no time improbable. Nueva Miobamha, a town in 
the department, is the modern representative of old Kiobamba, which, in 1797, was literally blown up by 
the mine-like explosion of an earthquake, the houses and inhabitants being hurled across the Eiver Lican. 

Guayaquil, the principal port, on the river of that name, forty miles above its outlet in the Gulf of 
Guayaquil, has the best harbour on the west coast of South America, contains 18,000 inhabitants, and 
monopolises nearly all the foreign trade of the republic. Tlie chief exports are cocoa, straw hats, timber, 
bark, hides, and tobacco. But for one-half of the year there is an almost total suspension of commerce 
between the port and the interior. Goods arriving at the commencement of the rainy season, destined for 
Quito, must wait till it is over before they can be despatched, and the road becomes again in a passable 
condition. CueuQa, 8640 feet above the sea, the seat of an old university, and Loxa, 6760 feet, are inland 
towns in the department of the south. The Peruvian bark of medicine has been largely obtained from 
the woods on the Andes of Loxa, now extensively crippled by inconsiderate treatment from the collectors 
of it. 

The Galapagos Islands, a volcanic group, upwards of 700 miles out in the ocean, belong to Ecuador. Ten 
of the more important have English names — Albemarle, Charles, Indefatigable, Chatham, James, 
Narborough, Hood, Barrington, Bindloes, and Abingdon. On Charles Island there is a small colony, 
consisting chiefly of persons of colour banished for political offences. The rest are uninhabited, but are 
visited for the turtles of immense size which frequent the shores. Hence the name galapago, the Spanish 
for ' tortoise.' 

n. PEEU. 

The territory of the Peruvian Eepublic, immediately southward of Ecuador, is a 
continuation of its superficial aspect with an ampler development. It embraces fuU. 1500 
miles of the coast-Une of the Pacific, ranging from latitude 3° 30' to 21° 10' south, and 
lias its greatest inland extension at a nearly intermediate point, where 700 miles intervene 
between the ocean and the Brazilian frontier. But the average breadth is much less, and 
becomes gradually contracted to very narrow limits at the south extremity along the 
border of Bolivia, where the great highland lake Titicaca is intersected by the boundary- 
line between the two states. The country has an area somewhat exceeding 500,000 
square mUes. It is traversed through the entire length by the Andes in two grand 
ranges, which enclose high valleys and table-lands of considerable width, but occasionally 
interlock and form mountain-knots. Three physically distinct regions are constituted, 
consisting of a narrow maritime plain, a central mountain-belt, and immense interior 
lowlands. 

The maritime plain, between the Andes and the coast, has rarely more than a width of 
sixty mUes, and is a dry, hot, sandy, and insalubrious region, intersected by chains of sand- 
hills, and frequently traversed by columns of sand drifting before the wind. Over the 
greater part of this district no rain ever falls, in the proper sense of the term, owing to 
the mountains obstructing the westward passage of the clouds which drench their inland 
slopes. But a veil of mist is formed for a few months on the immediate sea-board from 
which a slight precipitation occasionally descends. PertUity is hence confined to the 
borders of a few meagre streams, which are the inhabited sites, along with the coast-line. 
Prom this plain the central mountain-belt rises steeply and grandly, but has gradual 
declivities on the interior side. It contains numerous towns and villages in the high 
valleys by which it is penetrated, which have a deHghtfuILy genial climate and luxuriant 
vegetation ; and spreads out in elevated table-lands ranging upwards to 12,000 feet or 
more, overlooked by many a peak from the bordering ridges, wearing a crown of perpetual 
snow. On these lofty levels the summer air is chill ; the wind stormy ; and the surface 
cheerless, only clad with a hard wiry grass, still succulent, though of a sickly hue. But 



878 PERU. 

here, at sterile heigMs where vegetaMe life never looks verdant, and fearful tempests rage, 
wldle quadrupeds are few, and the condor alone seems to be in a congenial element, stores 
of the precious metal are buried beneath the surface, which have drawn a human popula- 
tion to comfortless wilds, wanting in every attribute to render their occupation agreeable. 
The thu'd region, that of the interior lowlands, traversed by the head waters of the 
Amazon, is one of forests and savannahs, drenched with almost incessant rains. Here the 
clouds heaped up against the bounding-waU of the Andes by the trade-winds, descend in 
daily showers j and the more secluded woods are still rich ia many of the most valuable 
species of Cincliona trees, yielding the Peruvian bark of medicine and commerce. 

The Andes have been called the Treasury of Peru from their metaUio wealth, especially in silver, which 
occurs in almost all its forms and combinations, from the pure metal to the argentiferous lead ore. The 
mines are all situated in the higher parts of the mountain region, which renders the working of them 
difficult and expensive. Some are now exhausted, and mining labour has been largely suspended by the 
political distractions of the country, but there is ample scope for the profitable employment of industry and 
capital. However much report may have exaggerated the accumulations of gold and silver in the palaces 
and temples of the old Peruvians, it is certain, from the experience of the early Spaniards, that they must 
have been enormous. Nor is it strange to read of twelve immense vases of silver, with corresponding 
utensils, in the interior of the great temjile of Cu^co, a building constructed of stone and thatched with 
straw, having well-attested examples of extraordinary produce on record. Tschudi relates that the owner of 
the mines at San Jose, in the department of HuancaveUoa, requested Castro, the viceroy of Peru, who was his 
friend, to become godfather to his first chUd. The viceroy consented, but at the time appointed for the 
ceremony, affaii's of state prevented him from leaving the capital, and he sent the vice-queen to oiEciate as his 
proxy. To honour his illustrious guest, the mine-owner laid down a triple row of silver bars along the whole 
way, and it was no very short distance, from liis house to the church. Along Ithis rich pavement the vice- 
queen walked, accompanied by the infant and attendants. On returning, the munificent host presented to 
her the whole of the sUver road, as an acknowledgment of the honour she had conferred npon him. Since 
that time the mines and the district in which they are situated have borne the name of Castrovireyna. One 
of the most celebrated mining sites had its subterranean wealth accidentally discovered. History relates 
that in the early part of the sixteenth century an Indian shepherd tended his flock on a small pampa near 
the Lake of IJauricocha, one of the feeders of the Amazon. Having wandered further from his hut than 
usual on one occasion, and being fatigued, he made a declivity of the Cerro de Santiestevan his resting-place 
for the night, kindled a fire to protect himself from the cold, and lay down to sleep. On awaking iii the 
morning he was astonished to find the stone beneath the ashes of the fire melted and turned to silver. The 
shepherd commiuiicated this intelligence to his master, a Spaniard, who immediately repaired to the spot, 
found indications of a rich vein of silver ore, and made preparations for working it. New veins were 
discovered by fresh adventurers, whose settlements and explorings originated the town and mines of Pasco. 
The original mine, still worked, has the name of La Desoubridora, or ' The Discoverer.' The effectual conceal- 
ment of rich metallic stores, so that all knowledge of their site has been finally lost, is an incident which has 
marked the history of mining in Peru. QuicksUver, copper, lead, and iron, with a limited amount of gold, 
are the other metals. 

Peruvian bark, the only source of quinine, is the produce of trees growing on the eastern slope of the 
Andes, from Colombia on the north to ChUi on the south. They do not form forests of themselves, but are 
interspersed with other trees ; and appear to require a mean temperature varying, according to species, from 
60° to 70° Fahrenheit, with an almost constant supply of moisture, and an elevation'of from 5000 to 8000 feet, 
some kinds descending to a lower level. There are from twenty to thirty known species, differing greatly in 
appearance. Some attain a considerable height, and are fine umbrageous trees ; others grow up as straight and 
branchless as palms ; while a few are mere bushes. They have evergreen, laurel-Uke leaves, and bear flowers 
resembling those of the lilac, but more beautiful, and diffusing a delicious fragrance. According to tradition, 
the Indians were acquainted with the medicinal properties of the bark before the Spanish conquest. It was 
made known to the Count of Cliincon or Cinchon, the viceroy of Peru, soon after the year 1036, whose wife 
was recovered by its use from an intermittent fever at Lima. It hence acquired the name of Countess's Bark, 
and also that of Jesuits' Bark, from the order recommending and vending it in Europe. The discovery of 
quimne, one of the five alkaloids which the bark yields to the chemist, and by far the most important of them, 
dates from the commencement of the present century. Vast quantities are imported for the preparation of 
the medicine. Not less than £40,000 are spent annually in supplying the military hospitals in India with it. 
The probable destruction of the tree in the South American forests by the recklessness of collectors of the 
bark, and its inestimable value, has properly led to its introduction into India, Ceylon, and Jamaica, where 
cinchona cultivation is now conducted. The Dutch have their plantations in Java. 

In 1861, Mr Markham, on the part of the British government, visited the coimtry, with which he had 
previously become well acquainted, for the purpose of procuring plants and seeds. The utmost secrecy was 
necessary respecting the object of his mission, as tlie Peruvian government had determined not to permit the 



LIMA — ^PASCO. 



879 



export of any more seedlings. He readied the virgin forests at the outposts of civilisation, the abode of 
bears and jaguars, secured the sei-vices of a cascarillero, or bark-collector, and succeeded in carrying off 
upwards of 500 plants from their native region. The cascarilleros, who regularly follow the occupation, are 
so called from the Spanish cascara, 'bark.' They commonly ascend some lofty eminence, or climb the highest 
tree, in order to obtain an extensive view ; and having readily recognised the cinchonas by their foliage, 
proceed with wonderful accuracy to the spot where they grow. Their life, if less exciting, is scarcely less 
perilous than that of the Alpine chamois-hunter. Occasionally they lose themselves in the wilds, and perish 
of hunger and exhaustion. The word ' quinine ' is a modification of the Indian name of the bark-trees, quina 
or quinquina. 

Peru was conquered by the Spaniards under Pizarro ia 1532, and remained for nearly 
three centuries a possession of Spain. It secured independence by the decisive defeat of 
the royalist forces in 1824-, and adopted a republican form of government, but has 
experienced repeated political vicissitudes and great social anarchy. The constitution 
embraces a president elected for six years, a senate composed of two members elected for 
each province, and a house of representatives chosen on the basis of one member for 
every 20,000 inhabitants. The country is distributed into departments, and subdivided 
into provinces. 

Chiet Towns. 
Northern Divisions. Kura, . • • i • Rura. 



Southern Divisions. 



Amazonas, 
Liberiad, 
Ancas, 

Junin, . . 
Lima, 

Callao, . . 
Huancavelica, 
Ayaoucho, . 

CU2C0, 

Puno, . 

Arequipa, . 



Caxamaroa, Caxamarquilla, Huamachuco. 

TruxiUo, Lambayeque, Payta. 

Tarapato, Moyobamba. 

Tarma, Huanaco, Pasco, Junin, Huari. 

Lima, Huari, Pisco. 

Callao. 

Huancavelica, Jauja. 

Huamanga or Ayacucho. 

Cuzco, Abancay, Urubamba. 

Puno, Chuquito. 

Arequipa, Islay, Arica, Iquique. 

Taona, Moquegua. 

Lima, the capital, in latitude 12° south, longitude 77° west, six miles from the coast, occupies both banks of 
the small river Eimao, and contains a population of 60,000. It was originally called the ' City of the Kings,' 
Ciudad dc los Reyes, from being founded on the day of the Epiphany, 1534 The cathedral, which has a 
splendid interior, contains the tomb of the founder, Pizarro. The houses are chiefly of one story, with flat 
roofs, as a precaution against the frequent earthquakes. No year passes without many sUght shocks, and an 
average of two visitations occur in a century, more or less destructive. There are fifty-six churches and 
convents, with thirty-four squares or open areas. The grand square, Plaza Mayor, contains the government 
palace, formerly the residence of the Spanish viceroys, whose portraits from Pizarro downward, forty-four in 
number, the size of life, once adorned the interior. At the revolution they were removed to the museum, 
whore they are now preserved. The capital is connected with its port, Callao, by a railway,the first work 
of the kind constructed in South America. This town is strongly fortified, and has a considerable 
shipping-trade, with a commodious pier and quay. It dates since the year 1746, when old Callao was 
destroyed and in great part submerged by an earthquake, which laid also a large part of Lima in ruins. 

Pasco, a mining town, north-east of the capital, is seated on a plateau of the interior, which has a mean 
elevation of 11,000 feet above the sea, and is sm-mounted by the Nevada de la Vinda, rising to the total 
height of 16,000 feet. This is the chief silver-mining district. There are here two very remarkable veins. 
One of them, called the Teta de Colquirirca, runs nearly in a straight line from north to south, and has been 
traced to the length of nearly two miles, being 412 feet in breadth. The other, the Veta de Pariarirca, takes 
an opposite direction, and has a known extent of about a mile and a quarter in length, by 380 feet in breadth. 
The two veins are believed to intersect each other under the market-place. Both have smaller veins branching 
off from them in various directions, forming a net-work of silver beneath and around the town. So completely 
has the gromid been burrowed into, that no very violent earthquake shock might be expected to bury the place 
in the mines. The population of Pasco has sometimes amounted to 18,000, but it fluctuates with the political 
circumstances of the country, and the condition of the works. There has often been a very promiscuous 
assemblage of human beings for such an elevated site, surrounded mth wild moimtains, where the air is chdl 
through the greater part of the year, and the climate tempestuous. Even in the middle of the tropical 
summer, the ground at sunrise is white with hoar-frost. Creoles and Lidians have here been grouped with 
Spaniards, British, French, and Italians. The first steam-engine in South America, sent out from England, 
was put up at Pasco, in 1816, for the drainage of the mines, which an influx of water had rendered 
unserviceable. Mr Trevithiok, the well-known Cornish engineer, furnished the machinery. It was carried 



880 BOLIVIA. 

up the mountains witli great difficulty on the backs of mules, under the superintendence of his men. He 
visited the country in 1S17, and was received with great distinction. The Lima Gazette announced the 
arrival of Don Eicardo Trevithick. The Lord "Warden of the Mines attended him in command of a guard of 
honour ; and it was proposed to erect his statue in massive silver on a suitable point in the argentiferous 
district. But the revolution broke out, when the royalists suspended aU operations, and destroyed the 
machinery, as the merchants of Lima, who were most interested in the mines, espoused the cause of the 
patriots. 

Caxamana, one of the northerly towns, is seated in a delightful Andean valley, and has a mournful interest 
attaclied to it, as the place where Atahualpa, the sovereign of the old Peruvians, last of the Incas, was barbar- 
ously put to death by the command of Piiiarro. Tlie gold to redeem the unfortunate prince was then on its way 
from Cuzco, borne by a herd of many thousands of llamas ; but upon hearing of tlie deed, tlie natives secreted 
the treasure, and it was never discovered. Cuzco, south-east from Lima, is, nest to it, the most populous and 
important city, containing 47,000 inhabitants. Though the capital of the empire of the Incas, still retaining 
an aboriginal name (said to signify ' navel ' or ' centre '), and containing ruins that go back to an era before 
the Incas, the present city is almost wholly Spanish, has handsome edifices, and considerable manufactures. 
The site is 11,300 feet above the sea. Huancavelica, nearly midway between the ancient and modern capitals, 
and at an elevation of 11,000 feet, is distinguished by productive mines of quicksilver, gold and silver, in the 
adjoming hUls. Huamanga, on the same route, also called Ayacucho, contains a cathedral and university. 
It was founded by Pizarro in 1539, On a neighbouring plain. General Sucre defeated the Spanish army in 
1824, and secured the independence of the country. Arequipa, a southerly city, is the third in size with a 
population of 30,000, and has the small maritime town of Islay for its port, thirty miles distant, possessing 
one of the best harbours of the Eepubhc. The great volcano of Arequipa, a truncated cone, towers to the 
height of 20,320 feet. JPuno, on the north-west side of Lake Titicaoa, is the most elevated town of Peru, 
12,870 feet above the sea. Tacora, a village, goes up to 13,690 feet ; AacochaUani, a farm homestead, 
to 14,683 ; and Eumihuasi, a post-house, to 15,540 feet. 

Peru contained in 1859, a population of 2,500,000, consisting to the extent of nearly three-fourths of aboriginal 
Indians. The remainder are Creoles, descended from the old Spanish families, and mixed races, with a small 
proportion of Negroes. The country possesses highly usefiil animals in the allied ruminants, the Uama and 
alpaca, with their congeners, the vicugna and guanaoo, sometimes popularly called Andean sheep, but 
anatomically belonging to the camel family. Their wool or hair figures in the exports, with chinchilla furs, the 
fever barks, sarsaparilla, gums, resins, and guano, with a limited amount of bullion, for the important items. 
But the want of roads impedes the foreign and internal trade, .while peaceful pursuits have often been 
rendered well-nigh impossible by civil contentions and brigandage. 

The Llama, common to the other Andean countries, and entirely domesticated, is invaluable to the Indian 
population, supplying them with food and clothing. It is in use also as a beast of burden, and was the only 
animal of that description in America prior to the introduction of Em'opean quadrupeds. The Alpaca, also 
domesticated, is somewhat smaller, and yields a finer fleece. The Peruvian government prohibited the export 
of these animals under heavy penalties. But following a route through Bolivia and Chili, a herd was safely 
conducted to Australia, and the restriction is now relaxed. The Vicugna, altogether wild, is handsomer than 
either the Uama or alpaca, and furnishes a finer wool. It inhabits the heights of the Andes, on the verge 
of perpetual snow. The Guanaco, also wEd, is the largest of the tribe, tlirives at a, lower level, and ranges 
southward to the Strait of Magellan. 

Peruvian guano, an important government monopoly, is obtained chiefly from the Cliincha Islands, three in 
number, known as the North, the Middle, and the South Islands, distant about ninety miles to seaward of the 
port of Callao. They are of very small size, but highly valuable, being covered with enormous deposits of 
guano, the excrement of birds, which have been accumulating for ages, and retain nearly the whole of their 
soluble constituents owing to the extreme di-yness of the climate. Although in daily use as a manure in 
Peru for many centuries, the export of the deposit to foreign countries is comparatively recent, but upwards 
of a hundred vessels have since been seen at once taking in their cargoes. The income derived by the state 
from the guano amounted in 1860 to £2,809,000, and in 1861 to £2,961,000. It has been estimated, as the 
result of official siu-veys, that the quantity remaining on the three islands exceeds 7,000,000 tons, wliich, at the 
average net proceeds of £6 per ton, gives a total value of £42,000,000 sterling. Borings have been made 
which extend to the depth of 105 feet through the solid manure. Keoently, these islands were audaciously 
seized by Spain, and are still retained. 

III. BOLIVIA. 

This region, formerly called Upper Peru by the Spaniards, now commemorates the 
South American liberator, Bolivar, who drew up its first constitution as a republic, and 
for a time presided over its destinies. It is chiefly an inland country, enclosed by Peru, 
Chili, Brazil, and the Argentine States, but includes a small maritime tract on the coast of 
the Pacific, subject to the disadvantage of being a sandy waste, with no good port, while 
separated fcom the important part of the territory by mountains of stupendous elevation. 



BOLIVIA — CHILI. 881 

A high plateau of great extent, formed by the main mass of the Andes, is the distinguish- 
ing physical feature. This is the table-land of Desaguadero, at a mean elevation of 13,000 
feet above the sea, extending 500 miles in length, occupied by the basins of two lakes 
and a river-vaUey, while bordered east and west by longitudinal ridges towering far above 
it. The western ridge, or cordiUera of the coast, contains the highest point in the peak of 
Sahama, rising to 22,350. In the eastern ridge the serrated summit of Illimani attains to 
21,140, and that of Sorata to 21,286 feet, both of which overlook the waters of Lake 
Titicaca, and a large portion of the Peruvian territory. On the interior side of the plateau 
the surface declines into wooded plains, traversed by affluents of the Amazon and the La 
Plata, but very obscurely known to Europeans. Bolivia is estimated to include an area of 
274,000 square miles, and a population exceeding 2,000,000, composed mainly of native 
Indians ; but both calculations must be regarded as doubtful results. The mineral, animal, 
and vegetable productions correspond to those of Peru. 

Departments. Cliief Towns. 

CJhuquisaoa, ... ... Chuqnisaca or Sucre, Valle Grande. 

Potosi , . Potosi, San CristovaL 

Cocliabamba, Cochabamba, Misque, Cochamarca. 

Santa Cruz de la Sierra, .... Santa Cruz de la Sierra, San Lorenzo. 

La Paz, La Paz, Apolobamba, Sorata. 

Oruro Orui-o, Chipaya. 

Tarija, . . ■ . , , , . . Tarija. 

Cobija, Cobija, Atacama. 

Beni, Ealtaoion, Trinidad, 

Chuqnisaca or Sucre, the capital, on the interior slope of the great plateau, 9300 feet above the sea, is 
chiefly important as the seat of government, but has a population of about 30,000. It was founded in 1538 
by an officer of Pizarro, on the site of an old Peruvian town called Choque ChaTca, or ' Bridge of Gold,' the 
treasures of the Incas having passed through it on their way to Cuzco. At one time it bore the name of La 
Plata, on account of the rich silver-mines in the vicinity. It has a cathedral of great magnificence, a 
university, a college of arts and sciences, and a mining schooL Cochatamha, surrounded with forests, 
contains a popuation of 40,000, and has manufactures of cotton fabrics and glass-wares. But Xa Pas, an 
Episcopal city, south-east of Lake Titicaca, is the most populous place in the republic, with 76,000 
inhabitants, and extensive manufactures of hats of vicugna wool, and cloths of llama and alpaca hair. 
Potosi, once a large and splendid city, now decayed, has a name which has become proverbial for wealth, 
owing to its silver-mines. It stands on the slope of a conical mountain of clay-slate, capped with porphyry, 
at the height of 13,314 feet above the sea. This is the elevation of the great square. Some of the sources 
of the river Plata, 'Silver,' are not far distant, a circumstance which originated the name of the river. 
The riches of the region are said to have been discovered by an Indian, who, while engaged in chasing some 
animals, laid hold of a shrub to assist his ascent. It yielded to his weight, and some metallic particles being 
found attached to the roots, disclosed to him a silver vein, afterwards called la rica, ' the rich.' Upon imparting 
the secret to his master, a mine was opened, and formally registered on the 21st of April 1545. The 
abundance of the ore speedily drew a concourse of adventirrers to the elevated spot, where a stranger on his first 
arrival finds respiration difficult. The mountain was perforated in every direction ; and Potosi, in the height 
of its prosperity, could boast of 130,000 inhabitants, with a stately cathedral, splendid churches, and various 
edifices devoted to the produce of the mines. The city is now but the shadow of what it was, even at the 
commencement of the present century, containing only a population of 22,800. Political disturbances have 
mainly contributed to this result, though the argentiferous veins, within reach, are considerably exhausted. 
Prom the opening of the mines, to the separation of the country from the crown of Spain, a period of some- 
what less than three centuries, the silver which paid the royal duty has been valued at upwards of £230,000,000 
sterling. 

IV. CHILL 

The Chilian republic embraces a long narrow territory on the shores of the Pacific, 
extending southward from Bolivia to the Archipelago of Chiloe, which forms one of the 
provinces. The distance between these points is not less than 1200 miles, but the inland 
range of the country rarely amounts to 150 miles, and has in general much more 
contracted limits. The area is estimated at 140,000 square mUes. In a single broad and 
majestic ridge, the Andes rise on the interior border, and form the boundary-line from 
, 3 D 



882 CHILI. 

tlie -western states of the Argentine Confederation. This mighty barrier on the east, with 
the sterile Desert of Atacama on the north, and the dreary wilds of Patagonia on the 
south, contribute to isolate remarkably the enthe repubhc from the remainder of the 
continent. It is only accessible from the Atlantic side by a long sea-route, or by difficult 
passes across the mountains, which rise to heights where respiration is tried by the rarity 
of the atmosphere, while the cold is intense, the storms are terrific, and all are blocked up 
with snow through the winter months, with perhaps a single exception. Towards the 
centre of the chain stands the mass of Aconcagua, an extinct volcano, the cuhninating- 
point of the New World, towering to the height of 23,910 feet. Fourteen lofty volcanic 
peaks are enumerated, only a few of which are at present in a state of activity. But 
volcanic agency attests its power by frequent and occasionally tremendous earthquakes, 
which have twice during the present century altered the relations of the land and the 
ocean, by permanently elevating a large extent of the maritime region several feet above 
its former level. Lower longitudinal ridges occur between the Andes and the coast, 
sending off niimerous lateral spurs in various directions. The general surface has hence 
a highly-diversified aspect, very beautiful in the central provinces, where every landscape 
has its hiUs, ravines, and watered valleys. Owing to the narrowness of the country, the 
rivers have short courses, and are confined by climatic causes to the southerly districts. 
Little or no rain falls in the northern, and there only a few streams are formed in the 
vicinity of the mountains, which are not perennial, being entirely dependent upon the 
melting of the snows. 

The Cumbre Pass across the Andes, leading from Valparaiso on the Cihilian to Mendoza on the Argentine 
side, is one of the principal thoroughfares over the range. It lies immediately south of the mass of 
Aconcagua, and attains the height of 13,000 feet above the sea. The mule is the beast of burden, sure- 
footed, instinctively selecting the safest path where the road is narrow and dangerous, while endowed mtli 
astonishing powers of endurance. After quitting the last town, Santa Kosa, the route follows for some 
distance the course of the Eio Aconcagua, a powerful torrent-like stream. In a wild picturesque spot on its 
banks stands the custom-house station of the Chilian government, a post abandoned in the winter, as traffic 
is then impossible, and the cold severe. A little further on is the last inhabited dwelling on the west side of 
the mountains, the Guardia Vieja, or old custom-Iiouse, used in former years by the Spaniards. This is a 
miserable hut, only occupied by the keeper in the smnmer. The road hence, gradually ascending, is rough 
and stony, and the casudias speedily begin. These are places of refuge from the snow-storms, whicli the 
Spaniards erected. They are veiy strongly built of brick and lime, and have arched roofs, with entrances at 
some distance from tlie ground, to prevent them from being snowed up. Formerly they were supplied with 
firewood and a small quantity of provisions for overtaken and destitute travellers. They are met with at 
distances of from two to four leagTies from each other in the lower regions ; but in the higher parts of the 
road, where danger becomes more imminent, they are much more numerous. So sudden and violent are the 
storms, that baggage-mules are sometimes blown over tlie precipices, and passengers throw themselves on the 
ground to avoid sharing the same fate. Towards the end of April, or the beginning of May, when the winter 
commences, the snow is knee-deep, and the Pass is closed for the season. 

The Portillo Pass, on the south, connects Santiago with Mendoza during the summer, and has an elevation 
of 14,300 feet. Considerably to the northward, where the snow-line is higher, the latitude being more 
tropical, the San Francisco Pass leads from Copiapo to Fiambala, and is crossed by travellers at all seasons, 
though it rises to the height of 16,000 feet. No difficulties are experienced from the snow, probably from 
local circumstances which prevent its drifting. Mr VSTieelwright, the constructer of most of the South 
American railways, who has carried them up to greater heights than any other engineer, is sanguine respect- 
ing the possibility of economically laying down a line along tliis route, by adopting a system of steep gradients 
and sharp curves, as in his other works. Linked witli railways in process and proposed in the Argentine 
States, it would connect the two oceans, from Caldera on the coast of the Pacific to Eosario on the Parana, 
an Atlantic river. The condor, common to the Andes from the equator southward to the Strait of Magellan, 
is specially distinctive of tlie Cliilian portion of the range. It was figured on the first coinage of the 
republic as a symbol of strength. The birds are seen by scores, now soaring in the blue firmament above 
the loftiest peaks, then hovering over the passes, on the watch to make a meal of some overloaded mule, 
which may drop from exliaustion on the rough inclement track. Usually at the height of from 12,000 to 
13,000 feet, the first symptoms of the malady, called the Veta, are observed, consisting of great weariness, 
dimness of sight and hearingj pains in the head, and nausea, from which domestic animals suffer as well as 
man. 



SOUTHEEN CHIM. 883 

Soiitliem Chili, drenclied witL. rains, has a profuse vegetation, and is extensively a 
forest region from -which timber is exported. The central provinces have a smaller 
amount of rain-fall, gradually decreasing northward, and are largely occupied with 
agricultural and grazing farms. On the haciendas or estates of wealthy proprietors, nearly 
every product of the country may he seen. Mower-gardens and orchards surround the 
dwelling-houses. Plantations of walnut and almond trees are hy the side of vineyards of 
the white and red grape. Fields of wheat, harley, and green crops form an exterior 
circle, with pastures for fine cattle and sheep, fenced round with closely-planted poplar- 
trees, affording an agreeable shade in hot weather. A striking contrast is presented hy 
the entire northern province. This is a waterless and verdureless waste, with a surface of 
sand or rock bleached in many parts with saltpetre, forming the southern portion of the 
Desert of Atacama, which stretches for himdreds of miles through Bolivia into Peru, 
between the Andes and the coast. Yet even in this inhospitable region there are stored 
incalculable riches, consisting of veins of the purest silver ore, with copper, lead, iron, 
cobalt, bismuth, antimony, arsenic, quicksilver, and other minerals. Mines were originally 
opened in this district for copper under the^ superintendence of experienced and hardy 
Cornishmen, the produce of which is extensively sent round Cape Horn to be smelted at 
Swansea in Wales. The discovery of silver dates from the year 1832, and is chiefly 
worked, along with copper, by the Copiapo British Mining Company. 

The republic is one of the most flourishing of the South American commonwealths, and 
has a less democratic constitution, the suffrage being restricted by important property 
qualifications. It is under a president elected for five years, with senators chosen for nine 
years, and deputies sitting for three years. The population, amounting to 1,648,000, 
consists of whites of Spanish descent, Indians, and mixed races, -with a considerable 
number of Europeans. A southerly part of the country is occupied exclusively by the 
bold and warlike Araucanian Indians, who were never conquered by the Spaniards, and 
are still practically independent, but upon terms of amity with the Chilian government. 
Public instruction is provided by a system of free schools, and a National Institute for 
superior education is also sustained by the state. The people have the reputation of 
being intelligent and enterprising, yet fond of amusements, while the women are notorious 
for their attachment to the shows of the Ptomish Church. 

Provinces. Chief Towns. 

Atacama, Copiapo, Caldera, Chanarcillo. 

Coquimbo, Coquimbo, Tongoy, Ovalle. 

Aconcagua, San Felipe, Santa Eosa de los Andes, 

Valparaiso, Valparaiso, Quillola, Casa Blanca. 

Santiago, Santiago de CliiU, San Bernardo, Kancagua. 

Colchagua, San Fernando, Curioo. 

Talca, Talca, Molina. 

Maule, Villa de Cauquenes. 

Nuble, ChiUan. 

Concepcion, . . . . . Conoepcion, Talcahuana. 

Arauco, Axauco. 

Valdivia, Valdivia. 

Chiloe, San Carlos, Castro. 

Cliili originally belonged to the empire of the Incas of Peru. It was invaded by the Spaniards under 
Almagro in 1535, and subdued by Valdivia in 1541. The Spanish yoke was thrown off by a declaration of 
independence in ISIO, which was finally secured by the battle of Maypo in 1818. 

Santiago, the capital, a beautiful city of 80,000 inhabitants, nearly in the heart of the country, Is delight- 
fully placed upon a plain studded with acacia-trees, with the glorious Andes in full view. It contains a 
university, a cathedral, and numerous churches, which are crowded with the female part of the population 
on festival occasions. A great number belonging to the most influential families in the city perished in 1863, 
by the church in which they were assembled taking fire, which the draperies and other decorations put 
up in the fabric, with their own light dresses, at once rendered an irresistible conflagration. Valparaiso, 



OOi CHILI. 

' Vale of Paradise,' the port of the capital, and the principal seaport of the repubKo, contains a population of 
75,000. It numbers many British and French residents, engaged in the foreign trade of the country, the 
shipment of wheat, hides, wool, indigo, drugs, copper, and other metallic ores. Several genuine British 
institutions are here in full activity — a cricket-club, a boating-club, an amateur theatrical-club, and a pack of 
fox-hounds. A railway, ninety mUes in length, connects Valparaiso and Santiago, passing up the rich valley 
of QuUlota to the town of San Felipe, the head of one of the most fertile provinces. It stands close to the 
Aconcagua Eaver, forms a regular square, is surrounded with avenues of poplars, and has a central plaza, 
around which the best houses are built, also planted with trees, which form a shaded promenade. Concepdon 
and Valdivia, southerly to'svns on the coast, are chiefly of note in connection with their earthquakes. 

Caldera, northward, one of the stopping-places of the Pacific Company's steamers, is a recent creation. 
ISventy years ago it was a miserable spot, consisting of a few fishermen's huts upon the beach. In the brief 
interval it has become a rapidly-rising town, with a good landing-wharf and mole, a custom-house, shops, 
hotels, machine establishments, a convenient railway-station, which would do honour to the provincial town of 
any state. This change has been effected by English capital and enterprise. Prom hence a railway extends to 
Gopiapo, fifty miles inland, the most northerly town in ChUi, and the centre of a great mining district, where 
an excellent station greets the traveller. This railway was constructed in order to bring the two great 
mining districts of ChanarciUo and Los Tres Puntos into easy communication with the coast, facilitate the 
transport of provisions and water to the establishments, where the price was enormous, and for the convey- 
ance of the ores to port. No localities can be conceived more arid and repelling in appearance than those 
which are the richest in subterranean wealth— sandy tracts, intersected by the most bare, rugged, and forbidding- 
looking mountains. In unfrequented places, human remains are sometimes found. The bodies of mules are 
more frequent, some in the most striking positions, having died in the veiy act of leaning against a rock for 
support, or while attempting to nibble a last atom from, here and there, a miserable and stunted thorn-bush. 

ChanarciUo, a silver-mining town, fifty miles south of Copiapo, occupies a site which little more than thirty 
years ago was a perfect solitude. To this spot, on the 18th of May 1832, a muleteer was drawn while 
engaged in hunting a guanaco. Having wounded his game, he had pursued it till he was so utterly overcome 
with fatigue and thirst, that he could advance no further, and sank down upon a rock, leaving the chase to 
his dogs. In a short time he found that he was sitting on a rugged block of pure silver, which had crested out 
from a vein immediately beneath. From tlmt period the fame of the place dates as a rich silver district. 
Immediately afterwards, a poor peon slept beneath a projecting crag, and in the morning found that his frugal 
fire had brightened the wall of his resting-place. That wall was the outside of an isolated mass of silver, 
which, when cut out, yielded 2800 marcs to the fortunate owner. ChanarcUlo is now in the hands of a 
British Mining Company. Five years have here sometimes passed away without a single shower. Hence the cost 
of water, brought on the backs of donkeys from the distance of many leagues, has formed a very considerable 
item in the accounts of the mines. This expense is now obviated by an extension railway from Copiapo, 
recently opened, by which also communication is established with Caldera on the coast. The line has been 
constmcted in the face of great difficulties from the mountainous and rugged country. It is carried by steep 
gradients to the height of 4470 feet above the sea, and is at present the highest railway in the world. 

The insular province of Chiloe "was the last part of South America colonised by the 
Spaniards, and it retained their flag the longest. This archipelago, close inshore, was 
only Tery partially occupied by the whites, and has at present chiefly a population of 
Indian blood. It forms the northerly portion of the series of islands which fringe the 
shores of Patagonia, and terminate at Cape Horn. The most southerly member is some- 
times called Elfin del Ghristiandad, as the extreme point of South American Christendom. 
The republic lias outljring dependencies on the mainland of Patagonia, and the station 
of Punta Arenas, or Sandy Point, on the Strait of Magellan. • It also includes the three 
small isles of Juan Pernandez, 320 mUes nearly dile west of Valparaiso, held by a few 
Americans and Tahitians under lease from the government. They are very closely 
grouped, and consist of one eastward, named Mas-a-Tierra, or more to the mainland ; 
another westward, Mas-a-Fuera, more towards the oiiling ; and a third southerly, Isla de 
Lovos, island of sea-dogs or seals. The cluster is of interest from having been for four 
years, 1704-1708, the solitary abode of a shipwrecked seaman, Alexander Selkirk, whose 
adventures are commonly supposed to have suggested to Defoe the idea of BoUnson 
Crusoe. 




Cape Horn. 
CHAPTEE VIII. 

ARGENTINE REPUBLIC — ^PATAGONIA — FDEGIAN AECHIPEIiAGO — ^FAIKLAND ISLANDS. 
I. AESENTINE EEPUBLIC. 

^^ HAT portion of Central and Eastern South America 
i. included between tlie Chilian Andes and the Atlantic, 
bordered by Bolivia on the north and Patagonia on the 
south, is occupied by the confederation of states forming 
the Argentine Eepublic, also called the United Provinces 
of La Plata. This region constitutes a rectangle of 
immense extent, lying between the parallels of 22° and 
^a 41° south, and the meridians of 54° and 70° west. The 
i^ greatest length, fiom north to south, is not less than 
1350 miles; the average breadth is rather more than 
^ half the distance ; and the area comprises upwards of 
1,000,000 square miles. But a large proportion of the 
^^B surface is infertile; the natural features of the landscape 
are almost everywhere monotonous, except towards the 
slope of the Andes ; and the total population gives little more than one inhabitant to the 
sq^uare mile. A north-eastern district is known by the name of El Gran Chaco, or the 




Sob ARGENTINE EBPUBLIO. 

Great Desert, and lias a very spare vegetation, ■with a generally sandy soU, many parts of 
which are hopelessly barren from the want of rain, and water. Another tract in the 
centre is called Las SaUnas, from heing coated with a thick sahne efftorescence, where a 
species of salsola grows, from the ashes of which soda is obtained. Southward are the 
pampas, vast undulating plains, with no trees except near the dwellings of the inhabitants. 
But they are covered with coarse luxuriant grass, growing in tufts, mixed with trefoil, and 
contain extensive tracts annually converted into forests of gigantic thistles, which, when 
withered, serve for fuel in a country devoid of timber. Droves of cattle, horses, mules, 
and sheep, forming an aggregate of many millions, are reared on these levels, and constitute 
the main part of the national wealtL The climate generally is distinguished by great 
summer heat, and occasional long droughts. The latter have somewhat of a character of 
periodicity, occurring at intervals of about fifteen years apart, when the flocks and herds 
have perished by thousands from the want of herbage and water. During the hot months 
the pampas are visited by hailstorms of tremendous violence. They are swept also by the 
pamperos, or westerly winds, which rush furiously down from the heights of the Andes, 
bring along with them the cold temperature of the snow-crowned sunmiits, and sometimes 
darken the streets of Buenos Ayres by the clouds of dust raised &om the plains. 

A vast proportion of the area is included in the basin of the Eio de la Plata, or Eiver 
of Silver, whence the Spanish name of the country, La Plata, or Latinised, The 
Argentine RepiMic. It is, however, a complete misnomer, in relation both to the river 
and the territory. Only a trifling quantity of the precious metal is obtained ; and that 
from mines in connection with the Andes, far away from the basin of the stream. ITone 
of the provinces yield any important amount of mineral produce of any kind, except 
salt, but have cattle-breeding estates and sheep-farms of great extent. All other pursuits 
are subordinate to the rearing of live-stock in the enclosures, or on the open plains. The 
Confederation includes thirteen provinces, under a president elected for the term of six 
years, a senate, and a house of representatives. 

Provinces. Chief Towns. 

Buenos Ayres, Buenos Ayres, Lujan, San Pedro, San Nicholas. 

Parana or Entro Kios, Parana or Badaja, Concepcion, Concordia. 

Santa Fe, Santa Fe, Eosario, Coronda, Barrancas. 

Corrientes, Corrientes, San Eoque, San Lucia. 

Jujuy and Salta, Salta, Jujuy, Homilies. 

Tucuman, Tucuman, Pitos, Miraflores. 

Catamarca, . . . . ' . . . Catamarca, Belen. 

Santiago del Estero, Santiago, Matara, San Francisco. 

Kioja, ........ Kioja, ChUcito, Guahdacol. 

Cordova, Cordova, Eio Curato, Villa Nueva. 

San Juan, San Juan de la Frontera, Jochali, La Huerta. 

Mendoza, Mendoza, Uspallata. 

Saiu Luis, San Luis de la Punta. 

This part of the continent was formerly a dependency of the Spanish viceroyalty of Peru. In 1775 it was 
constituted a separate government, and became independent of Spain in 1816, when a federal repubUc was 
projected, followed by great civil dissensions. In 1831 the title of the ' Argentine Confederation' was formally 
adopted. The province of Buenos Ayres seceded in 1853, and remained a distinct state till 1860, when it was 
re-united to the general body. 

Buenos Ayres, the political capital, founded by the Spaniards in 1580, received its name, signifying 'good 
airs,' in allusion to the salubrious climate, and appears to deserve the epithet, the atmosphere being neither 
enervating nor chill, and never laden with miasma. It is situated on the south side of the Plata estuary, in 
latitude 34" 36' south, longitude 58° 24' west, and contains 120,000 inhabitants, many of whom are Europeans, 
chiefly British, Spanish, and French, who have newspapers regularly published in their oivn vernaciJar. 
Though 150 miles from the sea, the estuary has stiU at this point a sea-like aspect, being 36 miles wide, and 
hence only in very clear weather, and from lofty buildings, can the opposite shore be discerned. The city, 
seated upon a high bank, at some distance from the edge of the water, has an imposing appearance from its 



BUENOS AYEES. 887 

surface, with its numerous spires, turreted houses, and the great dome of the cathedral standing out in bold 
relief against the sky. But close inspection modifies the impression made by the distant view. It covers a 
considerable space of ground, as the houses have generally ample court-yards, with corridors. The Plaza 
or principal square, is planted with trees which bear beautiful lHac-like flowers, and form shaded pro- 
menades. Here is tlio Cabildo, or town-hall, a fine edifice, occupied by the municipal council and courts of 
justice ; the cathedral, massive, sombre looking, but gorgeously adorned in the interior ; the Colon Theatre, 
nearly equal to Covent Garden in size, and superior in decoration ; and the Kecoba Nueva, or New Market 
a series of shops in the bazaar style. Buenos Ayres can also boast of a imiversity and a military-school. 
Public industry embraces cigar and carpet manufactures, printing, and a very extensive foreign commerce. 
The exports consist chiefly of animal produce ; as hides, horns, bones, tallow, wool, and horse-hair, with 
small amoimts of the precious metals. But Buenos Ayres suffers from a long catalogue of local disadvantages. 
There is no direct embarkation and landing of goods and passengers, owing to the shallowness of the estuary. 
All the ft'esh water is brought from a distance in carts. No timber grows in the neighbourhood to serve for 
fuel and building material ; and stone is equally absent. The streets are scarcely tolerable from dust in hot 
weather, and are sloughs of mud after rain. 

Leaving the estuary for its great stream, the Parana, a few small places are passed on the way up to 
Eosario, one of which, San Pedro, had the honour of entertaining the present pope, in 1821, wlien a simple 
canon, attending the vicar apostolic. They had crossed the Atlantic from Genoa, and were bound upon a 
journey over the Pampas and the Andes into ChUi, on a special mission from the Vatican. Pius IX. can 
now look back upon a night in San Pedro, when he slept in a shed, without doorway or flooring, and with 
the thatch so dilapidated as to convert it into an astrdnomer's cabin, for the stars were distinctly seen from 
his bed. It was a Icind of stow-away place belonging to the post-master, containing joints of meat, maize, 
cheese, leather, imdrossed and untanned hides, and other articles, yielding a number of distinct scents. The 
sovereign pontiff was then Don Giovaimi Mastei, tliirty-one years of age, made archbishop of Spoleto upon his 
return. A narrative of the expedition was published at Rome, in four volumes, in 1827. Rosario, on the 
right bank of tlic Parana, recently a collection of mud-huts, is now a flourishing city, witli broad streets 
lined ivith good houses, shops, hotels, and public buildings. British, French, and American consuls are 
resident. During the temporary secession of Buenos Ayres from the Confederation it became the chief port 
of the Eepublic, and tlie grand starting-point of travel into the interior provinces. Hence the change. The 
town contains upwards of 20,000 inhabitants, and is the Atlantic terminus of the great raUway projected to 
cross the Andes to the Pacific. This line consists of the four following sections, the first of which is in 
process, while the last is in action : 

Miles. 

Eosario to Cordova, 250 

Cordova to Kambala, at the base of the Andes, 350 

Piambala to the junction with the Tres Puntos Eailway in Cliili, . . . 320 
Tres Pimtos Junction, by Copiapo, to Caldera on the Pacific, ... 80 

1000 

The Eosario and Cordova section was inaugiirated by the president and ministers iir the early part of the 
year 1863, and is to be completed within five years, mider the direction of Mr Wheelwright. The govern- 
ment concedes to the company six miles of land in breadth through the entire extent of the line, equivalent 
to a total of about 1,000,000 acres. This land is arable, and capable of iiroducing cereals, fruits, vegetables 
and a superior kind of cotton, while adapted to grazmg and pastoral purposes. Cordova, on the river 
Prunero, the seat of a university formerly in repute, once possessed a valuable library belonging to the 
Jesuits, wliich, upon tlieir expulsion, was transferred to Buenos Ayres. 

Tucuman, in a central part of the interior, on an elevated plain, is the capital of one of the most 
fruitful provinces, called the ' Garden of the Argentine.' The first congress of deputies who declared 
for independence was held here in 1816. It has a population of 11,000. San Juan, near the spurs of 
the lower range of the Andes, is an increasing town of 20,000 inhabitants, some of whom are Italians 
French, Germans, and EngUsh, attracted to the spot by the discovery of argentiferous lead ores in the 
district, since 1861. The houses are in the early Spanish style, dull and uninteresting, but the catliedral 
in the Plaza is a very fine old building, which seems to have experienced severe shakings from earth- 
quakes, the walls being partially cracked and dilapidated. Speculation is aUve respecting the metallic 
wealth of the locality, but sufficient data have not yet been acquired to warrant risk in mining 
adventures, to which the remoteness of the place, with the enth-e want of all tolerable means of com- 
munication, is adverse. Mendoza, on the south, recently a beautiful town, since most unfortimate 
4800 feet above the sea, communicates with Chili by two passes across the Andes, the Uspallata or 
Cimibre and the PortiUo, both closed by the snow in winter. It has its H6tel de ChUi, the only house 
of entertainment remaining in 1862, after the fearful earthquake on the 20th of March 1861. The 
shook occurred -without premonition about 8.30 P.M. It was very remarkable for its fataUty and purely 
local effects, which did not extend beyond a radius of a few miles. Churches and houses were at once over- 
thrown, and the pla<!e became an enormous graveyard. Only the theatre, which had a considerable quantity 



888 PATAGONIA. 

of tim'ber in its construction, was partially uninjured. Three-fourths of a population of 12,000 perished, 
among whom was Mr Green, the British vice-consul. Major Eickard, more than twelve months afterwards, 
found the survivors sleeping in the fields and gardens, afraid to pass the night in any dwelling. On inspect- 
ing the ruins, skeletons and limbs were seen protruding from the debris. In the country between Mendoza 
and the Plata, cattle and sheep farms are the most numerous and extensive. A coach, carrying the mails 
from the Andean region, travels to Kosario en route for Buenos Ayres, and performs the weary journey 
thither across the pampas in about a fortnight, if the cattle are good. The distance by the road, often a 
wretched trackway, is full 700 mUes. A dozen horses are sometimes required to drag the cumbroixs vehicle 
along. Towns are very few, but post-houses occur at varying intervals, and offer a scant accommodation to 



The Argentine Eepublio contains a population estimated at 1,120,000, consisting 
of wMtes descended from the Spaniards, -with, a proportion of Indians, many of wliom are 
fierce marauders, a few ITegroes, and a considerable number of European immigrants. 
The whites in the pampas, called Guachos, engaged in rearing cattle, lead a very active 
life, are rude and uncultivated, and are probably not of pure blood. They are admirable 
horsemen ; and throw the lasso with unfailing precision, by which their live-stock and 
the wild animals are captured. Their homesteads have generally a stockade, surrounded 
with a ditch, and further fenced with tall cacti, which from their thorny nature form an 
impenetrable barrier to the naked Indian's progress. These aborigines are on the alert to 
drive off cattle, rob the mails, and plunder the passengers, rendering it unsafe to travel in 
the interior except with a sufificient escort. The most troublesome are the Thistle Indians, 
so called from the peculiar vegetation of the pampas they inhabit, which facilitates by its 
high growth predatory incursions. 

n. PATAGONIA.— rn. the rtTE&IAN- ABCHIPELAGO.— rV. THE FALKIAITO ISLANDS. 

The territory known by the name of Patagonia is a very extensive region, stretching 
from the Argentine and Chilian frontier to the Strait of Magellan, thus forming the 
southern extremity of the mainland of America. Apart from a few small settlements, it 
has no civilised inhabitants, nor any cultivated districts, but is a barren inhospitable 
wilderness, except on the borders of the Strait, where luxuriant vegetation has been 
noticed, and on the side of the Pacific, where the chain of the Andes lines the coast, 
ranging from 3000 to 8000 feet in height, densely clothed with woods, and possessing an 
excessively humid cHmate. The greater portion of the country consists of an arid shingle 
plain, sloping gradually towards the shores of the Atlantic, whoUy destitute of trees, and 
supporting only a few thorn-bearing bushes, with coarse grasses. Some nomadic Indian 
tribes in wild independence occupy the surface, with the guanaco, the characteristic 
animal, which is hunted by them for food. There are also armadUloes, emus, deer, wild 
horses, hares, pumas, and wolves, with seals and other marine animals on the coasts. 
Both the Chilian and the Argentine governments claim the sovereignty. The FuEGiAisr or 
Magellanic Archipelago, south of the Strait, includes a large number of islands — Tierra 
del Fuego, Staten Land, Land of Desolation, Londonderry, Hoste, Hermit Islands, and 
others — ^which form the southern extremity of the western world, terminating with Cape 
Horn. They are mountainous masses of granite, lava, and basaltic rocks, inaccessible in 
many places, separated by narrow channels and strong currents, with a climate of thick 
mists, drenching rains, and continual storms. Their higher regions are covered with 
perpetual snow, in connection with which, volcanic fires occasionally burst forth. On the 
side of the Strait and the Atlantic the declivities are gentler ; verdure appears in 
the valleys ; and thick woods clothe the lower slopes. But the opposite southern 
and western coasts are mostly barren and sternly precipitous. Seals abound in the bays ; 
aquatic birds wheel about the cliffs, revelling in the tempest ; and a few natives procure 
a miserable subsistence on the shores. 



FUEGIAN AEOHIPBLAGO FALKLAKD ISLANDS. 889 

The Patagonian Indians were represented by some of the early voyagers as a race of giants. They are 
generally tall and stalwart, lead a wandering life, chiefly on horseback, in pursuit of the wild animals, and 
occasionally pass the frontier of the Argentine States on plundering excursions. The Fuegians, on the con- 
trary, are of smaller stature than their northern congeners, the Esquimaux, and form one of the most 
degraded sections of the human family. They are perfectly naked, with the exception of a smaU. otter skin 
thrown over the shoulders, though snow may be covering the ground ; subsist chiefly on shell-fish and sea- 
weed ; have wretched wigwams for their dwellings, made of the boughs of trees, in which there is often not 
an article of any kind to be seen ; and bury their dead in caves. All the labours of life are thrown upon the 
women, such as paddling the canoes and collecting food. Notwithstanding their miserable condition, they 
are cheerful and good-tempered, while peaceable and inoffensive. Captain Ktzroy, in 1830, brought a few 
Fuegians home with him, with a view to their civilisation, and the benefit of their countrymen on their 
return. Two died in this country of the small-pox. Three were sent back, after exhibiting considerable 
improvement, but lapsed into the barbarism of their tribe. In 1842, Sir James Eoss had repeated interviews 
with a number of these people, while staying for magnetioal observations in a cove of Hermit Island, but 
communication was diiflcult, owing to their unpronounceable language, which corresponds to a series of yells, 
and it could only be maintained by signs. Some small patches of ground were cleared, and sown with various 
kinds of vegetables, as parsley, cabbages, potatoes, peas, and beans, in the hope of their being eventually 
useful to the natives, and several pairs of rabbits, brought from the Falkland Islands, were turned loose with 
the same design. Hermit Island lies about ten miles north-west of Cape Horn, and is entirely of igneous 
origin, composed of syenitic greenstone resting on a base of granite, with scattered quartzose and felspathio 
rocks. The shores correspond to the west coast of Scotland in being penetrated by narrow arms of the sea, 
fonning salt-water lochs, hemmed in by high mountains, clothed for half their elevation with low green 
woods. A bold perpendicular promontory at the south extremity has a crater at the summit, about a mile 
in circumference, and two himdred feet deep, with a half-frozen lake at the bottom. 

The renowned headland of Cape Horn, the terror of early navigators, is the southern part of a small island, 
celebrated from its position as forming the south extremity of the western world. Under every aspect it 
presents a bold and majestic appearance, worthy of the limit to such a continent. It is a high, precipitous, 
black rock, conspicuously raised above the adjoining land, and extending far into the sea in bleak and solitary 
grandeur. Some scanty vegetation appears on the sides, and snow is generally seen on the summit. The 
white foam of the surf is in striking contrast with the dark cliffs against which it beats ; and in the outline 
of the mass, it requires but little imaginative power to fancy the resemblance of ' a sleeping lion, facing and 
braving the southern tempests.' Sir James Eoss, while off Cape Horn, had some bottles thrown overboard, 
hermetically sealed, in order to ascertain the direction and force of the current. Each contained a record of 
the position of the vessel, and the date of the immersion, April 4, 1842. One of these was picked up about 
the middle of September 1845, near Cape Liptrap, in the neighbourhood of Port PhiUp, Australia. Assum- 
ing that the bottle had newly reached the strand when discovered. It must have accomplished a course of 
nine thousand miles in three years and a half ; but as it cannot be supposed to have been transported in a 
perfectly straight line, an additional thousand mUes may be allowed for the detoxirs. 

The Falkland Islands lie about 300 miles east by north, of the Strait of Magellan, and 
are the only considerable cluster in the South Atlantic. There are upwards of 200 
in the group, but East and West Falkland comprise between them more than half the 
area of the whole. They have excellent harbours, abundance of fish in the bays and 
creeks, with seals and penguins, which are killed in great numbers for the sake of their 
oil ; droves of oxen, and horses, first introduced from the adjoining continent and now 
running wild j with numerous springs and ponds of fresh water ; and are thus valuable 
for the victualling of whalers visiting the Southern Ocean, and ships passing roimd Cape 
Horn, 

There are no trees in the islands worthy of the name, yet peat abounds to the depth of ten feet. The 
characteristic vegetation consists of grasses, some of which grow to a large size, particularly the succulent 
tussock-grass. This is the only conspicuous botanical feature of the landscape, found also in Tierra del Fuego, 
but more abundantly in the Falklands, supplying the wild cattle with fodder. It occurs in patches of a mile 
in extent, which have a striking resemblance to groves of miniature palms. Each plant forms a hillock of 
matted roots, often six feet in height, from the summit of which the grassy foliage is thrown out in profusion. 
The blades are full six feet in length, and droop on all sides. Those of adjoining plants meet so as to over- 
arch the spaces between them ; and thus a tract of tussock-grass becomes a labyrinth, sometimes a dangerous 
one to the visitor, for being commonly close to the coast, these spots are the resort of sea-lions, which 
bite severely when incautiously disturbed. A small portion at the base of the blades may be eaten, and 
has a flavour like nuts. Two seamen subsisted chiefly upon this food for the space of fourteen months. 
They had wandered or deserted from their ship while at "West Falkland, where there are no settlers, 
and had a grass-built hut for their only protection from the weather during the interval. A tiny insect 
depends upon the tussock for subsistence ; a bird no larger than a sparrow robs it of its seeds ; a few 



890 



FALKLAND ISLANDS. 



sea-fowl build among the shelter of its leaves ; penguins and petrels seek hiding-places among its soft and 
easily-penetrated roots; and sea-lions cower beneath the luxuriant foliage of this noble grass. Nowhere 
in the world are lichens more conspicuous, a beantifid species forming miniature shrubberies on rocks upon 
the tops of the hills, and coating their sides ; and sea-weeds on the outer rocky coasts are of enormous 
size, resembling trees in their magnitude and mode of growth. The stem or trunk of Lessonia, called 
after the French naturalist, attains a height of eight or ten feet, and the thickness of a man's thigh. 
It branches upwards ; and the ends of the branches give out leaves two or three feet long, which, when 
in the water, hang down like the boughs of a willow. In many places the plant forms a submarine 
forest, for on looking do^vn from a boat through the transparent water where it grows, nothing but a 
mass of green foKage can be seen. The exuberant vegetable, though of little service to man, is of high 
utility to the lower orders of the animal kingdom, providing sponges, corals, and crustacese with a home 
and nourishment. The Falklands were occupied by the French in the last century, and received the 
name of Malouines from St Malo, the native town of the first adventurers. Being claimed by Spain, 
they were resigned to that power ; and passing to the government of Great Britain, they now form the 
most southerly portion of the empire. In 1858 the settlers numbered 621, who are under a Heutenant- 
govemor, and chiefly in the small town of Stanley, at the head of the inlet of Port William, in East 
Falkland. 





Gibraltar Eocks. 

PAET V. 

DESCRIPTIVE GEOGRAPHY OF OCEANIA. 

GENERAL VIEW OP OCEANIA. 

^HE island-'wolid of the Pacific Ocean constitutes a fifth great 
division of the glohe, to which the name of Oceania, origin- 
ated hy the French geographers, is very appropriately given. 
It comprehends the large insnlar tracts and extensive archi- 
pelagoes of minute islets intervening generally between the 
south-eastern shores of Asia and the western coast of America. 
' The entire series ranges in latitude from the parallel of 28° north 
to that of 51° south, and ia longitude from the meridian of 
95° east to that of 110° west. These limits include an extreme 
linear extent exceeding 10,000 miles, following the line of the 
equator, by more than half that distance in the direction of the 
meridian. The Eonin Islands on the north, the Auckland group on the south, Easter 
Island on the east, and Sumatra on the west, are the remote extremities of this vast region 
of laud and water. Though the estimate is a vague approximation, it is probable that the 
aggregate land area does not faU short of 4,500,000 square miles, being one-fifth larger 
than the European continent ; and the total population is perhaps not less than 31,000,000. 
Oceania may be conveniently distributed into the five subdivisions of Malaysia, Micronesia, 
Melanesia, Australasia, and Polynesia. 





Mount Lamongan, Java. 



CHAPTEE I. 



MALAYSIA — MICRONESIA — MELANESIA. 



I. MALAYSIA. 



1. Siimatra, Java, and the Lesser Sunda Islands. 

2. Borneo, Celebes, and their adjuncts. 



3. The Moluccas and Bandas, or the Spice Islands. 

4. The Philippine and Sulu Archipelagoes. 



HIS system of island-groups is called Malaysia, from being 
extensively occupied by the yeUow Malay race, though, aboriginal 
tribes of dark complexion are numerous, and immigrant Chinese 
form a considerable proportion of the population. It is also 
styled the East Indian Archipelago, from its proximity to the 
two peninsulas of Hither and Eurther India. The series makes 
a close approach to the mainland of Asia at the tapering 
projection of Malacca, acquires great expansion from thence in an 
easterly direction, curves northerly towards the shores of China, 
and divides the basin of the Indian Ocean from that of the 
Pacific. Borneo, the largest island, is, after the continent-like Australia, the largest in the 
world. Sumatra, the second in extent, exceeds the whole area of the British Isles. 
Celebes, the third, has ampler dimensions than England and Wales. Java, the fourth, 
closely corresponds to the size of England without its adjunct. Many more are scarcely 
inferior to the last, and are followed by a numerous train with scantier limits, wliile the 
little islets, dwindling down to fairy-lflie patches, are so multitudinous as to form a 
bewildering maze. Hence the ' lake of twelve thousand islands ' is a phrase in local use 
with reference to these insulated tracts, and the space of sea they stud, in which a. 




I'RODUCTS AND SCENEET. 893 

definite is put for an unknown number. Java contains by far the largest population, 
upwards of 11,000,000, which the rest are supposed to raise to a total of 23,000,000. 
The channels by which some of the islands are separated are broad and deep; but generally 
they are closely grouped, forming narrow and sheltered seas. Though the navigation is 
often rendered intricate by submarine reefs and rocks, yet this peril is abated by the 
general steadiness of the winds and the regularity of the currents, subject in the direction 
of the China Sea to occasional disturbance from the typhoons. Hence a maritime 
life has been promoted among the native races, to whom the junk, the proa, or the 
canoe, is as indispensable as the camel to the Arab, the horse to the MongoL But the 
seamansliip acquired has been extensively directed to piracy as well as to legitimate 
pursuits. 

!N"owhere are the blendings of land and sea more frequent or exquisitely beautiful than 
in Malaysia. Though the coast-lines have their mangrove swamps and pestUential 
marshes, yet the marine localities are in general superbly lovely. Green, umbrageous, 
and flowery are the shores down to the edge of the wave, while shells of the richest tints 
lie on the beaches of white or golden sand, s^iggestive, in the bright tropical light of the 
landscapes beyond, of being the ' gardens of the sun,' as they are styled in eastern speech. 
Sea-breezes temper the heat of the climate ; streams and riUs are rarely wanting in the 
scenery; mountains rise to a high elevation; and the animal, vegetable, and mineral 
kingdoms are remarkable for the number, variety, interest, or value of their products. 
Spice-plants, prized by the civilised nations, not known elsewhere, or not produced in the 
same perfection, distinguish the flora, including various species of cinnamon and nutmeg, 
with the aromatic myrtle, the buds of which are familiar as cloves. Fruits comprise the 
mangosteen, or ' pride of the East,' the durion, jack, banana, yam, guava, and peculiar 
kinds of orange, citron, and lemon. With the exception of Brazil, no region has more 
diversified and luxuriant natural forests, prolific in timber-trees yielding valuable 
substances, as decorative and dye-woods, caoutchouc and guttarpercha, vegetable tallow 
and wax, camphor, resin for varnish and other gums, while flowering-plants charm or 
interest by their brilliant colouring, peculiar forms, and properties. Eed and yeUow are 
the prominent hues of the floral vegetation, but are often in connection with strikingly- 
contrasted tints. The Four Lights of Java, not unlike a single gilliflower in appearance, 
shew a superb red, but have foiu- curved leaves, dark green inside, pale green without, 
variegated with stripes of different colours. The Pitcher-plants, a race of climbers, have 
crimson flowers, exactly resembling pitchers, capable of holding a pint of water, and are 
also furnished with Hds. The Monkey-cup likewise bears a hollow flower supplied with a 
lid, which remains open till the cup is filled by the rain or dew, and then closes tiU a 
fresh supply is needed. The Tree of Morning opens its blossoms at sunrise, and shuts 
them in the evening ; the pale Lady of the ISTight blows only after sunset ; and the Tree 
of Melancholy never blooms but at midnight. Most of the wild animals of Southern 
Asia are found in the larger islands, with the addition in Borneo of the orang-outang, 
the huge hydrosaurus or land-aUigator, the melanopis or flying squirrel, and the mega- 
podius, a mound-raising bird, common in Australia. Lines of powerful volcanoes, 
occasionally in violent eruption, and terrible earthquakes, are the formidable phases of 
nature. Malaysia is held by various native tribes under their own sultans or rajahs, and by 
the Dutch, Spanish, Portuguese, and British. Of the foreign occupiers, the first named 
possess the greatest extent of territory, which is often styled the Dutch East Lidies. 

The Sunda Isles, of which Sumatra and Java are the important members, form a very 
extensive chain, mthin sight of the Asian mainland at the one extremity, and advancing 
to the vicinity of Australian waters at the other. Sumatra, elongated and narrow, 



894 MALAYSIA. 

extends 1000 miles in a diagonal direction from nortli-'west to south-east, and probalily 
contains an area of 130,000 square miles, divided into two nearly equal portions hj the 
equator. It is traversed througli its wliole length hy a chain of mountains, one of which 
is said to rise to 15,000 feet, and is the highest point of all Oceania. Java, on the east, 
separated from Sumatra hy the contracted Strait of Sunda, corresponds to it in form, and 
is likewise traversed throughout by mountains. But instead of being associated in a 
range, they rise from distinct bases, and are chiefly volcanic cones, many of which are 
extinct, while others emit clouds of vapour, and are sometimes in a state of fierce activity. 
High up the slopes the remains of noble woods are met with, blackened and calcined by 
the outburst of subterranean fires. 

Fadang and JBencoolen, on the west coast of Sumatra, are settlements of the Dutch, who also hold the island 
of Mas on the same side, -vvith that of Banca, celebrated for its rich tin-mines, at the south-east extremity. 
Acheen, at the northern end, is a Malay town, the capital of a Mohammedan state under a sultan. A 
singular people, tlie Battas, under various chiefs, occupy an interior district, and exhibit traces of civilisation 
in connection ivith the rudest barbarism. They have a written language and literature, with ancient laws 
which compel cannibalism under particrdar circumstances. Persons condemned to death for a certain class 
of crimes are cut to pieces, and then eaten by the males. This is done as a solemn rite, and perhaps 
indicates more of obstinate superstitious adherence to usage than any native ferocity. Sumatra possesses 
the tiger, elephant, rhinoceros, and orang-outang. The extraordinary parasite occurs among the vegetation, 
named .Ra;Sksia Arnoldi, after the discoverer. Sir Stamford Eaffles, who was governor of Bencoolen, a 
British possession down to the year 1825. It has no leaves or stem, and only minute fibres for roots, which 
are inserted in a species of vine. Yet it produces an enormous flower of a brick-red colour, more than a 
yard in diameter, weighing 15 lbs., with petals of the size of cow's horns. South of Sumatra are the Cocos 
or Keeling Islands, a small low coral group, with some Malays and a few English resident, cultivating the 
cocoa-nut. They crown the summit of submarine mountains, since at a short distance from the shores the 
ocean is immensely deep. 

Batavia, on the north-west coast of Java, is the principal seat of the Dutch in the island, who occupy 
other parts of the shore, and are politically supreme over all the native chiefs and princes. The latter are 
merely administrators of local affairs under official superintendents. The town is the capital of the Dutch 
East Indies, the residence of the governor-general, and the commercial dep6t of all their possessions in 
Malaysia. It contains upwards of 100,000 inhabitants, and the country for many miles round is extremely 
popirlous. The principal exports are coffee, sugar, indigo, tea, tobacco, rice, and other vegetable products, 
almost wholly taken in Dutch ships to HoUand, and sold there for home consumption and re-export by the 
Netherlands East India Company. The annual value is upwards of £5,000,000. Batavia contains the 
governor's town palace, hospitals and barracks for the garrison, with a museum in which relics of Buddhism, 
Hindu deities, and native weapons are stored. The houses, which are as white as snow, are placed back in 
the streets, and the intervening space is filled with trees, alive with birds, and brilliant with flowers. 
Souraiaya, with 60,000 inhabitants, and Samarang, with 22,000, are the other Dutch towns, both on the 
north coast. The Javanese are of the Malay race, and generally profess Mohammedanism mixed up with 
Buddhism, the remainder being heathen. Annually a crowd of natives, with their priests, ascend the 
Bromok volcano, to propitiate the fire-spirit with offerings. This is done by throwing cocoa-nuts, pine- 
apples, plantains, and other fruits, baskets of rice, trays of cakes, coins of silver and copper, into the crater. 
Terrific and very fatal volcanic explosions, several of which are on record, may have given rise to tho 
ceremony. Java has a Valley of Death near Batour, of an oval form, liaK a mile in circuit, in which no 
plant or animal can live, owing to the emission of carbonic acid gas from the surface. Its poison-tree, 
Antiaris Macrophylla, once of fabulous notoriety, is an ornament to the woods, but the juices which flow 
freely from the bark when tapped are fatal to life if they gain access to the animal system. Edible birds- 
nests are gathered for the markets of China from limestone caverns on the south coast, and yield a revenue, 
in the form of duty to the exchequer of the Netherlands, of about a quarter of a million sterling. The 
Chinese in the island number 138,000, and the Europeans 20,000. 

The chain of the Sunda series is continued eastward by Bali, lombok, Sumbawa, Elores, and THmor, 
separated by narrow channels, all subject to the Dutch except the last, on which the Portuguese have 
establishments. Cocoa-nut oil, sappan-wood, birds-nests, cinnamon, rice, and coffee are the commercial 
products. Delly, on the north coast of Timor, is the principal Portuguese settlement, and Coepang, on the 
south-east, that of the Dutch. The island of Sumbawa contains on its northern side the Tomboro volcano, 
the scene of one of the most tremendous physical convulsions on record in the year 1815, which lasted over 
three months. The sound of the explosions was heard in Simiatra, 1000 miles distant ; the sky was darkened 
with clouds of ashes all over Java ; the sea was covered for miles with a coating of them two feet thick, 
through which vessels with difficulty made their way ; and violent whirlwinds added to the terror of the fiery 
tempest. Only twenty-six persons survived in the island out of a population of 12,000. 




Kini Balu, Obsoken Bay, Borneo. 

Borneo, in tlie centre of tlie insnlar system, intersected by tlie line of the equator, is 
about 800 miles in length, 700 in breadth, and contains 286,000 square miles, equal 
therefore to the united area of France and England. It embraces a vast extent of surface 
which has never been penetrated by Europeans, but appears to be only very sparely 
inhabited. The country in the known districts has a singularly fertUe soil, abundant and 
varied mineral wealth, is well supplied with rivers, has a healthy climate except on the 
lowest grounds, and is hence adapted by natural advantages to be the seat of a large and 
prosperous population. The aborigines are the Dyaks, a different race from the Malays, 
mingling with them on the coasts, where there are Dutch, British, and Chinamen. It 
has been calculated that, if properly cultivated, Borneo would suffice to sustain 100,000,000 
Chinese. Mount Kini Balu, on the north coast, is one of the high points of Oceania, 
rising to 13,698 feet, according to trigonometrical measurement. It was ascended by Mr 
St John in 1858. Celebes, on the east of Borneo, separated from it by the Strait of 
Macassar, is estimated to contain 70,000 square miles, and is very remarkable in its 
conformation, consisting of four long, curving peninsulas, branching out from a central 
mass, the whole resembling a knot of ribbons. The Molucca and the Banda clusters, 
further to the east, consist of small constituents, but are the most valuable of the colonial 
possessions of the Dutch, as the Spice Islands. 

Brunei, or Borneo, on the north-west coast, the capital of a native state, is seated on a river of the same 
name, ten miles above its mouth. It contains about 20,000 inhabitants, and has been called by an English 
visitor the ' most immoral city ' of which he had ever heard. But being built on piles and rafts in the river, 
with canals intersecting it, the water scenery and the glorious vegetation render its appearance extremely 
pleasing, a kind of eastern Venice. The commerce is considerable with Singapore. Sambas, southerly on 
the same coast, is the residence of a sultan, who has several rajahs under him, and is a seat of the opium 
trade. Gold of the annual value of £500,000 is obtained in the district, which contains also important 
diamond mines. The Dutch have here a factory, and are also settled at Pontianak, Banjarmassin, and a 
few other maritime places. Kuching, the capital of Sarawak, a province under the government of Sir James 
Brooke, often called Eajah Brooke, is likewise western, and has rapidly increased under his auspices from a 



896 MALAYSIA. 

small Malay comm-anity to a town of 15,000 inhabitants. The territory contains a population o£ at least 
250,000. It was placed by the sultan of Borneo proper under the jurisdiction of the energetic Englishman, 
in return for services rendered in the suppression of piracy. The offer of it was afterwards formally made to 
the British government, but the latter declined it, being content with the possession of Labhait. This small 
island, off the north-west shore, obtained by purchase in 1846, was then constituted a colony of the crown. 
It measures about ten miles by five, contains abundance of excellent coal, and is well supplied with wood and 
water. A specimen of the coal, which is worked by a company, weigliing 280 lbs., is in the iluseimi of 
Practical Geology, London. The island had no inhabitants when it was iucorporated in the empire. There 
are now miners, merchants, and a governor, forming the settlement of Victoria, which has been created a 
see of the Anglican Church. The trade is considerable, chiefly with Singapore, in the export of coal, gutta- 
percha, camphor, pepper, sago, spices, and bees-wax, with birds-nests, and the tripang or sea-slug, for Chinese 
gourmands. 

Macassar, the head-quarters of the Butch in Celebes, is on the coast of the southern peninsula. The town 
has about 12,000 inhabitants, possesses a good harbour, is surrounded by palisades, and further protected by 
Fort Eotterdam. The natives of the neighbourhood are Malays, under a sultan tributary to the Europeans. 
They are Mohammedans, and have mosques bmlt of palm-wood. The Dutch have other settlements, and 
predominant influence throughout the island. A species of vegetable butter has the name of Macassar Oil 
from the district and place of export. It is the produce of the badeau-tree, found in great abundance in the 
woods. The commodity in our shops, to which the name is given, is an artificial preparation. 

Amboyna, in one of the smaller Moluccas, bearing the same name, is, after Batavia, the most important 
centre of Dutch commerce in eastern waters. The town is the residence of the governor of the group, and 
has a neat appearance, on the shore of a bay protected by Fort Victoria. Broad streets intersect each other 
at right angles, and are planted with handsome trees. There are two Protestant churches, & hospital, 
oi'phan asylum, and theatre, a training-school for teachers, with which a printing-press is connected. The 
cloves of commerce are the staple crop in the island and some of its adjuncts. They are the flower-buds of a 
tree of the myrtaceous order, Carycyphyllus aromaticus, plucked before they open, and dried in the sun. The 
evergreen is indigenous throughout the Moluccas. But to preserve their monopoly of the aromatic, the Dutcli 
selfishly caused aU the native growth in the other islands to be destroyed, and restricted the cultivation to 
Amboyna and a few adjoining sites. Tliis restriction is now withdrawn, as the plant has been introduced into 
other tropical districts. The trees under culture number upwards of 500,000, but only a minor proportion of 
them are of the fruit-bearing age. The crop varies greatly. All the Moluccas are either governed directly 
by the Dutch, or by sultans under their supervision. Many of the natives, once extremely barbarous, have 
become Cliristians, and have a school in every viUage. 

Neira, a charming little town, is the seat of the Dutch Residency for the Banda Isles, a very small group 
immediately south of the Moluccas. It has a sheltered and superb roadstead, is surrounded by nutmeg 
groves and cocoa woods, and is protected by two forts, Nassau and Belgica. But it has no defence against a 
dangerous neighbour, the Gugong Api, or ' Fire Mormtain,' a volcano in the midst of the haven, which has 
often blasted the industry of the Dutch, threatened to destroy them utterly, and suggested the idea of 
abandoning the site. It forms an islet, rises with a gradual slope to the height of 2000 feet, and is clad with 
stately vegetation, under which lie the memorials of bygone convulsions, in courses of lava and the blackened 
trunks of prostrate trees. Though nutmeg cultivation is now somewhat widely diffused, nowhere is the fruit 
produced in such perfection as in these islands. The tree, Myristica officinalis, has an agreeable appearance, 
glossy deep-green leaves, and rises to the height of from thirty to forty feet. In 1861 the crop consisted of 
more tlian 1,000,000 lbs. of nuts, with 275,000 lbs. of mace, which covers the brown shining shell. Both the 
Moluccas and Bandas are volcanic. An eruption in Makien, one of the former, in December 1861, destroyed 
wholly or in part fifteen villages, with the loss of 326 lives. 

The Philippinb Islands, separated from tlie lado-Cliiaese peninsula by the China Sea, 
form the most northerly section of Malaysia. They include upwards of a thousand 
members, large and small ; hut the area of Luzon, the most considerable, 57,000 square 
miles, is probably equal to that of all the rest. They are generally mountainous and 
volcanic, subject to dreadful earthquakes, and are -within the range of the typhoons ; but 
the soil is highly fertile, the vegetation luxuriant, and the scenery lovely. The sovereignty 
is divided between the Spaniards, who are supposed to have a population of 3,500,000 
subject to their sway, and the rule of independent native chiefs. Dark-complexioned 
tribes and Malays compose the mass of the people. The remaiader consist chiefly of 
immigrant Chinese, Spanish settlers, and half-breeds. It is common in the Eoman 
Catholic churches of the group for the sheU. of the gigantic Philippine oyster to be used 
for containing holy-water. 

The Philippines were discovered by Magellan in 1521. They were named after Philip II. of Spam, and 
received the first colony from that country in 1570. Manilla, the capital of the Spanish East Indies, 



MICRONESIA. 897 

the residence o£ the viceroy, and the seat of the European popiilation, is situated on the west coast o£ 
Luzon, at the mouth of a river, in command of a noble bay and harbour. Though not so important 
as it was in the palmy days of the mother-countiy, when almost a monopoly of the commerce with 
Europe was enjoyed, it probably contains a population of 150,000. The city proper, or old part, the 
site of the cathedral, churches, monasteries, hospitals, and government buildings, is enclosed with ramparts. 
"Without are e.xtensive suburbs, forming what is called ' Manilla extra muros,' where are the merchants' 
residences, the warehouses, and principal shops. Foreign trade is extensively carried on, chiefly with 
Great Britain, the United States, Chma, and Australia. Sugar, hemp, cigars, tobacco, coffee, rice, and 
fine woods are the important exports. Manilla cigars are in as much repute in the eastern world as 
Havannas in the western. The manufacture, a government monopoly, as in Spain, is conducted on an 
cnorhious scale, giving employment to 20,000 persons, nearly all women. Frequently damaged by earth- 
quakes, the city was half ruined by a convulsion on the 3d of June 1863. Two shocks were experienced 
ill quick succession about 7.30 in the evening. The cathedral fell with its massive dome while the 
priests were chanting the vespers. All the churches were overthrown with only one exception, the 
Binondo in the suburbs, and that was cracked from top to bottom, so as to require pulling down. The 
viceroy's palace and the British consulate was destroyed; and at least 2000 persons perished. North of 
the Philippines are the Bashee Islands, an imimportant cluster, in which the Spaniards have an 
establishment. Southward, the SoLU Aeohipelago extends toward Borneo, containing some of the 
most picturesque spots in the world, rich in pearls and fruits, inhabited by a rude Mohammedan people, 
mider a sultan, who, though often chastised, are incqrrigible pirates, infest the neighbouring shores, and 
make a prey of legitimate trade on the seas, 

n. MICRONESIA. V 

Principal gi'oups. — 1. Benin Islands. 2. Ladrone Islands. 3. Pelew Islands, i. Caroline Archipelago. 

5. EaUck, Marshal, and Eadack Chams. 6. Gilbert Islands. 7. Sandwich Islands. 
These insular systems eml)race a prodigious number of components, but almost aU are 
of small dimensions, -wMle many are inconsiderable patches, and have hence the collective 
name of Micronesia. They are situated generally in the western part of the ISTorth Pacific 
basin, and the majority stretch in a long band of no great breadth, east and west, 
immediately north of the equator. A few are of "volcanic origin, rise to a commanding 
elevation, and are eminently distinguished by picturesque beauty. But the vast majority 
are low reefs of coralline construction, with superficial features of gentle loveHness. So 
slightly indeed are the purely coral islands raised above the sea, that large portions are in 
many cases deluged by it in storms, or overflowed by the tidal rise. They are usually of 
circular or semicircular shape, and enclose a lagoon of smooth water, which is connected 
by an opening "with the outlying ocean. The convex part of the reefs is always turned to 
"n'indward, while the openings are invariably placed to leeward. The mass rises abruptly 
on the side of the tempestuous deep, but presents a gradually sloping face towards the 
lake-like engirdled water. In other cases, coral-reefs appear in connection "with the 
volcanic or mountainous islands, either attached to the main body of the land, or 
encircling it, leaving a space of stiU water between them protected from the winds and 
waves, but accessible by navigable passages through the belt. Intermediate to the true 
coral and volcanic islands, there is a class' called crystal, comparatively few in number, 
cliffy and cavernous, rising to a moderate height above the sea. They are composed 
generally of crystaUised carbonate of Ume, doubtless coraUine rock altered and elevated by 
volcanic agency. 

Around the coral islands submarine pictures of extreme beauty frequently meet the eye on looking over- 
board a vessel. Through the transparent water of the tropical ocean the tree-like fabrics appear interweaving 
their branches, and present the exact image of a stony forest rising up from the depths, mingling hues of 
pink, white, blue, and yeUow, whUe fish of briUiant colours and varied shape slowly thread the labyrinths, 
or, when alarmed, dart rapidly into the numerous recesses of the rocky thickets for shelter. Both classes 
of islands, the coraUine and the volcanic, abound in Oceania, within the tropical zone on each side of the 
equator, and are hence characteristic of Polynesia in common with Micronesia. Both have a rich though 
not a very varied vegetation. It includes many plants with nutritive roots, and some fruit-bearing 
trees, wliich are to the natives as the cereals to ourselves. The Bread-fruit tree, Artocarpus incisa, has 
its natal seat in the isles of the Pacific, from which it has been taken to the "West Indies and South 
America. This is one of the most important gifts of nature to the islanders, first noticed by Dampier, in 

3 E 



. SyS MICRONESIA. 

16S8, who met with it in the Ladrone group. It is a beautiful object in its prime, a household tree, like our 
own elm, which it resembles in height, in the wide spread of the branches, and in venerable aspect. The 
leaves are large, glossy, and dark green, with edges out and scolloped as elaborately as those of a lace-coUar, 
but brUliantly tinted with nearly all the prismatic colours when verging to decay. The fruit is heart-shaped, 
often almost spherical, about the size of a child's head, and when roasted, it supplies agreeable and highly 
nutritious food. It hangs singly, or in small clusters, and in such abundance that two or three trees wiU 
suffice for the support of an individual. Clotliing is made of the fibrous inner bark of the trunk. A milky 
juice, and the soft light timber, which assumes the appearance of mahogany on exposure to the air, are also 
used for economical purposes. Equally important is the Cocoa-nut Palm, Cocos nucifera, common in all 
tropical regions, but specially characteristic of the low coral islands of the Pacific, where it is most luxuriant, 
and sometimes forms the only arborescent vegetation. It rises from sixty to eighty feet high, delights in a 
maritime situation, and attains the greatest perfection directly on the sea-shore, where the roots are actually 
washed by the waves. No saline flavour is perceptible in the nut produced in such a position. The tree 
needs no cultiu'e, pruning, or attention of any kind. Its varied utility is as remarkable as its fruitfulness. 
Tear after year the islander reposes beneath its shade, eats its fruit, and finds a delicious drink in the 
acidulated cream of the nut. "With its boughs his cabin is thatched, and they are also woven into baskets. 
His head is shielded from the sun by a bonnet made of the leaves, and the young leaflets are plaited into a 
fan with which he cools himself. A balsam for his wounds is compounded from the juice of the fruit, and 
the oil extracted is employed both to anoint the living and embalm the dead. The noble trunk is sawn 
into posts to uphold liis dwelling ; converted into charcoal it cooks his food ; and paddles for his canoe 
are formed of the wood, with clubs and spears for the battle. 

The BoNllf Isles, about 500 miles south by east of Japan, are a volcanic group, named by the early 
Spanish navigators the Arzobispo or Archbishop Islands, for some unknown reason, as no natives to be 
comprehended in a diocese have ever been heard of. They were rediscovered by Captain Beechey in 1827, 
who formally took possession of them for his country, and supplied several with distinctive names borrowed 
from his countrymen, as Peel, Parry, Bailey, and Buckland. A small community engaged in whaling has 
been collected on Peel Island, both men and women, including some runaways from ships, among whom the 
Englishman, the Dane, the Italian, the American, and the Sandwich Islander have been observed. 

The Ladrone Islands, on the south, ruountainous and volcanic, form an important possession of the 
Spaniards, included in the govenmient of the Philippines. They are fertile and piotm-esque, well supplied 
•with European animals, and possess the llama, introduced from Peru, which thrives on the mountains. 
Though once densely peopled, the natives are now reduced to a remnant. The largest island, Guajan, which 
has a circuit of about ninety miles, contams the principal Spanish settlement, San Ir/nacio de Agamia^ a 
town of 3000 inli.ibitants. At Tinian, another of the group, Anson landed his sick and weary crew, while on 
his voyage roimd the world, in 1742 ; and lost the anchor of his ship dm-uig Iiis stay. Nearly a century 
attenvards this was hooked up by a whaler, and found to be very little corroded after the long submergence. 
The Ladrones, discovered by Magellan, received that name from him, signifying 'robbers,' owing to the 
thievish propensity displayed by the natives. Jesuit missionaries supplied the name of Mariana Islands, still 
in use, in honour of Maiy Anne of Austria, wife of Philip IV. of Spain. 

The Oakoline Aeohipelago, immediately north of the equator, consists of numerous groups of chiefly 
coralline fonnation, which occupy an immense space of the ocean, and comprehend thousands of components. 
They extend in a broad belt through nearly forty degrees of longitude, or a distance of 2500 mUes, and are 
sparely inhabited by Malays, skilful mariners, who undertake distant voyages in very fraU canoes, and 
subsist on fish, cocoa-nuts, and other fruits. The Spaniards claim the nominal sovereignty by right of 
discoveiy, but have never been able to establish a permanent settlement. The name refers to Charles IL of 
Spain, but they are sometimes called the New Philippines. At the west extremity the Pelew Islands 
under a native government, have a different aspect, bemg hilly and well wooded. The triple series of the 
Ealick, Maeshall, and Eadaok Isles are eastern appendages of the Carolinas, fii'st met with by Saavredra, 
a Spanish navigator, in 1527. He named different portions Los Pintados, from the natives being painted or 
tattooed, and Los Buenos Jardines, from the abundant vegetation. The panda7ids, bearing a juicy aromatic 
fruit, grows plentifully through the whole Archipelago, as well as in the Gilbert Islands, on the south-east, 
directly under the equator. 

The Sandwich Islands, an important chain, volcarnc and grandly mountainous, occupy a very isolated 
position in the eastern part of the North Pacific, 3000 miles from the coast of America, and at a greater 
distance from any other considerable mass of land. There are thirteen islands ranged in a cui-ving line, but 
only eight are inhabited. Hawaii, the largest, contains about 4000 square miles, or two-thirds of the entire 
area. It is distinguished by tlie stupendous summits of two volcanic mountains, th.at of Mowna Kea, tower- 
ing to the height of 13,950 feet, and that of Mowna Lea, which reaches nearly the same elevation, 13,760 feet. 
The appearance of the latter from the sea, with its abrupt upward start, and peculiar dome-like top, is 
majestic in the extreme. On its eastern slope, at the altitude of 4000 feet, yawns the crater of Kirauea, a 
fearful gulf, 1500 feet in depth, more than two miles in circuit, at the bottom of which is the red-hot lava 
ever boiling and steaming, as if gathering strength to escape from the abyss, and descend in a fiery deluge 
upon the surrounding country. Mowna Lea, at other points, sent forth destructive eruptions in 1855 and 
1859. These islands form a state imder hereditary monarchical government, limited by a legislative assembly. 



MELANESIA. 899 

the independence of which is acknowledged by all important foreign powers. The inhabitants, once pagans 
and cannibals, are nominal converts to Christianity, chiefly owing to the influence of American missionaries. 
They have a \vritten language, regular laws and civU institutions, a small fleet, with considerable commeroB 
in victuaUing ships, exporting sandal-wood, and other products. Honolulu, the capital, a seaport in the 
ishand of Oahu, is the only entrepot between opposite shores of the North Pacific, visited by whalers and 
other vessels for supplies and repairs. It contains about 10,000 inhabitants, mostly natives, but with many 
foreign merchants, who represent as consuls nearly aU the states of Europe. The town, regularly buUt, has 
its theatre, hospital, music-haUs, billiard-rooms, taverns, daily newspapers, and a fashionable drive. Though 
an increasing place, owing to the arrival of foreign recruits, yet the general population of the insular kingdom 
has much diminished, and is in process of reduction. Captain Cook, upon the discovery of the islands, esti- 
mated the inhabitants at 400,000. In 1849 the number had fallen to 80,000, and a further dwindling to 67,000 
was shewn by the census of 1860. Tliis extraordinary decrease has been caused mainly by the introduction 
of European diseases, and the great number of yomig men who leave their country in whalers and other ships, 
and never return. Two mournful incidents are connected ivith Hawaii Island — ^the death of Cook, in 1799, 
from an attack of the natives, and of Mr Douglas, the Scotch botanist, in 1834, from a shocking accident. 
In the course of his rambles he incautiously approached a buUock-trap, fell into the pit, and was horribly 
luutilated by an infuriated captured animal. 

III. MELANESIA. 
Principal Groups. — 1. New Guinea and Louisiade Archipelago. 2. Admiralty Islands. 3. New Britain 
and New Ireland. 4. Queen Charlotte and Solomon Islands. 5. New Hebrides and New Caledonia. 
6. Fiji Islands. 

This region, immediately east of Malaysia, north and north-east of Australia, is very 
little known apart from the shores, except by the report of natives. It has the name of 
Melanesia from the dark complexion of the iahabitants, who are often styled Austral and 
Oceanic ISTegroes from their physiognomy, and have lighter-coloured Malays and Polyne- 
sians intermingled with them at the opposite western and eastern extremities, giving rise 
to mixed breeds. The features are decidedly iN'egro, of coarse cast, stupid and brutal 
expression, the natural deformity of which is increased by the insertion of pieces of bone 
and wood through the cartilage of the nose. The skin is imiversally of a deep chocolate 
hue ; the hair crisp ; and hence the Malay term, Papuan, signifying ' crisped-haired,' applied 
to the race. But instead of being spread equally over the head, it grows in separate tufts, 
each assuming a spiral form, and stretching out to an enormous length, when not curtailed. 
The descrijjtive phrase of the ' mop-headed Papuans ' is true to the reality. The Dutch, 
French, and British have limited influence in different parts of the insular series. 

New Guinea, called Tanna Papua, ' Land of the Crisp-haired,' in the language of the Malays, the largest 
island of our globe, if we except Australia. It extends from north-west to south-east through twenty degrees 
of longitude, equal to a distance of 1200 miles, but has no greater breadth than about 300 miles, and consists 
of a narrow projection at the south-east extremity traversed by the range of the Owen Stanley Mountains, 
the principal smnmit of which appears to have an altitude of 13,200. The interior has not been visited by 
any civilised traveller, nor has the coast-line yet been thoroughly surveyed, though it is knoivn to embrace many 
deep bays and magnificent inlets. According to information received from the natives, and the commercial 
products, the surface is generally mountainous, clad with forests of camphor-trees and sago-palms, and yields 
many of the precious productions of the tropics. The only quadrupeds known to exist are wild hogs, dogs, 
rats, and some new species of marsupial animals. Birds of great beauty and variety abound. Among them 
are the gorgeous birds of paradise, which periodically leave their breeding-grounds for the Spice Islands in the 
flowering season. At Doreh Harbour, on the north-west coast, the natives come into contact with Europeans, 
and trade is carried on thence with the Moluccas by the Dutch, who claim the sovereignty of the western 
half of the island. Mr "Wallace, an Englishman, resided three months at Doreh in 1858, and found the climate 
wretched from excessive rains, though it was nominally the dry season dming part of the period. He 
brought away interesting and new specimens of the natural history. 

The groups named in connection with New Guinea extend over an immense space on the east and south- 
east, and form collectively the Papuan Archipelago. They are inhabited by the same dark family of the 
human race, a description which wiU apply to habits as well as colour ; and are so correspondent in their 
general features, as far as known, that separate detail respecting them may be dispensed with, except in a few 
instances. Though scenes where nature always wears a benignant aspect, and the freshness of spring is 
constantly seen associated with the fruits of autumn, they are eminently the * cannibal islands,' where many 
a shipwrecked seaman, it is said, has been disposed of at a banquet. Population of this group estimated at 
800,000. 



900 



MELANESIA. 



New Caledonia, atout 720 miles east-north-east of Queensland in Australia, is a colonial possession of 
France, and a valuable acquisition, being very fertile, and containing excellent coal. It extends 200 miles in 
length, by 30 in breadth, and is supposed to contain 60,000 natives, some of whom are under the instruction 
of Koman Catholic missionaries. The French took possession of it in the year 1854, as weE as of the small 
adjoining Isle of Pines, so called by Captain Cook, from the stately araucarias seen among the vegetation. 
Port de France, the infant settlement, is on the Bay of Noumea, which forms a safe harbour, easy of access 
and defence. The New Hebeides, on the north-east, are a long volcanic chain, abounding with the 
odoriferous sandal-wood, which the .Sydney ship-owners convey to China, where it is burned as incense in tho 
temjiles. The inhabitants, numbering about 200,000, are fierce, and massacred the missionary Williams on his 
visit to Erromanga, one of the series. The Fiji or Vrri toLANDS, on the east, mark the limit where the dark 
Papuans and the lighter Polynesians intermingle. TMs group is likewise volcanic, and contains upwards of 
200 members, 60 of which are inhabited, but two only are of important size. These are Viti Levu, or ' Great 
Fiji,' and Vanna Levu, or ' Great Land,' respectively 360 and 300 mUes in circuit. They have good harbours, 
fine rivers, a rich loamy soil, abundance of sandal-wood ; and cotton of excellent quality is raised. The 
inhabitants are supposed to number at the least 133,000, and are a superior race with reference to several 
constructive arts. But cannibalism, hmnan sacrifices, and infanticide prevailed horribly among them till the 
"Wesleyan missionaries commenced their labours in 1835, since which time a great social reformation has been 
effected, and is promoted by the present king. This potentate, for his own security and that of his people 
from invaders, wished to place his insular kingdom under British protection. Early in 1859 Mr Consul Pritchard 
arrived in England mth a deed of cession to the Crown, from ' Ebenezer Thakombau, by the Grace of God 
Sovereign Chief of Bau and its Dependencies, Vunivalu of the Armies of Fiji and Tui Viti.' But it was not 
deemed expedient by the government to accept the sovereignty. On state occasions, when Europeans are 
received, the Queen of Fiji appears in the attire of civilisation, wears a neat Paris bonnet, a coloured sUk 
dress with crinoline, and a black mantilla trimmed with lace ; but is said to be very glad to get the clothes 
off as soon as official interviews are over. 




Megapolis, one of the Possession Islands. 




LUiTMAM 

BY J. PARTHOI.OMETtV. E B.. S 

Srixish. IMUes 

Geo^apJucaJ. MU^s 



!Exp\araiion. Oxkcki TrunivA xkus.^ 



125 longittide East 130 of Gi) 



Pcmtedm Colmm; ijr"VraM'Eadaii£ Edmktr^ 



W.» R.CHAMBERS. 










•^ipli^h. iampaivy 

^:^«^^ R PEN t|Ki A pmnsidaV, '"^'^ 





Booby Island, Torres Strait. 



CHAPTEE II. 



GENERAL VIEW OF AUSTRALASIA. 



Q^^^ 




HE term Australasia, eqtiivalent in its meaning to Southern 
Asia, has no special relation to the region it popularly denotes, 
that of Australia and its adjuncts, as it is equally applicable to 
the southern districts of the contiaent and the greater part of 
Malaysia. EthnologicaUy, also, it is Melanesian, the natives 
proper heing a dark-complexioned race. But they are so few in 
number, while rapidly passing away before the intrudrtig white 
population, as to justify a separate classification, which the 
vast extent of the territory renders conTenient. The whole is 
British ground. 
Australia, the largest island in the world, is so extensive 
that the compound phrase of island-contuient is very commonly appHed to it, and may be 
accepted as descriptive of the relation it bears to the other principal land masses of the 
globe. It is situated between the parallels of 10° and 39° south latitude ; between the 
meridians of 112° and 153° east longitude ; and is divided into two nearly equal parts by 
the southern tropic. Prom Cape York, the north extremity, to Wilson's Promontory, 
the southern limit, the distance in a direct line is close upon 2000 miles. Erom Cape 
Byron on the east coast, to Steep Point on the west, the extent is greater, measuriug not 
less than 2600 miles. The coast-liae is estimated at 10,000 mUes, and the area com- 
prises 2,900,000 square mUes. It may be roughly stated to be one-fifth less than 
Europe, the next larger continent. But a large portion of the surface is doomed to 
hopeless sterility, and can never be available for colonisation, though, after making this 



902 AUSTRALASIA. 

abatement, it may still be regarded as offering a land of promise to many millions of the 
Anglo-Saxon race. 

The shores are washed by two oceans, the Pacific on the east, and the Indian on the 
west. They communicate by two channels, north and south, which separate the territory 
feom smaller insulated lands. Bass's Strait, the southern channel, more than 100 miles 
wide, divides Australia fronj Tasmania, and is a great thorougMare for shipping between 
Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, and the mother-country. Torres Strait, the northern 
channel, about 90 miles wide, separating it from New Guinea, offers the nearest route from 
Sydney to Singapore, India, and China. But though much frequented, the navigation is 
so intricate and critical that the circuitous course round the entire south and west shores 
is commonly preferred. Among the indentations of the coast, the Gulf of Carpentaria, on 
the north, penetrates 500 miles inland, with an almost invariably low shore, of an 
extremely iminviting character. IS'early opposite, on the south, the great Australian 
Bight presents its vast concavity, as if scooped out by the swell of the Indian Ocean, to 
which it is exposed ; and exhibits through about 600 miles a singularly unbroken line of 
horizontally-stratified cliffs, from the summit of which the country stretches away inland 
in apparently boundless plains of sand and scrub. A barrier so long and so entire is 
without example elsewhere, and the remarkably unfortunate peculiarity attends it of not 
contributing a single drop of water to the adjoining ocean. 

The north-east coast has a very remarkable feature in a linear series of coral-reefs, which 
run parallel to it through upwards of 1000 mUes, and are collectively called the Great 
Barrier Eeef, from acting as a bulwark to the shore against the roU of the Pacific Ocean. 
This formation is the grandest specimen of the kind of which we have any knowledge, and 
a wonderful example of minute individual parts producing by combination a magnificent 
result. The leef rises on the outside perpendicularly from unfathomable depths. It 
fluctuates considerably in width, from thirty or forty miles to less than one, approaches 
and recedes again from the coast, but averages the distance of about thirty miles from it. 
With the wind blowing from the east, the arm of the sea within the reef is tranquil, while 
on the outside the waves dash with tremendous fury against it. The long ocean swell 
being suddenly impeded by this barrier, lifts itseK in one great continuous ridge of deep 
blue water, which, curling over, falls on the edge of the reef in an unbroken cataract of 
dazzling white foam. Each line of breakers runs often one or two miles in length, with 
not a perceptible gap in its continuity. There is a simple grandeur and display of power 
and beauty in the scene that rises even to sublimity. The unbroken roar of the surf, 
with its regular pulsation of thunder, as each succeeding swell falls, is almost deafening, 
yet so deep-toned as not to interfere with the slightest nearer or sharper soimd. A few 
openings occur which admit of ships passing through this enormous barrier, and there are 
several intricate boat channels. A circular stone tower, on a small islet off the best passage, 
stands as a beacon to guide the mariner to it, with cocoa-nuts and other plants on an 
adjoining plot of ground for the benefit of shipwrecked seamen. 

Highlands rim parallel to many parts of the coast, but at some distance from it, and 
send off spurs both towards the shore and into the interior. The most important and 
continuous heights, at present known, traverse the eastern side of the country, from sixty 
to seventy miles inland, and consist of several ridges, variously with peaked, serrated, 
and rounded summits. They include also great table-lands, which are furrowed with 
precipitous gulleys, and often present on the seaward side nearly perpendicular escarp- 
ments. In the opposite direction they decline in vast downs, very thinly timbered, but 
clothed with grasses and herbage, which form admirable sheep-walks, and are the great 
grazing-grounds of ISFew South "Wales. These highlands, to the back of Sydney, are 



AUSTRALIAN ALPS. 903 

knowi as the Blue Moimtains, and do not rise above 3500 feet. In their northerly 
extension they have the name of the Liverpool Eange, and acquire a greater general 
altitude. In their southerly course, under the denomination of the Australian Alps, the 
highest points occur. Mount Kosciusko, the loftiest, situated 120 miles inland from 
Capo Howe, raises its sienitic cone 
6500 feet above the sea, retains 
the snow through nearly the whole 
year upon its summit, and furnishes 
a permanent supply of water to the 
Murray Eiver from its melting. It 
was ascended, in the year 1840, by 
Count Strzelecki, the indefatigable 
explorer of the Australian cordiUera, 
who submitted sjiecimens of the 
rocks collected in liis wanderings to 
Sir E. Murchison, which enabled 
the sagacious geologist to infer, from 
their correspondence to those of the 
Ural Mountains, the existence of 
gold, and announced it ^Jrior to the 
discovery. No active volcanoes are 
known . to exist, nor have earth- 
quakes occurred within the term of 
colonial experience. But traces of 
extinct volcanic action appear in 
various parts of the country in true 
crateriform hiUs and veritable lavas. 
In its water supply Australia is 
essentially defective. This is the 
prime disadvantage of the country. 
There are many locally important 
rivers, but in the settled districts 
they are not of magnitude propor- 
tionate to the vast extent of the 




Palls of Glen Stuart, Moriarty Creek. 



territory, comparable with the great drainage systems of other regions ui volume of 
water and capacity for navigation. The Murray is the largest Tiver of the country 
at present fuUy known, and the most persistent in its features. ' It rises on the 
inner slope of the Australian Alps, in the neighbourhood of the loftiest heights, 
forms the boundary between ISTew South Wales and Victoria, receives from the 
former colony the Murrumbidgee and the Darling, with the Ovens, Goulburn, and 
Loddon, from the latter, but has its lower course and entrance into the ocean within 
the limits of South Australia. Though inaccessible to ships of any size from the sea, 
it admits of internal navigation through a distance of 1800 mUes, following the 
windings. Steamers began to ply regularly in 1853. In its mean state the breadth 
is nowhere greater than about 300 yards, and generally much less. But the depth 
is very considerable, varying from 12 feet at the shallowest, to 20 and commonly 
to 40 feet, even close to the edge of the water. The stream rises from the melting 
of the snow around Mount Kosciusko, and falls periodically. The rise commences 
ia the early part of July, and proceeds at a very gradual rate tiU the bordering creeks 



904 AUSTEAIASIA. 

and lagoons are fiUed, and many of the adjoining flats are laid under water. The 
explanatory remark may here be made, that by a somewhat absurd nomenclature in 
Australia, small inland water-courses, the beds of temporary streams, completely dry some 
parts of the year, are commonly styled ' creeks,' a term which we exclusively apply to the 
lesser inlets of the sea. 

While poverty marks the general water-system, it is farther subject to alternations o£ superabundance and 
complete exhaustion ; and both extremes are in a varying degree calamitous. Eain descending literally in 
sheets of water on the highlands gives rise to floods, remarkable for their sudden occurrence and great 
extent, occasionally destructive to the homestead of the settler, unless care has been taken to place it above 
high-water mark. Trees standing on the borders of insignificant rills, or near almost dry chamiels, frequently 
proclaim that a deluge has swept along, by a residue of grass, weeds, and rubbish left in their branches at 
an extraordinary height above the existing stream. Wlien Sturt, on his central exploration, reached the 
Darling, he found its bed all but empty, without any perceptible current. In a few days it began to flow 
rapidly, and quantities of grass and bark came floating down, covering the surface. It soon swelled consider- 
ably, and rolled its turbid waters along ivith violence. In a single night it had changed its character 
completely, from an obscure and languid brook to a broad and rapid river, laden with large trees and drift. 
While following the channel of the Macquarie, where water was only to be found in holes. Sir Thomas 
Mitchell was startled by a report that a flood was coming down from the Turon Mountains, but that it 
travelled slowly, and would not arrive untU the following evening. At the time mentioned a murmuring 
sound was heard like that of a distant water-fall, mingled with occasional cracks, as if produced by breaking 
timber. The noise increased gradually, and the flood came at length in sight, glistening in the moonbeams, 
and filling the empty bed of the river. But it was soon dispersed in a thousand lagoons, and the channel 
became as exhausted as before. The Hawkesbury, near Windsor, has been known to swell to the enormous 
height of eighty feet above its general level. During the hot and dry summer the opposite feature of 
exhaustion is very visibly impressed upon most of the inland waters. The larger rivers shrink in volume ; 
the smaller lose their continuity, and become a series of detached ponds ; the mere rivulets altogether fafl. 
In New South Wales ii'regularity attends the occurrence of both drought and flood. Sometimes the dry 
season monopolises the entire year, as from July 183S to August 1839, dui'ing which not a drop of rain fell at 
Sydney, and the cattle perished by hundreds, either from inability to obtain water, or to extract nutriment 
from the parched surface. Neither are the floods confined to what is usually called the rainy season. Pifty- 
seven visitations of the kind have been recorded in relation to the Hawkesbury through the historical period 
of seventy years since 1788. Tourteen o£ the number occurred in spring, eleven in summer, seventeen in 
autumn, and fifteen in winter. 

The remarkable peculiarity of a series of deep depressions appears in the structure of many of the river-beds. 
This arrangement meets the condition of a country where the waters rapidly run off the surface, and the native 
tribes have little constructive capacity, for these nature-formed tanks or reservoirs retain a supply of the vital 
element long after it has disappeared from other parts of the channels. The depressions are very striking in 
the Swan Biver of Western Australia, which imdergoes great seasonal changes. A writer speaks of meeting 
with a pool, two hundred yards long, thirty wide, and thirty-six yards deep, full of water to the brim, while 
just beyond each end the bed of the river was dry, or had only a little winding rUl trickKng among the grass 
and pebbles. A series of these ' water-holes ' marked the course of the stream. One of vast size was noticed, 
three quarters of a mile long, thirty or forty yards wide, and of great depth, full to the margin of beautifully 
clear water. A stranger to the country, coming suddenly upon it, would have imagined that it might be 
traversed to the sea in a boat. Yet it abruptly ended each way, with a steep square termination, and the bed 
of the river beyond was a grassy hollow slightly elevated above the pool The arrangement is precisely as if 
parties had set to work at different points to deepen the channel, and, after excavating various spaces to a con- 
siderable depth, had simultaneously suspended further labour. The rivers of this description have chamiels 
used in extenso in the rainy season, which present a succession of ponds in the dry, either connected by a 
thread of water, or whoUy detached. It has often been suggested that an adequate supply of water might be 
secured in aU seasons by artificial excavations where the natural ' water-holes ' are wanting. 

The climate, referring chiefly to the principal colonised districts, is distinguished by a 
high summer temperature, with little or no winter, according to English ideas of the season, 
except in the upland districts. But ordinarily the heat experienced in summer causes com- 
paratively little personal inconvenience, neither producing bodily languor nor mental 
inertness, and not interfering with toU out of doors. In the winter months at Sydney, 
the early morning air has a bracing sharpness, and the evenings are cool, rendering a fire 
welcome at those hours ; but there often intervene a warm sun and clear sky, which lead 
to deserted hearths in order to sit by open windows. Snow is almost whoUy unknown. 
A shower on the 17th of June 1836 is mentioned by Dr Lang as quite a phenomenon, for 



AUSTRALASIAN SEASONS. 



905 



the children were greatly surprised to see ' white rain ' falling, never having beheld a flake 
before. It falls plentifully on the loftier highlands, and lies for a short time on the downs 
of Eathurst, Argyle, and other elevated sites, where also the ground is often found in the 
early dawn covered with bright hoar-frost. Many climatic circumstances, and industrial 
occupations dependent upon them, are directly opposed to our own experience. The 
north winds are hot; the south are cold; and the east are healthy and invigorating. 
Harvesting is in process when the fields of ISTorthern Europe are frozen hard, and the 
rivers are choked with ice. June, July, and August are the winter months ; December, 
January, and February the months of summer. Hence the Christmas festival falls at 
midsiunmer, when oak branches and flowers in their fuUest bloom take the place of our 
holly and the mistletoe-bough in the festivities. 

The summers have one evil hard to bear, but fortunately it is not of frequent occurrence, or of long duration. 
Tliis is the hot "wind to which all the colonies are exposed, blowing from the interior of the country. The 
thermometer rises to 130°, and even 140°, during its prevalence. In New South Wales and Victoria, especially 
the latter, its direction is from the north-west ; in South Australia, from the north ; at the head of the 
Australian Bight, from the north-east ; and at the SWan Eiver, from the east. Though protected by a wall 
of mountains, the fiery gust is annually an unwelcome visitor at Sydney, and is experienced on an average 
about four times every summer. It lasts each time commonly from twenty-four to thirty-six hours, and is 
comparable to the blast of a furnace. At Melbourne, where similar protection is wanting, it is more intense, 
and also at Adelaide, under the same circumstances, where it sometimes continues for nine days together. 
Though no injury is done to the human constitution, yet a sense of great personal discomfort is generally 
produced, and the effect upon the ciiltivated vegetation is extremely pernicious. The prime annoyance is not 
so much the burning temperature of the current, as the impalpable dust it sweeps along, with gritty matter 
large enough to strike on the face with painful acuteness. Strzelecki, on a voyage from New Zealand to New 
South Wales, was prevented making the harbour of Sydney for two successive days by the strength of the 
blast ; and when sixty miles from shore the heat exceeded 90°, while the sails of the ship were coated with 
dust laid on by the breeze. Every object in its path assrunes a livery of monotonous drab, or deep brown 
tinged with red, from the minute particles with which it is loaded. At the first symptom of the visitation 
approaching, servants fly about every house to see that windows are closely fastened and blinds drawn. The 
streets become intolerable, and are quickly deserted. Everywhere, right and left, up and down, there is 
nothing but dust. 

The plague is over, usually after a sharp but short contention between the hot wind and a gust from the 
south, in wliich the latter triumphs, and being a cold wind, rapidly depresses the temperature. Mr Dutton, 
in South Australia, thus graphically describes the conflict : ' You look out, and perceive to the southward a 
dense column of dust rising perpendicularly into the air — the two winds have met ! The south wind, fresh 
from the sea, being many degrees colder than the north wind, is violently precipitated on to the ground, the 
lighter hot wind rising in proportion. This is the cause of the column of dust being raised so high. Now the 
two winds are engaged in flerce struggle ! It lasts but a moment. With gigantic strides the column breasts 
its way northward — the hot wind is fairly vanquished, and with a blast, before which the mighty gum-tree 
breaks, and your house quakes, the south wind proclaims its victory, and in half an hour it settles down to a 
cool steady breeze. The dust subsides, and "Eichard is himself again."' This is the chief summer 
disagreeable, along with an intense development of insect life. Through the remainder of the year, for eight 
or nine months, the weather is peculiarly delightful ; and during the hot season, except when the sirocco 
blows, the mornings and evenings are deUciously cooL In point of salubrity the climate is one of the finest 
in the world. Camping out at night, sleeping on the ground \vith a saddle for a pillow, and the stars looking 
brilliantly white through the trees — a common incident of a squatter's life — is followed by no injurious 
consequences, though in most other countries fevers, agues, and affections of the lungs would be the result. 
Notwithstanding an endless series of morasses and reedy swamps, covered with stagnant water and rank 
vegetation, no part of the globe is more exempt from that class of disorders which originate in deleterious 
exhalations. 

Australia is remarkably distinct from aU other regions in its native botanical and animal 
productions, while far from being distinguished in either case by variety of species, 
profusion of individuals, or utility to man. With scarcely an exception, the trees belong 
technically to the class of evergreens. But this term is a complete misnomer with 
reference to the colour of the leaves, which have generally dull, brownish, and leaden 
hues, are of a leathery texture, and wholly without gloss. In many instances also both 
sides of the leaves are alike, and possess the same organs, with the further peculiarity of 
being inserted in a vertical instead of a horizontal direction. Hence, by presenting their 



906 



AUSTBALASIA. 



edges to the liglit, but little shade is afiforded. This result is aided hy the foliage of all 
the timber being scanty, while the branches tend more to shoot upward than to spread 
out laterally ; and the trees are often thinly distributed over the surface, or arranged in 
park-like clumps, instead of forming a continuous forest. The woods have therefore no 




Coast near Illawai'ra. 

glades of profomidest gloom, but are light and airy scenes. Yet a desolate appearance is 
given to them by some species which have long wiry branches entirely leafless, and by 
others which annually shed their bark. Streamers of the epidermis may be seen, twenty 
or thirtjf feet long, haugiug like ' a beggar's garment from the stems, or rolled up on the 
ground precisely like great sticks of ciunamon.' 

The two families of Eucabipti and Acacice are predominant among the vegetation. The former are the 
' gimi- trees ' of the colonists, so called from their resinous exudations. The latter are the ' wattle-trees,' some 
species of which were used hy the early settlers for the purpose of wattling the partitions of houses. Inter- 
mingled with these genera are many cedars and cypress-like casuarinas, furnisliing valuable timber, with 
enormous wild figs, noble pines, luxuriant underwood, reeds, ferns, and nettles of arborescent habit in moist 
situations. A nettle, Urtica gigas, rises to the height of forty feet, and has a stem nine or ten feet in gii'th, 
with large leaves, the sting of which is said to be painful enough temporarily to paralyse a limb. In the more 
northern districts, palms, bananas, and other tropical productions, connect the vegetation with that of South- 
eastern Asia. The fan or cabbage-palm occurs on the east coast in the Blawarra, a belt of land sixty miles 
south of Sydney, but is not seen in the interior. A slender branchless stem, from sixty to a hundred feet 
high, surmounted with a crown of leaves, waves gracefully to the breeze as it rustles through a round tuft of 
foliage at the top. The leaves are made into a kind of hat, very generally worn by the colonists, and the tuft 
at the summit is eaten by the natives — whence the name of cabbage. Owing to these uses the beautiful tree 
has been subject to reckless destruction in the district, and is now scarce. The edible and fruit-bearing 
plants indigenous to the soil are few in number, and of no importance to civilised man, either for food or the 
gratification of taste, though several aiJord useful provision to the aborigines, and it is possible that some 
grasses of the pastm'es might be introduced to cultivation with advantage in dry climates for the support of 
stock. Mere flowering-plants are numerous, worthy of the florist's care as objects of beauty or curiosity, 
though most are scentless. Such is the "Waratah, or native tulip, a tall, stately, and right regal-looking 
product, growing on the slopes of the hills, well entitled to be called the Queen of the Bush. Its woody stem 
rises straight as am arrow from five to ten feet high, emd is clothed all the way up with richly-green oak-like 



AUSTRALASIAN ZOOLOGY. 907 

leaves, which are surmounted by a noble cone of vivid crimson. The Gigantic Lily, or spear flower, has a 
stem of fifteen or twenty feet, rising from the centre of a group of long, broad, curving leaves, which is 
crowned with a huge cluster of gorgeous crimson lilies. Of the humbler but more useful vegetation, as the 
succulent natural grasses, they do not uniformly clothe the surface by forming a continuous turf, but grow in 
separate tufts like the strawberry-plant, with spaces of bare ground between them. A minute pink 
convolvulus, and a hardy kind of everlasting with a yeUow flower, intermingle with the herbage, and occupy 
the place of our daisy and butter-cup. 

The zoology is characterised hy few species of mammalia in. comparison with the total 
number known ; and there is a general paucity of individuals likewise. Hundreds of 
miles may be traversed in the interior of the country without rousing a single quad- 
ruped, or even meeting with the trace of one. Three of the great natural orders are 
entirely unrepresented, the quadrumana, the pachydermata, and the ruminantia. Most of 
the mammaHa are marsupials, so called from the females being furnished with a peculiar 
pouch for the reception of their young, which are born in a more immature state than the 
young of other viviparous animals. 

The most important marsupial is the kangaroo, a vegetable feeder, inoffensive and timid, mo™g by 
a succession of bounds by means of the liind-legs, yetViapable of outstripping for a time the fleetest steed. 
The natives hunt it for food, as weU as the colonists for sport ; but this is only at the outskirts of the settled 
districts, and even there the gun and dog have rendered the animal scarce. But the most anomalous creature, 
.according to its name, OniiiAoc/iync/iMiJaradoxa.?, is a non-marsupial, and seems to form a kind of connecting- 
link between quadrupeds and birds. No beasts of prey of consequence occur, except the dingo or native 
dog, which is generally distributed, and justly dreaded by the sheep-farmer as the scourge of the flocks at 
remote stations. This marauder, fierce, courageous, and insatiable, is somewhat larger than the shepherd's 
dog. It never or very rarely barks, but howls or yells dismally at night. Eeptiles abound, harmless lizards 
and iguanas, with various snakes, some of wliich are venomous. Flies, mosquitoes, and other entomological 
mites, are tlirough six months of the year a perfect torment, comparable to any similar plague of the 
Egyptians. 

Among the birds, the emu represents in Australia the ostrich of Africa, and ranks next to it in stature, 
many standing f uU sis feet high. The birds of prey, eagles, falcons, hawks, and owls, are plentiful ; with 
those of beauty, paroquets, cockatoos, and lories ; but in birds of melody the country is deficient. The notes 
are more generally monotonous, discordant, or peculiar, than musical ; and many are familiarly styled after 
their tones. The black swan, remarkable for its colour and glossy plumage, has a voice which one of its early 
civilised hearers could only compare to the ' crealdng of a rusty sign on a windy day.' Tlie Bell-bird has the 
name from its single silvery ' ting,' curiously loud and metallic, the harbinger of water in the desert. The 
Organ Magpie has a soft sad tone, said to resemble the notes of a flutina, touched by a timid and uncertain 
hand. The Coachman gives a long clear whistle, finisliing with a noise exactly like the crack of a whip. 
The Knife-grinder's Song is sufiicieutly discriminated by the name. The extraordinary chant of the Laugh- 
ing Jackass defies description. Several species, as the Talagalla or brush turkey, and the Satin Bird, are 
remarkable for their habits. 

Vast accessions have been made to the botany and zoology as the consequence of colonisation, and are still 
in process. All the cereals grown in Europe are raised, with the usual green crops for cattle and garden 
vegetables for the table. Some of the latter are produced in greater perfection than in the mother-country, 
as the cauliflower and the broccoli, while a few degenerate, such as the bean. The more valuable may bo 
sown or planted at any time with the certainty of a good crop, and hence Sydney possesses what London 
cannot boast, a supply of green peas throughout the year. Tropical products are cultivated with complete 
success, maize, tobacco, and cotton. The vine flourishes luxuriantly, as well as the olive ; and the choicest 
fruits of warm latitudes are reared, the orange, lemon, citron, almond, loquat, fig, and pine-apple. The 
domesticated live-stock, introduced towards the close of the last century, which might then be represented 
by a few units, have multiplied to many millions. Eecently, the experiment has been tried with success of 
increasing the number of wild and domestic varieties. To give home melodies to the fields, woods, and 
gardens, black-birds, thrushes, larks, and other songsters have been imported, and turned loose, %vith some 
game birds, as pheasants and partridges, for the benefit of sportsmen, and to diversify the fare at table. A 
few camels, obtained from India, are in the colony of Victoria; but by far the most important addition are 
llamas and alpacas from Peru. Jealous of other countries possessing such wealth-producing animals, the 
Peruvian government issued an edict in the year 1845 prohibiting their export ; and the penalty was imposed 
of forfeiture of the flock, and of ten years' labour in chains at the Ohinoha Islands, on any o-\vner or driver 
found with them within a certain distance of the coast. In spite of this enactment, through the enterprise 
of Mr Ledger, a large flock was landed at Sydney in November 1858. The alpacas spent the first year of 
their colonial existence at Sophienburg, about twenty-three miles south of the city, where fleeces such as 
Peru had never seen were taken from them in November 1859, and where the flrst alpaca meat killed in 
Australia was partaken of on the 7th of September 1861 by a party of colonial notables. A premium has 



908 ATTSTRAIASIA. 

for some time been offered for the introduction of salmon, which it is hoped may find a suitable abode in the 
rivers of Tasmania. After several failures in the attempt to transport the ova, a successful one has been 
reported. Trout, salmon, and the other Salmonidw, are absent from the whole of the Southern Hemisphere. 
Among the mineral treasures of the coimtry, coal has been known for some time in 
New South "Wales, and is now extensively worked in the basin of the Hunter Eiver, 
where several beds crop out at the surface. It also occurs in Western Australia, near 
Perth. The discovery of copper in South Australia dates from the year 1842. Immense 
masses of ore of the richest quality have been obtained, and lead is abundant in the same 
district. Iron exists in such profusion in several of the mountains on the north coast, 
that they violently affect the magnetic-needle. Manganese, zinc, quicksilver, and antimony 
have likewise been met with, as weU as good specimens of the gems used in secondary 
jewellery, jasper, chalcedony, and opal. Eoofing-slate may be had in any quantity; 
marbles, valuable for ornamental purposes, are plentiful ; and kaolin, or porcelain-clay, is 
a constituent in the mineralogy. To the economic minerals attention wiU doubtless be 
more fully directed as population increases, and exhaustion occurs with reference to the 
supply of the precious metal. 

For some years the gold which has rendered Australia so famous was seen without being recognised, much 
to the subsequent chagrin of the parties who were thus hoodwinked. Not only did farmers turn up the 
auriferous alluvium -with the plough, but pebbles of gold-bearing quartz were used for garden-walks, and it is 
even said that a person ornamented his garden-walls by building into them masses of white quartz variegated 
with portions of the imdetected yellow metaL Some curious reminiscences were indulged upon the true state 
of the case being disclosed. Thus it was known to a few that an old Scotch shepherd, named Macgregor, 
had been in the habit of bringing small pieces of gold to Sydney, which he disposed of to a jeweller. But no 
person could ever learn from him where he found his treasure, and the suspicion arose that it was the 
melted-down produce of robberies. The shepherd at length disclosed the secret when it was useless keeping 
it any longer. He had accidentally met with the prize in the first instance, and then at intervals searched 
the spot for it, a place called Mitchell's Creek, in "Wellington Valley, about 200 miles west of the capital. 
It was also remembered that a convict labourer had been sentenced to receive fifty lashes for having a lump 
of gold in his possession, as it was deemed to be stolen property similarly disguised. Public announcement 
of the discovery of gold-fields was made in New South Wales in May 1852, and in Victoria the following 
August. The auriferous rocks belong to the Lower Silurian system, and in the heaps of debris or old 
alluvimn derived from their denudation the gold has been principally obtained. 

A native population is thinly distributed over the surface of the country, consisting of 
various tribes of Austral or Oceanic Ifegroes, the ' black fellows ' of the colonists, who 
rank with the types of humanity most removed from personal sightliness, judging accord- 
ing to the European standard. Though differing in some respects among themselves in 
different localities, they appear to have had a common origin, but no monuments, records, 
or traditions throw the faintest light upon their migrations and history. The complexion 
is generally a sooty brown, varying to shades approaching to chocolate and a deep earthy 
black. The flat nose, large nostrils, and thick protruding lips of the true Ifegro are 
observable, but the hair is long and coarse, only very occasionally assuming a wooUy 
texture. While of short stature, the limbs are uniformly slight, the head small, the fore- 
head low, the eyes large and far apart, with the iris invariably of a dark brown, and the 
pupil jet black. In athletic exercises, as running, climbing, and dancing, remarkable 
flexibility of limb is exhibited, with agility and adroitness — the common accompKshments 
of the savage — and when in the act of throwing the spear, the posture assumed is both 
commanding and graceful. Nowhere is the soil made available for support by tillage, but 
is searched for what it spontaneously supplies. Particular districts are considered the 
* sit-down ' or territory of certain tribes or families, to which their hunting excursions are 
confined, and into which the intrusion of other natives would occasion strife. They have 
no permanent dwellings, but construct temporary hovels of the branches of trees, thatched 
with leaves of the grass-tree, or roofed with bark to keep off the rain. Though generally 
destitute of clothing, those in the neighbourhood of the white settlements are 



AUSTRALASIAN COLONIES. 909 

compelled to wear blankets, wliich are distributed to tbein at certain, seasons by the 
colonial authorities. 

That the native Australians, though once considered incorrigible barbarians, are capable o£ being civilised 
in a measure, is proved by the organised troops of black mounted police in the south-eastern colonies, and the 
frequent employment of them as shepherds and herdsmen. In a few instances they have learned to read and 
■wi'ite. Estimates of their number are quite Conjectural, but it is certainly very inconsiderable -when com- 
pared with the area over which they are spread. In and around the colonised territories, it is beyond doubt 
that they are rapidly diminishing, though squatters and settlers now endeavoirr to conciliate their sable 
neighbours, and humane provisions have been adopted by the authorities, not only to protect them from 
wi'ong, but seoiu'e sufficient subsistence. Whole communities have already become extinct. The tribe 
inhabiting the country around Botany Bay and Port Jackson in 1788, which Governor Philip supposed to 
comprise about 1500 individuals, has not a single representative remaining. The last died in 1849, little more 
than sixty years after the first occupation of the land by the whites. This has been occasioned by various 
causes, as the positive inhumanity with which they were treated in the early days of the settlement, the loss 
of the wild animals upon which they depended for food, both destroyed and scared away by firearms, and the 
immoderate indulgence in intoxicating liquors, to which all savage races resign themselves, whenever practi- 
cable. Another very potent cause of decay, and quite beyond all himian control, is the introduction of 
diseases, which, though very rarely fatal to Europeans, and commonly of a mild nature, exhibit a malignant 
and destructive character in connection with the native constitution. However melancholy the result, it 
seems inevitable that the man of Australia is doomed to pass away from the face of the land as civilisation 
takes possession of it, and he will leave behind him no temples, towers, or palaces to infoion future ages of 
his existence once within its borders — ^no memorial of any kind originating with liimself, except a few names 
wliieh the new-comers have adopted, attached to sites where he encamped, and to streams of which he 
drank. 

Five British colonies are constituted on the mainland of Australia; a sixth embraces the 
island of Tasmania ; and a ssTenth is in process of formation, to bear the name of North 
Australia. 

Area in Sq. Miles. 
478,000 
559,000 
87,000 
300,000 
1,000,000 (settled district, 45,000) 
22,600 

Public affairs are administered in each colony by a governor of imperial nomination, 
assisted by a parKament, which consists of a council and an assembly. Any one of the 
local governors may be appointed by the crown governor-general. l^o religious 
communion is established by law, but all sects in favour of state aid may receive 
proportionate grants from the public revenues. 

The great majority of the colonists are British, but a considerable number are now of 
AustraUan birth. The latter exhibit the features usually observed in a transplanted 
British race, though they are not so strongly marked as in the United States, for which 
the difference in the length of time during which exposure to new circumstances has 
subsisted wiR sufficiently account. Out-of-door habits of life do not produce the 
ruddy complexion noticeable in the mother-country. The stature is tall, but the 
form is spare, the face pallid, and the voice less sonorous. It is remarkable that 
the pronunciation of EngUsh, as well as other European languages, always suffers after 
having been spoken for some time in a new region. The nasal drawl, so common across 
the Atlantic, is an accompaniment of the English spoken in Australia, Tasmania, the 
Cape, and other parts of the Southern Hemisphere. The Anglo-Australian males are 
popularly called ' Cornstalks,' in allusion to their lank appearance. The females are styled 
' Currency Lasses,' while true Englishwomen are distinguished by the epithet of ' Sterling.' 
In the population of South Australia a Germanic element is rather prominent, while 
Victoria, in consequence of the gold discoveries, has received a very miscellaneous 
nationality. The most striking addition is that of the Chiaese, both as to numbers, 





Founded 


New South "Wales, 


. 1788 


Queensland, 


1859 


Victoria, . . 


. 1851 


South Australia, 


1836 


"West Australia, . 


. 1829 


Tasmania, 


1825 



opulatlon. 


Census. 


Capitals. 


348,546 


1861 


Sydney. 


30,115 


n 


Brisbane. 


540,322 


n 


Melbourne, 


126,800 


p 


Adelaide. 


15,593 


II 


Perth. 


90,000 


» 


Hobart Town. 



910 



AUSTRALASIA. 



appearance, and. habits. They poured in hj successive ship-loads, and marched into the 
interior, betaking themselves at once to the gold-iields. A few engaged in mercantile 
pursuits at Melbourne, some of whom betokened their existence by the appearance of 
their names, Lo-Quat or Cum-Quot, in the records of the Insolvency Court. Though 
iuoflfensive even to timidity, and outwardly well conducted, the presence of a race in every 
respect so alien occasioned great general dissatisfaction. It found expression at last in 
disgraceful attacks upon them, with a view to their expulsion, and led the legislature to 
impose special payments upon this class of immigrants in order to prevent their increase. 
The excess of males over females was considerably increased during the earlier years of 
gold-mining. It stiU exists, though in process of redress. It is marked in New South 
Wales, and much more so in Victoria. In South Australia the balance has been 
adjusted, and the sexes are in nearly equal proportions. 







Mount Adolphus. 




,^-gfj^^^tl 




Slioalhaven GiJly. 



CHAPTEE III. 



AUSTRALASIAN COLONIES. 



I. NEW SOUTH WALES. 



HE parent colony of the Australian group, New South "Wales, 
is indebted for tliat name to Captain Cook, who applied it to the 
1 whole eastern seaboard of the country, from its fancied resem- 
blance to the South Wales of his native land, as seen from a 
vessel oif-shore. In its present restricted application, it denomi- 
, nates that part of the east coast extending from Point Danger on 
the north to Cape Howe on the south; and the district stretching 
inland from the ocean to the meridian of 141° E., -which forms 
"^'ff^'"^ ' the boundary from South Australia. The provinces of Queens- 
land and Victoria are respectively on the northern and southern frontiers. The coast- 
line, along which the great South Pacific, especially with an easterly ivind, roUs its 
tremendous surge, is bold and rugged, presenting a wall of steep cliffs to the waves, 
fringed with rocky ledges, but with very few sandy beaches. It is broken, however, at 
intervals by bays and inlets of varying magnitude, which form excellent harbours for 
shippmg, often so shut in by narrow mouths as not to shew their capacity till they are 
actually entered, and scarcely visible at an inconsiderable distance seaward. 

Eor a few miles inland from the shore the country wears a bleak and barren aspect, the 
soil being composed mainly of drift-sand, scantily covered with stunted trees and shrubs. 
But the interior is very largely an open forest, interspersed with brushwood thickets, 
generally hiUy, occasionally mountainous. Eich and fertile valleys lie in the lap of the 



912 AUSTRALIAN COLONIES. 

ranges, ■with extensive undulating grassy plains on their slopes, or at their base. Parallel 
to the coast, north and south, runs a highland chain, the prominent feature of the surface, 
Icnown as the Blue Mountains in the latitude of Sydney, from the appearance presented 
in the distant view, but commonly referred to as the Dividing Eange. It separates the 
streams iiowing inland, often to lose themselves in marshes, from those which have an 
opposite direction, and a more immediate descent to the ocean; and also divides the 
agricultural and longer settled maritime districts on the east from the wide pastures of 
the squatters in the western interior. These highlands are generally of moderate elevation. 
They are physically remarkable for the gulf or bay-like valleys with which they are 
penetrated, vast and immensely deep, bounded on either hand by precipitous cliffs, and 
terminated by a similar facing of perpendicular locks. To descend into them, it is 
frequently necessary to go round from fifteen to twenty miles ; and they can only be left 
by the way in which they are entered. The most extraordinary feature in their structure 
is, that though they expand to a width of several miles in the interior, they are generally 
so contracted at their mouths as to be almost impassable. In these ' sunk valleys,' as 
they are often called, there is usually magnificent timber, but the tops of lofty trees, many 
hundred feet below the spectator standing on the boundary-walls, appear like brushwood. 

Numerous streams descend the eastern slope of the highlands in tortuous channels to 
the ocean, subject to the fluctuations from flood and drought which have been noticed, 
but admitting generally of steam-navigation for some distance above their mouths through- 
out the year. The most southerly of importance, the Shoalhaven, is remarkable for the 
tremendous guUies through which it flows, some of which are from 1200 to 1500 feet 
deep, with precipitous sides, composed of granite or dark-coloured limestone, forming 
scenery of the grandest description. The Hawkesbury, which disembogues to the north 
of Sydney, is formed by the junction of the Nepean and Grose, at the base of the 
mountains, and has some of the oldest and most flourishing farms of the colony, with the 
towns of Windsor and Richmond, on its banks. The Hunter, fnrther to the north, flows 
through a valuable agricultural and pastoral country, has a course of upwards of 200 mUes, 
and enters the sea at the jport of ISTewcastle. It is the Tyne of Austraha, as carboniferous 
formations occiipy an extensive area of its basin, and supply a coal which ignites readily, 
burns with a bright reddish flame, swells and agglutinates, like the Newcastle coal of 
England. The Manning, Hastings, Macleay, and Clarence Elvers are in succession more 
northerly. The inland flowing waters, on the western side of the mountains, either 
terminate in marshes, or contribute to form the Murrumbidgee and Darling, which, after 
a long course, with a generally diminishing volume, reach the Murray, some 400 miles 
distant from their sources. 

Drought is the special defect of the climatology, and occasionally a great disaster. The 
annual amount of the rain-fall is rarely deficient, but generally copious, though irregularly 
distributed. When it does rain, the showers descend in torrents, often carrying away 
roads, gardens, walls, palings, and bridges. Every highway becomes a river, every by- 
path a brook, and every bank a cataract. Then, for months together, not a drop falls, 
and the sky seems as if it had never known a cloud. During unusually long droughts 
the cattle frequently perish both for want of water and the fodder which it sustains. The 
rotting carcasses and the bleached skeletons of draught-buUocks may be seen at the 
exhausted water-holes, or in the dry beds of streams, to which they had rushed in a fury 
of thirst. During these seasons, when the vegetation is like tinder, bush-fires, accidentally 
kindled by the natives, or by a stockman throwing the contents of his pipe upon the ground, 
are of common occurrence, and become vast conflagrations if there is a breeze, endanger- 
ing the life and property of the settler. The spectacle is often singularly striking in the 




Camden Cow Pastures. 

interior wilds, and rises to tlie sublime. Huge volumes of flames rush along with head- 
long speed ; kangaroos bound out of their path ; snakes and lizards issue out of their 
hiding-places to escape ; birds fly with screams .from the destruction ; bandicoots, opossums, 
and emus hiu-ry away from the devouring clement ; and the smoke of the country goes 
up like the smoke of a furnace. Tor years afterwards the trees of the forest exhibit 
memorials of the event ia their charred and blackened trunks. The traveller has often 
met with them deforming the landscape, but occasionally strange objects, clothed with the 
livery of death below, and exhibiting the evidences of life in the foliage above. At 
Sydney, in January 1850, the north shore of the harbour was on fire for ten or twelve 
days. At night the scene resembled a line of huge furnaces extending over some fifteen 
mUes. The city and its suburbs were shrouded in smoke, and the au' was pervaded with 
the aromatic odour of the burning gum-trees. 

New Socth TV/VLES was originally planted as a penal settlement, intended to relieve the overcrowded jails 
and hulks of the motlier-coimtry, at a time when not a single white man existed in the vast range of 
Australia. A. fleet of cloven sail took out 757 convicts, of whom 192 were women; 208 marines, with 
40 of the soldiers' wives and chUdren ; a chaplain ; and Governor Philip. It reached Botany Bay on the 
20th of January 17SS. But that site proving ineligible, and tlie adjoining Port Jackson being discovered, 
the shore of one of its coves was occupied, to which the name of Sydney was given, after Viscoimt 
Sydney, then secretary of state for the colonies. Immense diiEculties were encountered by the infant 
settlement, being dependent entirely upon the arrival in time of supplies from England. More than once 
the whole community was upon the verge of starvation. The first free emigrant, a German, arrived in 
1791, and married a Scotch woman who had been transported for arson. Divine service was performed 
in the open air tUl 1793, when a wooden church was put up. Government orders were usually proclaimed 
by the bellman. Under the third governor. Captain King, prior to 1806, the first brick church was 
erected, the first colonial ship was buUt, and the first AustraUan newspaper was published by authority. 
It was begun by George Howe, a prisoner, under the title of The Sydney Gazette and Nevj South Wales 
Adi-ertisa: Chiefly by the exertions of Captain M'Arthur to improve the breed of sheep, and the pubhc 
spirit of Governor Macquarie, 1810 — 1821, the colony began to prosper. Transportation ceased practically 
in 1839, when the last convict ship arrived. The number of prisoners deported during its term was about 
70,000, great numbers of whom merged in the general mass of society upon the expiration of their 
sentences. 

3 F 



914 AUSTRALASIAN COLONIES. 

Sydney, the capital, is beautifully situated on the southern shore of Port Jackson, about six miles 
from the South Head at the entrance, where the light-house is in latitude 33° 51' south, and longitude 
151° 18' east. The port is a long expanse of lake-like water, which, for scenery, capacity, and safety 
ranks with the finest of all harbours. On either side are coves with wooded shores, besprinMed with 
neat cottages, homesteads, and vUlas in ornamental grounds, which with vessels constantly cleaving the 
blue waters, studded with a few islands, form a singularly lovely spectacle. Including the subui-bs, the 
city oontams a population of 93,000, and is said to be the most EngHsh-looking of all the Australian 
towns. It has a complete system of sewage, and is lighted throughout with gas. The streets are lined 
with substantially-buUt high houses, are well paved or macadamised, and are furnished with numerous 
public drinldng-fountains. The government house, first occupied by Sir George Gipps in 1845, is of white 
freestone in the Elizabethan style, fitted up with the finest colonial marble in the interior, and staircases 
of carved cedar. It presents a striking contrast to the canvas dwelling of the first governor, who, on 
giving an official dinner, when provisions were short, intimated to the guests that they must bring then- 
own bread with them, as he had none to spare. A humorous officer marched to the banquet holding 
up a puny loaf on the point of his sword, The university, founded in 1851, confers degrees in arts, 
law, and medicine. A mechanics' school of arts, subscription library, museum, botanic garden, Hyde Park, 
and the Domain, are places for pubHo instruction and recreation. Sydney is intensely loyal in the nomen- 
clature of its streets, which were mostly laid out in the later years of George m. George Street, the 
principal thoroughfare, preserves the name of the sovereign. York, Clarence, Kent, Susses, Cumberland, 
and Gloucester Streets have the names of royal dukes ; and Pitt, Bathurst, Castlereagh, and Liverpool 
Streets those of ministers. The trade of the capital, both foreign and inland, is very great, as nearly 
all the exports and imports of the colony pass through it. 

Paramatta, at the head of a river-like prolongation of Port Jackson, 15 miles from Sydney, is coimected 
with it by steamers and a railway, and contains 5600 inhabitants. It was founded soon after the original 
settlement, with the name of Hose Hill, properly superseded by a native denomination. The route by water 
is extremely picturesque. Colonial tweeds, ' Paramatta cloths,' and salt are manufactured. Bathurst, in the 
interior beyond the ridge of the Blue Mountains, 125 miles from Sydney, is the centre of an important pastoral 
district, and contains a population of 4000. Being at a considerable elevation, 2300 feet above the sea, the 
cUmate is temperate, and attracts invalid visitors from the hot coast region. In the early days of gold-finding 
this town witnessed the arrival of the first remarkable nugget. It weighed 102 lbs., and was sold at Sydney 
for £4160. Bathurst is reached partly by railway, from Paramatta to Penrith, and then by an excellent 
road across the mountains constructed by convict labour. Strangers commonly stop at the 'Weatherboard 
Inn on the route to visit Prince Regent's Glen in the vicinity, one of the extraordinary sunk valleys before 
referred to. ' This kind of view,' remarks Mr Darwin, the attentive observer of nature in many lands, ' was 
to me quite novel, and extremely magnificent.' These wayside inns are numerous in the older parts of the 
colony, and are often somewhat picturesque, at least those which retain their primitiveness, being built of 
weather-boards, on a frame of wood, with a plot of garden in the rear. There is the old-fashioned horse- 
trough, hoUowed from the trunk of a tree, in front, and a tall sign-post bearing some long-standing 
familiar inscription, ' The Traveller's Home,' ' The Cottage of Comfort.' But such humble accommodations 
for passengers have now been largely superseded by more pretentious taverns, as in the mother-country. 

NexDcastle, at the outlet of the Hunter, 75 miles north of Sydney, is after it the most considerable port, 
shipping coal and agricultural produce. The river here expands into a broad estuary, forming a very secure 
harbour, which has been improved by artificial means. The town has 3800 inhabitants. It contains a 
school of art, a telegraph station, six churches, and gives its name to an Anglican bishopric, wliich embraces 
the northern districts. The southern are included in the metropolitan see of the capital Maitland, a few 
miles up the river, divided into east and west, is the second town of the colony in size, containing a 
population of 7800. It is in the centre of the principal coal-bearing region, and publishes two newspapers, 
one of which, the Maitland Mercury, is the oldest of the provincial class. Camden, 50 miles south-west of 
Sydney, is a small township in the famous Cow Pastures, a name which refers to an event in early colonial 
history. Among the live-stock brought by the first squadron to the shores were five cows and two bulls, 
which broke loose, and escaped into the woods. The stray cattle multiplied ; and after some years, this wild 
drove was heard of near the Nepean Eiver. The first knowledge of its existence was obtained in a singular 
manner. Upon a party of the aborigines coming to the neighbourhood of Sydney, they so closely imitated 
the butting and bellowing of the strange animals, as to enable the settlers to identify their lost property. 
After remaining unmolested for many years the herd was destroyed by order of the government, being of a 
very inferior breed, and aimoying proprietors by mingling with their stock. In this district Captain 
M'Arthur obtained a grant of land from Lord Camden, then the colonial minister, for the purpose of 
improving the flocks by the importation of superior sheep. The estate, named after the grantee, comprising 
a neat residence, substantial farm-buildings, thriving gardens and orchards, is now occupied by descendants 
of the original proprietor. It wiH ever be memorable as the spot where the first fine-woolled sheep were bred, 
and the first vineyard was planted on Australian soiL Wollongong, on the adjoining coast-line, is an outport 
of the Ulawarra, the native name of a long belt of land on the shore, remarkable for its rich soil and tropical 
vegetatiom Lofty cedars, graceful tree-ferns, and stately palms, raise their heads above a thick imdergrowth 
of wild vines, creeping plants, and shrubs. Grassy meadows are intei'spersed throughout, and coal is worked. 



QUEENSLAND, 



915 



NOEFOLK Island, 900 miles from the coast, is included in the colonial government. During the transport- 
ation system, the worst criminals, doubly or trebly convicted, were deported to this spot, and a paradise was 
converted into a pandemonium. It is now the home of the industrious and virtuous Pitcaim Islanders, whose 
singular Iiistory is hereafter noticed. Their principal settlement is at Sydney Bay. The island contains about 
thirteen square miles, exhibits very beautiful scenery, and is noted for its &ae vegetation. The characteristic 
tree, one of the coniferous family, Araucaria, excelsa, of majestic height and appearance, yielding valuable 
timber, has the name of the Norfolk Island Pine, but is not peculiar to the site. It has been seen with a 
diameter of twelve feet rising to the height of 270 feet. 

Agricultme is confined cMefly to the coast region, Tbut is only of secondary importance. 
"Wlieat, maize, fruits of different kinds, tobacco, and wine are the principal crops, and a 
small quantity 6i excellent cotton is raised. Pastoral husbandry is the staple industry, 
conducted on the vast grassy do-\vns interior to the Dividing Eange. The first export of 
wool to England, 245 lbs., was in the year 1807. It now amounts annually to upwards of 
20,000,000 lbs. Gold is an important item of the colonial wealth, and has risen to the 
estimated value of £2,200,000, according to the last annual return. The localities in which 
the precious metal is found are either on the table-lands or in connection with the moun- 
tain-ranges branching from them. From the Illawarra district and the basin of the Hunter 
the annual produce of coal is nearly 500,000 tons, which, after supplying the home demand, 
is shipped to the other colonies, to India, and to China. At the close of the year 1862 
the population was estimated at 367,495. The number of ministers of religion was 354, 
more than one-third of them clergymen of the Anglican Church, and one-fifth Eoman 
Catholic. Upwards of 42,000 children were attending schools. 

n. QtnEEN-SLAND. 

This province, the youngest of the colonial daughters of Great Britain, said to be the 
fairest, extends northward of the frontier of New South "Wales, with which it was formerly 
associated, but detached by petition of the inhabitants in 1859. It has a coast-line 
marked with features of greater variety and beauty than belong generally to Australian 
shores. Enormous tracts lie beyond the range of the settlements, and have never indeed 
been touched by the footstep of civUised man. But as far as the surface is at present 
known, it consists of an alternation of forest-clad mountain-ranges and grassy plains, 
while the climate combines ample moisture with a tropical temperature. No gold-fields 
here attract by theic dazzling glitter, but ample space is open for pastoral and agricultural 
industry, with a fair prospect of success to those who would enjoy 

' The pride to rear an independent shed. 
And give the Ups we love unborrowed bread.' 
Some of the most beautiful cotton ever seen has been grown j the vine is cultivated ; 
fisheries are conducted ; coal is raised ; and Queensland figures in the wool-market with an 
annual export of more than 6,000,000 lbs. 

The natural vegetation embraces noble trees and valuable timber for building purposes, the Moreton Bay 
pine, the iron-bark, blue-gum, and box, with the red cedar, violet-wood, tuHp-wood, and cypress for cabinet- 
work. A species of pine, the bunya-bunya, is almost peculiar to the district, serviceable to the blacks. It may 
be recognised at the distance of some miles from its form, like that of a large umbrella moimted upon a very 
long stick. Once in three years it bears fruit, when the aborigines gather to feast upon it. The cones are 
about a foot long, so covered with sharp points that a hedgehog, or a ball of ten pounds-weight bristUng with 
needles, may as readily be handled. The edible part of each seed is about the size of the kernel of a Brazil 
nut. Pormerly the government in New South "Wales prohibited the feUing'of the tree, in order to secure the 
natives in the enjoyment of their triennial banquet. On the shores of the colony the herbivorous dugong is 
captured. This ' daughter of the sea,' the fabled mermaid of the East, is common in the Indian Archipelago, 
where the flesh was formerly reserved for sultans and rajahs, as too delicious to be used by ordinary mortals. 
The fish is found in large herds at the mouth of the Brisbane, and is caught for the oil procured from the 
blubber. Dugong oil has curative properties, and is sought to be substituted for cod-liver oil It contains no 
iodine, but, on the other hand, it is sweet and palatable, and does not produce nausea. The profusion of 
reptile and insect life is the prime natural disadvantage of the district. Accidents are, however, rare from the 
snakes, which will be extirpated as the land is occupied. But swarms of ants and beetles in the houses cause 
great aimoyance, and the mosquitoes are everywhere a torment. 



916 



AUSTRALASIAN COLONIES. 



Brisbane, the seat of government, on the river of that name, contains a population of 9000 witliin municipal 
limits, and has its daily paper, botanic garden, and Anglican bisliop. The river, about twenty miles below, 
discharges ui the long and broad expanse of Moreton Bay, dotted with islands. Good coal is -worked on its 
banks, and has for some years been used by the steamers. Ipswich, on the Bremer, navigable up to tlie town, 
has 5000 inhabitants. Maryborough, a smaU seaport, is doubtless the only place in the British Empire with 
a Chinaman in its municipal council. Alderman Cliam suitably returned thaiilcs on his election to the 
dignity. "While discountenanced in the other colonies, the. Chinese are at present welcome in Queensland, 
owing to tlie great demand for labour. Aborigines are found near most of the towns and settlements, though 
in some places not permitted to enter -within their boundaries. 

ni. -VICTORIA. 

This -wonderful colony occupies tlie soutli-eastern corner of the great insular territory. 
Its inland limits are defined by a straight line from Cape Howe to the nearest source of 
the Murray, and then the com-se of that river, the boundary from ^L^ew South Wales, as 
far as the meridian of 141°, where it meets the frontier of South Australia. Though 
somewhat closely circumscribed between the spacious areas of the two sister-provinces, 
the distance measures about 500 miles from east to west, by 250 from north to south. This 
district has a varied coast-line of 700 miles, distingiiished by two prominent features, a 
bold headland, and a securely-sheltered and capacious bay. The headland, WUsou's 
Promontory, is the south extremity of the province and of the mainland of Austraha. It 
is worthy of the position, being an enormous projection of granite, twenty miles long by 
from six to fourteen wide, connected by a sandy tract with the main shore. The summits 
rise to the height of 3000 feet, often veiled with a canopy of clouds or gray mist, as often 
seen with their outline distinctly defined against the clear blue sky. The bay is the 
world-famous Port Philip, discovered by Lieutenant Murray, in the Lady Nelson, in 
January 1802, and soon afterwards visited by Captain Flinders, in the Investigator. It 
is a magnificent landlocked harbour, containing more than 800 square miles of open 
water, communicating with the ocean by a very narrow channel, and therefore compara- 
tively smooth at all times, while the shores are beautiful. At the north extremity the 
recess of Hobson's Bay is the anchorage-ground of vessels for Melbourne, while on the 
western side a branch forms the harbour of Geelong. 




VICTORLi. 917 

An agreeably diversified aspect marks the interior of tlie country. There is an alterna- 
tion of bold heights, gentle liills, and sweeping valleys, open prairies and . beautiful 
woodland, with rich grassy vegetation clothing a large proportion of the surface. The 
eastern districts have an alpine character, being entered by the Dividing Eange from New 
South Wales under the name of the Warragong Chain, or the Australian Alps. It 
follows generally a south-west direction, gradually diminishes in height, and ramifies over 
an extensive area, till it meets the sea at the south extremity of the province, in the 
headland of "WUson's Promontory. The central portion is traversed by hUls of moderate 
elevation ; some bare, others wooded and grassy to their summits. Thirty-five miles north- 
west of Melbourne, a range commences with the syenitic Mount Macedon, of which it is 
the crowning height. This noble-looking eminence rises about 3000 feet, and forms a 
conspicuous object over a wide landscape, being visible from the east and west hUls 
which adjoin the capital. Stately trees of the blue gum and other species clothe its 
slopes to the summit, which is so easily accessible as to admit of being reached on horse- 
back. More to the west are the Pyrenees s^nd the Grampians. The southern extremity 
of the latter has the name of Mount Abrupt, from presenting on one side an almost 
perpendicular precipice of 1700 feet. 

Though better supplied with water than New South Wales, the extremes of failure and 
superabundance mark most of the streams. Northward, subject to these conditions, flow 
the Mitta Mitta, the Ovens, the Goulboum, and the Loddon to the frontier river 
Murray. Southward, the Glenelg, the Barwon, the Latrobe, and the Yarra Yarra 
descend to the coast. The latter is of importance as having the capital on its banks. It 
has been appropriately permitted to retain its native name, which signifies 'flo'^ving, 
flowing,' an allusion to its permanent character. The stream rises in one of the ofisets of 
the Australian Alps, issues from an insignificant spring, and pursues a very tortuous 
course, especially towards its termination in Hobson's Bay. It is liable to sudden floods 
from heavy rains and the melting of the snow in the range of hiUs where its sources lie. 
They are generally ' short, sharp, and decisive,' specially serious, when coincidently with 
the rise of the river strong southerly gales blow up the waters of Port' Philip to the 
northern extremity, and thus check the egress of the stream. This took place in the night 
of October 2, 1844, when the Yarra Yarra rose with such rapidity that the inhabitants 
along its banks with difiiculty escaped the danger. Owing to its southerly latitude, the 
climate is more temperate than that of the sister-colonies, and the long droughts of 
New South Wales are rarely, if ever, experienced. Sudden and great changes of tempera- 
ture occur, and the hot summer wind, with its dust-storm, is an occasional infliction. 

The history of the colonisation of the district has considerable interest. It dates from Slay 1S35, when the 
fii-st permanent settler arrived, so that one of the most important parts of the empire is not yet quite 
thirty years old. The emigrant was Mr Batman, a resident in Tasmania, known from Ms humane exertions 
to befriend the aborigines of that island. He landed on the shore of Port Pliilip, near tlie mouth of the 
"Werribee Eiver, about half-way between Melbourne and Geelong, accompanied -with some domestics. In an 
interview with the natives he expressed the wish to reside among them, and to purchase a portion of land on 
which to depasture his stock. A bargain was finally concluded and formally ratified, by which an extensive 
tract was ceded to him. 

The first immigrant was speedily followed by others, part of whom took up a position on the banks of the 
Yarra Tarra. Though both the governors of New South Wales and Tasmania discouraged the movement, the 
admirable gi'azing capabilities of tiie country had become known, and the ' squatters ' pom'ed in. In June 
1837, the year when Queen Victoria ascended the throne, the embyro capital of a province destined to bear 
her name consisted of a collection of huts with 250 inhabitants. Two wooden houses served tlie purpose of 
imis. A small square wooden building, with an old ship's bell suspended from a tree, was used for a church 
or chapel. Two years later, 1839, the territory was constituted a dependency of New South "Wales, under a 
lieutenant-governor, with the name of the Port Philip district. A long straggling vdlage then made its 
appearance, with a pojjulation of 3000, which speedily became a singular-looking to\vn. Stimips of gum-trees 



918 



AUSTRALASIAN COLONIES. 



stood up in the streets, while enormous ruts were cut in the soft soil by ponderous bullock-drays. Arrested 
by such obstacles, the surface-water collected in pools after heavy rains, and the newspapers of 1842 clironicled 
the incident, ' Another child drowned in the streets of Melbourne.' In 1851 the dependency was made a 
distinct colony, with the name of Victoria, since which period, owing to the discovery of auriferous wealth, its 
progress has been a perfect marvel in the annals of civilisation. 

Victoria, though by far the smallest of the five colonies on the mainland of AustraKa, 
is the richest and the most populous, connected with the mother-country by the most 
extensive commerce. Its agriculture is of no mean importance ; its pastoral industry pro- 
duces wool of the annual value of more than £2,000,000 j its gold-mining has realised 
sums varying from £8,000,000 to £13,000,000 per annum; and puhHc improvements 
have been made with almost magical celerity, yet with a due regard to permanence. In 
the early stages of mining industry, the great centres were covered with cahco tents, and 
not a single mile of macadamised road existed. ITow, the sites of these old camps are 
occupied by large towns, with houses of stone or brick, ornamental public buildings, and 
mUes of paved streets, while upwards of £5,000,000 have been expended upon roads and 
bridges, £3,400,000 upon public edifices, and railways have been put in hand to the 
value of £9,000,000. During the ten years between 1851 and 1861 municipal govern- 
ment was extended to forty-six towns; a net-work of telegraphs was spread over 1500 
miles, communicating with sixty stations ; the camel was obtained to aid explorers in 
their task ; birds of English note were introduced to share the boughs of the forest with 
the songless native species ; and the interior of the island-world was crossed from south 
to north, revealing habitable lands where only a great central desert had been supposed to 
exist. In the same interval the population rose from 77,000 to 540,000, at first an 
incoherent mass of strangers gathered from different countries, apt to indulge a wild 
licence under novel circumstances, but gradually reduced to the dominion of law and 
order, which are now as strictly maintained as in an English village. 

The gold produce of the colony was illustrated at the International Exhibition, in London, 1862, by a 
pyramidal trophy, gilt to resemble bullion. An inscription informed the visitor that this pyramid, ' 44 feet 
9rt inches high, and 10 feet square at the base, represents the quantity of gold exported from Victoria, from 
the 1st of October 1851 to the 1st of October 1861, viz., 26,162,430 oz. troy, equal to 1,793,995 lbs. avoirdu- 
pois, or 800 tons 17 owt. 91 lbs. ; equal in solid measurement to 1492^ cubic feet, of the value of £104,649,723 
sterling.' The largest single masses of gold ever seen have been obtained from the Victorian fields. The 
' Blanche Barkly ' nugget, found at Kingover, in 1857, weighed 145 lbs., and sold for £6900. The ' "Welcome ' 
nugget, the finest of which any record exists, found at Ballarat in 1858, weighed 184 lbs., and was sold in 
Melbourne for £10,500. 

Melbourne, the capital, named after the British prime-minister at the time of its foundation, is situated 
chiefly on the north bank of the Yarra Yarra, about nine mUes above its entrance into Port PhiUp, 
following the winding river, yet under three nules overland. Large vessels come up to the mouth, but two 
bars.obstruct fui-ther passage, except to steamers, brigs, and small-craft. The city is commercially the most 
important in the Southern Hemisphere, and has attained considerable magnitude, ivith the appearance of a 
place of much longer standing. It lies principally in a valley, with the extreme ends rising over two 
picturesque eminences, known as the East and TVest HiUs, verging on a beautiful park-like country. The 
streets are regular and remarkably wide, adorned with good hoiises and shops, richly ornamented banks and 
hotels. ^ The post-office, treasury, parliament-houses, with some of the churches and other public buildings, 
are of imposing architecture. Popular institutions include a Zoological Society with gardens, mechanics' 
institutes, theatres, music-halls, and a public library of 30,000 volumes. A luiiversity, opened in 1855, is a 
large building in extensive groimds, amply endowed from the colonial exchequer. Water is brought by 
works upon a scale of great magnitude from a distance of eighteen miles, and distributed to the private 
dweUings. Three daily newspapers are published, and a considerable number weekly. The population, 
including the suburbs, amounts to 140,000. St Kilda and Brighton are marine appendages of the capital, on 
the shore of Port PhUip, visited for the sea-air, bathing, and occasional recreation. The important lines of 
railway diverging from Melbourne lead to Geelong and Ballarat, to Castlemaine and Sandhurst. The latter is 
in process of being continued to the frontier of New South "Wales. 

Gcelonrj, the second to-ivn of the colony, stands at the head of a westerly branch of Port Philip, on 
picturesque green cliffs overlooking the waters of the bay. It contains a population of 25,000, and is a 
principal mart for the export of wool Ballarat. of aiu-iferous celebrity, seventy-eight miles north-west of 
Melbourne, has 22,000 inliabitants. But only a shepherd's hut occupied the site, buHt of slabs of wood. 



SOUTH AUSTEALIA. 919 

roofed with bark, in the year 1851 ; and within a circle with a radius of forty miles, the population then 
consisted of a few sheep-farmers and their dependents, which now numbers upwards of 105,000. The town 
is the centre of important gold-fields, and of one of the principal agricultural districts. It furnishes the 
implements with which the soil around is tiUed, brews its ovm beer, and grinds its own corn. The merchants 
have their chamber of commerce ; t)ie mechanics, their institute ; the volunteer firemen, their brigade-house; 
the farmers, their agricultural society; and the gardeners, their flower-shows. Castlemaine, seventy- three 
miles on the Northern EaUway from Melbourne, with 10,000 inhabitants, and Sandhurst, thirty miles beyond 
on the same line, with 13,000, are the next most advanced towns called into existence by the golden soil of 
the neighboui'hood. Prior to its discovery their sites were only visited by a few shepherds, stockmen, and 
natives. The latter, in the entire colony, probably do not exceed 1500 persons. One of them figured by her 
handiwork at the Exhibition of 1862, as ' Her Majesty, Mary Queen Dowager of the Bacchus Marsh and 
Melton Tribe of Natives.' The article exhibited was a basket made of Victorian grass in her leisure hours. 

rV. SOUTH AUSTRALIA. 

This province, immediately to the west of New South. Wales and Victoria, has a 
maritime frontier on the south, and artificial hnes for its inland limits, the meridians of 
132° and 141° east longitude, and the parallel of 26° south latitude. These boundaries 
include a considerable portion of unprofitable country, consisting of scrub, sandy or stony 
tracts, with saline mud-lakes. But there is a sufficient range of admirably fertUe soU to 
sustaia a numerous population, chiefly situated on the south-eastern side. A coast-line of 
more than 1500 miles falls to the share of South Australia, owing to two deep indentations 
which interrupt its continuity, for the du'eot distance between the meridional lines which 
form the eastern and western frontiers does not measure half that extent. One of these 
great oceanic inlets, the Gulf of St Vincent, is forty miles wide at the mouth, and runs 
up into the land about a hundred miles in a northerly direction, gradually narrowing 
towards the upper extremity. It has deep water throughout, no hidden dangers, and the 
settled districts are chiefly on its shores. The gulf is well protected from the roU of the 
Southern Ocean by Kangaroo Island, which lies off the entrance, and forms with the main 
coast the channels of Investigator Strait and the Backstairs Passage. The former is the 
route of ships between Adelaide and Europe j the latter for vessels to or from Sydney, 
Melbourne, and Hobart Town. The island, of large size, received its name from the 
number of kangaroos found by its early visitors on the surface, which, never having 
been disturbed by man, were so tame as to allow themselves to be approached and 
knocked down like sheep. It was selected by the founders of the colony for their first 
location, but speedily abandoned for the mainland, where a tail thorny bush is now 
cultivated, originally confined to the island, which makes excellent hedges on the farms. 
Spencer's Gulf, the second opening, much more extensive, is west of the preceding, 
separated from it by York Peninsula. This narrow tract was only known a few years 
ago as a region of sheep-runs, but has now its Cornish miners developing the richness of 
the ores of copper. 

Though without the bold mountain featm-es of the sister-colonies to the eastward, the 
surface is diversified with hilly ridges and gently-undulating grounds, pleasant valleys 
intervening, and 'great alluvial plains lying at their base. A range of high lands runs 
parallel to the east coast of Gulf St Vincent through its whole extent, of which the 
principal summits are Mount Lofty, with an elevation of 2334 feet, at the back of 
Adelaide, with Mounts Arden and Brown, further north, each rising to the height of 3000 
feet. There is no lack of stately and beautiful timber in the settled districts, generally 
arranged in clumps, but the want of running water is severely felt in the summer season. 
The Murray has the lower part of its course within the province, but the river enters it to 
come to a somewhat ignoble end, after a long and useful ministry. It discharges in Lake 
Alexandria, a vast expanse of shallow water, which communicates with the sea by a 



920 



AUSTRALASIAN COLONIES. 



narrow channel, not navigable, except by boats, and higbly dangerous from the violence 
of the surf. The colony has no other permanently flowing water, rivers, or lakes. But 
there are numerous streams luU. to the brim and overflowing during the winter rains, 
and in most places, water is to be obtained by sinking wells to the depth of from 
twenty to a hundred feet, and often much nearer the surface. This spring water 
has frequently a brackish taste, derived from the aluminous natm-e of the sub- 
soil, not agreeable to new-comers, but there is nothing imwholesome in its quality, and 
after a time a predilection for it has been acquired. For nine or ten months of the year 
the climate is highly agreeable, the weather fine, and the sky gloriously serene. On 
the coldest days, which are in July, the thermometer seldom falls below 48°. Snow is 
unknown, and frost nearly so. A thin ice is only to be witnessed in the hilly districts, 
and is there a very rare occurrence. The only unpleasant season is the middle of summer. 
December and January, when the heat is formidable, and the north wind blows at inter- 
vals with a fiery temperature, carrying along with it particles of hot impalpable dust. 

A large portion of the country is occupied for pastoral purposes, and wool is a principal export. The great 
plains between the coast and the range of hiUs at the hack of Adelaide are the chief agricultural districts, 
where wheat of the finest quality is raised. It has been sent to the English market and shipped to Singapore, 
but the surplus is now absorbed by the increased population of Victoria and New South Wales. In an early 
stage of the settlement, when hands were few and crops were heavy, ladies and gentlemen tui-ned out, anned 
with sickles and some with scissors, to save the standing corn. The military and police also formed in rank 
to attack the fields white unto the harvest ; yet in spite of every effort many acres of wheat rotted on the 
ground. Tliis led to the invention of the reaping-machine by Mr Kidley, an ingenious colonist, manufactured 
at Adelaide. Driven by buUocks or horses through the standing corn, it plucks off the ears, beats the grain 
from the husks, and wmnows the produce as it proceeds. A handsome silver candelabrum was presented by 
the colonists to the inventor, v,-hich appeared at the Esliibition, London, in 1SG2. The choicest fruits are 
grown in astonishing profusion. Great attention is now paid to tlie culture of vine for wines. The vines in 
bearing number nearly 3,000,000, and there are about as many not yet in bearing. A thousand tons of table 
gi-apes are annually sent to Melbourne by steamer. Single bunches weighing from nine to twelve pounds are 
not uncommon. Though no gold discoveries of consequence have been made, the useful metals are in vast 
abundance. Copper, lead, iron, tin, antimony, and manganese occupy a large but unloiown area, with the 
earthy minerals, jasper, agate, chalcedony, opal, and other varieties. Of tliese, copper is the most important 
product from its quantity and quality, obtained in the first instance more by quarrjdng than ordinary mining. 
The ores are the common sulphurets, the blue carbonate, the red oxide, and the green carbonate or malacliite, 
of which splendid specimens have been found. 

South Austraha received the first band of colonists in 1836, who, after a temporary 
abode in Kangaroo Island, established themselves on the plains of Adelaide. They 
numbered about 300, and have since been multiplied to 136,000 by the successive arrival 
of imm igrants of the steadily industrial class, with persons of capital. The governor, 
appointed by the crown, is assisted by two chambers — the Upper of eighteen, and the 
Lower of tliirty-sis members — all elective. The members of the Upper House are returned 
by voters in possession of certain property qualifications, and those of the Lower by 
imiversal sufli'age. 

Adelaide, the capita], occupies an inland site four miles from the nearest point of St Vincent's Gulf, but 
seven miles from the harbour, or Port Adelaide, with which it is connected by railway. In the opposite 
direction rises the beautifully wooded range of Mount Lofty, the highest summit of which has been stripped 
of its trees, and surmoxmted by a flag-staff as a signal-station. Tlie city contains a population of 20,000, 
grouped upon either side of the Torrens, an impetuous stream in the rainy season, but a series of detached 
ponds through the greater part of the year. Both divisions are separated from the immediate banks by a 
belt of gromid planted with trees, reserved for public recreation; and are further environed by a common 
demesne for the same piu-pose, called the Parklands. The town on the southern side is Adelaide proper, by 
far the most important section, containing the government offices and the seat of commerce, wliile North 
Adelaide consists principally or the private residences of the wealthy. These have a very beautiful appear- 
ance, furnished with verandahs covered with climbing plants, nestling in flower and fruit gardens, in which 
brilliantlj'-coloured bu-ds flit to and fro. The city is under municipal government, and has recently been 
lighted with gas. The exchange, post-office, court-house, banks, churches, and chapels are highly creditable 
buildings. But few of the latter are supplied with clocks, and there is said to be in the country districts no 
church or chapel possessing an organ or a peal of bells. Norwood, Eichmond, Kensington, and Islington are 



SOUTH AUSTRALIA WESTERN AUSTRALIA. 921 

pleasant suburban villages. Glenelg and Brighton are marine retreats on the coast, with good beaches. 
Port Adelaide, on the shore of a sheltered creek, is accessible to large vessels, and furnished with every con- 
venience for shipping. Lines of rail are laid down from the principal wharves to the terminus of the city 
and port railway. 

A northern railway, fifty miles in length, leads from the capital to Kapunda, the largest provincial town, 
a mining site and an agricultural centre. The first discovery of mineral wealth in the colony was accident- 
aUy made here in the year 1842. Wliile gathering wild-flowers, a youth had his attention arrested by a 
peculiar appearance of the ground, which might have been mistaken for a tuft of vegetation from its brownish- 
green hue. But taking home a specimen, it was recognised as green carbonate of copper cropping out from 
the surface. About the same time, near the spot, Mr Dutton, a well-known South Australian, while looking 
after his stock, noticed an apparently moss-grown shattered rock, but was sufficiently acquainted with 
mineralogy to detect the metallic character of the mass. Keeping their secret, the two parties readily 
obtained possession of eighty acres of the ground, at the fixed government price of 20s. per acre. But at a 
subsequent period, wanting an additional hundred acres, they had to pay £2120 for the allotment, the quality 
of the land having transpired. The property has been a splendid fortune to its possessors. For the original 
site, which cost only £80, the enormous sum of £27,000 was offered and refused in London. Koorlnga, 
further north, is the market-town of the Burra-Burra Mine, of world-wide notoriety for its produce. 
Though copper ore was here found at the surface in large masses of many thousand tons-weight, a squatter 
had been living and folding his sheep on the ground without detecting its presence. Upon the discovery 
being made in 1845, a company was formed at Adelaide for the purchase of the land. An original £5 share 
has since been a small independence. The table of malachite from the Burra Burra, at the Exhibition of 
1SG2, completely eclipsed tlie famous Eussian door which attracted so much admiration at the Exhibition of 
1351. More than 1100 workmen are employed, who have attracted an agricultural and trading population 
exceeding 8000, all engaged in ministering to the necessities of the miners. The quantity of ore brought to 
the surface in the first twelve years amounted to 126,281 tons, valued at £1,712,370, which, after deducting 
the cost of production, yielded a net profit of 68;} per cent. For some time the miners and their families 
lived in subterranean tenements, which they scooped out in the sides of the Burra Creek. These cave- 
dwellings were made astonisliingly comfortable. Tliey frequently contained several rooms, fire-places, good 
furniture, neat prints, and ornaments of polished malachite, with specimens of copper ores. But they some- 
times proved a snare to strangers, who tumbled into the holes which were the chimneys of the inmates. 
Occasionally also great floods occurred, when the stream rose high enough to enter the family mansions, 
dislodge the occupiers, and spoil the interior. They have therefore been abandoned for habitations in the 
upper air. Kadina, at the Wallaroo mines in York peninsula, has risen up since 1860, when the great 
metallic wealth of the district was discovered. The site is six miles from "Wallaroo Bay, the shipping-place, 
connected with it by railway. Handsome stone-houses testify to the confidence of the inhabitants in the 
pennanent prosperity of the new township. The want of sjjrings in the district is the great disadvantage, 
for even the v/atcr brought up iir the mines is salt, and hence recourse is had for fresh water to distillation, 
and the storing of the rain in tanks. 

The names of pleasant villages in various parts of the colony proclaim the mother-country of the settlers. 
Naime and StrathaUyn recall Scotland. Wakefiold, Saddleworth, and Macclesfield revive the memory of 
England. In like manner Klemzig, Hansdorf, Lobethal, LangmeU, the German Pass, and the Ehine rivrdet 
indicate the Germanic origin of the inliabitants. These colonists have built their houses on the plan of those 
in their fatherland. They contrast agreeably with the general style. Klemzig, three miles from Adelaide, 
is said to be as thoroughly Prussian in its aspect as if it had been transported entire from that country. 

V. V,fESTEEN AT73TKALIA. 

Tliongli ty far tlie largest; colony, and the second in point of date, "Western Australia, 
fornieiiy called the Swan Eiver Settlement, is the least important, having through mis- 
management in the early stages of its history encountered a series of disasters which 
brought it into disrepute, and prevented immigration after the real difficulties had been 
surmounted. Eecently also, or since 1850, it has been made a penal settlement; and tliis 
measure cannot fail to restrain the influx of the weU-disposed, while a cause of strife 
between the home-government and the other colonial dependencies. The vast territory 
embraces the whole country between the meridian of 129° east and the Indian Ocean, 
800 mUes from east to west, 1300 miles from north to south, comprehending a coast-Hne 
of 4000 imles. But these gigantic proj)ortions are merely nominal, as the greater part of 
the surface has never been explored, and the range of settlement is limited to a com- 
paratively small south-western section on the Swan Eiver and King George's Sound, 
where the entire white population is under 16,000. 
The settled districts have no high mountains, large rivers, deep gulfs, or good harbours. Though the coast- 



922 



AUSTRALASIAN COLONIES. 



line has many inlets, they are all more or less encumbered with sand-hanks at their entrances. Grassy downs 
are prominent in the general surface, occupied as sheep-runs, but some localities have poisonous plants 
among the herbage which are hostile to pastoral husbandry. The sameness of the downs is broken occasion- 
ally by hills of moderate elevation, yet steep and rocky, covered with magnificent woods. Timber is one of 
the most valuable products. It embraces the fragrant sandal-wood, and the raspberry-jam tree, one of the 
Eucalypti, so called from the similarity of its scent to that article of confectionary. The jarrah-wood, 
remarkable for its strength and endurance, defies alike the attacks of the white ant and the augur worm, and 
preserves from corrosion any iron which passes through it. Large quantities are therefore exported to the 
eastern colonies and to India, to serve for raUway-sleepers, piles, and all other purposes demanding special 
durability under exposure to weather or water. But a considerable extent of land is under cultivation, on 
which grain crops, grasses, olives, and tropical fruits are raised. Over an area of at least 4000 square miles, 
copper and lead ores are known to be distributed in various places, and mines are successfully worked. 
Wliales abound on the coast, and the whalebone and oil are staple exports. Horses are likewise bred for the 
use of the Indian cavalry. Perth, the seat of government, an inconsiderable town, is on the north bank of 
the Swan Kiver, eleven miles above its port, Freemantle, where the principal convict establishment is 
situated. Albany, a mere village on King George's Sound, is the calling station of the Australian mail- 
steamers, having the best harbour in the colony. 



VT. TASMANIA, 

Tliis fine and fertile island is an outlier of tlie south extremity of Australia, in mucli 
tlie same manner as Ceylon outUes the mainland of Southern India. It is separated from 
Victoria, the nearest adjoining province, by Bass's Strait; extends about 180 miles from 
north to south, by 160 from east to west; and contains an area of 22,600 square miles, 
less than three-fourths of the area of Ireland. The surface exhibits every variety of 
mountain, hUl, and dale, of forests and open meadows, of lakes, rivers, and inlets of the 
sea, forming safe and commodious harbours, that can render a country valuable or agree- 
able ; and being at a higher latitude than the Australian mainland, with no part distant 
from the sea, it enjoys a more temperate climate, akin to that of the south and south-west 
coasts of England, but less subject to changes. Government Hut, the highest habitation, 
on the central downs, is 3949 feet above the level of the ocean; Moimt Wellington, at 




TASMANIA. 923 

tho back of Holiart Town, rises 4195 feet, cloud-capped ia summer, snow-capped in 
winter, throwing its grand shadow, as the sun declines, right across the city and harbour ; 
the craggy greenstone peak of Ben Lomond, in the north-eastern section of the island, 
attains the height of 5000 feet ; and Mount Humboldt, in the south-western, 5520 feet. 

Prom the precipitous sides of Ben Lomond the streams of the North and South Esk 
descend, and unite to form the Tamar, which has a northerly course to Bass's Strait, where 
it forms Port Dahymple. The Derwent, the other principal river, issues from Lake St 
Clair, on the high central downs, and flows in a south-easterly direction, entering the sea 
at Storm Bay. It previously spreads out into a noble estuary several miles mde, navigable 
by ships of the largest size. The valley of this river is remarkable for its erratic blocks, 
composed of cyHndrical columns of basalt, confusedly heaped together," with a detritus of 
pebbles ; and also for its fossil-trees, which appear to have been coniferous, occur exposed 
on the plains and vertically imbedded in rocks, with the structure of the woody tissue 
retained in a very perfect manner. The native vegetation corresponds generally to that 
of Australia, consisting of gums, acacias,;, mimosas, pines, and myrtles ; but it is more 
luxuriant, owing to greater moisture. Forests not only furnish valuable timber for building 
purposes, but ornamental woods in great variety, among which that of the myrtle-tree is 
remarkable for the beauty of its veins, as well as the dog-wood, pink-wood, and musk- 
wood, for rich and varied tints. Coal is known to exist in large quantities, with ores of 
iron, copper, and lead. The indigenous animals correspond to those of the neighbouring 
country, but are rapidly thinning, especially those of the destructive class, being perse- 
veringly hunted. The dingo has already been exterminated. Two species linger ia 
reduced numbers which are formidable to the flocks — the hyena-opossum, or local ' tiger ;' 
and an animal of the same genus, the ' deAol ' of the colonists, of small size, but singularly 
fierce, strong, ugly, and tmtamable. The native inhabitants are all but extinct. 

The island, formerly called Van Diemen's land, received that name from its first visitor, Tasman, the 
Dutch navigator, in honour of Anthony Van Diemen, the governor of Batavia, Tvho fitted out his expedition ; 
but posterity has appreciated the merits of the discoverer, by substituting a denominative derived from him 
for the one referring to his patron. Criminals, with their guards, formed the first white population. They were 
sent out from Sydney in 1803. Successive batches of the same class arrived from the mother-country, many of 
whom, upon the expiry of their sentences, spread themselves over the interior. Military officers serving at 
the station also settled on grants of land, and free emigrants poured in, invited to the island by the fineness 
of the climate, the fertility of the soil, and the beauty of the landscapes. In 1825 the settlement was 
released from its connection with KTew South "Wales, and declared to be an independent colony ; and in 1853, 
after an existence of half a century, transportation to its shores ceased, owing to the determined opposition 
of the colonists, who formed a numerous, intelligent, and wealthy community. Tasman's Peninsula, a tract 
of singular conformation, at the south-east extremity of the estuary of the Derwent, was devoted to the 
more desperate criminals, admirably adopted to keep them in durance. It is surrounded on every side by 
the sea, except at the connectmg isthmus of Eagle Hawk Neck, a narrow natural causeway, where a military 
guard was stationed, strengthened by a chain of dogs, to bar all egress and ingress. In the vicinity of the 
isthmus is Tasman's Arch, a bridge of nature's construction, spanning a deep chasm open- to the sea, in wliich 
the surf thunders, and throws its spray high into the air in tempestuous weather. The peninsula terminates 
to seaward with Cape Pillar, an abrupt basaltic rook, whose tall upright colunms bear a resemblance to the 
pipes of a huge cathedral org.\n. 

At the time of its first colonisation by the whites there were a few thousands of n.atives, of the same race, 
language, and habits with those of Australia. In 1830 an attempt was made by the government to capture 
them, with a view to their protection and preservation, but it was not successful. At length the survivors 
surrendered in despair, and were humanely treated, fed, clothed, provided with medical aid, and established 
in Flinder's Island, as a suitable location for them. In 1835, the epoch of their deportation, they numbered 
210 persons; 'in 1842 these were reduced to 54; and in 1848 to 45, consisting of thirteen men, twenty-two 
women, and ten children. The unfortunates were then removed to a station at Oyster Creek, on the 
south-east coast of Tasmania, prepared for them by the colonial authorities, where they had dwindled 
down to eight persons by the close of the yejtr 1861. 

The colony of Tasmania is divided into counties, rural municipalities, and police 
districts. It contained in 1861 a population of nearly 90,000, chiefly engaged in 



92-i 



EASTERN COLONIES. 



agriculture, Lut wool is raised for export, and the whale-fishery Is prosecuted with great 
spirit aU the way to the Antarctic Ocean. Public interests are superintended by a 
governor, a legislative council, and house of assembly. 

Hohart Toimi, the capital, contains 19,000 inhabitants, and is conveniently situated on the right hank of 
the Derwent, about twelve miles from the sea. The harbour is easy of access, well sheltered from all winds ; 
and the scenery of the neighbourhood is very striking. The range of Mount 'Wellington, bristling with fine 
trees and underwood, forms a gralid background to the town, close in its rear, wearing a ^vinter diadem of 
snow. An ice-house is established near the summit. Mount Nelson, nearer the sea, is a signal-station com- 
manding a delightful view of isles, isthmuses and peninsulas, wooded and cleared uplands, the river, tlie 
harbour, and the town, with the niimerous villas in shady seclusions which form the suburbs. At the chief 
telegraph-office a blue flag is lioisted when it is knowni that the English mail has arrived at Adelaide. The 
sailing distance from Melbom'ne is about 300 miles, from Sydney 800, and from Adelaide upwards of 1000. A 
Parliamentary Library, of 7000 volumes, is open to the public on the order of members during the recess. 
Launceston, at the head of the estuary of the Tamar, contains a population of 10,300. It forms a kind of 
provincial capital for the north division of the island, and as the nearest port to the Australian mainland it 
is much used for commercial and passenger intercourse with the other colonies. The two toivns, 121 miles 
apart, are connected by an excellent turnpike-road, which is traversed by stage-coaches in well-appointed 
style. Tills is the main artery of the country, leading through the best part of it from south to north, and 
passing by or near some oddly-named places, Brighton and Bagdad, Jericlio and Jerusalem, the Jordan and 
the Styx. 

Tasmania, in its longest settled and most cultivated districts, has perhaps a more 
thoroughly English aspect than any of the other foreign possessions of the empire. There 
the fruit-trees, shrubs, plants, and flowers of our temperate clime, to which the heat and 
aridity of Australia are fatal, or which can only be raised as impoverished specimens, thrive 
luxuriantly, owing to the cooler air and moister soil, and seem to benefit by the transport- 
ation. Broad patches of the scarlet geranium colour the landscape ; hundreds of yards of 
fuchsia bloom ; hedges of sweet-brier appear in the to'wn-gardens and country enclosures, 
decked with delicate roses ; closely-clijsped mint-borders supply the place of box ; the 
hawthorn, only known to the Australian as a rare exotic, forms impervious fences upwards 
of twenty feet high ; and to the casual English visitor the yellow gorse upon the downs 

lot 1 lll^ L UK 





The Pumice Ilills, New Zealand. 

CHAPTEE lY. 

POLYNESIA. 
I. itEW ZEALAND. II. MINOS AROHIPELAGOES. 

OLYNESIA, ' Many Islands,' is simply a term of convenience 
used to denote the insular tracts of Oceania, eastward of 
those occupied by tribes of dark aborigines. They are 
inhabited by a race of brown complexion, allied in features 
to the Malays, who speak dialects analogous to their tongues, 
and are hence frequently styled Malayo-Poljmesians. With 
one prominent exception, these islands are separately 
small. They vary in their aspect and structure from the 
mountaiaous and volcanic to the low and coralline ; are 
arranged in groups and chains ; and are most numerous in a 
belt of the South Pacific, between the parallel of 10° and the 
southern tropic. But the exception referred to, or New 
Zealand, lies considerably apart from these limits, and 
probably embraces in itself an area nearly equal to twice the 
aggregate of the remainder. 

I. NEW ZEALAND. 

The British colony of New Zealand consists of three principal islands, the North, the 
Middle, and the South, arranged in a curving chain, situated between latitude 34° 15' and 
47° 30' south, and extending in longitude from 166° to 179° east. They are about 1200 




926 POLYNESIA. 

miles' to tlie soutli-east of Australia, nearly midway between tlie Cape of Good Hope and 
Cape Horn, and make a close approach, to the antipodes of the United Kingdom. 
Estimates of the area by recent authorities are considerably higher than those formerly 
given. The Middle Island, much the largest, is supposed to contain 72,000 square miles, 
and forms a tolerably regular oblong. The North Island, separated from it by the noble 
channel of Cook's Strait, is the next in size, embracing 49,000 square miles, and is remark- 
ably different in its outline, being singularly torn and contorted. The South Island is 
comparatively very small, and whoUy unimportant. IFoUowing the sinuosities, the shores 
have a total length of not less than 4000 miles, and exhibit a succession of bays, creeks, 
coves, and estuaries, adapted to form some of the finest naval and commercial harbours 
in the ■world. 

Essentially of volcanic formation, the interior is largely a highland country. It contains 
many extinct craters, surrounded on all sides with scoriae, bearing witness to fiery 
explosions in bygone times. They are specially prominent in the ISTorth Island, where the 
stUl active volcano of Tongariro, towards the centre, rises to the height of 6000 feet, but 
is overtopped by its quiet neighbour, Mount Euapahu, which, being crowned with 
perpetual snow for ^ome distance from the summit, has probably an elevation of 9000 feet. 

Loftier moimtains are in the Middle Island. Warm lakes and pools, with springs in a state 
of ebullition, forming beautiful geysers, sending off clouds of steam, are further evidence of 
the existing action of subterranean heat. Earthquakes are hkewise of Sequent occurrence ; 
but though occasionally alarming, they have not been calamitous during the term of 
colonial experience, nor do the natives appear to have any tradition of destructive 
visitations. Broad valleys are associated with the highland ranges, but long, narrow, and 
deep sequestered dales are far more general, with which grassy plains are at intervals 
intermingled. Valley, dale, and plain are ahke amply irrigated with river, brook, or rill, 
running in currents of the clearest and softest water over pebbly beds, not unlike the 
trout and salmon streams of England and Scotland. The native vegetation includes 
dense and extensive forests of evergreen trees, supplying serviceable timber. Some species 
flower abundantly in summer, and, with their dark-green massive foliage, render the 
forest scenery strikingly beautiful. Ifative flax, obtained from the fibres of a large leaf, 
forms a valuable substitute for hemp and real flax, and is a material for cordage and canvas. 
The woods are remarkably still, as the indigenous forms of animal life are extremely 
limited, both as to species and individuals, not only in relation to quadrupeds, but to birds 
and even insects. ]S"o venomous reptiles are known. Hares, rabbits, fallow deer, 
pheasants, partridges, and some song-birds have been introduced ; and rewards are offered 
by an Acclimatisation Society for the further import of healthy pairs of blaok-bu-ds, 
thrushes, skylarks, and others, not forgetting the cuckoo. Coal of good quality is widely 
distributed ; gold to an important amount is obtained from the Otago diggings ; iron, 
lead, tin, copper, are known to occur ; but agriculture, sheep, and stock-farming have 
hitherto proved so advantageous to the majority of the colonists, that the mineral stores 
beneath the productive surface have been only feebly illustrated. Banging through a 
considerable extent of latitude the climate varies, being warmer in the far north than in 
the south, but it is exempt throughout from the extremes of heat and cold, bracing and 
salubrious. Heavy rains distinguish the mid-winter in July on the plains ; snow falls 
plentifully among the hills ; and boisterous winds are more prevalent throughout 
the year than in England, though not more violent, while the fine days are more 
numerous. 

The colony comprehends nine provinces, and contains a white population of nearly 
200,000, rapidly augmented during recent years by the influx of gold-diggers from 



NEW ZEALAND. 



927 



Australia. It is under the Jurisdiction of a governor appointed by the Crown, with a 
nominated legislative coimoil of twenty-four memhers, and a house of representatives of 
fifty-three elected hy the people. 

New Zealand was discovered by Tasman in 1C42, who seems not to have landed, hut merely to have seen 
and named the north extremity. Captain Cook, in 1770, wont round the islands, illustrated the shores with 
great accuracy, and passed through the strait which bears his name, taking possession of the territory for 
Great Britain. An aged native, recently aKve, had a distmct remembrance of the landing of the great 
navigator in Mercury Bay. About the year 181i the Church Missionary Society estabUshed a station on the 
east coast of the North Island, favoured by various chiefs. Under similar protection, in 1822, the Wesleyans 
estabUshed themselves on the west coast ; and in 1839 a Colonisation Society was foi-med in London for the 
purpose indicated by the name. But in 1840 a treaty was concluded with the native chiefs, by which the 
sovereignty was ceded to the British Crown, whUe full possession was guaranteed to them of their lands 
Rnd forests, so long as they desired to retain them. In the following year New Zealand was proclaimed a 
British colony. 



North Island. 



Provinces. 
Auckland, . 
Taranaki, 
Hawke Bay, 
"Wellington, 
Nelson, 



Canterbury, 
Otago, . 
Southland, . 



Chief Towns and Settlements. 
Auckland, Onehujiga, Kawhia. 
New Plymouth. 
Port Napier. 

"WeUington, Wanganui, Greytown. 
Nelson, Waimea, Spring Grove, 
Picton, Blenheim. 
Chiistchm-ch, Lyttleton, Kaiapoi. 
Dunedin, Port Chalmers. 
Invercargill, Campbell Town. 



Auckland, the seat of government, is the largest and best built town, Hghted with gas, and containing a 
population of 8000. It has a completely landlocked harbour, studded with islands of various size and form, 
with a main shore broken by numerous deep bays and projecting headlands. A regular mail-service by a 
powerful steamer is established with Sydney, and coasting steamers leave the harbour at stated tunes for the 
southern settlements. Picturesque spots in the suburban district are occupied by neat-looking private houses. 
For some distance the ground has been thoroughly cleared for cultivation, or laid down in permanent 
pasture ; and owing to the removal of trees of foreign aspect, the country has all the appearance of a home- 
like English landscape. In every direction may be seen grass and clover paddocks, not divided by temporary 
posts and rails, but substantially fenced with stone walls or hedges of wliitethom and furze. The soil is 
volcanic. Not less than from twenty to thirty extinct craters are in sight from the town, but only of very 
moderate elevation. The port is supplied with everything requisite for the refitting and victualling of ships ; 
but on account of some local disadvantages, chiefly the position towards the north extremity of the colony, 
it is understood that a more central town wiU be selected for the capital The province contains Albertland, 
recently constituted a special settlement of Congregationalists. Neio Flymouth, on the coast, is small and 
rustic-looking, snugly planted on the margin of the beach, but lacks the accommodation of a harbour. The 
snow-crested Mount Egmont, rising to the height of 8000 feet, is a grand object in the vicioity. The province 
contains by far the greater part of the native population. Wellington, the oldest established settlement, is 
seated on the fine inlet of Port Nicholson. It contains good shops and warehouses, banks, clubs, buUding 
societies, a chamber of commerce, and communicates with the neighbouring district by roads equal to any in 
the mother-country. 

Nelson, on the northern side of Middle Island, is situated on a sheltered hai-bour, almost a lake, at the 
bottom of an inlet called Blind Bay, and has a population approaching to 4000. Protected from rough winds 
by a semi-amphitheatre of lofty mountains, the climate is charming and the scenery picturesque. A 
cathedral-looking church, prominent over the white wooden houses, with nursery-grounds, hop-plantations, 
and patches of vineyard in the environs, are pleasant features of the place. The town is the seat of a copper- 
mining company, whose mines are on the Dun Mountain, reached by a tramway of twelve mUes, which 
ascends to the height of 4000 feet. A good macadamised road, between a growth of tall hedges, leads to 
Richmond, which boasts its ' Star and Garter ' equally with its namesake in England. Christchurch, some 
miles inland from its port town, Lyttleton, contains about 5000 inhabitants, and has accommodation for a 
much greater number. The Canterbury province, of which it is the head, occupied by the first batch of 
settlers in 1850, was intended to be strictly a Church of England territory. But in a very short time it was 
found necessary to abandon the principle of ecclesiastical distinction, and admit all parties irrespective of 
their religious profession. The town stands on either side of the Avon, the banks of which are lined with 
bulrushes of enormous growth, and high tufted grass, with which the flax-plant intermingles. The stream 
is beautifully clear, and abounds with fish. Christchurch rapidly assumed a good and stirring appearance, 
put up street-lamps, provided cabs, established iron-foundries, an agricultural implement manufactory, a 
pottery, brick-yards, nursery-grounds, and well-stocked shops. Dunedin, founded by members of the Free 
Church of Scotland, is about twelve miles distant from Port Chalmers, so called after their illustrious divine. 



928 roLTNESU. 

the leader in the Free Church movement. The two towns contain hotween them upwards of 7000 inhabitants. 
A great impetus was given in 1S61 to the province in which they are situated, Otago, by the discovery of 
gold-fields, which have been very profitably worked. 

Tlie New Zealand aborigines, or the Maories, as they style themselves, were fierce 
savages in the early stages of European accLuaintanceship with them, and many retained 
that character down to a recent date. They drank the blood of their enemies as it flowed 




Boiling Lake of Kota Mahana, New Zealand. 

on the battle-field, and feasted with avidity upon their dead remains baked in ovens 
scooped in the earth. The last known instance of cannibalism occurred about the year 
1843, in the case of Taraia, an old chief, Avho subsequently abandoned the barbarism of 
his ancestors, and cultivated friendly relations with the wliites. A large proportion of 
the natives have more or less adopted the habits of civilised life, and till the soil according 
to European methods, bringing the produce to market as regularly as the peasants of other 
lands. The men are tall, muscular, and well proportioned. They vary in colour from 
olive to dark bro«Ti, have glossy black curling hair, and are not unlike burly, well- 
bronzed gipsies. The women are generally inferior. Marrying early, and performing a 
large amount of field-labour, they soon become bent, are old at forty, weird and witch-like 
at sixty. Extremely sensitive on aU points affecting theic personal consequence, and 
doubtless often justly aggrieved, while mistaking the intentions of their neighbours, the 
Maories have signalised their independent spirit and bravery by a series of bloody and 
sometimes perilous wars with the colonists. They are nearly all now in the North Island, 
and number about 56,000, but are rapidly diminishing, and seem destined to extinction 
as a pure stock, being represented only by a race of half-breeds. If ever the historic 
vision is realised, of a New Zealander sketching the ruins of St Paul's from a broken arch 
of London Bridge, it may be confidently predicted that he will have Anglo-Saxon blood in 
his veins. 



MINOB ARCHIPELAGOES. 929 

Tho New Zealand region includes several insular groups and solitary isles. Eastward, at the distance of 
about 350 miles, are the Chatham Islands, enumerated as a colonial dependency. They were discovered by 
Lieutenant Brougliton, in 1791, in tho brig Chatham, and are visited occasionally by sealers and whalers. The 
islanders numbered upwards o£ 1000 harmless natives in 1830, but have since been brought to the verge of 
extinction by barbarous aggression from the New Zealanders. ANTIPODES Island is on the south-east, 
discovered by Captain' Pendleton in ISOO, and so called from being the nearest land to the antipodes of 
Greenwich. It is in latitude 49° 40' south, and longitude 177° 20" east. The Auckland Islands, on the 
south, arc entirely volcanic, of wild appearance, but densely clothed with vegetation, and are valuable as a 
whaling station for the purpose of refitting and refreshment. They were discovered by Captain Bristow in 
1S06, who introduced the domestic pig, now found wild in great numbers. The Antarctic Expedition under 
Sir James Koss, in 1S40, added sheep and rabbits to the live-stock ; and several kinds of edible vegetabtes. 
A permanent settlement was commenced by a whaUng company in 1849, but was subsequently abandoned. 

II. METOE ARCHIPELAGOES. 

1. Friendly Islands. 2. Samoan Group. 3. Austral and Cook's Islands. 4. Society Islands. 
5. Low Archipelago. 6. The Marquesas. 

Tliesa groups are included lietween tlie meridians of 130° and 175° west, and occupy 
tlie souttem part of tlie torrid zone. They .have therefore a hot climate, hut it is seldom 
oppressive, and generally salubrious, as the high temperature is modified hy a vast expanse 
of ocean on aU sides, and exposure to the sea-hreeze. The natives are a hranch of the 
Malay family; have pleasing features, are naturally intelligent, and expert in varioiis 
domestic arts ; have learned English, and been taught the rudiments of general Icnowledge. 
Yet, notwithstanding the check put hy the change upon infanticide and murderous •wars, 
formerly prevalent, their numbers have greatly diminished from the introduction of foreign 
diseases. The indigenous vegetable productions include tree-ferns and escident roots, the 
cocoa-nut and coral-tree, the bread-fruit, plantain, and pandanus, while the sugar-cane, 
tobacco and cotton plants, with aU tropical fruits, flourish in the islands to which they 
have been introduced. Wlicn first visited by Europeans, no quadrupeds were seen but 
the dog and hog ; and no reptiles are known but a harmless kind of lizard. Annually, in 
certain strictly-defined and limited localities, in the seas close to the shores, the annelidan, 
Palolo viridis, appears in prodigious numbers, under the government of some mysterious 
law. These gelatinous creatures are seen with the early dawn, and vanish soon after sim- 
rise. The natives are on the look-out for them in their canoes, as the annelidan is a prized 
delicacy, is eaten by them raw, and held as the Italians do their macaroni. At certain 
periods also, generally at the full and change of the moon, the land-crabs march out of the 
hush in myriads to take a dip in the sea, and crawl back again^ unless captured on 
the way, as they likewise are relished fare. Hurricanes are of frequent occurrence, as well 
as earthquakes, hut only the former are experienced with destructive effects. 

The Priendlt Islands, mtersected by the meridian of 174° west, are immediately east of the Fiji 
cluster. The name originated with Captain Cook, and arose from the hospitable bearing of the natives. 
They are frequently styled the Tonga group, from the principal member of the Archipelago, Tongataboo, or 
Sacred Tonga, which is about twenty miles long, by ten wide in the broadest part, and nearly a dead level. 
Others are high and of volcanic origin, but the majority are coralline. One has an active volcano. Including 
those of the small class, there are not less than 180 islands, but only about thirty are inhabited. The natives 
are ahnost all Christians, united under the government of a Christian chief, King George. They are deemed 
the flower of the Polynesian race. Admiral "Wilkes, the American commander, aflirmed that there were few 
spots on the face of the eai-th where such a number of handsome people could be seen together as in Tonga. 
The men are tall, have fine intelligent features, and are of a light-bro\vn complexion. 

Tlie Samoan, also called the Navigatoks' Islands, are on the north-east, and received the latter name 
from Bougainville, who considered the canoes of the natives of superior construction, while very dexterously 
handled. But in neither respect is any special distinction warranted. There are four principal islands, with 
many of smaller size, hilly and volcanic, fertile and beautiful. Savaii, the largest, is forty mUes in length by 
twenty in breadth. Another, Tutuila, has Massacre Bay upon its shore, where eleven officers and men of La 
Perouse's expedition perished in 1787, An outlier of the group has the ominous name of Danger Island. 
Here, upon a coral-reef, the missionary ship, John Williams, built at Harwich, was totally wrecked, in May 
1864, after eighteen years of active service. Population of the group about 56,000. The Samoan islanders 

3g 



930 



POLYNESIA. 



are under the govermnent of confederate chiefs. They are largely Christian converts, oontrihute to sustain 
many chapels and schools, with a printing-press and an institution for the training of native teachers. The 
natural history includes a rare bird, Diduncidus stngirostris, of dodo-Uke form. It is one of the pigeon 
family, -with very brilUaiit dark-blue plumage, nearly extinct, owing to the cats which are now wild in great 
numbers on the mountains. 

Cook's Islands, a somewhat scattered series, named after the great navigator who discovered them in 
1773, are under a more easterly meridian, all lofty and volcanic, but of inconsiderable size. One of them, 
Earotonga, was for many years the mission-station of "Williams, where he officiated as preacher, teacher, 
husbandman, builder, and blacksmith, ready for all work likely to be useful. The Austeal Isles, on the 
south-east, have the name from their position under the line of the southern tropic. They are insignificant 
specks with a scanty population, but one of them, Toobouai, sruTounded by a coral-reef on which the 
surf beats violently, is of interest from its teniporaiy connection with the mutineers of the Bounty. 
This vessel was despatched to Tahiti in 1787, under Captain BUgh, in order to obtain plants of the bread-fruit 
tree, and other vegetable productions of value, for introduction to the West Indies. During a stay of eight 
months, the greater part of the crew became demoralised, and resolved on mutiny. After turning the 
captain and ofBcors adrift in a boat, who, by singular good-fortune reached the Dutch settlement at Timor, 
the mutineers made their way to Toobouai, but were finally obliged to quit it by the hostUity of the inhabit- 
ants. Eetuming to Tahiti, some of them settled there, but in a few years were apprehended by the 
British government. The rest, accompanied by a number of native men and women, sailed away, and no 
account was heard of them for nearly twenty years, when obscure reports were circulated of their existence 
in PiTOAiEN's Island. 

This spot, very small and solitary, far to the eastward, was first sighted by a young officer of the name 
of Ktcairn, on board Captain Carteret's sliip, the Sioallow, in 1767. It appeared like a great rook rising out 
of the sea, covered with trees, but without any appearance of inhabitants. The surf, which broke with 
great violence on every side of it, forbade a landing. Here the remnant of the mutineers sought a retreat 
under the guidance of a leader more intelligent than the rest. It was well adapted for their pui'pose ; approach 
was difficult; it was not occupied; there was a supply of fresh water ; and the trees shewed it to be fertile. 
They found indeed everything which could well be desired from external nature, and, after many social 
vicissitudes, gradually became a remarkably moral and respectable set. Their islet, of volcanic formation, 
only two miles long by one broad, havmg become too confined for their growing numbers, their descendants 
were removed by the British government, with their own consent, to Norfolk Island, as a more con- 
venient location. There they retain their uniform vh-tuous behaviour, and the primitive simplicity of 
their tastes and habits ; have a chaplain, schoolmaster, and chief -magistrate ; and numbered 268 soxds in 
1861, when they were visited by Sir John Young, the governor of New South Wales. 




Island of Tahiti, 

The SOOIETT Islands, named by Cook in honour of the Eoyal Society, and the adjoining Geoegian 
Isles, are north of the Austral series; and are now commonly called, the former tlie Windward, and 
the latter the Leeward Islands. They are the most frequently visited of the groups in the Pacific by 
Europeans and Americans, and since 1842 have been French possessions. Tahiti, the largest, has a 
circuit of 140 miles, and contains about 600 square miles. It consists of two rounded peninsidas united 
by a narrow isthmus, and has a highly-diversified surface, towering to the clouds in the majestic peak 



MINOE AROHIPBI/AGOES. 



931 



called tho Diadem. Seen from the sea, the display of varied green tints in the foliage from beach to 
mountain-top, in connection with the happiest combinations of land and water, of precipice and level, 
forms a scene of unsurpassed loveliness, which suggested to the French the name of New Cytherea as 
proper to denote the acquisition. The interior has its deep lonely glens, crystal streams and cascades, 
with luxuriant vegetation, in the midst of which piles of basalt often appear with startling boldness, and 
in the wildest confusion. Tho natives occupy the coast, and have long been under the influence of English 
missionai'ies, but are now to some extent, owing to the political change, under the guidance of Roman Catholic 
priests. A coral-reef suiToimds the island, through which there are a few navigable openings. A headland 
has the name of Point Venus, from having been the station of Cook and liis scientific companions during the 
transit of the planet on the 1st of May 1769. 

Papeete, tho native town, is now the capital of French Oceania. It is seated on a circular beach, and 
consists chiefly of low wliite wooden houses arranged in a line called Broom Eoad, along the shore, occupied 
by a population of perhaps 3000 in number. A few government buildings and consular residences are of 
stone, and two stories high. Dwellings of officials are scattered around, amid splendid gardens, in wliich 
the orange, the banana, the cocoa-nut, the aloe, the vanilla, and other tropical plants intermingle their 
foliage. The ex-queen, Pomare, has a commodious dwelling near the arsenal. There are a few public-houses 
and restaurants for the accommodation of sailors; but no strangers can reside without formal permission from 
the governor. A batch of Chinese arrived in an American ship, in 1856, miners and craftsmen on their way 
from Australia to California, who, wishing to remain as servants, porters, and workmen, were allowed to do 
so. Tahiti and the Sandwich Islands are the only points in the remote part of Oceania where the yellow, 
bald-headed, pig-tailed Chinamen mingle with the graceful, good-looking Polynesians. Foreigners carry on a 
small commerce at Papeete, consisting in the export of arrowroot, cocoa-nut oil, sugar, and shells. 

The Low Akohipelaqo, east and south-east of Tahiti, includes an immense number of coral islets and 
reefs, very slenderly inhabited, between which the navigation is extremely perilous, owing to sunk rocks, 
strong cui'rents, and squalls. Northward, approaching to within 8° of the equator, are the Marquesas, so 
called by the discoverer in honour of tho Marquis of Mendoza, the viceroy of Peru. They form a very 
definite cluster of thirteen islands, mountainous and superbly verdant in general, but with gloomy chfis and 
dark precipices to seaward, bare and pointed peaks in the interior. The French took possession in 1842, but 
are confined to a single small settlement on Noukahiva, the largest of the group, consisting of a few houses 
and a baiTack for marines. The natives, estimated at 12,000, are tall, robust, and well formed, less Sreaned 
from barbarity than the other islanders of the Pacific, and have been less in contact with civilised visitors, 
owing to the isolation of the group, and its divergence from any commercial route. Tattooing of a, 
complicated character, war-dances, human sacrifices, and cannibalism are in full rigour in those parts where 
French influence has not yet made itself felt. 

Eastek Island, the most outlying member of Polynesia to the eastward, is 2000 miles from the coast of Chili, 
1500 miles from the nearest occupied land, in the direct route of vessels from Cape Horn to Tahiti. It was 
discovered in one of the expeditions of the bucaneers towards the close of the seventeenth century, and was 
for some time called Davis Land, after the name of the commander. But in 1722 the Dutch Admiral Eogge- 
wein exercised the privilege of a first visitor in bestowing upon it a name, which has been retained, that of 
Paaschen Oster, or Easter Island. It was afterwards sought in vain by several navigators, but found by Cook 
in 1774, who ascertained the language of the natives to be radically the same with that of the Tahitians. The 
island has a circuit of about thirty-five mUes, is remarkably barren, iU supplied -with water, wholly withoi\t 
wood, and contains only a few himdred inhabitants. The early visitors viewed with astonishment in this 
insulated isle colossal monuments half ruined by the elements, and since destroyed, apparently tho work of a 
race much less barbarous than the existing population. Near Cook's landing-place, a wall of square hewn 
stones was found, about eight feet in height, and sixty feet in length. Another of the same dimensions ran 
parallel to it, at the distance of forty feet, and the stones in both were so carefully fitted as to form a compact 
and durable piece of architecture. In the area between the walls was a gigantic single block, twenty feet high, 
representing the hmnan figure down to the waist, of rude workmanship, but not altogether contemptible. 
On the top of the head was placed upright a huge round cylinder of stone, forming a kind of cap, not imlike 
the head-dress of an Egyptian divinity, and of a different material to the rest of the erection. Monuments of 
tills description were munerous, and quite inexplicable in their intent and origin. They were not objects of 
worship, but neglected by the inhabitants, who had suffered them carelessly to fall into decay, and could not 
have been constructed by a people in possession of no better tools than those made of bones and shells, or 
reared by natives so little acquainted with the mechanical arts. 

Eastern Polynesia is on the shortest route between Great Britain, Australia, and ISTew 
Zealaad. Attention has for some time been directed to it as the natural line for the mail- 
steamers, in order to secure the speediest intercommunication. 

Miles. 

Distance from Southampton to New Zealand by the Cape of Good Hope, about . . 14,000 

" » " by the Isthmus of Suez, .... 13,000 

" '■ " by tho Isthmus of Panama, .... 11,200 



932 POLYNESIA. 

Thus, by the nearest route at present followed, via Suez, 'New Zealand is placed at an 
artificial distance from England nearly 2000 miles greater than by the "way of Panama ; 
and the eastern Australian colonies share to a smaller extent the same disadvantage. The 
latter route departs very slightly from a perfectly straight hne. On the Pacific side of the 
Panama Eailway it leads through seas which are familiar to English navigators, where the 
winds are moderate, the temperature is pleasant, and adverse currents have not to be 
encountered. As every year is adding largely to the popiilation of the antipodal colonies, 
and increasing their commercial connection with the mother-country, there can be no doubt 
that the shortest thoroughfare will ultimately be traversed. 




The Aurora Borealis as seea in very High Latitudes. 
(TUis Cut was accidentally omitted at its proper place.) 




*5t* Names in italic are obsolete or classical. 



Aalborir, . . . i 

Aar Valley, . . . i 

Aarau, . . . ■; 

Aargau, canton of, , . i 

Aarhuua, ... J 

Aaron, mountain of, . t 

Abakansk, . . , I 

AbanaaudPharpavRivers, ( 

Abassia, , . , £ 

Abba Tared, , . . 7 

Abbeokuta, ... 7 

Abbeville, ... 2 

Abbotsfovd, ... 5 

Aberdeenshire, , . 2 

Aberffraw, ... 2 
Aberfoyle, . . .2 

Abergavenny, . . 1 
Abergele, . . .5 

Aberystwitb, . . 2 

Abingdon Islands, . , £ 

Abo, . . . . £ 

Abomey, . . . 'i 
Aboriginal inhabitants of 

Britain, . . • 1 
Aboukir Bay, , . 't 
Abou-Sir, . . . < 
Abruzzo Ultra, , . ^ 
Abu Mount, . . « ( 
Abury raonumonts, . ! 
Abusambul, cut rock tem- 
ples of, ... 1 
Abydos, . • . . < 
Abyssinia, , , » '» 
Acacia Forests, . . ' 
Acadia, . . . f 
Acajutlo, , , , I 
Acapulca, . • • i 
Acarnania, . . . i 
Acco-Ptolemais, . . ) 
Accra, . . . . ! 

Mount, . . ( 

Aceshies, . . . ( 

Achaguag, ... J 

Achaia, . . • . ! 

Acbeen, . . . 1 

Acbill Island, . . : 

AckergUl Castle, . : 

Acmetka, . ■ . i 

Aconcagua, . . ' 

Peak, 882 ; 

river, . . . < 

Acre, . . . 626, i 
Acropolis of Athens, . 
Actium, battle of, . 

Acton Burnel, • • : 

Adalia, . • . ' 

Adamawa, • . . ' 

Adana, . , 606, ' 
Addiscombe, . . 
Addison's birthplace, 
Adelaide, . 118, 919, 
Adelsberg, caverns of, 
Aden, . ... 
Adersbach labyrlntb. 



Adige, the, 
Adonis, , . 

Peak, . 

Adour and Garonne, 
Adowa, . . 
Adrianople, . 
Adriatic Gulf, , 

Sea, . 

Adur, the, . 

an Sea, . 
^gina Gulf, 
JEmilia, . 
^tolia, 

Afghan highlands, 
Afghanistan, 
Afium Kara-Hissar, 

:a, general view- 
African discoveries, 



'page 
392, 474 



■ Islands, 
landscape, 

■ population, 

■ rivers flakes, 747,748 



Agatch Degnis, 
Agen, . 
Aggiel tribes, 
Agincourt, . 
Agra, . . 

Agri-dagh, 
Af/rigentum, , 
Ahmedabad, . 
Ahmednuggur, . 
Aidin, 

Aigun, . , 
Ailsa Craig, . 
Ainos of Japan, . 
Airdrle, . . 
Airthrey, . 
Aix-la-Chapelle, 
Ajaccio, . . 
Ajara, coast of, 
Akaba, gulf of, . 
Ak-Hissar, 
Aksu, . . . 
Aktiar, . . 



Alagoag, province 



Aland Islands, 
Ala-tagh, the, 
Alatau chain, 
Albania, 
Albanian Gates, 
Albany, 

.districts, 790 ; 

River, 

Albemarle Island, 
Albert River, ascended, 
Alcala, . . • 
Aldan River, . 



Aldborough, . 



of, 744 
&c.— 
105-115 



PAGE 

Alderney, ... 287 
Alemtejo, . . . 446 
Alencon, . . . 306 
Aleppo, . . . 607, 630 
Aleutian Archipelago, 73, 575 
Alessandria, . . . 458 
Alexander's discoveries, 14 
Alexandria, . . . 769 
Lake, 



590 



Alexandrite beryl of the 

Urals, . 
Alexisbad, . 
Algarve, 
Algeria, . 
Algesiraz, . 
Algiers, . , 
Algoa Bay, . 
Al-Hadr, 
Alhambra, the, 
Alhucema, 
Alicante, . 
Al-Jezirah, . 
Alkmaar, , 
All Saints' Bay, 
Allahabad, . 
Allah-Shehr, . . .607 
AUeghany Mountains, 797, 824 
Allier and Loire, the, . 312 
Alloa, . . . .244 
Alloway, ... 242 
Almagro, . , ,428 
Alnpach, ... 418 
Alnwick, , . ,168 
Alost, .... 331 
Aloupka, the, . . 563 
Alpaca, the, 830 ; in Aus- 
tralia, ... 907 
Alpine mountain-system, 128 
Alaace, ... 304 
Alt-Buda, , • .401 
Alta Gracia, . . 865 
Altai Mountains — 

577, 688, 593, 595 
AUen, ... 535 

~ copper-works, . 529 

Altenburg, ... 360 
Altmuhl, the, . . 362 

Altona, . ■ . 514 
Altorf, . , , .418 
Altotting, ... 364 
Alum Bay, . . ,204 
Aluta, the, . . 403, 493 
Amak Island, 517 ; Hoi- 

lander-byen, . . 518 
Amanus Range, , . 577 
Araarapnra, , • 716 
Amasia, .... 606 
Amazon, the, 799, 800, 865, 869 
Amazonas province, , 870 
Amazons of Dahomey, 781 
Amber coast, 13; trade, 372 
Ambleside, . . . 171 
Ambleteuse, , • 305 
Amhoise, • . . 312 



Araboyna, . . . i 
America, . . 793-£ 
American continent, 
Araersfort, . . 5 

Amida, . . . . ( 
Amiens, . . . ^ 
Amirante Archipelago, . 'i 
Amkara, kingdom of, 7 

Amlwch, . . .2 
Ammergau, the, . c. 

Ammon, temple of, . 1 
Amol, . . 657, f 

Amoy, , . . , 1 
Amrawati, , , . f 
Amsterdam, . . . ; 
Amu or Jihun River, 579, 6 
Amur, . 588, 595, £ 

Anadirsk, , . 592, 1 
Anam Empire, , , 1 
Anapa, . . . . ( 
Anatolia, . . 484, 606, ( 
Ancient channels of com- 
merce, 
Ancient modes of travel, 

navigation, 

Ancochallani, , , £ 
Ancona, . . . , 4 
Ancyra, . , , f 
Andalusia, . . 430, 4 
Andaman Islands, 576, 1 
Andean chain, , 795, £ 
Andes of Chili, 881 ; passes,^ 

Loxa, . , i 

Andorra territory, . 2 
Andros, . . . £ 
Angari River, . . I 
Angers, ... I 
Anglesev, , • .2 
Angola,* . . 448, 7 

Angora, . . 448, 60G, f 
Angora goat, . . ( 

River, . 

Angornu, . • 
Angostura, . • 
Angouleme, • • 
Angumois, . • 
Anhalt, , 
Aniza tribes, 
Anjou, province of, 
Ankobar, . 
Annan, . 
Annandale, • 
Annapolis, • . 
Annecy, . • 
Annobon, . . 
Ann on ay, . • 
Anson's voyage, , 
Antakia, . . 
Antalo, . . • 
Antananarivo, , 
AntaraditSy . 
Antarctic expeditions, 
Anti-Lebanon, , 
Taurus, 



934 


INDEX. 






PAGE 


PAGE 




PAGE 




PAGE 


Antioosti Island, . . 820 


Arnheim, 


. 339, 345 


Avon, source 


of, at 


Bangalore, . 


702 


Antigua, . . 853, S59 


Arno, the, . 


461 


Naseby, 195 ; in 


Hamp- 


Bangkok, 


. 716 


Antilles, Lesser, . . 858 


Arpad, . 


. 631 


shire, 


. 203 


Bangor, 


216, 828 


Antioeh, . . 627, 630 


Arpino, 


466 


Avonheg, the, 


270 


Banjarmassin, 


. 895 


Antioiuia, . . .862 


Arracan, 


. 719 


Avonmore, the. 


. 270 


Banks's Island, 


832 


Antiparos, ... 607 


Arran, isles of, 243, 276, 278 


Avranches, 


306 


Bann, the. 


. 273 


Antipodes Island, . 829 


Fowddy, 


. 219 


Awaj River, . 


. 632 


Bannockburn, . 


244 


Antisana, . . 796, 876 


Arras, . 


305 


Axe, the, . 


209 


Bantry, . 


. 282 


Anton River, . . 203 


Arrenig, - , 


. 219 


Axum, . 


. 777 


Bay, 


282 


Antrim 274 


Arsinoef , 


773 


Ayacucho, . 


880 


Banyan-tree, 


. 582 


Antwerp, . . 328, 330 


Artois, . 


. 305 


Aylesbury, 


. 198 


Barada, 627; river, 


632 


Apamea, . . .623 


Arun, the, . 


202 


Ayr, . 


242 


Baramula, , 


. 704 


Apennines, , 133, 461 


Arundel Castle, 


. 202 


Ayrshire, 


. 242 


Barbadoes, . 


859 


Apenrade, . . .621 


Arve, the, . 


324 


Ayu or River Cow 


784 


Barbary tribes, 


. 759 


Apes, hill of, . . 761 


Arzobispo Islands 


. 898 


Azerhijan province, . 659 


Barce, . 


765 


Appalachian Mountaius — 


Ascension Island, 


755 


Azof, sea of, . 


. 128, 643 


Barcelona, 


. 436 


797, 824 


Ashantee, kingdo 


nof, . 780 


Azores, the, , 


. 127, 448 


Bardon Hill, 


183 


Appenzell, ... 420 


Ashbourne, 


181 


Azov, sea and town of, " 562 


Bardonneche, tunnel 


of, 457 


Appian Way, . . .466 


Asbby de la Zoucl 


, . 183 






Bards-ey, 


. 216 


Apple Range, . . 595 


Moor, 


628 


Baalbec, . 


4, 625, 632 


Bareilly, . 


6S6 


Appleby, . . .171 


Ashley River, 


. 835 


Bah-el-Mandeb, 


. 640 


Barfleur, 


. 307 


Appomatox, the, . 835 


Asia, . 


671, 5S6 


Babylonian nlains, 7 ; 


Bari, . 


4C6 


Apuliau Plain, , , 466 


Asia Minor, 478, 


j76, 604, 606 


Babylonia, ' . 


622 


Barletta, 


. 466 


Apure, the, . . 864 


Asiatic Russia, . 


637 


Back's overland journey, 85 


Barmen, 


382 


AqiicE FlnmWf . . 448 


Turkey, 


. 603, 604 


Backstairs Passag 


I, . 919 


Barmouth, 


. 219 


Aqilie Sextce, . . 322 


Aspinwall, . 


863 


Bacti-ian camel. 


. 14 


Barnaul , . 


690-692 


Aquila, . . . .466 


Assam, , 


. 718 


Badajoz, . 


430, 446 


Barnard Castle, 


. 170 


Arabia, . . 638, 642 


Assaye, 


691 


Baden, 362, 367 ; 


town. 


Barnsley, . 


178 


Arabia Deserta, 642 ; 


Assiniboine, . 


. 822 


389; tbeLimmat. ." 419 


Barnstable, 


. 210 


Felix, ib. ; Petra, ib., 644 


Assinie River, 


780 


Baden-Baden, . 


367 


Baroche, 


697 


Arabian Alps, . . 644 


Assouan, 


. 774 


Badenocb, . 


. 251 


Baroda Railway, . 


. 698 


coast, . . 653 


Assuay, 


870 


Baffin's Bay, . 


62, 669, 808 


Barquisemeto, . 


866 


Gulf, . 575, 639 


Asti, 
Astrabad, . 


. 458 
657, 663 


voyages, . 51 

Bagdad, . . 614, 020, 621 


Barrackpore, . 


. 683 




Barraconda, . 


779 


Aradus, the, . . .631 


Astrachan, . 


. 126 


Bagenalstown, . 


272 


Barrens of Illinois, 


. 840 


Arafat, day of, . . 651 


Astorga, 


429 


Baghistan, 


. 658 


Barrington Island, 


877 


Aragon, .... 430 


Astoria, . 


. 843 


Bagirmi, . 


783 


Barrow, the. 


271, 272 


Aral Sea, 5S0; lake, . 592 


Astrakhan, , 


666 


Bagneres-en-Bigorre, . 317 


Barrow of Hecuba, 


. 484 


Aranguez, . . .423 


Asturian Mounta 


ns — 


Bagshot Sands, . 


204 


Bartin River, 


605 


Ararat, . . 676, 601 




129, 429, 439 


Bahamas, . 


. 32, 857 


Barwon, the, . 


. 917 


Aras, river and valley — 


Asuncion, 


. 873 


Bahari, 


769 


Barygaza, . 


697 


699, 602, 659 


Atacama, desert c 


f, 882, 833 


Bahawalporc, 


. 693 


Basaltic Islands, . 


. 248 


Arancanian Indians, . 883 


Ataraipu, or Devi 


'sEock, 866 


Bahia, . 


870-871 


Bashan, 


635 


Arauco, .... 883 


Athara, the, 


747, 775 


Bahrein Isles, group of, 653 


Basbee Islands, 


. 897 


Araure, ... 865 


Athabasca Lake a 


nd river— 


Bahr-el-Kolzoun, 


643 


Bashkirs, . 


690 


AravuUi Hills, . . 693 




801, 822 


Bahr-el-Tour, Sinai, . 642 


Basin of the Shannon 


. 280 


Araxes Kiva; . 679, 699 


Atbelney, 


. 208 


Baia, . 


466 


Basque population, 


431 


Ariela battle- field, . 618 


Athens, 


504, 505 


Baikal Lake, . 


. 581 


Basques, 


. 317 


Arbroath, . . . 245 


Athlone, 


. 272 


Baily of Howth, 


269 


Basra, 


623 


Arcadia, . . .605 


Athy, . 


272 


Baireuth, 


. 366 


Bass Rock, 


. 239 


Arch of Khusru, . 622 


Atitlan Lake, 


. 853 


Bakchiserai, 


566 


Bassano, 


476 


Archangel, . 639, 655 


Atlantic Ocean 


22 ; 


Bakhtigan Lake, 


. 661 


Basse Cochin-China, 


. 717 


-Ircot 699 


rivers, 799 ; 


plains. 


Bakir, the, . 


605 


Pyrenees, 


317 


Arctic Circle, 653 ; Ocean— 


824; cities. 


833 


Bakony forests. 


. 401 


— Terre, . 


. S69 


574, 594 


Atlas Mountains, 


. 746 


Baku, 


600 


Bassorah, . 


623 


Arctic expeditions, . 80, 81 


Atra, . 


618 


Baku fire-fields. 


. 659 


Bass's Strait, . 


902, 922 


Islands, . . 822 


Atrato River, 


. 863 


Bala Lake, . 


219 


Bastia, 


325 


Arden Forest, . . 194 


Attic Peninsula, 


605 


Balaclava, 


. 664 


Bastides, 


. 320 


Ardennes Forest, . S2S, 334 


Attica, . 


. 504 


Balbriggan, 


269 


Basuto Kaffirs, . 


792 


Ardes Bay, . . 276 


Attoek, 


067, 690 


Balearic Islands, 


. 439 


Batavia, . 


64, 894 


Ardnamnrchau Point, . 144 


Auch, . 


. 317 


Balfurish, . 


657 


Bath, . 


208 


Ardrossan, . . . 242 


x\uckland Islands, 


829 


Bali Island, . 


. 894 


Bath stone. 


. 197 


Ardvreck Castle . . 254 




nd dis- 
. 927 


Balize, ... 855 
Balkans, the, 129, 483, 496 


Bathgate, . 

Baths of Diocletian, 4 


239 
73; 


Arequipa, . . . 880 


trict, . 


Arethusa, fountain of, 608 


Augtoim, the, 27( 


; town 


Balkash, 


. . 734 


of Pharaoh, 


643 


Arezzo, . . . .403 


of, . . 


. 279 


Balkh, 


671 


Bathurst, . 779, 


905, 914 


Argtms, Mount, . 604 


Augsberg, . 


365 


Ballarat, 


. • .918 


Batman's Colonv, 


917 


Argentine Confederation, 873 


Augusta, 


, 828 


Ballater, . 


250 


Baton Rouge, " . 


. 837 


Argentine Republic, . 835 


Aulne, the. 


309 


Ballena, . 


. 278 


Batougul Mountain, 


590 


Arghana mines, . . 615 


Aunis, . 


. 310 


Ballinasloe, 


279 


Batour, . 


. 894 


Argisb, the, . . .493 


Aurochs of Blalov 


ieza, 657 


Ballston, 


. 831 


Battas, the, 


894 


Argolis, ... 605 


Aurora horealis, . 


932 


Ballycastle, 


274 


Bavaria, . 


. 362 


Argos, . . . .606 


Aurungahad, 


. 691 


Ballymena, . 


. 274 


Bavia, . 


765 


Arguri, village of, . 601 


Austerlitz, 


391 


Ballyshannon, . 


276 


Bayazid, . 


. 616 


Argyleshire, . . .247 


Austin, . 


. 837 


Balm of Gilead, 


. 772 


Bayeux, 


S06 


Arianzon, . . . 433 


Austral Islands, . 


929, 930 


Balsam-trees, 


683 


Bayonne, 


. 318 


Arifige Mountains, . 318 


Australasia, 901, 


09, 916, 918 


Baltic provinces of Russia, 646 


Beachy Head, 


163, 202 


Arimaspes, . . 590 


Australia, 


62, 115-118 


Sea, . 127, 511, 516 


Beacon Hill, Victoria, 


820 


Ariminum, . . . 460 


Australian lands. 


576 


Baltimore, 


833 


Beacons of Brecon, 


. 233 


Arizona, . . 844 


Austria Proper, 


. 386 


Bambarra Country 


. 784 


Beaconsfield. 


193 


Arkansas River and state— 


Austrian Croatia, 


403 


Bamberg, . 


366 


Bearn, . 


. 317 


799, 839 


Empire, 


&c. — 


Bamian, 


. 669 


Beas River, , 


689 


Arklow, . . . 270 




384-3SG, 406 


Banat, the, . 


402 


Beaueaire, 


. 320 


Aries, .... .<122 


Austrian Italy, . 


474 


Banbury, 


. 197 


Beauly River, . 


233, 261 


Arlon, . . . .334 


Autun, . 


. 314 


Banca Islands, . 


894 


Beaumaris, , 


. 214 


Armagh, . . . 273 


Auvetgne, . 


312 


Banda Isles, . 


. 895 


Beauvais, . 


303 


Armenia, . . .613 


Auxerre, the. 


. 314 


Oriental, . 


873 


Bechuanas, . 


. 792 


Armenian highlands— 


Ava, . 


716 


Eandon, the, . 


. 282 


Becket's Spring, . 


195 


7, 576, 698, 614 


Aventine Mount, 


. 471 


Banff, . 


250 


Bedford, . 


96, 197 


Arnauts, ... 490 


Avignon, 


322 


Banfflhire, . 


. 280 


Bedfordshire, . 


196 



935 



2i5, 246 



Bedouins, 
BcersUeba, . 
Bchar district, 
Bebistun, . 
Belivioff, . 
Behiing's Strait, 
Beilan Pass, . 
Beira, . 
Beja, the, 
Belad-el-Jerid, . 

es-Sudan, 

Belasa prairies, . 
Belem, . 
Belfast, 

tough, 

Belgica, fort, 
Belgium, 327, 328, ; 
Belgrade, . . ' 
Belize, . 
Bell Rock, 
Belle l3le, . 
Belled-el-Haram. 
Belleville, . 
Belliuzona, 
Beloi-govod, 
Beloochistan, G65 ; Eel- 

ooches, 
Belper, . 
Belud-el-Jerid 
Bemjerton, 
Ben Attoff, . 

- Avon, 
■ Bury, . 

— Gorm, 

— Lawers, 

— Lomond, . . 229 
• , Tasmania, 923 

— Macdhui, . 230, 250 
— i More, . . .246 

— Nevis, . . 229, 251 

— Sheeunta, . . 243 

— "Wvvis, . 230, 253 
Ben-an-Air, . . .248 

Chaolois. . 248 

Benares, . . .685 

Benbulben, ... 277 
Bencoolen, . - . 894 
Bend-a-Mer, . . 654 
Bengal Bay, . . .574 

— Presidency, , 681 
Benguela, . . 448,781 
Beni Hassan, tombs of, 773 
Bonicia, . . .843 
Benin, .... 781 
Benisuef, . . .773 
Berar district, . . 691 
Berber tribes, . 759, 761 
Berbice, river and country, 865 
Berenice^ . . . 765 
Beresosal, . . . 545 
Berezina, the, . . 559 
Berezov, . . . 592 
Bergama, . . . 607 
Bergen-op-Zoom— 

337, 345, 526, 535 
Bergenstift, , . 537 

Berkshire, . . .204 
Berlin, ... 375 
Bermudas, 
Bernardin, . 
Bornburg, 
Berne, 

Bernese Alps, 
Berry, 

Berwick-on-Tweed, 
Berwickshire, 
Berwyn, 
Berytus, 
Besancon, 
Bessarabia, . 
Betel-Nut Island, 
Bethania, . 
Bethlehem, . 
Bethphage, 
Bethsaida, 
Beveren, 
Beverley, 
Beypore, 
Bey rout, 
Beziers, 



Bharao, . 
Bheil tribes, 
Bhore Ghauts, 
Bhooj, 
Bhopal, , 
Bhotan, 

Bhurtpur, . . 
liialowieza Forest, 
Biarritz, 
Bible lands, 
Bidassoa, the, 2, 

Bielefield, . 
Bielukha Mount, . 
Bienne Lake, 
Big Bill Beak, 
— Black River, 
Bight of Benia, 
. — — Biafra, . 
Bijapur, 
Bikanir, 
Bilbao, . 
Billing's voyages. 
Binary rivers of Asia, 
Bindloes Island, 



877 
359 
Biorn, ' the Icelander's 

voyage, ... 21 
Bir Castle, ... 621 
Birds of Europe, . . 136 
Birkenhead, . . 185 
Birmingham, . . 195 

Birr Castle, . . 272 

Birtha, . . - 621 

BirsNimnid, . . 622 
Biscay, .... 431 
Bisitun, . . . 658 
Bison, the, . . .802 
Bithynia, ... 606 
Bithynia, . . .485 
Bitlis, romantic site of, 617 
Bituminous coal-fields, . 826 
Bivar, castle of, . 433 

Black Agues, Countess of 

March, . . .239 
Black country, the, . 182 
~ Forest, . 367, 382 
.— Isle, . . .251 
~ Mountains, . 223 

— Sea, 12S, 478, 483, 541 

— Warrior Biver, 836 

— winds of Kurdistan, 615 
Blackburn, ... 174 
Blacklow Hill, . . 194 
Blackvrater, 192, 271, 273, 282 
River, . . 595 

241 



Bladenoch, the. 
Blagodat Hill, . . 593 

Blagovesbenak, - 592, 596 
Blakiston's, journey, . 723 
Blanche Barkly nugget, 918 
Blanchetagneford, . 305 
Blasquet Isles, . . 283 
Bleiberg, ... 394 
Blenheim, village of, . 366 
Blewfields, . . a55 

Blisworth tunnel, . . 195 
Blois, ... 312 

Blomfontein, . . .792 
Bloody Foreland, . 275 
Blount's Springs, . . 836 
Blue Mountains, IIC ; of 

tbe Neilgherries, . 701 
Blue Mountains, Jamaica, 858 
_ ^ South 

Australia, . 903, 912 
Blue Nile, . . 747, 775 



Ridge, AUe 
Bluestack, 
Boa Vista, . 
~ ' ■ -tree, . 



[lutE 



275 
871 

Bocca Tigris, . . 728 

Bocco do Infyrno, . . 872 

BodeenPeak, . . 6G5 

Bodleian Library, Oxford, 197 

Bodmin, , , . 210 

Boeotiay . . , . 504 

Bog of Allen, . . 272 

River, . . . 558 

Bognor, . . , 202 

Bogota, . . . .863 



102, 873 
394, 395 



Bohemia, . 
Bbhmerwald, the, . 
Bois-le-Duc, 
Bokhara, , ' . 

, Little, . 

Bolan Pass, . 
Bolar-tagh, 
Bolivar, . 
Bolivia, 

Bolivian Andes, 
Bologna, 
Bolton, . 
Bombay, 

- presidency, 
Bomersund, 
Bommelerwaard, . 
Bona, , 

Bonacca, . . 

Bo'ness, 
Bonin Islands, 
Bonn, . 

Bonningtou Linn, . 
Bo7iojiiaf 

Bonpland, his fate. 
Bora wind, the, 
Bordeaux, . 
Bore of the Ganges, 
Borgu, 
Borizoif, 

Borneo, . 38,57& 
Bornholm, 
B(5rnu, 

Boroughbridge, 
BorystheneSt the, 
Boscobei House, 
Bosniacs, 
Bosnia, 491; Serai, . 492 
Bosporus, . . 483, 608 
Boston, England, . . 189 

, U.S., . . 829 

Botala, mount, . . 735 
Botallack copper-mines, 210 
Bothnian Gulf, , 524, 550 
Bothwell Brig, . . 243 
Bottoms of Illinois, . 840 
Botzen, . . . .392 
Bougainville's voyage, 75 
Bouillon, . . ,334 
Boulogne,' . 
Bourbon Islands, 
Bourbonnais, , 
Bourg, 



178, 206 



312 
Bournemouth, . . 204 
Bowley Bay, 
Bowness, . 
Boxhill, 
Boyaca, . 
Boyle, 

Boyne Water, 
Bracara augusta^ 
Bradford, 
Bradgate Park, ■ 
Braeriach, 
Braga, 
Braganza, 
Brahestadt, 
Brahmanism, . . 585 

Brahmaputra, 676; river, 579 
BvaUooes, . . .666 
Brandenburg, . 375, 378 
Branksome Tower, . 240 
Brasd'Or, . . 
Bravo Island, 
Bray, . 
Brazil, . 
Brazil-nuts, 

Brazilian Mountains, 
Brazos, tbe, . 
Breadfruit-tree, . 
Brecknockshire, , 
Brecon, 



Breda, 
Bremen, 
Bremer, the, . 
Bremerhaven, 
Brenner Pass, 
Brenta, the, . 
Brentford, . 



868-870 



Brcslau, . . . . ^ 

Brest, . . . ; 
Brethren of the Cross and 

Sword, . . . i 

Bretigny, . . . l 

Brian^on, • . . ^ 

Bridge of Allan, . . J 

Bridgenortb, . . 3 

Bridgetown, . . . i 

Bridgewater, . , I 

Bridlington, . . .3 

Bridport, . . . 1 

Brieg, ... i 

Brielle, . . . ; 

Brienz Lake, . . . ^ 

Brighton, . , , S 

, Victoria, . J 

Brisbane, ... J 

Bristol, . . . 187, 1 

Channel, 208, i 

Britannia tubular bridge, S 

British America, . i 

Burmah, . . ^ 

Colombia, . i 

. — ethnology, . . 3 

European posses- 
sions, . , , £ 
British Guiana, . 859, £ 
Islands, . . 1 



minerals, . 

vegetation, 

zoology, 148, 152, 

Brittany, 

Brixen, 

Broadlaw, . . 229, 

Brocken, mountain, , 

Broeck, village of, . 

Broraberg, . 

Bromok, volcano, . 

Bromsgrove, 

Bronte, .... 

Brooklyn, . 

Broom Loch, . 

Broomielaw, 

Brora, . . . . : 

Brown Willy Mountain, 



Brunswick, city of, . i 

, duchy of, 353, ; 

Luneberg, . ; 

Wolfenbuttel, : 



Brusa, 

Brussels, . 

Bucephalia, 

Buchan Ness, 

Buckeburg, . 

Buckinghamshire, 197, 

Buda-Pesth, 

Buddhism, 585, 596, 733, 

Budrun, 

Buenos Ayres, , 58, 88, 

Buffalo, 531, 790; river, 

Bug River, . 

Builth, 

Bukharest, 

Bokowina, the, . 396, 

Bulgaria, . . 492, 

Bullars of Buchan, . 

Bunarbashi, the, . . 

Bund-a-Mer, 

Bunderan, 

Bundi, 

Bunker's Hill, 

Burdwan coal, . 

Bu-Regreb, the, . 

Bureya River, . 

Burford quarries, . 

Burgh Head, 

Burgholm, 

Biirglen, 



228, 249 



Burgundy, . . . 313 
Buriats, the, . . ,596 
Burke and Wills'a journey, 120 



936 




INDEX. 








PAGE 




rAGE 




PAOR 




PAGE 


Bmlington, 


828 


Campsie Hills, . 


244 


Carlingford, . 


274 


Cavendish's voyages, . 


69 


Burmese Empire, , 715 


719 


Campm Martins, . 


. 471 


Lough, . 


2/1 


Cawdor Castle, . 


251 


Burnliain Thorpe, 


191 


Canada, . 812, S13 


815, 816 


Carlisle, 


171 


Cawnpore, . . 686, 637 | 


Burning busb, 


645 


Canarlian Lakes, 


800 


■ Cay, . 


869 


Caxamarca, valley of. 


880 


Burntisland, 


23-3 


Canal du Midi, 


. 319 


Carlow, 


272 


Cayambe, • 


876 


Burra-Burra mines. 


921 


Centre, 


314 


Carlsbad, . 


390 


Cayenne, . 


867 


Burton, captai?i, , 


113 


Canals in England, 


. 224 


Carlscrona, . . 52J 


, 532 


Ceara, province of. 


870 


on-Tre])t, . . 


182 


Canara Territory, 


693; 


Carlsruhe, 


367 


Cedars of Lebanon, . 


625 


Bury St Edmunds, 


192 


North, 698 ; South 


. 700 


Carlstadt, 


404 


Celebes, . 676,893 


, 895 


Busaco 


447 


Canary Islands, . 


439, 754 


Carmel Mount, . 


626 


Celestial Mountains— 




Bushire, . . 657 


662 


Candia, . . 127 


, 496, 497 


Carnae Alp5, . 


130 


577, 5SS, 594, 734 I 


Bussa, .... 


784 


Canea, 


497 


Carnatic, the, . 


693 


Central Africa, 110, 111 


,732 


Bute 


243 


Cann River, . 


. 192 


Carnedd Dafydd, . 


216 


America, . 


852 


Button's discoveries, . 


51 


Cannanore, 


700 


Llewellyn, . 


216 


Armenia, 


614 


Buxton, 


181 


Cannes, 


. 325 


Carnic Alps, . 


394 


Asia, . . 101 


,104 


Buyul!dere, bay of, 


4S3 


Cannibal Islands, 


899 


Carniola, . 


394 


Australia, 


117 


Byron's voyages, 


74 


Cantabrian Pyrenees 


432 


Carnfiore Point, 


270 


Europe, . 


293 


Byzacium, 


760 


Canterbury, 


200 


Carolinas, the, . . 05 


, 836 


German States, 


356 


Byzantium, 


485 


Cantire, . 


. 247 


Caroline Archipelago, . 


898 


Indian Railwjiy, 


697 






Canton, 728 ; river, 


729 


Carora, 


865 


■ Mount Stuart, 


120 


Cabbage palm, 


906 


Canute's song. 


. 190 


Carpathian Mountains- 




Pyrenees, 


317 


Cabul, . . 665-668 


Canvey Island, . 


192 


129, 139, 387, 396, 397 


493 


Cephalonia, 


508 


Cacher, .... 


719 


CapeAgulhas, 


715, 786 


Carpentaria, its soil, , 


120 


Cerasus, 


610 


Cader Berwyn, . 


219 


Baba, . 


675 


Carpet weaving, . 


194 


Cerigo, . . 608 


,509 


• Idris, . . 161 


219 


Blanco, . 


. 746 


Carpini's journey to the 




Ceriog 


217 


Cadiz, .... 


438 


Bon, . 


745 


steppes. 


23 


Cerro de Santiestevan, 


878 


Ceecuban Plain, 


466 


Breton, . 


. 817 


Carn-tual, . 


263 


Cette 


319 


Coslian Hill, 


471 


Clear, 


282 


Carrara, 


460 


Cettigne, 


491 


Caen 


306 


. Coast Castle, . 


. 780 


Carrhm, . 


621 


Ceuta, . . 439 


762 


Caerleon [Isca Silunim), 


187 


Cod, . 


829 


Carribou gold-fields, . 


821 


Cevennes Mountains, . 


313 


Caermarthenshire, 


221 


Colonna, 


. 505 


Carrici£-on-Shannon, . 


277 


Ceylon, . 575,707-710 I 


Caernarvonshire, . 215 


216 


Colony, 


787-790 


Suir, . 


281 


Chadda, the, . . 781 


783 


Caerwent ( Vetita Silunim 


,187 


Coraorin, 


. 698 


Carrickfcrgus, . 


274 


Chagos group, . 


757 


Ctesnrea, . . 611 


633 


Diamond, . 


815 


Carron Ironworks, 


204 


Chagres River, 


863 


Caffa, island of. 


663 


Farewell, 


21, 808 


Carsc of Gowrie, . 234 


246 


Chalcis, . 


507 


Cagliari, 


470 


Finisterre, 129 


310, 434 


Cartago, . 


863 


Chalfont St Giles, . 


19S 


Cahir, 


281 


Forward, 


. 793 


Carthage, 


758 


Chalk-ranges of Hamp 




Cahirciveen, . 


283 


Gaspe, 


812 


Carthagena, . 437 


863 


shire and Wilts, 


163 


Cahors, 


316 


Gracios a Dios, 


. 853 


Carthaginian navigators. 


11 


Chalons, 304; sur Saone, 


314 


Caicus, the, . 


605 


Guardafui, . 


745, 784 


Carthaginian Settlers, 


468 


Cholus, . . 


312 


Cairn^orni . 230 


250 


Hatteras, 

Honduras, . 


. 860 
863 




760 
855 


Chamberry, . 
Chambley, . 


324 
815 


Cairntoul, 


230 


Carthago, . . 764 


Cairo, or Al-Kahira, . 


771 


Horn, 62,885,888,889,903 


Cartier ascends the St 




Chamouni, . 


130 


—-—pilgrimage, . 


649 


Howe, . 


. 911 


Lawrence, . 


38 


Champagne. 


303 


Caithness, . 


255 


La Hague, . 


2S6 


Cascade range, . 


825 


Charaplain Lake, 64, 812 


828 


Cajeta, ... 


466 


Mala, . 


. 606 


Cashel 


281 


Chanarcillo mines. 


884 


Calabozo, , 


865 


Matapan, . 


505 


Cashgar, . 


734 


Chandcrnngore, 


707 


Calais 


305 


May, . 


. 833 


Cashmere, . 594, 703 


704 


Chang-mai, . . . 


717 


Calcutta, 


682 


Negro, 


781 


Cashmere goats, . 


679 


Channel Islands, 


285 


Caldero, . . .882 


884 


Nun, . 


. 760 


Casine of Florence, . 


462 


Charente, the. 


310 


Caldv Island, . 


221 


of Good Hope, 


. 30, 787 


Caspian Gates, 


677 


Charleroi, . 


332 


Caledon, the, . 


792 


Ortegal, 


. 434 


highlands, . 


57S 


Charles Island, 


877 


Caledonia Bay, . 


863 


■ Palmas, 


755, 780 


Sea- 




Charleston, . 65, 835 


859 


Caledonian Canal, 229, 233 


^52 


Passaro, 


. 469 


2, 540, 666, 680, 592, 698 


670 


Charlotte Town, 


818 


Calicut 


700 


Pillar, . . 


923 


Cassanga, . 


781 


Charnwood Forest, 


183 


California, . . S41 


842 


Prince of Wale 


, ■ 810 


Cassel, .... 


358 


Charran, . 


621 


Californian gold regions, 


825 


Race, . 


819 


Cassiquiari Canal, . 


864 


Chartres, 


312 


Alps, 734 




Romania, 


. 575 


Cassiterides, or tin island 


, 


Charybdis, . 


468 


vegetation, 843 ; Gulf, 


S46 


St Augustin, 


870 


of Herodotus, . 


12 


Chateauroux, 


312 


Callan, 


273 


Boqae, 


. 35 


Castalian spring, . 


505 


Chatellerault, 


310 


Callanish stones, . 


254 


Vincent, 


446 


Castellamare, . 


466 


Chatham, 


201 


Callao, port of, . 
CaUipoUs, 
Calvarya, . 


879 


Sable 


. 823 

868 

. 575 


Castellon, 
Castle Connell, . 
Douglas, . 


437 
281 
241 




877 
929 
812 


487 


Samana, 

Severo, . 


T 1 ^' 


397 


ChaudiJre, the, . 


Cam, the. 


139 


Spartel, 


762 


of St Angelo, . 


472 


Chaussey Archipelago, 


2S7 


Camaroons, 


747 


■ Tarifa, . , . 


. 289 


Castlebar, 


278 


Chaves 


448 


Cambay, 


697 


— - Town, 


787, 790 


Castlemaine, 


919 


CheeTor, . 


181 


, gulf of, 


693 


Trafalgar, . 


438, 762 


Castles of Europe and 




Cheesewring, 


210 


Cambodia, 713, 717; river 


679 


Verd Islands, 


448 


Asia, 


483 


Chelmer, f . . 


192 




305 


Verde, . 745, 


755, 778 


Castletown, . 


224 


Chelmsford, . 


192 


Cambrian Blountains, 


161 


Viscardo orGuiscarda,60S 


Castries, . 


859 


Cheltenham, 


188 


Cambridge, U. S., . 


830 


AVrath, . 


144, 254 


Castro Giovanni, . 


469 


[Chemnitz, 


358 


, England, 


189 


Capellante, 


223 


Castrovireyna, . 


878 


Uhenab River, . 


689 


Observatory, 


189 


Capernaum, . 


. 627 


Cat Island, . 


867 


Uhennapatanam, . 


693 


University, . 


189 


Capo d'Istria, . 


396 


Catacombs of Paris, . 


302 


Chepstow, . 


187 


Cambridgeshire nightin- 
gales 




Cappadocia, . 
Capri, isle of. 


606 611 




473 
435 


Cher, the, 
[Cherbourg, 


311 

306 


196 


. ' 466 


Catalonia, . 


Canibuniau Mountains, 


489 


Capua, . 


. 465 


Catania, . . 467, 


468 


IJherson, 


562 


Camden, . . 912 


914 


Carabobo, . 


865 


Cataracts of the Nile, 


774 


Cherwell. . 


197 


Camel, the, . 


3 


Caracas, 


. 865 


Catskill highlands. 


824 


Chesapeake Bay, . 


832 


Camelodunum, . 


192 


Caradoc Hills, . 


161 


Cattaro, . . 405 


491 


Cheshire, . 


184 


Camel's thorn, 


3 


Caravan travelling, 


3 


Cattegat, . . 511 


532 


Cheshunt, 


199 


Camels of Siberia, 


691 


Caravanserai, , 


415 


Cauca, the, . 


862 


Chesil Bank, 


207 


Cammogue, the, . 


280 


Carcassonne, 


. 319 


Caucasian Gates, 577 ; 




Chester, 


185 


Camp of the Golden 




Cardiff, 


222 


military road. 


GOO 


Chesterfield, 


180 


Horde, 


23 


Cardigan Bay, 


. 215 


Caucasus, 639, 666, 577 


593 


Cheviot Hills, 


240 


Campagna, the, , 


472 


Cardiganshire, . 


220 


Cauldron Linn, . 


244 


Chicacole, . 


700 


Campbeltown, 


248 


.Caria, . 


. 606 


Cavalla, 


487 


Chicago, . . . 


840 


Camphor-tree, , 


738 


Caribbean Sea, 801, 


852, 862 


Cavan, 


276 


[Chichester, . 


202 


Campine, . . 330 


331 


Cai-inthia, . 


. 394 


Cave of Trophonius, 


505 


Chlemsee, the, 


562 



, 




INDEX. 


937 




PACK 




PAOEI 


PAGE 


FAQB 


Chili, 881; Andes of, 


832 


Cochabamba, . 


831 


Corra Linn, 


. 231 


Daghestan, . . 566 


Chilian Andes, . 79 


,833 


Cochin, kingdom of, . 


702 


Corsica, . 


. 325 


Dahomey, kingdom of, . 780 


Chillia Lalte, . CS 


, 093 


China, . 325, 717 


Cortes discovers Mexico, 


Dahrel-Khotib Peak, . 624 


Ciiillon, castle oT, . 


410 


Cockermouth, , 


171 


&c., . 


. 38 


Dakota, . . .844 


Chiloc, . . 883 


, 834 


Cocoa-nut palm, . 


898 


Cortctz Island, . 


557 


Dalai-Lama, . . 735 


Chiltem nills, 102, 19J 


, 198 


Coepang, . 


894 


Corunna, 


. 434 


Dalecarlia, . . . 628 


Clumborazo, , 


876 


Coffee-plant, . 


682 


Corvo, island of. 


448 


Dalkeith, ... 239 


Cliina, . 4, 720, 722, 724 


Cognac, 


311 


Cos, 


. 606 


Dall, the, . . .628 


Proper, . . 72 


1-725 


Coimbatoor, . . 700 


, 701 


Cossacks of the Black Sea, 642 


Dalmatia, . . 404, 405 


Sca.1, . 574,71 


, 722 


Coimbra, , 


447 


Ukri 


ine, 557 


Dalmatian Archipelago, 405 


Chincha Islands, . 


880 


Coire, .... 


421 


Cossya district, , 


719 


Damascus, 487, 624, 627, 649 


Ctiinchon, 423; Cliinchona- 


Cojnteppque, 


854 


Costa Rica, . 


853, 855 


Damaum, , . . 448 


trues, .... 


878 


Col de Balme, 


324 


Cote d'Or, . 


313 


Damietta, . . .769 


Chinese dependencies. 


732 


Geant, . 


130 


Cotentin, the. 


. 306 


Dampier's voyage, &c., 64 


frontier. 


693 


Perthns, 


435 


Cotopaxi, . 


796, 876 


Dane-mark, . . . 511 


- — — intercourse with 


Colchagua, . 


833 


Cotswold Hills, 


187, 188 


Danewirke, the, . S14 


Kassin, . 


734 


Colchester, 


192 


CottianAlps, 129, 32 


, 324, 457 


Uangan, . . .271 


Chinese plnin. 


676 


Colchis, 


599 


Cotton culture, 


. 826 


Danger Island, . . 929 


race, . 729 


,731 


Coldstream, , 


239 


Cotywum, . 


607 


Daniel's Tomb, . . 661 


'J'artary, 


S94 


Coleraine, . 


275 


Coup(;e Rock, 


. 287 


Danish America, . 806 


'I'urkestan, 


734 


Colima, volcano, . 


847 


Courland, duchy of, 


547 


Archipelago, . 512 


Wall, . 


723 


Coll 


248 


Court of Camels, . 


4 


Islands, 515 ; 


Chini. .... 


435 


Colmar, .... 


305 


Courtray, . 


332 


West Indian, . . 513 


Chinon, 


312 


Colne, .... 


192 


Cove of Cork, . 


. 282 


Danish voyagers, . 19 


Cliiogsia, 


476 


Cologne, . . .355 


,381 


Willows, 


212 


Dante and the Southern 


Chipping Norton, 


197 


Colombia, . 


861 


Coventry, 


. 194 


Cross, ... 23 


Cliittagong, . 


719 


on the Potomac 


,826 


Cow-tree of Venezuela, . 802 


Dantzic, 356 ; city, &e., 3:8 


Chofispes, , 


600 


Colomhian Republic, 


876 


Cowes, 


204 


Danube (infant), 366 ; 


Cholmogory, . 


555 


Colombo, . 


709 


Cowper's grave, . 


. 191 


gates of, 387 ; river, 396, 398 


Choo-kiang Kiver, 


723 


Colonia Agrippina, 


381 


Crabbe's birthplace. 


192 


Danubian Principalities, 493 


Chorazin, 


627 


Colonsay, . 


248 


Cracow, 


396, 397 


Dardanelles, . 483, 607 


Christchurch, England, 


i04 


Colorado, . . 799 


844 


Cradle Mountain, 


223 


Darfur Territory, . 784 


, New Zea- 




Colosseum, the. Home, . 


472 


Creetown, 


. 241 


Dargle, . . , .270 


land 


027 


Columbia, . . 799 


835 


Crefeld, 


382 


Dariel Pass, . 577, 600 


Christiana, . . 523 


534 


Columbus, . . .27, 32 


Crescent City, 


. 837 


Darien, gulf of, . . 863 


Christianaiiord, . 


534 


Comayagua, . 


853 


Cressy, 


305 


Darling River, . 903, 912 


Christianhorg palace. 


517 


Cominotto, 


288 


Crete, . 


. 496 


Darlington, . . .170 


Christianshaab, 


809 


Commeragh Mountains, 


281 


Crickhowel, 


223 


Darmstadt, . . 359 


ChristiansB, 


519 


Como, 


459 


Crim Tartarv, 


. 563 


Darol-Jihad, . . .493 


Chuquisaca, . 


881 


Comorn, 


401 


Crimea, .' 541, 


560, 563 


Dart, the, ... 209 


Church Island, . 


277 


Comoro Islands, 


756 


Croatia, . 


403, 491 


Dartmoor, . . 161, 209 


■ Missionary Socie- 




Compass Berg, 


787 


Croeodilopolis, . 


773 


Dartmouth, 210 ; college, 828 


ties' discoveries. 


113 


Compiegne, 


303 


Cromarty, 


228, 253 


Dar-zaleh Territory, . 784 


Cilicia 


606 


Conca d'Oro, . 


468 


Cromer, 


191 


Dashur, , . . 770 


Cilieian Gates, . 


577 


Conoans, the. 


695 


Cromwell's birthplace, . 196 


Date Country, . . 759 


Cimbrian peninsula. 


16 


Concepcion, . . 883 


884 


Cronborg Castle, 


618 


Dauphins, . . 313, 323 


Cimbriva Chersoncsits, 


Bll 


Concord, 


823 


Cronstadt, 


. 549 


Daventry, . . .195 


Cimtnerinn Bosporus, . 


662 


Confederate Stales, 826 


833 


Crothal dye, 


253 


Davis Strait, . . 808 


Cincinnati, . 


838 


Conga district, . 


443 


Croton Aqueduct, . 


. 831 


Davis's discoveries, . 49 


Cinnatnon, 


682 


Congo, . . ,778 


781 


Croydon, . 


201 


Dawlish, ... 210 


Cinqne Ports, . 


202 


Coniston Water, . 


172 


Cruachan, Ben, 


. 247 


Day of Arafat, . .651 


Cinlra 


445 


Connaught, . 


276 


Ctesiphon, , 


62-' 


Dead Sea, 681 ; extent 


Circassia, . 


666 


Connecticut state, 829 ; 




Cuba, . . 32 


439, 857 


and depth, &c., . 624 


Circassians, . 


600 


river. 


835 


Cuchullin Hills, . 


252 


Deal, . . . .201 


Circumnavigators, 


53 


Connemara, . 


278 


Cuen9a, . 


423, 877 


Ueben River, . , 192 


Cit«, la 


302 


Constance, 367 ; lake, 


368 


Culbine, barony of. 


251 


Debreczin, . . .401 


Citeaux, abbey of. 


314 


Constantine, 


763 


Culloden Moor, 


. 252 


Deccan, . . 678, 693 


Citlal-tepell, . 


847 


Constantinople, . 485 


486 


Cuma, . 


466 


Decima Island, . . 743 


Ciudad liolivar, . 


865 


Conway, . . 215, 


216 


Cumaj, . 


. 507 


Decken (Baron von der), 113 


Real, . 


428 


Cook's Island, . 929 


930 


Cumana,865; horsemen of, 401 


Dee (rivers), 217, 241, 249 


Rodrigo, 


427 


voyages, . . 75-78 


Cumberland, 


170, 839 


Deel River, . . .280 


Civita Vecchia, 


473 


Coomassie, 


780 


Cumbrays, 


. 243 


Delagoa Baj', . 745, 784 


Clvitas Anrelia Aqitcnsis 


367 


Cooper's Creek, 120; river 


835 


Cumbre Pass, 


832 


Delaware, the, 799; state 


Clackmannan, 


244 


Coorg Territory, . 


701 


Cumbrian Mountains 


160 


and bay, 832 ; Indians, 833 


Clamshell Cave, . 


248 


CopenhageUi 


517 


Cunard steamers, , 


. 818 


Delft, . . . .344 


Clare County, 


279 


Copiapo, . . S82 


334 


Cundinamarca, . 


8G2 


Delhi, . . 594, 686 


• Island, 


277 


Copper-rainesin .\ustralia 


921 


Cupar, Fife, . 


. 245 


Delly, . . . .894 


Clarence, the, 


912 


Mountains, Cuba, 


857 


Curische-haff, . 


373 


Delos, , . . 507 


Peak and town, 


755 


Coppermine River, 


799 


Curragh of Kildare, 


. 272 


Delphi 605 


Clausthal, 


353 


Coquimbo, . 


883 


Cushendall, 


275 


Delta of the Irawaddy, 719 
Nile, . 769 


Clear Island, 


282 


Coralline formations, . 


856 


Cutch, . 


. 697 


Clermont, . > * 


312 


Corcyra, 

Cordilleras of the coast. 


508 


Gundava, . 


665 




Clevedon, , 


203 


881 


Cushaven, 


. 355 


Dembea, plain of, 776 ; 


Cleveland, 


838 


Cordova, 


887 


Cuzco, great temple of, 878, 830 


lake, . . . ^is 


Cleves, 


382 


-, Spain, . 


438 


Cwm Llewellyn, . 


. 223 


Demerara, . . . SG5 


Clew Bay, . ... 


277 


Corea, .... 


732 


Cyclades, the, . 


606 


Denbigh, ... 217 


Clifton, 


187 


Korean Peninsula, 


722 


Cydnus, the, . 


. 605 


Denbighshire, . , 217 


Clocmacnoise, Seven 




Dorentyn River, 


865 


Cymri, 


511 


Dender, the, . . 328 


Churches of, , 


272 


Corfu, 


503 


Cypresses, . 


. 486 


Denderah, , . , 773 


Clonmel, 


231 


Corinth, gulf of, 505 


506 


Cyprus, 676; island of, 606,611 


Dendermonde, . . 331 


Cloudy Mountains, . 


577 


Cork 


282 


Cyrenmca. . . 


. 765 


Denmark. 511. 512. .tiin mn 


Cloven Cliff, . 


570 


>)rmorant's cave, 


248 


C,jre,ie, . . 


765 Denver Citv. . ' . ' _ ' sii 1 


Clumber, . 


182 


Corn-brandy, . 


636 


Cyrus Eicer, . 


579, 599 


Deptford, . . , 201 


Clwyd Vale, . 


217 


rafts of the Vistula, 


7 


Cythera Isle, 


609 


Deraych, . . .663 
Derbend, 566,699; Pass of, 677 


Clyde, the, . 223 


231 


:;ornouaille, 


309 


Cyzicus, . 


. 436 


Clydesdale, . . 228 


242 


Cornwall, 


210 


Czar Kololtol, 


563 


Derbyshire, . 179' ISO 
Derna, . . . ,765 
Derr, . . . 77G 
Derrynane Abbey, . 283 
Dcrwent, the, Tasmania, 923 


Coalbrookdale, . 


185 


— , Jamaica, , 


853 


Czarskoe-seloe, 


. 519 


Coblenlz, 


S81 


Cornwallis Island, 


822 


Czernowitz, 


397 


Coburg, 300 ; city of, 
Gotha, . 


816 
360 


3oro 

Coromandel Coast, 


865 
677 


Dacca, . . 


. 683 



938 




INDEX. 






TAM! 




PACE 1 


rAon 




PAGE 


revwent Eivcr, England, 


171 


Dragon's-blood tree, . 


757 


Eel-town, 


613 


Erigal Cone, 


275 


Ucsaguadero, the. 


801 


Draha, the, . 


761 


Egedes-minde, . 


809 


Erivan, . 


. 601 


, table-land, 


881 


Drake's, Sir Francis, voy 




Eger, tbe. . 363, SS9 


, 390 


Erlau, . 


. 401 


Desert of Sinai, 


646 


ages, . 


54-57 


Egeri, valley of. 


765 


Erne Lake and Rivei 


. 276 


Dessau, 


3G0 


Draken-berge, . 


791 


Egga 


781 


Ertholms, . 


619 


Detmold-Lippe, 351 


355 


Drance 


421 


Egham, 


202 


Erzerum, 


613, 616 


Deule, the, . 


305 


Drave, the, . 393, 394 


, 398 


Egripo 


507 


Erzgebirge, . 357 


389, 393 


Deutschland, 


349 


Drei Herm Spitz, 


392 


Egypt, 


766 


Escurial, 


. 42T 


Devenish Island, . 


276 


Drenthe, 


346 


Ehrenbreitstein, . 


3S1 


Esdraelon, plain of, 


632, 635 


Deventer, . 


346 


Dresden, 


357 


Ehrenburg palace, 


360 


Esgueva, the. 


. 433 


Deveron, 


250 


Dripping Well, Knares 




Eifel-gebirge, 


361 


Eshovnoi, . 


592 


Devil's Gate, 


844 


borough, 


179 


Eig Island, 


263 


Eskdale, 


. 241 


Glen, . 


270 


Drogheda, 


271 


Einseidlen, . 


418 


Eski-Hissar, 


607 


Peak, Cape Town, 


790 


Droitwich, . 


193 


Eiseleben, . 


377 


Esng, 


. 773 


Rock, Demerara, 


866 


Drontheim, . 


635 


Eisenach, 


359 


Espirito Santo, province, 870 | 


Thvoat Bay, 


191 


Dryburgh Abbey, 


240 


Eisenberg, . 


360 


Esquiline Hill, 


. 471 


Devizes, 


206 


Dryhope Tower, . 


240 


Eisenerz, 


393 


Esquimaux tribes. 


805 


Devon, the, . 


244 


Dublin, . . 268 


, 269 


Ekaterinburg, . 592 


593 


Essen, . 


. 382 


Devonport, 


209 


Dudley, .... 


194 


Ekaterinodar, 


666 


Essequibo River, 


865 


Devonshire, . . 203 


209 


Dufferiu's, Lord, voyage. 


807 


Ekaterinograd, . 


566 


Essex, . 


. 192 


Dewsbury, . 


178 


Dugong oil, . 


915 


Ekaterinoslav, 


.562 


Essling, 


387, 388 


Dhai- 


692 


Dumbarton Castle, 


244 


El Altar, . 


876 


Esthonia, 


. 647 


Dhwalagiri, 


705 


Dumbartonshire, . 


244 


Elba, island of, . 4G1 


463 


Esthonian peasantry. 


546 


Diadem Peak, 


931 


Dumfries, . 


241 


Elbe, the, 353, 389, 511, 613, 614 


Estramadura, 


. 429 


Diana's Peak, 


755 


Dun-.3Lngus, , 


278 


Elberfeld, . 


382 


Estremoz, . 


446 


Diarbekr, 


617 


Mountain, . 


927 


Elburz, . 577, 598, 657 


662 


Etchmiadzin, 


. 602 


Dieppe, 


306 


Dunbar 


239 


Elche palm-forests. 


437 


Etesian winds, . 


17 


Dijon 


314 


Duncansby Head, 


255 


Elderslie, . 


243 


Ethiopia, 


. 775 


Dikokatnanni Kivghises, 


695 


Dundaff Linn, 


231 


El-Dorado, . 


864 


Ethnology of Europe 


138 


Dillon's discovery. 


79 


Dundalk, . 


271 


Eleanor crosses, 


195 


Etna Mount, . 


467, 463 


Dinant, 


332 


Dundee, 245 ; harbour. 


231 


Elephanta, island of, 695 


774 


Eton, . 


198 


Dinaric Alps, 130, 404 


491 


Dundrum Bay, . 


274 


Mettsts, 


505 


Etruria, . 


. 461 


Dinas Bran, . 


21S 


Dunedin, 


927 


Eleuthera, . 


857 


Ettrick Pen, 


240 


Dingle, 


283 


Dunfermlineshire, 241 


, 245 


El fin del Christiandad, 


S84 


Ettrickdale, . 


. 240 


Dingwall. . . 230 


253 


Dungannon, . 


276 


Elgin, .... 


250 


Eubcea, island of. 


606 


Dinish Island, . 


283 


Dungarvon, . 281 


,282 


Elginshire, 


250 


Euphrates River, 


579, 614 


Dioscoridis Insula, 


757 


Dungeness, . 


200 


El Gran Chaco, 


885 


route to India, 623 | 


Disco Island, 


809 


Dunkerry Beacon, 161 


,208 


— Hassa, . 


642 


Eure, the, . 


312 


Dismal Swamp, the. 


835 


Dunkirk, 


305 


— Hejez, . . 612 


648 


Europa Point, 


141, 289 


Diu, 


448 


Dunleary, . 


269 


Elijah Mansur, . 


599 


Europe, 


123-136 


Dividing Eidge, . 


912 


Dunmore Head, . 


a83 
236 


Ells, .... 


505 


European climate. 


134 


Diyaleh Eiver, . 


615 


Dunnet Head, 144, 228 


Elizabeth Castle, 


287 


population 


. 137 


Dizful, 657 ; population. 


661 


Dunoon, 


248 


Eljem amphitheatre. 


764 


Russia, 


639-569 


Dnieper, the, 642, 556 


557 


Dunrobin Castle, . 


255 


El-Kharjeh, 


774 


states, their | 


Dniester, the, . 396 


642 


Dunse, 


239 


Ellesmere Canal, . 


217 


capitals, population 


and 


Do-ab, the, . 


683 


Dunsinane, 


246 


EUichpur, . 


691 


area. 


140 


Dobberan, 


354 


Dunst Hole, 


361 


Ellora, .... 


691 


Euscarra language. 


. 431 


Dodabetta Peak, 


677 


Dunstable, 


197 


Elmina, 


780 


Euximts, 


541 


Dodona temple and grove 


490 


Dunston Pillar, . 


189 


Elms, city of, 


830 


Everglades, . 


. 336 


Doggerbank, 


146 


Durance, the, . . 320 


322 


El-Obeid, . 


776 


Evesham, . 


194 


Dolgelly, 


219 


Durazzo, 


490 


Elphin, .... 


277 


Evora, . 


. 446 


Dollar Law, 240 ; town of 


246 


Durban, .... 


791 


El-Sham, . 


632 


Evreux, 


306 


Dolomite marble. 


670 


Durham, city, . 


169 


Elsinore, . . 516 


518 


Exe, the, 


. 209 


Domberg ofKevel, 


647 


Durrengberg mines. 


391 


Elton Lake, 


581 


Exeter, 


209 


Dominica, 869; Dominican 




DUrrenstein Castle, . 


383 


Elvas, .... 


446 


Exmoor, 


. 209 


republic. 


868 


D'Urville's, Dumont, voy- 




Ely, .... 


189 


Exmouth, . 


210 




304 


age, 86 ; Terre Adfilie, 


87 


Embden, 


353 


Eyafialla Yokul, . 


. 807 


Don, the, . 249, 542 


560 


Dusseldorf, . 


382 


Embrunn, . 


324 


Eyder Eiver, 


612 


Cossacks, . 


662 


Dutch discoveries, . 


46 


Emerita AugusUt, . 


430 


Eyeo, 


. 781 


Donaghadee, . 


274 


Guiana, . 


866 


Emesa, 


632 


Eylau, 


378 


Donaueschingen, 


367 


Dutchman's Cairn, 


212 


Empingham, 


184 


Eynb, . 


. 487 


Doncaster, 


179 


Dwina, 


642 


Empire City, 


831 






Donegal, . . 275-277 


Dyaks, the, . 


395 


Ems, . . .353 


361 


Fair Havens, . 


. 497 


Donetz, valley of, . 


544 


Dyneover Castle, 


222 


Emu, .... 


907 


Isle, . 


256 


Donskoi monastery, . 


654 


DyrracMxmij . 


490 


Endless MountainSf 


824 


Fairfax, . 


. 192 


Doonas Rapids, 


281 






Enfield, 


200 


Fairymount, village. 


271 


Dorchester, 


207 


Eartham, . 


202 


England, . 144,158 


169 


Falaise, . 


. SOS 


Dordogne, 


316 


East Dereham, 


191 


English Bay, Spitzbergen 


570 


Falkirk, . 


24* 


Dordrecht, . 


344 


Indian Archipelago, 


892 


Channel, . 


146 


Falkland Islands, . 


49, 336 


Doreh Harbour, 


899 


Railway, . 


683 


counties. 


165 


Falls of Feigumfoss, 


634 


Doris 


604 


Easter Island, . 


931 


■ harbour, . 


869 


Foyers, . 


. 233 


Dorking, . , .201 


202 


Eaus-Bonnes of Pau, . 


318 


Enna 


469 


Glomak, 


233 


Dornoch Firth, 234, 254 




Chaudes of Pau, 


318 


En-Nasireth, . 


636 


Itarmarity, 


. 871 


town of, . , . 


255 


Ebal Mount, 


636 


Ennis, 


280 


Moness, . 


233 


Dorpat, 


647 


Ebensee, 


389 


Enniscorthy, . 


271 


St Anthony, 


. 840 


Dorsetshire, . 


206 


Ebro, basin of the, 318, 430, 432 


Enniskillen, 


276 


the Potomac, 


832 


Douai, .... 


305 


Ebwy Valley, 


187 


Enns, the, 


393 


Trolhiitta, 


. 627 


lloubs, the, . 


314 


Ecbatana, . 


658 


Eutre Douroe Minho, 


447 


Falmouth, . 


211 


Douce IVIountain, 


270 


Ecuador, 


875 


EnzeU, .... 


657 


Falster, . 


. 615 


Douglas, 


224 


Eddleston Water, 


240 


Eperies, 


399 


Falun, 


532 


Douro, the, . 429 


432 


Eden Eiver, 171 ; valley. 


245 


Epernay, 


304 


FaneuilHall, . 


. 829 


Dovedale, 


181 


Edessa, .... 


621 


Ephesus, 


607 


Farnham, . 


202 


Dover, . . 201 


202 


Edfn 


773 


Epping Forest, 


192 


Faro, 


. 446 


, U. S 


833 


Edge Hills, . 


194 


Epsom Downs, . 


202 


Faroe Islands, 21, 


612, 621 


Dovre-field, 


526 


Edge's Island, . 


669 


Epworth, 


189 


Ears, province of. 


661 


Dowar Eshutt, 


764 


Edgeworthstown, . 


271 


Erbil 


613 


Fayal, island of, 


. 448 


Down County, . 


274 


Edible birds-nests. 


894 


Erekli coal-mines, . 


605 


Fayum district, . 


773 


Downpatrick, 


274 


Edinburgh, . 


233 


Erfurt, 


377 


Fecamp, 


. 306 


Downs, the. 


200 


Edmonson County, Ken- 




Erie and Hudson Canal, 


825 


Fechos do3 Morros, 


369 


Dragon Mountains, 


791 


tucky, . 


339 


Canal, . 


833 


Federal States of America, 823 1 







INDEX. 


939 




PAOH 




PAGE 


PAGE 




PAGE 


Feieumfoss Falls, 


634 


Fossil ivory, 


691, 696 


Garnook, the, . . 242 


Glorietta, the. 


. 436 


Foirnn, . 


. 645 


Foulness Island, . 


192 


Garogue, the, . . 277 


Gloucester city, . 


187 


Fcldberff, tlie, . 


367 


Fountain of the Sun 


. 771 


Garonne, the, 312, 316, 318 


GlUckstadt, . 


. 614 


FcWkirob, 


. 368 


Foyle, the. 


276, 276 


Gascony, . . 316, 317 


Goa, . 


448, 707 


Felou Falls, 


785 


France, . . . 


293, 326 


Gastein Valley, . . 391 


Goat Island, . 


. 816 


Felujah Castle, 


. 614 


Franche ComtC, , 


314 


Gate of Canada, . . 812 


Goatfcll, 


US 


Fen counties, 


162 


Franconia, 


. 363 


Gatehouse, ... 241 


Gobi (naked desert). 


. 733 


Fermanagh, . 


. 276 


Frankfurt-on-the-Oder— 


Gates of Greece, . . 605 


Godavery River, . 


677 


Ferinoy, 


282 




376, 839 


Gateshead, ... 170 


Godhaab, 


. 809 


Fernando Po, 


. 755 


Frankfurt-on-the-Maine, 361 


Gato, . . . .781 


Golconda, . 


691 


Ferney, 


416 


Franklin's last voyage, 92, 95 


Gaul, . . . 325,326 


Gold coast. 


. 780 


Ferozepore, . 


. 690 


Fraser River, 


821 


Gaurisankar Peak, . 705 


discoveries, 903 


908; 


Ferrara, . 


459, 460 


Fraserburgh, . 


. 250 


Gave, the, ... 317 


exports. 


916, 918 


Ferro Island, 


764 


Fraserville River, 


813 


de-Pau, . . 317 


Gold regions of Amei 


lea, 803 


Ferrol, . 


. 434 


Frauenburg, . 


. 379 


Gaya, .... 683 


Golden Gate, 


843 


Fersala, 


489 


Frauenfeld, 


420 


Gaza 636 


Horn, . 


. 485 


Fez, 


. 761 


Fredericia, 


. 622 


Gebel-Tarif, . . 291 


Gblek Bdghaz Pass, 


677, 611 


Fezzan, » 


765 


Fredericksburg, . 


835 


Oedrosia, . . .666 


Golspie, 


255 


Ffestiniog, 


217, 219 


Frederickshall, 


. 634 


Geelong, . . 916, 918 


Gombroon, 


657, 663 


Fiambala, . 


882 


Fredericshaab, , 


809 


Gefle, . . . 626, 532 


Gomera, 


754 


Fichtelgebirge, 


. 363 


Fredericton, . 


. 817 


Gelderland, . . 3J6 


Gomorrah, 628 ; lakes, 635 | 


Fife, . 


245 


FrederikshavE, . 


617 


Gemmi Pass, . . .420 


Gonaives Bay, 


858 


Fiji Islands, . 


. 900 


Freemantle, . 


. 922 


Geneva, canton of, 415, 416 


Gondar, . 


. 777 


Filey Bay, , 


177 


Freetown, . 


780 


Lake, . . 421 


Goodwin Sands, . 


200 


Findhorn, 


250, 261 


Freiburg, . 358 


367, 368 


Gennesaret, lake of, . 627 


Goree, islet of. 


. 779 


Finsal's Cave, . 


248 


Fremont's Basin, . 


. 843 


Genoa, ... 458 


Gori, legend of, . 


600 


Finistcrre, 


309, 434 


Peak, 


825, 844 


Geographical knowledge 


Gorillas, . 


12, 113 


Finland, 533, 532 


550, 661 


French Abyssinian settle- 


of the ancients, . . 10 


Giirz district, 


394 


Finnan, 


246 


ment. 


777 


Geographical knowledge 


Gotha, . 


360, 527 


Finns, 


5)8, 694 


French Flanders, . 


. 305 


of the middle ages, . 19 


Gothenburg, 


532 


Finster-Aar-Horn, 


. 130 


Guiana, 


328, 860 


Geography of the Penta- 


Gottingen, 


. 353 


Fire volcano, 


853 


Fi-ibourg, . 


414, 416 


teuch, .... 2 


Gottland, . 


533 


worshippers, 


597, 694 


Friedland, 


346, 378 


George Town, in Bi'itish 


Gottorp, palace of, 


. 514 


Firth of Clyde, 


. 242 


Friesland, . 


346 


Indo-Chinese posses- 


Gouda, 


344 


Forth, . 


146, 232 


Frisehe-haff, . 


372, 378 


sions, . . 720,765 


Goulburn, the. 


903, 917 


Tay, . 


. 245 


Frisian Islands, . 


514 


George Town, Demerara, 866 


Gouldja, . 


734 


Fiskernaes, . 


809 


Frohisher's voyages, 


46,47 


Georgia, Russia, . 699, 600 


Gowhatti, 


. 718 


Fiume, . 


. 404 


Frome, . 


. 208 


, U. S., . S36, 836 


Goyaz province, . 


870 


Fiamborough Head, 


177 


Fuegian Archipelago 


, 794 


Georgian Islands, . . 930 


Gozo, 


. 288 


Flanders, 


. 305 


Indians, . 


. 889 


Gerizim, mount, 624, 635 


Graaf Reynet, . 


787 


Flavian amphitheatre 


472 


Fuencebadon, pass of, 429 


Germanic Confederation— 


Graben-Horn, 


. 130 


Fleetwood, 


. 175 


Fuentarabia, 


. 432 


368, 512 


Gracioso, island of. 


448 


Flemings in Norfolk, 


191 


Fa-keen, 


727 


Germany, ... 349 


Gradiska district, . 


. 394 


Flensburg, 


. 614 


Fulda River, . 


. 36S 


Gerona, . . .436 


Graham's Town, . 


790 


Fleurus, 


. 332 


Funchal, . 


753 


Gethsemane, valley of, 635 


GraianAlps, . 


129, 324 


Flinders's voyage, . 


. 116 


Fiinen Island, 


515, 518 


Gettysburg, . . 832 


Grain Coast of Africa 


. 780 


Flintshire, 


218 


Furness hundred. 


172 


Geysers of Iceland, . 807 


Grampians, the, 228 


229, 246 


Floating icebergs, . 


. 809 


Fusiyama.volcanicm 


oun- 


Ghara, the, . 689, 693 


Gran Canaria, 


764 


Flodden Field, . 


168 


tain of, . 


737 


Ghat 766 


Para, province 


Df, 870 


Florence, 


. 462 


Fu-tchou, 


. 727 


Ghauts, Eastern and 


Granada, 


. 437 


Flores, island of. 


443, 894 


Fyzabad, . 


6S9 


Western, , . 578,677 


Grand Chinese Canal 


726 


Florida, . 


. 836 






GhengisKhan, . . 660 


Muilrea, . 


. 277 


Flushing, 


345 


Gaboon, basin of tho. 


. 778 


Ghent 331 


Granicus, tJte, 


. 606 


Fochabers, 


232, 251 


Gaddir, 


438 


Ghilan province, . 660 


Grantham, 


189 


Foggia, 


466 


Gaeta, . 


. 466 


Ghizeh, . . . 770, 772 


Granton, 


. 239 


' Fogo Island, . 


. 765 


Gages, the, 


605 


Ghizni, . . 667,669 


Granville, . 


306 


Poix, . 


318 


Gainsborough, 


. 189 


Ghulghula, caves of, . 669 


Grasse, . 


. 325 


Folge Fonden, 


. 526 


Gala Water, 


240 


Ghurkas, the, . . 706 


Grassraere, 


170 


Folkstone, , 


201 


Galapagos Islands, 


. 877 


Giant Mountains, . 339, 483 


Gratz, . 


. 393 


Fondi, . 


. 466 


Galashiels, , 


240 


Giant's Causeway, . 274 


Gravesend, . 


201 


Fontaineblean, . 


303 


Galata, . . 


. 485 


Gibraltar, 437 ; hay, 289, 439 


Gray League, 


. 420 


Fontenoy, 


. 332 


Galatia^ . 


606, 609 


Giessen, . . . 359 


Great Abaco, 


867 


Forest cantons, . 


417 


Galatz, . 


. 495 


Gihoii, valley of, . . 633 


Barrier Beef, 


. 902 


Forfarshire, . 


. 245 


Galena, 


841 


Gijon, .... 434 


Basin, the. 


825 


Formentera, island of, 439 


Galicia, . 


. 396 


Gilbert Islands, . . 898 


Bear Lake, . 


. 301 


Formosa Island, , 


675, 727 


Galician province, 


429 


Gilbert's voyage in search 


Belt, . 


515 


Forres, 


251 


Galilee, sea of. 


627, 636 


of North- West Passage, 48 


■ Desert, . 


. 749 


Fortaventura, 


. 754 


Oalla, 


709 


Gilboa ridge, . . . 626 


of the Andes, 886 | 


Fort Augustus, . 


252 


Galla ox. 


. 786 


Gilead, ... 629 


Fish River, 


799 


Dearborn, 


. S40 


Gallas tribes, 


784 


Girgeh 773 


Glen, . 


. 252 


Frontenac, . 


816 


Gallegos, the. 


. 434 


Girgenti, ... 469 


Hordes, 


594 


Gaines, . 


. 836 


Galllpoli, . 


466, 487 


Girvan 242 


Island, . 


. 282 


Garry, 


822 


Galloway, 


. 241 


Giurgevo, . . . 494 


Karroo Table-land, 788 | 


George, . 


262, 779 


Galty Mountains, 


281 


Glacier of Mount Ser- 


Kei River, . 


790 


Good Hope, 


822 


Galveston, 


. 837 


mlento, . . .890 


Lake Van, . 


. 614 


M'Henry, 


. 833 


Galway, 


278 


Glarus, . 417, 413 


Lakes, . 


800, 801 


• Nassau, 


896 


Gambia basin. 


. 778 


Glasgow, . . .237 


Malvern, . 


194 


Norman, 


. 822 


Gambler's Island, 


325 


Glasslyn, ... 215 


Nephin, 


. 277 


Regent, 


287 


Gamla Kopperberget 


. 632 


Glastonbury, . . .208 


Pyramid, . 


772 


Rotterdam, . 


. 896 


Gamle-By, . 


517 


Glen Morislon, . . 251 


River, . 


. 695 


Sumter, 


836 


Gamlg Norg6 (Old 


Nor- 


Roy, . . .251 


Russia, 


552 


Vernoe, . 


. 593 


way). 


536 


Urquhart, . . 251 


St Bernard, . 


420, 421 


Victoria, British Col- 


Ganges, . 


579, 076 


Glenarm, . . .275 


Salt Desert, 


663 


umhia, 


. 820 


Gangetic plain, . 


675 


Glencoe, ... 230 


Like B"*] 


841, 813 




Fort Victoria, Malays 


0, 896 


Ganjam, 


. 700 


Glendalough, . . .270 


. Slave Lake, 


801 


"William, 


229, 262 


Gap, . 


324 


Glenelg, the, . . 917 


Tibet, . 


. 735 


York, . 


822 


of Palghat, . 


. 677 


Glengariff, . . .282 


Wall of China, 


591, 732 


Zeelandia, 


. 867 


Gareloch, the, . 


244 


Glenlivet, ... 260 


Greater Zab River, 


. 015 


Forth, the, . 


232 


Gariep or Orange River, 786 


Glenmore, . . .229 


Grecian Archipelago, 


478, 606 


Fortunate Isles of Pliny, 16 


Garland of Howth, 


269 


Glommen, the, . . 527 


Greece, 601, 603, 


609, 510 



940 




INDEX. 








PACE 




PAGE] 


PAGE 




PAGE 


Gi'cek Archipelago, 


. 127 


Guzerat territory, . 


636, 697 


Hechingen, 


382 


Holyhead, 


214 


settlements 


in 


Guzzeh, 


636 


Hecla Cove, . 


570 


Holywell, . 


218 


France, Italy, and Spain, 12 


Gwadel, . 


. 666 


Mount, 


807 


Homburg, . 


3G1 


Green Mountains [Verts 


Gwalior principality 


and 


Hegira, the, . . 649 


650 


Homs, .... 


632 


Monts), 


. 828 


town, . 


. 692 


Heidelberg, 


368 


Honda, 


862 


Greenland, 21, 512 


794, 806 


Gwennap copper-mines, 211 


Heights of Abraham, 


815 


Honduras, . 


853 


Greenlaw, 


. 239 


Gyndes, . 


. 615 


Heilbronn, . 


357 


Hong-Kong, 


729 


Greenock, . 


243 






Helder 


343 


Honiton, 


209 


Greenstead, . 


. 193 


Haarlem, 343; lake of, 339 


Helensburgh, 


244 


Honolulu, , 


899 


Greenwich, 


201 


Haddington, 


239 


Helge Ants Holm, 


531 


Hood Island, . 


877 


Grenada, island of. 


. 859 


Haddingtonshire, . 


. 239 


Helicon Mount, 


505 


Hooghly Eiver, . 


681 


Grenoble, . 


323 


Hadersleben, 


514 


Helige-dam, 


354 


Hoorn, .... 


343 


Gretna Green, 


. 241 


Hadramaut, . 


642, 652 


Heligoland, . 


292 


Hor Mount, 


646 


Grey Mare's Tail, 


232 


Hadrian's Villa, . 


473 


Heliopalis, . . 632 


771 


Horseman Island, 


535 


GreytoTvn, . 


. 855 


Sagion Oros. . 


. 488 


Hellas 


601 


Horseshoe Falls, Niagara 


811 


Griefswald, . 


377 


Hague, . . 


344 


Hellevoetsluys, . 


344 


Hottentot Country, 


787 


Grimsby, 


. 189 


Hainan Island, 


. 576 


Helmsdale, 


255 


Houston, . 


837 


Grindenwald, the. 


414 


Hainault, . 


192, 332 


Helmund River, 679 


669 


Hovas, race of the, 


756 


Grisons, the, . 


420, 421 


Haita, . 


. 439 


Helsingfors, . 550 


651 


Howe of Fife, . 


245 


Grodno, 


658 


Hakluyt's Headland, 


670 


HelvcUyn, . 


170 


Howth 


269 


Groningen, . 


. 346 


Hakodadi, 


. 743 


Helvetian Alps, . 


130 


Hoy Island, 


256 


Gross Glockner, . 


. 392 


Hala Mountains, 


663, 675 


Hemel Hempstead, 


198 


Huamanga, . 


880 


Gruydres, 


. 415 


Halberstadt, 


377 


Heraclea^ . 


605 


Huancaveliea, . 878 


880 


Guachos of the pampas, 888 


HalicarnassuSf 


. 607 


Herat 


669 


Huddersfield, 


178 


Guadalaviar, the, . 


. 436 


Halicz, 


397 


Serculaneum, . 


465 


Hudson Elver, 799, 830 




Guadalaxara, 


428 


Halifax, England, 


. 178 


Herefordshire, 


186 


canal, 


825 


Guadaloupe, , 


325, 859 


— ^ , Nova Scotia, 


818 


HerSnd porcelain, 


399 


Hndson'sBay, 794, 801, 8 12, 822 1 


Guadalquiver, . 
Guadiana, 


. 437 
. 427 


Hall, . 
Halle, . 


. 392 
377 


Herisau 

Herm Island, 


420 
288 


Company, 820 






Guajan Island, . 


898 


Halys, the, . 


. 605 


Hermanstadt, . 


403 


Hue 


717 


Guanaco, the, 


. 880 


Ham fortress, 


306 


Hermit Island, . 


889 


Hugh Town, . . 


212 


Guanahani, 


857 


Hamadan, 


657, 658 


Hermon Mount, 621 


635 


Hulagu, 


660 


Guano Islands, 


. 880 


Hamah, 


632 


Hermopolis, . 


607 


Hull, .... 


177 


Guardia Vieja, . 


882 


Hamburg, 


. 355 


Rermus, the, 


605 


Humber, mouth of, . 


189 


Guatamala, . 


. 853 


Hamilton, Scotland, . 


243 


Hernosand, . 


532 


— Basin, 


163 


Guatavita Lake, . 
Guaviare, the. 


. 863 
. 864 




Herring-fishery, . 
Hertford, 


191 




66 


. PP 


816, 860 


198 


Hungarian provinces, 


398 


Guayanoes, the, , 


865 


Hamm, 


381 


Hertfordshire, . 


198 


Hungary wines. 


399 


Guayaquil, 


876, 877 


Hammam Ferry, . 


. 621 


Herzegovina, . 405 


491 


Hungry Hill, 


282 


Guden Stream, . 


613 


Hammerfest, 


529, 535 


Hesse-Cassel, 


358 


Hunter River, . 908 


912 


Guebres, 


. 639 


Hamoon, salt-lake of, 


. 667 


Darmstadt, . 


358 


Huntingdon, 


196 


Guelders, . 


341 


Hampebaude, 


374 


Homburg, 


359 


Huntingdonshire, . 


196 


Gugon^Api, or Fire Moun- 


Hampshire, . 


. 202 


Hestmann Island, . 


635 


Hurdwar, . 


687 


tain, . 


. 896 


Hampstead, 


199 


Hesitdrus, , 


689 


Husseini, 


618 


Guiana, 


865 


Hampton Court, . 


. 201 


Hexham, 


168 


Husum Harbour, 


515 


Gaicowar, 


. 697 


Hanau-on-the-Maine, 


358 


Hielmar Lake, . 


632 


Huy 


333 


Guiennp, , 


315 


Hane Kiver, 


332 


High Alps, . 


421 


Hvaloe, 


635 


Guildford, 


. 201 


Hanging Gardens, . 


. 622 


Asia, , 


677 


Hveen Island, 


517 


Guinea fowls, grass. 


pigs, 


Hang-tehou, 


727 


Asian Mountains, . 


576 


Hydaspes, . 


689 


worm, . 


. 782 


Hanover, 


. 353 


Level Bridge, New- 




Hyderabad, . , 631 


697 


Guisnes, 


305 


Hansag-marsh, . 


399 


castle 


166 


Hydra, 


507 


Gulbrandsdalen, . 


. 536 


Hanse Towns, 353, 


379, 656 


High Peak, 


180 


Hydraotes, 


639 


GulfofAkaba, 640 


642, 646 


Hanseatic League, 


355, 533 


Wycombe, . 


198 


Hvires, 


321 


Bothnia, 623 


625, 540 


Han-yang, , , 


. 727 


Highgate, . 


199 


Hyphasis, 


689 


California, 799 


,823,842 


Haparanda, 


532 


Hildesheim, . 


363 


Hylhe, . . . 


202 


Cambay, . 


. 677 


Hapsburg Castle, , 


. 419 


Hill of Howth, . 


269 






Carpentaria, 


120 


Haran, 


621 


Tara, . 


271 


lar, or West Connaught, 


278 


Corinth, . 


. 505 


Harbour Island, . 


. 857 


Hillah, 


622 


Ibi-Gamin Pass, . 


578 


Cutch, . 


677 


Hardanger Fiord, 


626 


Hills of Judea, 


626 


Ice Mountains of Iceland, 


806 


Dantzic, 


. 377 


Harfleur, 


. 306 


Himalaya range— 




— trade of Boston, . 


830 


Darien, 35 


861, S63 


Harlech Castle, . 


219 


103, 577, 578, 674, 703 


734 


Iceland, 21, 512, 794, 806-808 | 


■ ■ Dwina, 


. 540 


Harmattan, , 


. 749 


Himmelbjerg, . 


612 


Iconinm, 


611 


Finland, 16 


540, 549 


Harper's Ferry, 823, 


833, 835 


Hindu-Kush, . 14, 104 


667 


Idaho, 


844 


Georgia, 


. 820 


Harrisburg, , 


. 832 


Hindustan, 


673 


Idria, mines of. 


394 


Guayaquil, 


875 


Harrow, 


199, 200 


Hing-King, . 


733 


lifracombe, . 


210 


Guinea, 488 


745, 778 


Harrowgate, . 


. 179 


Hinnom, valley of, . 


633 


Hi, or Gouldja, 


734 


Iskendernn, 


610 


Han Fell, . 


329 


Hiogo, port of. 


742 


Ilium, 


607 


■ ■ Kabes, 


745, 763 


Harlford, 


. 830 


Hippo jiegitis, . 


763 


Illawarra, . . , 


914 


■ Kandalask, 


540 


Hartlepool, 


170 


Hissarlik, 


607 


Iller, the, . 


362 


Livonia, 


. 547 


Harwich, 


. 192 


Hoang-chon, 


727 


lUimani Summit, . 


881 


Lyons, . 


129 


Harz Mountains, 353, 


374, 376 


ho, . 722, 734 


679 


Illiniza, tbe, 


876 


Manaar, . 


. 708 


Haslar Hospital, . 


203 


Hobart Town, . 922 


924 


Illinois, .... 


840 


Jlartaban, 


679, 713 


Hasselt, . 


. 334 


Hobson's Bay, 


917 


lUyria, kingdom of, . 


394 


Mi-xico, . 


794, 799 


Hastings, . 


202 


Hochelaga, . . 39 


815 


niyrians, 


490 


Onega, , 


640 


Hastings River, . 


. 912 


Hochwald, 


305 


Ilmen Lake, 


643 


Kigia, . 


. 639 


Hautes Alps, 


324 


Hog's Back, 


201 


Imbarra, 


876 


St Lawrence, 


797, 817 


Havana, . . 


. 857 


Hohenzollern, 


332 


Imeritia, 


699 


Vincent, 


919 


Havel, the. 


376 


Holdenby House, 


196 


Imperial Canal, 


723 


Saloniki, . 


. 483 


Haverford-west, . 


. 221 


Holland, or Hollow Land 


— 


Inagua, 


857 


San Miguel, 


. 863 


Havre, 


306 


128, 337 


338 


Inchcolm, 


232 


Sidra, . 


. 745 


Hawaii Islands, 


898, 899 


Hollander-byen, 


518 


Inchgarvie, 


232 


• Suez, . 


640, 642 


Hawick, 


. 240 


Hbllenthal, the, . 


S67 


Inchkeitb, 


232 


• States, . 


. 836 


Hawiza, . . 


657 


Holstein, . . 511 


613 


Indefatigable Island, , 


877 


Stream, 


134 


Hawke Bay, . 


. 927 


Holsteinberg, 


809 


Independence, 


840 


Gum resin, . 


. 757 


Hawkesbury, the, 


904, 912 


Holvan, the. 


657 


Independent Tartary, 


670 


Gummel, . • 


783 


Hawthornden, 


. 239 


figs, ■ 


657 


India, . 673, 681, 711 


712 


Gumti, the, , 


. 688 


Hayti, 


857, 858 


Holy Land, 


624 


by the Cape, 


49 


Gurhwal, the, , 


673 


Hebrew-Phtenician He 


et, 11 


of the Moslem 


648 


rubber tree, , 


682 


Quriev, . 


. 547 


Hebrides, the, . 


235, 252 


Well, Malvern, . 


194 


Indian Archipelago visited _ | 


Gut of Canso, 


817 


Hebron Mount, 


626, 636 


Wells of St Patrick, 


274 


by Arabs, 


22 





INDEX. 




941 


PiOB 


TAGE 




TAGE 


■ 


PAGE 


Indian Choultry, . . 5 


Jabalpnr, . 


691 


Kandahar, 


. 669 


Kilsby Tunnel, . . 


196 


Ocean, . . 639 


Jablonovy range, . 


. 695 


Kandy, 


709, 710 


Kilsyth, . • . 


244 


Penin5nlarR:\ihvay,6!'5 


Jackatalla, . 


701 


Kangaroo Island, . 


115, 919 


Kiuburn, . 


560 


Territory, . S40 


Jackson, 


. 836 


Kangaroos, 


907 


Kincardineshire, . 


246 


. tribes, . . 805 


Jacob's Wei!, . 


635 


Kano, 


783, 784 


King George's Sound, 118 


,921 


Indiana, . . . S36 


Jacobshaab, . 


. 809 


liansas. 


840 


William Island, 


822 


Indianapolis, . . .838 


Jaffa, . 


633 


Kapunda, 


. 921 


William's Town, . 


790 


Indo-Cllinese Poninsula— 


Jaffnapatam, 


. 710 


Kara-denghis, , 


541 


King-ki-tao, 


733 


713, 715 


Jagra defile, 


599 


River, . 


. 126 


King's County, 


272 


Indo-Chinese plain, . 676 


Jahde, . 


. 376 


Karakorum, 


733 


Hill, 


628 


Indore principality, . 692 
Indre, the, . . .311 


Jalapa, 


846 


Kara-Kum Desert, 


. 671 


Island, 


280 


Jalomnitza, the, . 


. 493 


Karakush, . 


618 


Kingston, Canada, 


816 


Indus, ... 676 


Jamaica, 


858 


Karamania, . 


606, 610 




858 




Ingleborough, ■ . .176 
Ingul Kiver, . . 562 


James Island, 
Kiver, . 


. 877 
834 


Karamany, the, . 
Kara-tagh, 


702 
. 490 




201 
859 


' c.. „; .' 




Ingur, the, . . .699 


Jamestown, . 


. 756 


Karens, race of the, 


719 


Kingstown, 


269 


Inishmore, . . . Ii78 


Jan Mayen Island, 


810 


Karlowitz, 


. 403 


Kini Balu Mount, . 


895 


Inkermani 664 


Janina, . 


. 490 


Karlsburg, . 


403 


Kinnaird's Head, 


249 


Inkpen Beacon, . . 162 


Japanese Empire, 


736-738 


Karnac, . 


. 774 


Kinross, .... 


245 


Inland Prussia, . . 373 


Sea, 


574, 576 


Karqnenas Slrait, 


843 


Kinsale, 


282 


Inn, the, . . . S66 


Jarrah-wood, . 


922 


Kars, . . . 


. 616 


Kin-te-ching, 


727 


, valley of, 332, 420 


Jassy, . 


. 494 


Karst, the, . . 


394 


Kirauea, crater of. 


893 


Inner Hebrides, . . 236 


Java, . . 576 


892, 894 


Karun River, 


. 660 


Kirghis hordes, . 692 


671 


Khoden, . . 420 


Jaxartes Hiver, 


679, 670 


Karyjes, 


489 


Kirin-Oula, . 


733 


Innerleithen, . . .241 


Jebel Attaka, . 


. , 643 


Kasan, . 


. 591 


Kirkcaldy, . 


245 


Innsbrucli, . . 392 


el-Thelj, 


> 758 


Kasbin, 


657, 668 


Kirkcudbright, 


241 


In-Shan range, . . 577 


Haroun, . 


646 


Kasbuk Mount, 


. 698 


Kirkintilloch, . 


244 


Interlachen, . . 414 


Katerin, 


. 644 


Kaskaskia, mouth of the, 840 


Kirkstall Abbey, . 


178 


Inverary, . . .248 


Makmel ran^e 


624 


Kastri, . 


. 605 


Kisbon River, . 


632 


Invergorden, , . 254 


Mousa, 290, 644, 645, 761 


Kattywav Peninsula, 


697 


Kissengen, . 


366 


Inverness-shire, . . 251 


Serbal, 


644 


Kaveri, the, . 


. 677 


Kistna River, 


691 


Investigator Slrait, . 919 


Sunnim, 


. 624 


Kazan, 


666 


Kitai-gorud, . 


553 


loua, . . . 235, 248 


Jedburgh, . 


240 


Keban Maden, 


. 615 


Kiusiu, . 736, 737 


742 


Ionian Islands, . 504, 306 


Jelalahad, 


. 669 


Kedron, valley of. 


633 


Kizil-Irmak (Red Kiver), 


606 


Iowa, . . . 840, 841 


Jemappes, . 


332 


Keeling Islands, . 


. 894 


Kum Desert, . 


671 


Ipsaca, ... 469 


Jerbah, . 


. 764 


Keiskamma River, 


787, 790 


Kizliar 


.')66 


Ipswich, . . .192 


Jericho, 


627, 629 


Keiss Castle, 


2S5 


Klagenfurth, 


391 


, on the Bremer, 916 


Jersey, . 


. 286 


Kelat, . 


. 666 


Klausenburg, 


403 


Irak-Ajemi, . . 657 


Jerusalem, 487, 626 


633-635 


Kells, . 


271 


Klofa Tbkuls, 


807 


^Arabi, . . . 620 


Jethou Island, . 


28S 


Kendal, . 


. 171 


Klokans, or night-criers. 


662 


Iran 654 

Irawaddy, the, . . 713 


Jethro's Well, 
Jeypore, 


. 615 
693 


Kenia Mountain, 
Kenilworth, . 


785 
. 194 


Knaresborougb, 


179 
177 




Ireland, 144, 145, 259, 269 


Jezira-al-Arab, 


. 638 


Kenmare, . 


283 


Knights of St John, 


611 


ItkutBiver, . . .695 


Jbansi, 


692 


Kennebec, the, 


. 828 


Knili Court, 


223 


Irkutsk, . . 592, 695 


Jhelum, 690; river, 


. 689 


Kennedy's overland jc 


ur- 


Knocarea Hill, 


277 


Iron Gates of the Danube, 132 


Jiddah, 


648, 650 


ney, 


. 119 


Knockmahon cupper 




Irtish River, . . 588 


Jihun, the, . 


. 605 


Kennet, the. 


204 


mines. 


231 


Irun, . . . .432 


Joachimsthal, . 


390 


Kent, . 


. 200 


Knockmeiledown Moun 




Ii-vine, town and river, 242 


Johnstone, 


. 243 


Kentucky, . 


833, 839 


tains. 


231 


Isar, the, . . 362, 364 


Joliba, 


747 


Kerasun, . . 


606, 610 


Koch Hissar Salt Lake, 


005 


Ischia, island of, . . 466 


Jiinkoping, . 


. 532 


Kerkah Rivor, . 


660 


Kodus, the, . 


605 


IsOie, the, . . 323, 324 


Joppa, 


635, 663 


Kerkuk, 


. 619 


Koelen range, 


620 


Iserlohn, . . .381 


Jordan, . 


679, 624 


Kerman, . 657, 


562, 663 


Koetben, . 


360 


Isinglass, ... 545 


JoruUo, 


797 


Kermanshah, . 


. 608 


Kola, .... 


555 


Isis 197 


Joudpore, 


. 693 


Kerry, 


232 


Kolapore, 


697 


Iskenderun, . . 630 


Joyce's Cijuntry, 


278 


Kertch, . 


662, 565 


Kolima River, 


583 


Isla 250 


Juan de Fuca Strait, 


. 820 


Keswick, . 


171 


Kolyma Valley, 


695 


de Lovos, . . 884 


■ Fernandez, 


884 


Kettering, 


. 195 


Kolyvan, . 


592 


Islamabad, . . .704 


Judea, . 


. 633 


Kettle-land, 


390 


Komorn, 


401 


Islands of the Czar, . 580 


Judges' Cave, . 


830 


Khandesh, 


. 69G 


Kong Mountains, 


779 


Krass3' sell 824 


Juggernaut, . 
Julian Alps, 


683 




557 


Kongshorg silver-mines, 
Konieh, . , 605 


529 


May, . . ° . 248,880 


130, 394 


Khartoum, 


775, 776 


606 


Isle de France, . . 302 


Juliana's Hope, 


. 309 


Khatmandu, 


706 


Kbnigsberg, , 


378 


Loon, . . 438 


Jumna River, 


683 


Khing-Khan range. 


. 577 


Konigsee, the, . 


362 


. -Vaohes, . . 302 


Jungfrau, 


130, 414 


Khiva, 


671, 672 


Kiinigstuhl, 


373 


of Ely, . . 189 


Jura, island of, . 


248 


Khojend, 


. 672 


Kooringa, . 


921 


M.iii, . . 223, 241 


, mountain. 


S14, 414 


Khokan, . 


672 


Kopaunik, peak of the, . 


493 


Pine-s . . 900 


Jutland, . 


611, 613 


Khonds, wild tribes. 


682, 691 


Kopoberg Mountains, 


494 


Porlland, . . 206 






Khorasan, . 


662 


Kordofan, . 


776 


St laary, . . 212 


Kabyles of Algeria, 


760, 763 


Khorsabad, . 


. 613 


Kossova, battle of, . 


•192 


Shcppey, . . 200 


Kachao, 


717 


Khourgans, the, 


560 


Kotah 


693 


. Thanet, . . 200 


Kadina, . 


. 921 


Khurd-Cabul detilc. 


. 667 


Kouyunjik, . 


613 


Wight, . . 204 


Kaffa, . 


605 


Khuzistan, 


660 


Kovno, 


559 


Ismail, . . . 495 


Kaffirs, . 


. 784 


Khyber Pass, 


. 668 


Kow-lung Peninsula, 


729 


Isola 628 


Kafifraria, . 


790 


Kiachta, 691, 592, 


595, 734 


Krabata, village of, . 


606 


Ispahan, . . 657, 658 


Proper, . 


. 792 


Kidderminster, . 


191 


Kragojevatz, . 


492 


Istapa 853 


Kahlenherg, 


387 


Kiel, . 


. 614 


Krajova, . 


494 


IsthmusutPanama, 36, 794,861 


Kairwan, 


. 764 


Kiev, . 


642, 566 


Krasnoiarsk, . 


692 


Perekop, . 663 


Kaisarieh, or Kaisariyeh, 606 


Kileoleman Castle, 


282 


Kremlin, . 


563 


Suez, 574, 638, 744 


Kaiserbagb of Luoknow, 689 


Kilda, St, Victoria, 


. 918 


Kreuzberg, the, . 


600 




Kaiserstadt, . 
Kajar princes, . 


. 387 
663 


Kildare, . 
Kilimandjaro, 


272 




403 


Istrian Peninsula, . 394 


. 784 


Kroomen, 


780 


Italian lakes, . . 133 


Kalabagh, 


. 690 


Kilkee, 


280 


Kuban, 542, 566 ; river, 


660 


Italy, . . ■ 450-457 


Kalihari Desert, 


787 


Kilkenny, 


271, 273 


Kuching, 


895 


Itarmarity Fall', . . 871 


Kalmar, 


. 532 


Killala Bay, 


278 


Kudret-halvasbiz, 


615 


Itasca L Ike, . . 799 


Kalos Limenas, . 


497 


Killaloe, 


. 280 


Kuen-Lun range, . 577 


,734 


Ilcbin, the, . . .203 


Kamchatka, . 


595, S96 


Killarney, . 


283 


Kufa 


622 


Ithaca, ... 508 


Kamenoi-Ostrog, 


592 


Kilmallock, . 


. 280 


Kuka 


7B3 


Ivica, . . .439 


Kampti, 


. 091 


Kilmarnock, 


242 


Kuloch Cave, . 


363 


Ivory Coast of Africa, 780 


Kanagawa, . 


741 


Kilrusb, 


. 280 


Kulpa, the, . 


404 



942 


INDEX. 


- 




TAOB 




PAGE 




PAGH 




PAGE 


Kuraaon, . . 686, 705 


Langston Harbour, 


202 


Libau, 


547 


Loeh Eanuoch, . 


246 


KunclJinjunga Peak, 104, 705 


Languedoc, , 


. 318 


Liberi.an Republic, 


780 


Ryan, . 


. 241 


Km- Eiver, . 579, 599, 600 


Lansing, 


338 


Libertad, . 


854 


Shin, . 


254 


Kurdistan, 613, 615; moun- 


Laodkea, 


607, 630 


Liburne, 


316 


Skene, . 


. 232 


tains of, . . .577 


Laon, . 


303 


Libyan Wilderness, . 


771 


Tay, . 


231 


Kurds, the, ... 619 


Laos country, 


. 717 


Lichtenstein, . 


368 


Vennacher, . 


. 246 


Kurile Isles, 675, 595, 596, 736 


La Paz, 


881 


Liddesdale, . 


240 


Lochmaben, 


241 


Kurnah, ... 622 


— Perouse's voyag 


c, . 78 


Li6ge, . 


332 


Lockerby, 


. 341 


Kurraohee, . . 666, 697 


Lapland, 


541 


Liffey, the, . 268, 270 


Locris, 


504 


Kutaiah, . . 604, 607 


La Plata discovered 


36 


Hfford, . 


276 


Locusts, . 


. 661 


Kutais, . . . .599 


, town of, . 


. 881 


Light-houses of Pharos, 


Loddon, the, 204, 


903, 917 




Laporte, 


287 


Ostia, and Eavenna, 


9 


Loffsgrund stone, . 


. 625 


Laaland, . . . 515 


Lapps of Norway, . 


. 638 


Liira Fiord, 


512 


Lofoden fishery, , 


635 


Labrador, coast of, 804, S20 


La Prairie, 


816 


Lille, . 


305 


Loggan Stone, the, 


. 211 


Lataan 89S 


Lar, 


. 657 


Lima, vale of, 447; city 


Loire, the, . 


309, 311 


Lacoadive Islands, 676, 710 


Largs, 


242 


of 


879 


Lokeren, 


. 331 


La Chine, . . .815 


Larissa, , 


. 489 


Limburg, Belgian, 


334 


Lombardy, . 


468 


Laclisa, 653 ; pearl-fislierr, 653 


Larne, 


275 


, Dutch, 346, 396 


Lombok Island, 


. 894 


Laconia, , , , 605 


La Rochelle, . 


. 310 


Limerick, 


280 


London, 


199 


Ladinos, ... 853 


Lassa, 


735 


Limes of Fribourg, . 


416 


, Canada, . 


. 816 


Ladoga Lake, . . 543 


Las Salinas, . 


. 886 


Limestone rocks of 




Londonderry, 


275 


Ladrone Islands, 439, 898 


Latakia, 


630 


Derbyshire, . 


160 


Lone Trees of Galvest 


n, 837 


Lafltte Fort, . . .837 


Latrobe, the, . 


. 917 


Limmat, the, . 


419 


Long Island, 235, 


829, 830 


Lagan, the, . . 274 


Lauder, 


239 


Limoges, . 


312 


Longford, , 


271 


Lago Maggiove, . . 420 


Lauenburg, . 


511, 614 


Limousin, 


312 


Lons-le-Saulnier, . 


. 314 


Lagoons of Venetia, . 474 


Laughing Waterfall 


. 841 


Lincoln Cathedral, . 


1S9 


Loo-Choo group, 


736 


Lagos, . . . .781 


Launceston, 


924 


Links of Forth, 


232 


Loretto, . 


. 461 


LttGranja, ... 433 


La Onion, 


. 854 


Linlithgowshire, 


239 


L'Orient, . 


310 


— Guayra, . . .865 


Laurencekirk, 


246 


Linn 0' Dee, . 


232 


Lorraine, 


. S04 


Lahijan, ... 657 


Lauricocha Lake, 


800, 878 


Linth Valley, . 


417 


Los Pintados, 


898 


Lahn Eiver, . . 358, 360 


Lausanne, 


. 416 


Linton 


210 


Los Tres Puntos, . 


. 884 


La Hogue, . . . S07 


Lauterbrunnen, 


414 


Linz 


389 


Lossie, the, . 


250 


Lahore, . . . .690 


Laval, . 


. 311 


Lion's Head, Cape Town 


790 


Lot, the, 


. 316 




La Vendee, . 


310 


Lipari Isles, . 


468 


Lbtophagitis, 


764 




Laws of Ol^ron, 


. 311 


Lippe, the, , 


380 


Lotus-eaters, 


. 764 


Lake Asphaltites, . 628 


Laybach, . 


394 


-Detmold, . 


354 


Lough Allen, 


277 


Baikal, 588, 594, 595 


Lea River, 


192, 19S 


Lisbon, 


445 


Conn, , 


, 278 


-Balkash, . . 588 


Leadhills, . 


229 


Lisburn, 


274 


Corrib, . 


278 


Constance, . 367, 382 


Leamington, . 


. 194 


Lismorc, . . 248, 282 


CuUin, 


. 278 


Dembea, . . 777 


Lehadeia^ . 


605 


Lissa, island of, . 


405 


Derg, 


280 


District, . . 171 


Lebanon, 


577, 624 


Litchfield, . 


182 


Foyle, 


. 275 


Brie, . . 801, 812 


Lecb, the, . 


339, 362 


Lithuania, grand-duke 




Gill, 


277 


George, . . .812 


Lb Crau, 


. 320 


of, . . . . 


657 


Gur, . 


. 280 


-Huron, . . 812 


Lee, the, . 


282 


Lithuanian forests, 378, 545 


Mask, 


278 


. Ilmen, . . . 554 


Leeds, . 


. 173 


Little Belt, . 


515 


■ ■ Neagh, 


873, 276 


Issikul, . 588, 595 


Leek, . 


182 


Bokhara, . 


734 


■ Ree, 


247, 272 


Leon, . . .801 


Leeuwarden, . 


. 346 


England, 


221 


Strangford, 


. 274 


Managua, . . 855 


Leeward Islands, 


858, 930 


■ Hampton, 


202 


• Swilly, . 


276 


Michigan, . . 825 


Leghorn, . 


462 


Horde, 


694 


Louisburg, 


. 818 


Moeris, . . 773 


Legnago, 


. 476 


Maplestead, 


193 


Louisen-Strasse, 


404 


• ■ Ngami, . . .788 


Leicester, . 


183 


Russia, 


656 


Louisiana, 


. 836 


Nicaragua, . S55 


Leichardt's over 


and 


■ St Bernard, 


324 


Louisville, 


839 


Ontario, . . 39 


journey, . 


119 


Sark, . 


287 


Louth, city of. 


89, 271 


Peipus, . . 547 


Leinster, 


. 268 


Wallaohia, 


494 


Louvain, . 


330 


St Clair, . . 923 


Leipsic, 


357 


Livadia 


S05 


Louvre, , 


. 302 


Superior, . 799, 812 


Leith, . 


. 239 


Liverpool, . 


173 


Lover's Leap, 


608 


Tanganyika, . 113 


Leitmeritz, 


390 


Livonia, 


647 


Low Archipelago, * 


29, 931 


Tchad, . 747,782,783 


Leitrim, 


. 276 


Lizan, village of. 


619 


Countries, 


28, 338 


TemponogoSt . 843 


Leixlip, 


272 


Lizard Point, 11, 144; 




Peak, . 


ISO 


Tiberias, . . 627 


Le Mans, 


. 311 


rocks of, , 


210 


Lowell, . 


. 830 


Torrens, . . 118 


Lemnos, isle of, . 


488, 496 


Clanberis, 


216 


Lower Bengal provinc 


s, 681 


Urumiah, . . 619 


Le Morven, . 


. 314 


Llandafr, 


222 


Egypt, . 


769 


Van, ... 614 


Lena River, 


588 


Llandeilo, . 


222 


Guinea, . " 


79, 781 


■ -Winnipeg, . . 822 


Leominster, . 


. 186 


[jlandudno, . 


216 


Novgorod, 


554 


of Killarney, . 283 


Leon, . 


428 


Llangollen, . 217 


,218 


Nubia, 


. 775 


— the Thousand 


, city of. 


. 429 


Llanidloes, 


220 


Valais, . 


421 


Islands, . . .812 


, Isle de, . 


438 


Llanos, or level plains. 


798 


jowestoft. 


. 192 


Lake of the Woods, . 840 


, Nicaragua, . 


. 855 


of Venezuela, . 


S64 


Ness, . 


144 


Lamaists, the, . 733, 735 


Leontes, 


627 


Lleddwr Valley, . 


213 


Lowther Hills, . 5 


23, 241 


I.aMancha, . . 428 


Lepanto, . 505 


, 506, 503 


[Jlyn dun, . 


199 


[joxa 


877 


Lambeth, . . .201 


Lepontine Alps, 


. 420 


Loango 


781 


Liibeck, . 


. 355 


Lammermuirs, . . 239 


Lepsina, 


505 


Lob Lake, . . 579 


,734 


^ucca. 


634 


Lamongan Mount, . . 892 


Le Puy, . 


. 320 


Locarno, 


421 


Liucerne, 


. 417 


Lampeter, ... 220 


Lerida, 


436 


Loch Achray, 


246 


Lucknow, . 


688 


Lanarkshire, . . . 242 


Lerwick, 


. 216 


Assynt, . 


254 


Ludlow, 


. 186 


Lancashire, . . 172 


LesboSf 


611 


Avon, 


234 


Lug, the, . 


223 


Lancaster Castle, . . 174 


Lesser Antilles, . 


. 858 


Awe, 


247 


Lugano, 


. 421 


L'Ancresse Bay, . . 287 


■ Asia, 


604 


Broom, 


228 


Lugnaquilla, 


270 


Land light-house, . . 189 


Lethe, fottniains of. 


. 605 


Coruisk, 


252 


Lundy Island, 


. 210 


of Burns, . . 242 


Letterkenny, 


276 


Dochfour, . 


252 


Luneburg, . 


353 


Edom, . . 11 


Letts, . 


. 648 


Eil, . . 229 


, 252 


Lurgan, . 


. 273 


— - Goshen, , 769 


Leucadia, . 


608 


Fyne, . 


248 


Lusignan, . 


310 


Landes, the, . . .317 


Leuk, 


. 420 


■ Katrine, 


246 


Luton, . 


. 197 


Land's End, . . 210 


Leukerbad, 


420 


. Leven, 234 ; castle, 


245 


Lutro, 


497 


Landsborough's journey, 122 


Levant, the, . 


124, 509 


Lochy, 


252 


Lutzen, . 


. 377 


Landskrona Mount, . 397 


Leven, the, . 


. S44 


Lomond, . 233 


, 244 


Luxemburg, 302, 


34, 846 


Lange Gasse, . . 492 


Lewes, . 


. 202 


Long, 


244 


Luxor, . 


. 774 


Langeland, . . .615 


Lewis, island of. 


254 


Maree, . 


253 


Luzon, coast of, . 


897 


Langen-Schwalbach, . 361 


Leyden, 


329, 344 


Ness, . 233, 251 


,252 


Lycaonia, 


. 606 


Langside, • . . 243 


Liakov group, 


691, 696 


Oich, . 


252 


I/ycia, 


606 







TNDBX. 




943 




MOB 




P.IQE 




TAOE 




rAGE 


Zijcm, . . . 


615 


Malinllead, . 


275 


Matavo, 


436 


MeziSres, . 


304 


Lydin, .... 


606 


Malinos, 


330 


Matina, . 


865 


Mhow, . . 


. 692 


Lyme Regis, 


208 


Mallow 


282 


Matlock Bath, . 


180 


Mb ye, the, . 


693 


Lyraington, , 


204 


Malmo, 


532 


Mate Grosso, 


870 


MiacoLake, . 


737, 742 


Lynemoutb, 


210 


Malmsbury, . 


206 


Matre Fiord, 


626 


Miana, 


657 


Lynn, , . .191 


,830 


Malmsey wine, . 


607 


Matsmai, 


743 


Miaak, . 


. 593 


Lyon 


313 


MalouineSy 


890 


Matterhorn, 130, 420, 421 


Miass River, 


589 


Lyonnais, 


313 


Malta, 


288 


Manle, . 


883 


Michaelsberg, 


. 362 


Lys, the, . 


328 


Malvasian wine. 


607 


Mauritania^ 


760 


Michigan state, 833; 


lake, 840 


Lyttleton, 


927 


Malvern, 161, 193 ; hills. 


194 


Mauritius, the, 


757 


Micmac Indians, . 


. 813 






Malwa table-lands, 


675 


Mawddach, 


219 


Micronesia, 


897 


Maas, estuavy, . 


339 


Mam Tor, 


181 


May Island, . 


232 


Middolburg, . 


. 346 


Macao, . . .448 


728 


Mamelukes, 


776 


Mayenne, . 


311 


Middlesborough, 


177 


Macartney's Island, . 


779 


Mammoth Cave, Kentucky, 839 


Maynooth, 


272 


Middlesex, 


. 199 


Macas, volcano. 


876 


Managua, to\v^ and lake 


855 


Mayo, 


277 


, Jamaica 


858 


-Macassar, . 


896 


Manama, 


653 


Mayotta Island, . 


757 


Migliazza, 


. 492 


Macclesflelcl, . 


185 


Manasarowara Lake, 


103 


Mayotte, isle of, . 


325 


Mignonette, 


769 


Macduff, village of, . 


250 


Manchester, 


173 


Maypo, battle of, . 


883 


Milan, . 


. 459 


Macedonia^ . 


433 


Manfalut, . . 759 


,773 


Hazanderan province. 


660 


Milford Haven, . 


220, 221 


MacgiUicuddy's Kecks, 


283 


Mangalore, . 


700 


Mazatlan, 


850 


MiUs, . . 


. 470 


Mackenzie Uiver, j^i 


999 


Manhattan Island, 


831 


Meander, . 


605 


Military frontier colonies, 406 | 


Mackenzie's adventures 




Manilla, . 


61 


Mcarns, the, . 


246 


Miltsin, . 


. 746 


in North An^orica, 


66 


extra Muros, . 


897 


Meaux, 


303 


Milwaukee, 


841 


iriiinlay's journey in 




Manna, 


615 


Mecca, . . . 648-650 


Minas Geraes, 


869, 870 


Australia, . 


122 


Mannheim, . 


368 


Mechlin, . 


330 


Minch Channel, . 


254 


' Macleay, the. 


912 


Manning, the, . . ^ 


912 


Mecklenburg-Schwerin, 


354 


Mincio, . 


. 474 


M'Clintock's search for 




Manresa, 


436 


Strelitz, 


354 


Mindello, . 


755 


Franklin, 


96 


Mans, .... 


311 


Medellin, . 


862 


Minden, 


. 381 


M'Clure's search for 




Mansfield, . 


182 


Medina, 487, 648 ; port of, 650 


Mines of Sierra do Espin- | 


Franklin, 


97 


Mantchu Tartars, 


732 


del Campo, , 


433 


hafo, . 


. 869 


Macon, .... 


314 


MantcHuria, . 


732 


Modinet-cl-Fayum, 


773 


Mingrelia, . 


699 


Maoquarie Kiver, 


904 


Mantua, 


476 


Mediterranean Sea, 2, 127, 574 


Minho, the, . 


434, 447 


Madagascar, . 


766 


Manzanares, . 


427 


Medoc district, . 


316 


Minieh, , 


773 


Madeira discovered, 29 




Maories of New Zealand, 


928 


Medway, 


200 


Mining operations, 


. 137 


described, . 


753 


Mar Forest, 


249 


Meeanee, . 


697 


Minnehaha Falls, 


841 


Madeira, Brazil, 


869 


Maraoaybo city, . 


865 


Meerut, 


687 


Minnesota, . . 


840, 841 


Madras, . . .693 


699 


Lake, 


364 


Megung, . 


716 


Minorca, 


. , 439 


presidency, . 


698 


Maragatos, . 


429 


Meinam, 713 ; river, 579, 716 


Miosen Lake, 528 ; 


oun- 


Madrid, .... 


427 


Maragha, . . 667 


660 


Meiningen, 


360 


try, . . . 


536 


Madura, 


700 


Maranhao, 


871 


Meirionydd, . 


219 


Mlquilon Island, . 


325, 820 


Maduwari, . 


783 


Maranon, the, . 


800 


Meissen, 


357 


Miramichi, the, . 


317 


Madzai Peak, . 


665 


Marash, . . 606 


610 


Melanesia, 


889 


Miranda, 


. 432 


Meegaris, 


504 


Marathon, . 


505 


Melbourne, US, 917, 918 


Mirzapur, , 


686 


Maelstriim, the, . 


535 


Marazion, 


211 


Melilla, 


762 


Mississippi, the. 


799 ; 


McBojiia, 


606 


Marburg, on Lahn, . 


358 


Melksham, 


206 


state of, 832, 


836; 


Mjfisia Inferior, . 


495 


Marche, the, . 


312 


Melrose Abbey, . 


240 


bluffs. 


839 


Maestricht, . . 339 


346 


Marches, the. 


461 


Melton Mowbray, 


183 


Missouri, the, 


799, 840 


Mafra, 


445 


Marco Polo's journey to 




Melville Bay, 810 ; island, 822 


Mistral, or north-west [ 


Magdalena, falls of, 


863 


Asia, . . . .24-27 


Memel, 378; Deeps, . 


872 


winds. 


. 320 




862 


Mardin, . 
Mare Mortimm, 


617 


Memphis . . 77? ^^^ 


Mitchell's Peak, 


835 


Magdeburg, . 


376 


628 


Menai Straits, 


214 


Mitla, ruins at. 


. 852 


Magellan Strait, 794 


884 


Maremma, the, . 


461 


Mendere, the, . 


605 


Mitlau, 


547 


Magellan's discoveries. 3 


', 38 


Marengo, field of, . 


458 


Mendip Hills, 


208 


Mitre Cape, . 


. 570 


Mageroe Island, . 126 


535 


Margarita Island, 


864 


Mendoza, . 882, 887, 888 


Mitta Mitta, the. 


917 


Magharat, 


615 


Margate, 


201 


Mentone, . 


325 


Mitylene, 


. 606 


Magna Cbarta Island, 


202 


Marghi Forest, . 


783 


Menzaleh Lake, . 


769 


Mizen Head, 


282 


Magnesia ad Sipyluni, 


605 


Mariana Islands, . 


898 


Mequinez, . 


762 


Moab, plain of. 


. 627 


Magyar race, . 


399 


Mariazel, . 


393 


Mercura, 


701 


Moalka, 


764 


Mahabalipoor, . 


699 


Marienburg, . . 378 


379 


Mercury Bay, 


927 


Mobile, 836 ; river. 


. 835 


Mahanadi, 


690 


Maritime Alps, . 


129 


Merdasht, plain of the. 


661 


Mocha, 


662 


Mahawelli-ganga, 
Mahmudieh Canal, 
Mahratla confederacy. 


708 
775 
696 




862 


Merida 


865 


Modane, 324 ' tunne^ ^-^8 i 




779 


Merionethshire, ■ 


219 


Modena, 


459 460 


Maritza, the. 


487 


Merlins, 


219 


Moel-Siabot, . 


.'21s 


Maidstone, . 


200 


Marlborough, England, 


206 


Meriio Island, 


775 


Moen Island, 


515 


Maimatohin, . 691, 595 


734 


, New Zealand, 927 I 


Merrimac, , 


828 


Moffat, . 


. 241 


Main, the, Ireland, . 


274 


Marness Forest, . 


628 


Merse, the, . 


239 


Moffen Island, . 


570 


Maine, province of, 


311 


Marocco, . . 760 


761 


Mersea Island, . 


192 


Mogadore, 


11, 762 


River, 


358 


Marony River, 


866 


Mersey, the, . 


163 


Moguntiatmm, . 


359 


— , state of. 


827 


Maros, the. 


403 


Mersivan, . . 606, 610 


Mohacs, village of. 


. 401 


Mainland or Pomona 




Marquesas Islands— 




Merthyr-Tydvil, 


232 


Mohammedanism, 


585 


Island, 


215 


325, 929, 


931 


Merve, .... 


672 


Mohammerah, 


. 657 


Mainz or Mayence, 


359 


Marsala, 


468 


Meshed All, 


622 


Mokattam Mount, 


771 


Maio Island, i. 


755 


Marseille, 


320 


Hussein, . 


623 


Mold, . 


. 213 


Maitland, . 


914 


Marshall Island, 


898 


Meshid, 


657 


Moldau, the, 


389, 390 


Majorca, 


439 


Martaban, 


719 


Mesolonghi, . 


505 


Moldavia, 


396, 493 


Makiang or Cambodia, 


714 


Martha's Vineyard, . 


839 


Mesopotamia, 


620 


Mole, . 


201 


Malabar, . . 699 


700 


Martign)', 


421 


Messenia, 


605 


Molucca Islands, . 


38, 395 


Malacca, . . 675 


892 


Martinique, . 325 


859 


Messina, 


468 


Mombas, . 


786 


, strait of, 


719 


Martin's Fall, 


822 


Meta, the, . • . 


864 


M6na, . 


. 214 


Malachite, 593 ; mala- 




Maryburgh, Ireland, 252 


272 


Meteora, 


489 


Monaghan, 


276 


chite from Burra Burra 


921 


, Queensland, 


916 


Metvahenny village, 


772 


Monaghlea, . 


. 251 


Malaga 


437 


Maryland, 


832 


Metz 


304 


Monangahela, 


862 


Malahide, . 


269 


Mascara, 


763 


Meurthe, the, 


304 


Miinoh, . 


. 130 


Malar Lake, . 


531 


Mascarene Island?, 


767 


Meuse, valley of. 


304 


Mondego, , 


447 


Malatiyah, . . 611 


616 


Mas-ena, . 


784 


River, . 333, 332 


Monghyr, 


. 683 


Malay Archipelat,'o, 


418 


Massachusetts, 838 ; bay, 


829 


Mexican Gulf, 


846 


Mongol Tartar invasion, 23 | 


Malayan Archipelago, 


576 


Massacre Bay, . 


929 


Indians, . 


851 


Mongolia, . 4 


878, 691 


Peninsula, . 


720 


Massowab, 


749 


monuments. 


851 


Monistrol Station, . 


. 436 


Malaysia, . 717, 720 


892 


Masulipatam, 


700 


Mexico, . . 846-850 


Monks of Mount Athos, 488 | 


Maldive Islands, 676 


710 


Matanzas, 


857 


Mezen, the, . 


642 


Monmouth, . 


. 187 



944 




INDEX. 






PAon 




PAOB 




PACE 


PAGE 


Monmouthshire, . 


186 


Mount Eeal, 


39 


Narew, the, . 


. 55S 


New Mexico, . . 843 


Monravia, 


. 780 


Kighi, 


. 417 


Narewska, the, . 


653 


Orleans, . . 837 


Monreale, . 


468 


Ruapahu, 


926 


Narragansett Bay, 


. 830 


Philippines, , 893 


Mods, 


. 332 


StElias, . 


795, 810 


Narrows, the, . 


859 


Plymouth, . . 927 


Mont Blano, 130 


324, 416 


Helens, . 


. 825 


Narva, . 


. 547 


Providence, . 857 


Cenis, 130 


324, 457 


■ Michael, 


306 


Naseby, 


195 


Radnor, . . 223 


■ Cervin, . 


. 130 


Sinai, . 


. 646 


Nashville, 


. 839 


Eiver, . . 190 


■ de-Mavsan, 


317 


Sugomac, 


25 


Nassau, 360 ; castle. 


361 


Hass, . . .271 


Gen^vre, 


. 324 


Vernon, 


. 833 


, West Indies, 


857 


Siberia, . 591 


. iseran, 


324 


Washington, 


797, 824 


Natal, colony. 


784, 790 


South Wales, 910; 


■ Jorat, . 


. 416 


Wellington, 


922, 924 


Natchez, 


836 


first settlement, . . 913 


Royal, 


815 


Mountain of the Cross, ' 600 


Natron, . 


. 783 


New Strelitz, . . 354 


Ventous, 


. 322 


Mountains of Myrrh, 


. 644 


Natural bridges on 


the 


• Westminster, . 821 


Montagua Kiver, 


853 


• Seir, 


647 


Icononzo, 


863 


York state, 830, 831 


Montauban, . 


. 316 


Mount's Bay, 


11,210 


Nauhcampa-tepetl, 


. 847 


Zealand, . 64, 925 


Monte Gibello, . 


467 


Mourgaub, plain of, 


661 


Nauplia, . 


506 


Newark, England, . 182 


Kosa, . 


130, 421 


Mourne Mountains, 


. 274 


Nauvoo, . 


. Sil 


, New Jersey, 


Monte Santo, 


488 


Mowna ICea, volcano, 


898 


Navan, 


271 


U.S 833 


Monte Video, 


. 488 


Loa, volcano, 


. 898 


Navarino, 


. 606 


Newbury, . . . 204 


Montefige, . 


623 


Moy, the, . 


278 


Navarre, 


317,.430 


Newcastle, New South 


Montenegro, 405 


490, 491 


Mozambique, . 


. 443 


Navigator Islands, 


. 929 


Wales, . . .914 


Montgomery, Wales, 


. 220 


Channel, 756 


Navy Bay, . 


863 


Newcastle-on-Tyne, . 168 


, U. S., 

Montmorenci Falls, 


836 
. 815 


Mslset Cathedral, 
Muckish, 


600 
. 275 


Nasos, . 
Nazareth, , 


. 607 
635 




Newfoundland, 794, 818, 819 


Montpelier, 


319 


Muckross Abbey, 


289 


hill of 


. 626 


Newhaven, . 202, 239 




Montreal, 


812, 815 

822 

. 246 


Mud River, . 

Mujellibeh, 

Mukden, 


. 799 

622 

. 732 


Naze of Norway, 
Point • 


535 
. 144 




Newport, . . . 187 
Gate, . . 189 


Montrose, 


N'eapolis, . 


487, 635 


Montaerrat, 


859 


Mulde, the. 


360 


Neapolitan provinces 


. 464 


, Isle of Wight, 204 


Mooltan, 


. 690 


Mules of Chili, 


. 882 


Neath, 


222 


, Massachusetts, 830 


Moor of Rannoch, 


246 


Mulliouse, . 


305 


Nebraska, 


. 844 


Newry 274 


Moorish geogiaphers 


. 22 


Mull, island of. 


. 248 


Neckar, the. 


359, 366 


Newton, ... 220 


Moors in Granada, 


437 


of Galloway, 220 


228, 241 


Nedj, . 


. 653 


Butler, . . 296 


Moosehead Lalce, . 


. 828 


Mullet, the, . 


. 277 


Nedjed, 


642 


Pery, . . 280 


Mora, . 


628 


MuUingar, . 


272 


Needles, 


. 204 


Stewart, 241, 296 


Morat, . 


. 415 


Muluya, the, . 


. 760 


Negapatam, 


700 


Newton's birthplace, . 189 


Morava, basin of the 


492 


Munich, 


364 


Negro family, variations, 799 


Newtown-Limavaddy, 275 


Moravia, 


389, 391 


Munster, 


279, 380 


River, 


869 


Niagara, falls of, . . 801 


Moray district, 250 ; 


firth, 251 


Mur, the, . 


393 


Negroland, . 


. 782 


-, town of, . 816 


Morea, . 


605, 607 


Murcia, . 


436, 437 


Negropont, 


607 


Nias Island, . . .894 


Moreton Bay, . 


117, 915 


Murfreesboro', . 


839 


Neilgherry Hills, . 


C77, 701 


Niciea, ... 608 


Morgarten, . 


. 418 


Murphy's Big-Trees Valley ,842 


Neu-a, 


896 


Nicaragua, 801, 854; lake, 855 


Morlaix, 


310 


Murray Elver, 903, 


912, 917 


Nelha Malla Mountai 


ns, 691 


Nice 324 


Mormon city, 


825, 843 


Murri, 


690 


Nelson, . 


. 927 


Nicobar Islands, . . 576 


Morpeth, , 


168 


Murrumbidgee, 


903, 912 


River, 


801 


Nicolaevsk, . 692, 696 


Moscow, 


552, 554 


Murshedabad, . 


683 


Nelson's birtiiplace. 


. 191 


Nicolaief, • . . .662 


, its blaols earth, 128 


Murviedro, 


. 437 


Nen, source of the. 


195 


Nicomedia, . . 608 


Moselle, the. 


304, 381 


Murzuk, 


765 


Nenagh, 


. 231 


Nicosia, .... 611 


Mosltva River, 


. 552 


Muscat, . 


G42, 653 


Nepaul state. 


705 


Niedem-waid, . . 417 


Moslem pilgrimages. 


649 


Mush, on White Elver, 617 


Nepean River, 


. 914 


Nieman, . . 377, 512, 657 


Mosque of Omar, . 


. 633 


Musk ox. 


. 810 


Nephin heights. 


277 


Nieuveld Bergen, . 737 


Mosquito territory, 


854, 855 


Musselburgh, 


229 


Nepo River, . 


. 800 


Niezeanow Forest, . S58 


Mosul on the Tigris, 


610, 617 


Mussl, the, . 


. 691 


Nerbudda, 674, 677 


691, 693 


Niger, the, . 747, 778, 782 


Motala River, . 


532 


Muts-hobo, 


716 


Nertchinsk, . 690 


692, 595 


Nigritia, , . .782 


Mottlau, 


. 379 


Mijcene, . . . 


. 506 


Nervion, the, 


432 


Nijni-Kamchatsk, . 592 


Mouliden, . 


732 


Mynach, the, 


220 


Nesenbach, the. 


. 366 


Kolimsk, . . 592 


Moulins, 


. 312 


Myrrhina in Lemiios 


. 488 


Ness River, 


261 


Novgorod, 642, 554 


Moulmein, . 


718 


Mijsia, 


606 


Nestorian Christians 


. 660 


Nile River, . . 113-115 


Mount Abrupt, 


. 917 


Mysore, . . . 


485, 701 


Netherlands, the, . 


28, 337 


Valley, . . 770 


Abi/la, 


290, 761 






East India 


water, . . .747 


— Arden, 


. 919 


Naab, the, . 


363 


Company, 


894 


Nimeguen, . . 345 


■ — Athos, 


488 


Naas, . 


. 272 


Neuera Ellia, 


. 710 


Nimrud, . . .618 


■ Balier, 


. 821 


Nab, the, . 


. 362 


Neufchatel, . 


414, 416 


Nineveh, . . 615, 618 


Beereuberg, 


810 


Nablous, 


. 635 


Neusiedler-See, 


399, 401 


Ning-po, . . . 737 


Brandon, . 


. 283 


Nafels, 


419 


Neva, the, , 


642 


Niort, .... 310 


Brown, . 


79i, 919 


Nagasaki, 


. 742 


Nevada, . 


. 844 


Nipon 736 


Calpe, 


. 290 


Nagpur, 


690, 691 


delaVinda, 


. 879 


Nishapur, . , 657, 663 


• Carmel, . 


632 


Nahr Ibrahim, the, 


630 


de Tolima, 


. 861 


Nismes 320 


• — Egmont, . 


. 927 


Nain, Labrador, . 


. 820 


Nevers, . . 


312 


Nithside, 229; Nithsdale, 241 


Elburz, . 


508 


Nairn, 


251 


Neville's Cross, 


. 240 


Nivelle, the, . . .317 


■ Elwund, 


. 658 


Nairnshire, . 


. 251 


Nevis, 


859 


Nivernais, ... 312 


Etna, 


463 


Nakhitcbivan, , 


601 


Nevyansk, 


. 590 


Nola 466 


Everest, 


104, 578 


Nakus or the ' Bell ' 


New Amsterdam, 


866 


Non-fossiliferous rocks, 227 


Hor, 


646 


Mountain, 


644 


Archangel, . 


. 810 


Nootka Sound, . . 820 


Humboldt, . 


. 923 


Namur, . 


. 332 


Britain, 


821 


Noritt/he, ... 470 


Ida, 


407, 605 


Nanaimo, . 


821 


Brunswick, . 


816, 817 


Nordenfields, . . 634 


Kilimanjaro, 


113 


Nancy, 


. 304 


Caledonia, 


325, 900 


Norfolk, England, . 190 


Kosciuslio, . 


. 903 


Nanga Parhat (Naked 


■ Carthage, . 


437 


, Virginia, . . 835 


Lebanon, 


631 


Mountain), . 


. 703 


Castile, . 


. 427 


Island, . 914 


Lofty, . 


. 919 


Nankin, or Nan-king, 


727 


Cytherea, . 


931 


Noric Alps, . 130, 391 


Macedon, 


917 


Nantes, . 


. 309 


Dongola, 


. 776 


NoHcum, , . .393 


Marcy, 


. 831 


Nantle, 


216 


• England States, 


827 


Normandy, . . 306 


Negoi, 


403 


Nantucket Island, . 


. 829 


Forest, . 


. 203 


Norrkbping, . . .632 


of Olives, . 


. 624 


Naples, 


464 


Granada, . 


861, 862 


Norrland, . . 634 


Olivet, . 


635 


Napoleon Vendi^e, . 


. 310 


Guatemala, . 


. 853 


North Andaman, . . 719 


Pagus, 


. 607 


Napoli, 


464 


Guinea, 


. 62, 899 


■ Bay, Spitzbergen, 670 


• Pascal, . 


879 


Napoli de Malvasia, 


. 607 


Hampshire, . 


. 828 


Berwick, . . 239 


Pelvoiix, . 


. 324 


di Romani, 


606 


Hebrides, . 


900 


Brabant, . 345 


Perdu, . 


317 


Narhonne, 


. 319 


Herrnhut, 


. 809 


Cape, . 126,536,569 


Pilatus, 


. 417 


Narborough Island, 


. 877 


Jersey state. 


832 


Coast, . . 144 





INDEX. 945 


PAOB 




PAOB 


PAGI 


PAGE 


North Downs, . 162, 200 


Olympus Mount, 485,489,505 


PtBStum, ... 466 


Pegnitz, the, . . .366 


East Land, . 569 


Omagb', 


276 


Paisley, . . .243 


Pegu 719 


Eastern Africa, . 766 


Oman, . . . 


642, 652 


Palatinate, ... 362 


Peiho, . . . ,726 




Ombrone, the, , 
Omer-begh, the, . 


. 461 
. 761 


Palencia, . . .433 
Palenque, village of, . 852 


Peipus Lake, . . 547 
Pekin, or Peking, . . 726 


States, ... 827 


North Foreland, . . 200 


Omoa, . 


853 


Palermo. . . .468 


Pelew Islands, . . 898 


Holland, . . 342 


Omsk, . 


592, 594 


Palestine, ... 624 


Pelion, . . . .489 


Indian plain, , 576 


On ofScnpiurCt 


771 


Palghat, gap of, . . 700 


Peloponnesus, , . 605 


Island, . . 926 


Onega Lake, . 


. 543 


Palisades, the, . . 833 


Pembroke, . . .221 


Midland Counties, 179 


Ongar, 


193 


Palk Strait, . . .707 


Pembrokeshire, . . 220 


Sea, 127,228,512,616 


Ontario Lake, 


801, 812 


Pallas's journey, . 73 


Penang, . . .720 


Shields, . . 168 


Oojein, or Ujein, 


692 


Palm-oil of commerce, 780 


Penelts, the, . . 489 


Wales, . . 213 


Ophir, . 


. 11 


Palma, 439; island, . 754 


Peniscola, . . .437 


West Provinces, 633 


Opium Black Castle, 


607 


Palmyra, ... 4, 632 


Penn, William, . . 832 


Northampton, . . 195 


Oporto, 


447 


of the North, 648 


Pennigant, . . .175 


Northern Africa, . 758 


Orffifa Yokul, 


. 807 


Palos, .... 438 


Pennine chain, . . 130 


boundary of 


Oran, . 


763 


Palm Maotis, . . 662 


Pennsburg Manor, . 832 


Europe, ... 125 


Orange principality, 


. 322 


Putm, . . 662 


Pennsylvania, . . 832 


Northern Chinese pro- 
vinces, ... 726 


, town of, . 

Republic, . 


323 
787, 791 


Pamir, table-land of, 677, 670 
Pampas, the, . . 886 




coai-neiaa, o^o 

Penobscot, the, . 825, 828 


Northern Circars, . . 700 


River, . 


786 


Pamperos of Brazil, . 874 


Penon de Velez, . . 762 


France, . 301 


Ord of Caithness, . 


. 254 




Penrhyn, . . .216 




German States, 353 


Ore Mountains, . 


389 


Pamphylia, . . 606 


Penrith, New South Wales, 914 


Greece, . . 504 


Orehro, . 


. 532 


Pamplona, 430; Colombia, 862 


Pentapolis, . . .765 


India, . 674 


Oregon, 


842, 843> 


Panama, . . 796,863 


Pentland Firth, . . 230 


Syria, . . G30 


Orellana, the. 


. 800 


Railway, . . 932 


Pentuan Valley, . . 211 


Texas, . S43 


Orenberg, . . 27 


566, 587 


Pandora oysters, . 239 


Pen-y-Cader Pawr, . 223 


Northumberland Strait— 


Organ Mountains, 


870 Panjim, or New Goa, . 707 


Penzance, . . .211 


168, 818 


Origin of the ' Guinea,' . 780 | Pantheon, . . 303, 472 


Pepper vine, . . 532 


North-wich, . . 185 


Orinoco River, . 


791, 861 Fanticapceum, . . 565 


Pera, . . . .485 


Norway, . . . 523 


Orissa, . 


. 681 


Pantioosa, ... 430 


Perekop, ... 663 


Norwich, ... 191 


Oristano, . 


470 


Papal dommion, . . 459 


P(5re-Ia-Chaise, . . 303 


Nosse-Be,orNossi-B6, 325,756 


Orizaba Peak, 


. 847 


Papeete, ... 931 


Pergamos, . . , 607 


Notch, the, . . .824 


Orkney Islands, . 


256 


Paper mulberry, . . 739 


Perigueux, . . . 316 


Nottingham, . 182 


Orleannais, province 


Of, 311 


Papjilagonia, . . 606 


Perim Island, . . 640 


Noukahiva, . . .931 


Orleans, 


312 


Paphos, . . .611 


Perm, . . . 566,687 


Noumea, bay of, 900 


Ormuz, isle of. 


655, 663 


Paps of Jura, . . 248 


Pernambuco, . 870, 871 


Nova Scotia, . . 817,818 


Orne, the, . 


306 


Papuans, . . .899 


Peronne, . . . 305 


Tcherkask, . 662 


Ornithorhynohtis, . 


. 907 


, archipelago of, 899 


Perpignan, . . 318 


Zembla, . 46, 539 


Orontes, 


627 


Para, . . . .871 


Persepolis, 658 ; ruins of, 661 


Novara, battle of, . 457 


Oroisius's Geography 


. 20 


Paraguay, . . 869, 873 


Persia, . . 654-656, 663 


Nubia, .... 775 


OrpJmh, . 


620 


tea, . . 873 


Persian Gulf— 


Nuhle, ... 883 


Ortegal Cape, 


. 434 


Parahiba province, . 870 


6, 7, 478, 652, 664, 669, 863 


Nueva Eiohamba, . . 877 


Orthez, 


317 


Parallel terraces of Glen 


Persis 656 


Numidia, ... 760 


Ortler Spitz, . 


. 392 


Roy, . . . .251 


Perth, West Australia, 922 


Nuovo Demidoff, . . 593 


Orwell, the, 


192 


Paramaribo, . . 867 


Perthshire, . . .246 


Nuremberg:, . . 366 


Osaka, . 


. 742 


Paramatta, 914; cloth, . 914 


Perugia, ... 461 


Nutfield, . . .201 


Osla, . 


668 


Paramos, ... 795 


Peruvian Andes, . . 800 


Nutmeg-tree, . 682, 895 


Osmanli, 


. 478 


Parana, province of, . 870 


bark-trees— 




Osnabruck, 


363 


, the, 869, 873, 887 


802, 877, 878 


Oahu Island, . . 899 


Ossa, 


. 489 


Parang Pass, . . .678 


Republic, . 87J 


Oakham, . . .183 


Ostend, 


332 


Paras, Pliaras, Pars, 666 


Peschiera, . . . 476 


Oasis of the Desert, . 4,774 


Ostia, . 


. 473 


Parime Mountains, . 863 


Peshawur, . 668, 090 


Oban 243 


Ostiaks, the. 


694 


Paris, .... 302 


Pesth 401 


Obdem-wald, . . 417 


Oswestry, 


. 186 


Parklands, . . .920 


Petcherskoi, . . . 556 


Oberland, . . 292, 414 


Otago, 


917 


Parma, . . . 459 


Petchora, the, . 642, 643 


Obi River, ... 588 


Othrys, ridge of, . 


. 489 


Parnassus Mount, . 505 


Peter Botte Mountain, 757 


Observatory, Paris, 303 


Ottawa, river and town — 


Paros, ... 607 


Peterborough, . , .195 


ObsokenBay, . . 895 




812, 815 


Parret, the, . . .208 


Peterhead, ... 260 


Oceania, . . 576, 891 


Ottoman empire, . 


478, 630 


Parsonstown, . 272 


Peterhoff palace, . . 649 


Oohill Hills, . . 229, 244 


Oude, . 


688, 689 


Parthenitts, , . .606 


Petersburg, Virginia, 834 


Ock, the, ... 204 


Oudenarde, . 


. 331 


Parthiam, ... 621 


Peterwardein, . . 403 


Odensee, . . .619 


Ouessant, . 


305 


Parys' copper-mines, . 214 


Petra, . . 646, 647 


Odenwald, ... 359 


Ourthe, the, . 


. 328 


Pas de Calais, . . 306 


Petropaulovski, . 592, 698 


Oder, the, . 375-377, 391 


Ouse, . 189, 190 


196, 202 


Pasargadm Plain, . 661 


Petropolis, ... 871 


Odessa, ... 661 


Oatarnok Island, 


809 


Pasco, mines of, . 878, 879 


PevenseyBay, . . 202 


Odinsholm, . . .543 


Outer Hebrides, . 


. 236 


Pass of Quindio, . 863 


Pfeffers, ... 420 


CEsel, island of, . . 648 


Rhoden, . 


420 


St Gothard, . 417 


Pharaoh Osii'tesen's obe- 


(Eta, ridge of, . . 480 


Ovens, the, . 


903, 917 


Passaic Falls, . 833 


lisk, . . . .771 


Offa'sDyke, . . 220 


Overflakkee Island, 


. 339 


Passamaquoddy Bay, . 817 


Pharos of Alexandria, 9 


Ogwen, the, . . .215 


Overyssel, 


341, 345 


Passau, ... 366 


Pharsalus, . . .489 


Ohio, the, . . 799, 832 


Oviedo, 


434 


Paste, . . . 862,863 


Phasis,the, . . 699 


, state of, . . 833 


Ovoca, . 


. 270 


Patagonia, . 882, 838, 889 


Phenice, . . .497 


Oka Kivor, ... 542 


Owen Stanley Mountains, 899 


Patanageh, . . .716 


Philadelphia, . . 832 


Okawa River, . . 741 


Oxford, . 


. 197 


Patinos, ... 612 


Philadelphia, . . 607 


Okbah Mosque, . . 764 


Oxiis B'wer, 


579, 670 


Patna, . . .683 


PhilK, island of, . 774 


Okhotsk, sea of, 574, 592, 595 


Oyapok River, 


. 866 


Patras, ... 606 


Philippi, . . .487 


OLtnd, ... 632 


Oykel River, 


228 


Pau, . . . .317 


Philippinelslands, 439,676,896 


Old Guatemala, . . 853 


Oyster Creek, 


. 923 


Pavia, ... 469 






— Head of Kinsale, . 282 


flahcries. 


192 


Paxo, . . . .508 


Philipstown, . . .272 


— Man of Hoy, . 147, 256 


Point, . 


. 835 


PaysdeWacs, . . 331 


Phocis, . . 604,505 


— Mortality, . . 243 






Peak Cavern, . . 181 


Phamicia, 10, 436, 631, 632, 760 


— red sandstone, . 229 


Pacific coast chain, 


825 


ofTeneriffe, . 765 


Phrabat Pagoda, . . 713 


— Sarum, ... 206 


IsLonds, 


. 60 


Peaks of Otter, . . 824 


Phrygia, ... 606 


Oldenburg, . . 353,354 


Ocean, . 


574, 700 


Pearl River, . 728, 836 


Piacenza, . . 469,460 


OWron, island of, . 310 


rivers. 


. 799 


Pechahurri, . . .717 


Piauhi province, . 870 


Olives, mount of, . . 633 


Pactolus, . 


606 


PedrotallagaUa Mountains,708 


Piave, the, • . .474 


Ohnutz, ... 391 


Pada7i-Aram. 


. 620 


Peebles, ... 240 


Picardy, ... 305 


Olney, . . . .198 Padang, . 


894 


Peeblesshire, . . 228 


Piohincha, . . 796, 876 


Olonetz, . . . S41 Padua, . 


. 476 

3 


Peel, 224; island, . 898 
H 


Pico, island of, . . 448 



946 


INDEX. 








PAGE 


PAGE 




PACE 




PAOB 


Koo Granfle, . 


. 747 


Port of Athens, . . 605 


Panta Arenas, 


, 884 


Retimo, . , 


497 


• ■ Ruivo, 


753 


— Damascus, . 630 


da Tarifa, 


126 


Reunion, 


325 


Piedmont, 


, 457 


Spain, Trinidad, 860 


Puntas Arenas, 


. 855 


Island, 


757 


Pierrepont, 


306 


Natal, . . .791 


Pushtaneh, 


670 


Reuss, . . .361 


41S 


Pietermaritzburj,', 


. 791 


Nicholson, . . 927 


Patbas, . 


. 377 


Rovel, . . 540 


647 


Pilgrim FathcM, 


05, 827 


Philip, . 115, 916-918 


Puteoli, 


466 


EhjEtian Alps, 


130 


Pillars of Hercules 


290, 761 


Royal, Jamaica, . 868 


Putrid Sea, . 


. 504 


Rhagal, 


658 


Pindas, ebain of the, 489 




Pay de Dome, . 


312 


Rliegiumf . . . 


466 




Pine Barrens, 


. 824 


St Paul, . . 289 


Puzzuoli, 


. 465 


Rheims, , . , 


30t 


Piombino Channel, 


463 


Sarnia, . . 816 


Pylai Caspiai, . 


S77 


Rheingau, , . 359 


360 


Piper's Hole, . 


. 212 


Stewart, . . 276 


Ciliciai, 


. 577 


Rhenish Prussia, 354 


380 


Pir Pimjal Pass, 


705 


Victoria, . . 757 


Sijriai, 


577 


Rhine provinces, . 374 


381 


Pirwils, the, . 


. 505 


Portco Albanim, . . 677 


Pyramids, the. 


. 770 


Rhoda Island, . 


772 


Piratic voyagers, 
Pisa, 


21 
. 463 


Caucasice, 577, 600 

Portarlington, . . 272 




851 
605 


Rhode Island, 

Rhodes, . . 576, 600 


829 
611 


Pyrannis, the, . 


Pisgah, . . 


646 


Porth Hellick, . . 212 


Pyrenees, 


129, 317 


Rhone, the, 313, 318, 324 


421 


Pisidia, . 


. 606 


Portillo Pass, . . 882 


Pyrmont, . 


361 


Rhubarb, 


682 


Pistoja, 


402 


Portland Bill, . . 286 


Pytheas of Marseille, 


12,13 


Rhudd-ddyn, 


217 


Pitcairn'a Island, 


75, 930 


, isle of, . . 207 






Rhuddlan, 


219 


Pitea, 


532 


, U. S., . . 828 


Quantock Hills, . 


. 208 


Rhyl, .... 


219 


Piton do la Fournaise, . 757 


Portlaw, . . .282 


Quebec, 39 ; founded 


64, 815 


Rice grounds. 


828 


Neiges, 


757 


Porto Draco, . . 505 


Quebradas, 


795 


Richelieu River, 


812 


Pittsburg, 


. 832 


Ferrajo, . . 463 


Quedlinburg, , 


. 377 


Richmond, Surrey, 


201 


Pizarro reduced Pei 


a, 38 


Leone, . . 605 


Queen Charlotte's Island- 


-, Virginia, 


834 


Plain of Er-Kaha, . 


. 644 


Praya, . . .755 




74, 794 


, Yorkshire, . 


177 


Plains of Dauphin^ 


313 


Rico, . . 439, 858 


Queen's County, 


272 


Riddarholm, 


531 


the Amazon, 798,881 


Santo, . . .754 


Gap, 


. 198 


Eiesengebirge, . 374 


389 


Plassy, . 


. 683 


Portobello, ... 239 


Qucensherry Hill, 


229 


Riff coast, . 


761 


Plata, tbo, . 
— Eiver, . 


799 
. 869 




Queensferry, . 
Queensland, 


. 239 
117, 915 


Riga, .... 
, gulf of, . 


547 


Portpatriek, . . .241 


543 


Platte Kivcr, 


844 


Portree, ... 252 


Queenstown, . 


. 282 


RijabDell, . 


6S7 


Platten-See, . 
Plinlimmon, 


. 399 
219 


Portrush, . . .274 
Ports of the Red Sea, 11 




816 
437 


Rimini, . . 459 
Rio Aconcagua, 


460 


Quemadero, 


882 


Pliny's knowledge of tides, 7 


Portsmouth, . . 202, 203 


Quesaltenango. 


. 853 


— Cayambe, 


87G 


Ploinbi^res, 
Plym, the, 


304 




Quicksilver, 684 ; m 
Quillimane, 


nes, 844 




870 


. 209 


shire, ... 828 


. ' 786 


la Plata, ' . ' . 


S69 


Plymouth, 209 ; bay, . 210 


Portsoy,. . . .250 


Quillota, valley of. 


. 884 


— del Grande do Sul, 


870 


, Leeward Isles, S59 


Portugal, . . 442-449 


Quimper, . 


319 


Norte, . 823 


825 


Pnyx, the, . 


504 


Portuguese discoveries, 28, 29 


Quito, . 


876, 877 


— Grande, . 


843 


Po,rivor, . 


. 459 


Portus Itius, . . 305 


Quorra, 


747 


del Norte, 


870 


Poa Abyssiniea, . 
Podmoskuvyi, 
Point-a-Pitre, . 


777 

. 653 

S59 


Posen, . . . .379 
Possession Island, . 90, 91 
Poti, fort and village of, 599 


Kaab, the, 
Rabatt, 


398 


— Janeiro colonised, . 


38 
870 


. " 762 


— Negro, . ' 800 


865 


Barrow, 


. 810 


Potomac, the, . . 799 


Race of Aldcrney, . 


. 287 


Rion, the. 


699 


de Galle, . 


. 709 


Potosi, ... 881 


Radack Isles, 


898 


Ripen, 


179 


Levi, . 


. 815 


I'otscherfstroom, . . 792 


Radnorshire, . 


. 223 


River cow, . 


784 


Venus, 


931 


Potsdam, ... 375 


Rae's overland journey, 97 


navigation of 




Poison-tree of Java 


. 894 


Potteries district, . . 182 


Ragusa, . . 


405 


Europe, . 


134 


Poitiers, . 


310 


PoyangLake, . . 727 


Railways in Asia, . 


6 


River systems. 


162 


Poitou, . 


. 310 


Prague, . . . .390 


Rainfall of Europe, 


135 


Rivers of Canada, 


812 


Pola, . 


396 


Prairies, . . 797, 839 


South America, 804 


Damascus, 


632 


Poland, . 


. 657 


Precious stones of the 


Rajpootana, 


693 


Europe, 


131 


, partition of, 379 


Urals, ... 590 


Rakka, . 


. 621 


— the Arctic basin 


799 


Polish provinces, 


396 


Pregel, the, 374 ; basin of, 377 


Raleigh, . 


836 


Riviere du Loup, 


813 


Pollockshaws, 


. 243 


Prekla 562 


Kaliok Islands, 


. 898 


Rochdale, 


174 


Polynesia, . 


926 


Presburg, . . . 401 


R.amsgato, . 


201 


Roehelle, . 


310 


Pomerania, . 


374, 377 


Presteign, . . .323 


Renders, 


. 513 


Rochester, England, 


201 


Pompeii, 


465 


Preston, ... 174 


Rangoon, . 


719 


,U.S., . 


831 


Pondicherry, 


325, 707 


Prestonpans, . . . 239 


Rankhytta, . 


. 628 


Rochfort, 


310 


Ponta Delgiida, . 
Pontefiact, . 
Pontevedra, 


448 

. 179 

434 


Priestholm, . . 214 
Primero, the, . . 887 
Prince Charles's Foreland, 569 


Rapids of the St Law- 


Rock temples, . 


691 
776 


Rappahannock, the. 


. 834 


Rockipgham, 


195 


Pontianak, 


. 895 


Edward Island, 818 


Ras Sasafeh, 


644 


Rocks, the. 


830 


Pontifical territory 


471 


of Wales' College, 818 


Ratisbon, 


. 366 


RockyMountain3,793,825,343 | 


Pontine Marshes, 
Poiltus, 




Inland 7*^0 


Ravenna, , 
Ravenspur, , 


459, 460 
. 177 


Rodriguez, isle of, 
Roeskilde, 


757 


. ' 606 


Regent's Glen, 914 


518 


Pontypool, 


. 187 


Prince's Island, . 448, 756 


Ravi Eiver, 


689 


Roggeveld Bergen, 


787 


Pony express route 


, . 844 


I'rome, . . . 719 


R«, island of. 


. 310 


Rogo, island of. 


548 


Pool of Abraham, 


. 0:!1 


Promontory of Pharos, 9 


Reading, . 


. 207 


Rohilcund, . 


686 


Poole, . 


207 


Provence, . . . 320 


Realejo, . 


. 855 


Rokelle River, 


780 


Poonakho, 


. 706 


Providence, . . .830 


Rebecca's Well, . 


623 


Roman Africa, . 


760 


Popayan, . 


863 


Providence Plantations, 829 


Red Horse Vale, . 


. 194 


discoveries, 16, 16 | 


Population of A«ia, 


. 580 


Pnisa, ... 608 


River, 799,821 


822, 836 


territory. 


471 


— English 


Prussia, . . . 371, 378 


Rock, Deraerara 


. 866 


WaU, 


160 


towns, 


226 


Prussian Poland, . 379 


Sea- 




Rome, 


471 


Population of Irish towns, 233 


Saxony, 354, 376 


2, 478, 574, 639-041, 749 


Komney, 202 ; Marsh, . 


202 


Scotch 


Pruth, the, 396, 493, 542 


Eedditch, . 


194 


Romsdale, . 


527 


towns. 


. 268 


Ptolemais, . . .765 


Hedruth, 


. 211 


Roncesvaus, pass of, 


430 


Port-a-down, . 


273 


Ptolemy's Geography, 16 


Regen, the. 


362 


Ronne, 


519 


Aian, . 


. 696 


Poebla, . . . .850 


Keggio, . 


460, 466 


Roof of the Wovld, 


4 


au Prince, . 


868 


Puerto Cabello, . 864, 865 


Reichenau, . , 


421 


Roraas copper-works. 


529 


Blair, . 


. 719 


PufBn Island, . . 214 


Eeigate, . 


. 202 


Rorairaa, or Red Rock, 


866 


Dalrymple, 


923 


Pulney, or Fruit Hills, 700 


Beikiavik, . 


808 


Rosario, 


887 


■ — ~ de France, 


. 900 


Pulo-Penang, . . 720 


Reindeer, 810 ; mos? 


, 527 


, on the Parana, 


882 


Elizabeth, . 


790 


Pultneytown, . . 253 


Uendsburg, 


514 


Roscommon, 


277 


Glasgow, 


. 243 


Pultowa, battle of, . 657 


Renfrewshire, 


. 243 


Roseau, .... 


859 


Hope, . 


816 


Observatory, . 649 


Rennes, 


309 


Rosenborg Castle, 


517 


Jackson, 


116, 914 


Punah district, . . 696 


Reptiles of America, 


, 803 


Rosendal, 


506 


Louis, 


757 


Punjab, the, . . .689 


Resht, . 


657, 660 


Rosetta branch of the Nile, 769 { 


Mahon, . 


. 439 


Puno 880 


Eestigouohe, the, . 


. 817 


Roslin, 


239 



INDEX. 


947 


PAOE 


PAGE 




PAGE 


PA 


Hosb 1S6 


St Augustine, . . 836 


Sallee, 


762 


Sardinia, . . . 470 


Itoaa'a voya^'C, . . 85 


— Austeel, . . . 211 


Saloniki, 


488 


, island of, , 325 

SardiSf . , , 607 


Ros3-shivc, . . 253 


— Bride's Bay, . . 220 


Salt-pans of tho Romans 


, 193 


Rostock, . . .354 


— Brieuc, ... 310 


prairies, . 


825 


Sari, . . , 667, 660 


Bother, the, . , 202 


— Catherine's Convent- 


Range Hills, 


639 


Sark Island, . . * 288 


Rother-thunn Pusb, . 403 


644, 645 


Saltaire, 


178 


Sarmatian Plain, . . 558 


Rothesay, 243 ; taaile, 243 


— Charles River, . . 815 


Saltus TeiUohergiensiSj 


355 


Sarnen, . , . 417 


Rothiemurclms I'oiest, 234 


— Chriatopher, . . 859 


Salueyn River, 


679 


Sarri-ma, or Island 


Botteriiara, . . 341, 343 


— Clair, the, . . 812 


Salwn, the, . 714. 719 


Country, , , 543 


Rouen, , . . 306 


— Cloud, ... 303 


Salza valley, . 


391 


Sarthe, the, , . . 311 


Rouman women, . . 401 


— Croix River, . .811 


Salzberg, , 


S91 


SaritSf the, . , , 605 


Roumuni, . . . 41)3 


— Davids, ... 221 


Samaon group, 


929 


Saskatchwau, . . 825 


lloumel, the, . . . 763 


— David's Head, . . 144 


Samarang, . 


894 


Sassari, . . , 470 


Roumelia, . . 4S3, 484 


— Denis, . . 303, 757 


Samarcand, . 


671 


Sattara, military station, 696 


KousiUon, . , , 318 


— Domingo, . . 36, 858 


River, . 


671 


, province of, 696 

Saubach, the, , , 390 


Rowandiz, ... 619 


— Etienne, . . . 313 


Samaria, 


635 


Roxburghshii-c, . . 240 


— Francia, Lower Canada, 814 


Sambas, 


896 


Saumur, ... 311 


Roya, the, ... 324 


— Gall, . . 419,420 


Sambre, the, . 


328 


Savaii Island, , , 929 


RoyalMount, . .. 468 


— George, Bermuda, , 860 


and Meuso, . 


332 


Savalan Peak, . , 659 


Uuabon, , . . 217 


, Grenada, . 859 


Samogitia, . 


378 


Savana River, , , 863 


Euatan 854 


— Germain, . . .303 


Samoiedes, . , 543 


, 594 


Savannah, . , , 836 


Rugbv, 195 ; its school, 105 


— Gingough, . . 421 


Samos, .... 


606 




Rugen Island, . 373, 377 


— Gothard, . . 417,420 


SajriQsata, . 


621 


Save, the, . , 39*8, 492 


Ruhr, the, ... 330 


— Helena, ... 755 


Samothraki, isle of. 


496 


Savoy, .... 324 


Rum Island, . . .202 


— Heliers, . . s 237 


Samsun, . . 606 


,610 


Sawunt-Warree, . 697 


Rumania, ... 494 


— Hubert, ... 334 


San Antonio, . 


755 


Saxe-Wcimar-Eisenach, 359 


Rumihuasi, . . . SSO 


— Ives, . . . 196, 211 


— Felipe, . 


884 


Saxony, .... 356 


Rumili, ... 606 


— Joe, Missouri, . 844 


de Benguela, 


781 


Sea Fell, ... 160 


Runic inscriptions in 


— John, Leeward Islands, 359 


■ — Fernando de Apure, 


865 


Scamandcr, . . .607 


Greenland, . . 21 


, New Brunswick, 817 


— Francisco, 


799 


Scanderoon, . . 630 


Runic race, . . .548 


River, . . 816 


, the, . 


869 


Scandinavia, , 16, 623-527 


Runn of Cutch, . 677, 697 


— John's, Canada, . S15 


— , city of. 


842 


Scarborough, England, 177 


Runnymede, . . .202 


, Newfoundland, 819 


Pass, 


882 


, Tobago, , 859 


Rupel, the, . . 323 


— Kilda, , . .236 


— Jacinto, 


837 


Scariff Island, . . 283 


Rupert Land, . . 821 


— Kitts, ... 859 


— Joaquim River, 


825 


Scarpe, the, . . . 305 


Russian America, S04, 810 


— Lawrence, . . 799, 813 


— Joaquin, 


842 


Scattevy Island, . . 280 


colonisation, . 538 


— Louis, the, . . 812 


— Jorgo, island of. 


448 


Schalfhausen, Switzer- 


commerce, . 44 


, Missouri, . 840 


— Jose, 


855 


land, . , 419, 420 


-^ discoveries, 67-69 




— Juan, 


S87 


Schafhausen, Germany, 367 




fisheries on the 


— Lucia, ... 859 


• , islet of. 


S5S 


Schamji, . , .599 


Volga and Don, . 545 


— Malo, . . .310 


, the,. 


801 


Schauuiburg-Lippe, . 354 


Russian Lapland, . . 555 


— Margaret's Island, 221 


del Sur, 


855 


Schehallion, . . .246 


provinces, . 546 


— Mary, the, . . 812 


d'Ulloa, . 


850 


Scheldt, the, . . 305 


Russo-AmericanFur Com- 


Isle, . 825, 756 


— Lucar, . , . 


438 


River, . 328, 329 


pany, . . 596, 816 


— Mary's Isle, . . 241 


— Luzia Island, . 


755 


Schemnitz, . . . 399 


Russo-Greek Church, 594 




— Miguel, 


854 


Scheveningen, . , 344 


■ — UOCQ, ■ . JIU 


Kustchull, . 494, 496, 535 


— Mathieu's Abbey, . 310 


, island of, . 


448 


Schiedam, ... 344 


lluthin, ... 217 


— Maurice, the, . 812 


— Nicolao Island, , 


755 


Schintznach, baths of, 419 


Rutlandshire, . . 183 


— Michael's Cave, . 291 


— Paoli province. 


872 


Schlangenbad, . , 361 


Ryde, .... 204 


, island of, 448 


— Paulo, . 


872 


Schlangenberg mines, 690 


Rye 202 


Mount, , 210 


de Loando, . 


781 


Schleswig, . . .514 


House, . . 199 


— Neots, ... 196 


— Pedro, . 


837 


Schmalkald, . . 368 




— Nicholas, . . .331 


— Roquo, . 


291 


Schneekoppe, , . 374 


Saalle, the, ... 360 


— Omer, , . , 305 


— Salvador, 


864 


Sehnesberg, . . 363 


Saardam, . . .343 


— Paul 841 


— Sebastian, 


870 


Schbnbrunn, . . . 388 


Saavredra'a discoveries, 893 


— Peray, ... 324 


. — Vicente, 


755 


Schuylkill, the, . . 832 


Sabadell, ... 436 


— Peter's, . . .472 


— Vinccnte, 


864 


Schwalbaeh, . . ,361 


Sabrina Land, , . 86 




Sana, .... 


652 


Schwartzwald, the, . 366 




SaoramentoRiver, 799, 825, 842 


— Petersburg, . 543, 648 


Sandhurst, 


919 


Schwarzburgs, . . 361 


, city of, . 842 

rallcT 31" 


— Pierre, isle of, , 325 


Sandringham Hall, . 
Sandwich, 


191 
202 


Schweizeriohe Alpen Club, 421 
Schwerin, , , . 354 






Saddle Mountain, 563, 865 


, Marliniouc 859 


— Islands, 

Sandy Island, 


898 
292 


Sohwytz, . . 417,418 
Seilly Islands, . . 211 


Sades 433 


— Quentin, . .' 303 


Safed 635 


— Regis, . . .812 


SangarmSy , 


605 


Scinde province, . . 697 


Saffron-Waldcn, . . 192 


— Salvador, . . 857 


Sans Souci, . 


376 


Scio, .... 606 


Sagalien Island — 


— Sauveur, . . .300 


Santa Catherina province 


870 


Scone Palace, , . 247 


575, 595, 695, 736 


— Sophia, church of, 485 


Croce, mountain. 


611 


Scotland, . . 227-257 


Sagalientula River, . 505 


— Thomas, . 853, 859 


Cruz, . . 754 


859 


Scrape, the, . . , 240 


Sagar, ... 691 


— — Island, 443, 755 


F«, . 


843 


Scuir-na-Banachtich, 252 


Sage Prairies of the trap- 
pers 825 


— Trond, . , . 334 

— Valery, ... 305 




863 
448 


Gillcan, . . 252 

Scutari, 485, 490, 606, 603, 609 


Maria, island of, 


Sagres, ... 446 
Saguenay River, . . 812 


— Vincent, . . .859 
Saintes, ... 310 




863 
862 


Scylla, ... 468 
Sea Island cotton, . 826, 835 


Marta, . 


Sagmilum, ... 437 


Saintonge, . . .310 


Maura, 


508 


kings, ... 20 


Sahama Peak, . . 881 


Sakara, ... 770 


Rosa, , 


882 


— of Aral, , . .670 


Sahara-hela-ma, . 746 


Sakaria, the, 605, 607, 600 


Sebastian, 


432 


Azov, . , 641 


Said, or Upper Egypt, . 773 


Sal Island, . . .755 


Santander, . . 433 


862 


Marmora — 


Saida, .... 631 


Salamanca, ... 429 


Santash Plain, . 


594 


473, 483, 605, 603 


Saigon, the, , . .717 


Salamis^ . . . 505 


Santee River, 


835 


Tanais, , . 660 


Saikwah, ... 719 


Salcey Forest, . . 195 


Santiago, Chili, . 


833 


Setasle, ... 609 


Saima Lake, . . . 543 


Salcombe, . . .210 


de Compostella, 


434 


Sebastopol, . • . 564 


St Abb's Head, . . 239 


SaldanhaBay, . . 787 
Salembria, the, • , 489 




853 
755 
607 


Sebu, the, ... 761 
Secchio, the, . . .463 
Sedan, ... 304 


— Albans, . . .198 


Island, ,' ' . ' 


— Andrews, . . 245 


Salerno, . . , 466 


Santorin, 




Salghir 005 


Santos, . , , 


872 


Sedgemoor, . , .203 




wick, ... 817 


River, , . 563 


Sadne, the, . , , 


313 


Seeland, ... 515 


St Anthony Falls, . . 841 


Salines, . . . .314 


Saragossa, . . , 


430 


Sego, . . . ,784 


— Antonio, . .' 871 


Salisbury, 206; cathe- 


Saratoga, . . , 


831 


Segovia, ... 433 


— Asaph, . . .219 


dral, ... 206 


Saratov, 


666 


Segura, the, . . .436 


— Aubin, ... 287 


Salisbury Plain, . . 205 


Sarawak, 


895 


Seine, the, . , , 303 



948 




INDEX. 








PAGE 




PAGEl 


PAGE 




r.»OF. 


Seiont, the, , 


. 216 


Sierra Nevada— 




Solomon's fleet, . 


11 


Stour, Dorset, 


. 207 


Seir, mountains of, 


646 


437, 825, 842 


,843 


Throne (Takht- 


Stourbridge, 


194 


Selama's Sainted Capt 


, . 653 


Sierra Nevada de Merida 


865 


i-Sulairaan), . 


676 


Strabane, 


. 276 


Seleucia, 


622 


Sigmaringen, 


382 


Solovetz, 


. 610 


Strait of Bonifacio, 


470 


Seljukian princes, . 


. 611 


Sikandarabad, . 


691 


Solway Firth, . 


170, 241 


~ Corea, 


. 73T 


Tiirlis, 


672 


Sikh kingdom. 


6S9 


Somersetshire, 


. 208 


Gibraltar, 


433 


Selliirlsahire, . 


. 240 


Sikkim, 


705 


Somme, the. 


305 


Kertch, . 


, 662 


Selters, 


361 


Sikok) .... 


736 


Somnauth, 


. 669 


Macassar, 


895 


Seltzer waters. 


. 381 


Silbury Hill, 


206 


Somulis tribes, . 


7S4 


Magellan, 37, 


794, 88D 


Seminole ludiansi 


836 


Silesia, Austrian, . 


391 


Sondenfields, . 


. 534 


Messina, . 


466, 468 


Semipolatinsk, 


692, 694 


, Prussian, 


374 


Song-ka, or Great Kivcr, 717 


Sunda, . 


394 


Semiramis, 


617 


Silistria, 


496 


Sonneberg, 


360 


Stralsund, 


. 377 


Semlin, . 


. 404 


Silkeborg, . 


613 


Sonsonate, 


. 854 


Stanraer, . 


241 


Sempach, . 


417 


Silla de Caraccas, . 


865 


Sophia, 


496 


Strasburg, 


. 304 


Senegal, the, . 


. 12 


Torillos, . 


439 


Sorata summit. 


. 881 


Stratford-on-Avon , 


195 


— gum, . 


779 


Silurian rocks, . IG 


, 229 


Sostratus of Cnidas, 


9 


Strathclyde, kingdom 


of, 244 


Senegambia, , 12, 


749, 779 


Silver Mine range. 


231 


Sound, the, . 


. 511 


Strathearn, , 


. 234 


Sens, . 


314 


Elver, 


886 


Sourabaya, . 


894 


Strathmore, 


228 


Sepliala, 


. 626 


Tree, . 


788 


South American rail- 


Strathspey, . 


. 231 


Seraglio Point, . 


485 


Simferopol, 


665 


ways, . 


. 882 


Stromness, 


256 


Seraing, . 


. 333 


Simla 


686 


South Shields, . 


170 


Stromoe, 


. 522 


Serampore, 


683, 707 


Slmois, the. 


607 


Southampton, 


. 204 


Stroud, 


IBS 


Serasliier's Tower, 


. 48S 


Simon's Bay, . 


787 


Southend, . 


193 


Stuhlweissenburg, 


. 401 


Serbal, 


644, 645 


Simplon, . 


420 


Southland, . 


. 927 


Sturgeon fisheries, 


645 


Sereth, the, . 


396, 493 


Simpson's Elver, . 


821 


Southwark, 


201 


Stuttgart, 


. 366 


Sergipe province, 


870 


Sinai, . . 640, 642-645 


Spa, 


. 333 


Styria, 


393 


Serinagur, . 


. 704 


Sinclair Castle, . 143 


255 


Spain, . . 423, 


427-439 


Styrian Alps, . 


. 393 


Seringapatam, . 


701 


Singapore, . . . 719 


720 


Spalatro, 


. 405 


Subsidence of North and | 


Sert, 


, 617 


Sinnamary River, 


867 


Spalding, . 


189 


Baltic Seas, 


. 524 


Servia, 


492 


Sinope, .... 


609 


Spandau, 


. 376 


Sudan, 


784 


Sestos, , 


. 485 


Sinus yElanites, . 


640 


Spaniards in America 


36 


Sudetic Mountains, 


. 390 


Setubal, . 


446 


AraUcm, 


639 


Spanish Town, Jamaica, 858 


Suez, . 


772, 773 


Seven Churches, , 


, 270 


HeroopotiteSt 


640 


Spar Cave, , 


262 


Suffolk, . 


. 192 


Sisters, , 


535 


Sion, 420 ; situation, 


420 


Sparrow Hills, 


. 563 


Sugar-cane, 


582 


Severn basin, 


193, 219 


Sioux Indians, . 


841 


Sparta, 


606 


Loaf, Gibraltar, 


289 


Seville, 


437 


Sir or Sihun Eiver, 


679 


Spean basin, . 


, 251 




. 870 




Seychelles Archipelag 


0, 767 


Siragusa, . 


468 


Speicherinsel, 


379 


plantations, 


823 


Shaftesbury, 


207 


Su--i-kol Lake, . 580 


670 


Speissart, the. 


. 363 


Suil-vean, or Sogar-Loaf, 254 | 


Shamaki, 


. 599 


Sitka Island, 804; forts, 


810 


Speke, Captain, . 


113 


Suir, the, . 


280 


Shammar tribes. 


623 


Sivas, ... 606 


009 


Spencer's Gulf, 


. 919 


Sulaiman Mountains, 


667, 675 


Shang-hae, , 


. 727 


Siwalik Hills, 


675 


Spey, . , 231, 


260, 251 


Sulmona, . 


460 


Shannon, . 


272 


Skagen, 


514 


Sphinx, the, . 


. 772 


Sultaniah, plains of. 


. 657 


• Pot, 


. 276 


Skager-rack, . 


511 


Spice Islands, 


895, 899 


Sulu Archipelago, 


897 


ShapFell, . 


171 


Skagstolsflnd, . 


626 


Spike Island, . 


. 282 


Sumatra Island— 




Shapur River, 


. 661 


Skapta I'okul, 


807 


Spires, 


866 


676, 707, 


392, 893 


Sharon, 


626 


Skiirgard, the, . 


624 


Spiti Pass, . 


. 678 


Sumbawa Island, . 


. 894 


Shat-el-Arab, . CU, 


623, 660 


Skutor, . 


624 


Spitzbergen, 46, 


569, 672 


Sumeisat, . 


621 


Shechem, , 


63S 


■ Sleden, 


624 


Spliigen village, . 


. 421 


Sun worshippers, . 


. 617 


Sheerness, . 


. 201 


Skaw Promontory, 


514 


Sponge fisheries. 


631 


Sunda Archipelago, , 


894 


Sheffield, . 


179 


Skellig Islands, . 


283 


Sporades, the. 


606, 507 


Islands, 


392, 893 


Sheikh el Shuyukh, 


. 622 


Skerryvore Light-house, 


248 


Spree, the, . 


375 


Sunderland, 


170 


Sheitan worshippers, 


617 


SUiathos, island of. 


483 


Spring Hill, . 


. 834 


Sundsvall, 


. 632 


She-kaw-go, . 


. 840 


Sklddaw, . 


170 


Springfield, 


840 


Sungari, the. 


733 


Shelluhs in Jiarocco, 


760 


Skye, . . . 235 


252 


Sprogii Island, 


. 518 


Sungaria, 


. 734 


Shemsiah, 


. 617 


Skypetars, . 


490 


Spurn Point, 


177 


Sunium, promontoi-y of, 50d | 


Shenandoah Valley, 


833 


Slaney, .... 


290 


Staaten Hock, 


. SOS 


Suomesimaa, the, . 


. 550 


Shendi, , 


, 776 


Slave Coast of Africa, 


780 


Stack Bocks, 


226 


Suonada Sea, 


742 


Sherbrook, 


815 


Slavonia, 


403 


StaiTa, . . 


235, 248 


sar. 


. 631 


Shetland Islands, . 


. 255 


Slavonians, 


490 


Stafford, . 


182 


Surat, 


696 


Shiites, sect of, , 


663 


Slesvig, duchy of, . 


612 


Staffordshire, 


. 181 


Surinam River, 


. 866 


Shikarpoor, , 


. 697 


, town of. 


614 


Staines, 


200 


Surrey, England, 


201 


Shiraz, . 651, 


657, 661 


Slieve Beg, 


274 


Stalactite caverns, . 


. 181 


, Jamaica, . 


. 858 


Shirwan, 


599, 600 


Bloom Mountains, 


272 


Stamford, . 


189 


Susa, . 


457 


Shoa, kingdom of. 


. 777 


Car, ... 


277 


Stanovoi Mountains, 


. 695 


Sltsa by Choaspes stream — 1 


Shoreham, . 


202 


Donard, 


274 


Stanz, . 


417 


660, 661 1 


Shrewsbury, • 


. 185 


More, 


274 


Star Rivers, the, . 


. 280 


Suse, the. 


. 761 


Shropshire, 


186 


- — — Snaght, 


275 


Staten Island, . 


831 


Susquehanna River, . 


823 


Shumla, . 


. 496 


Sligo, .... 


277 


States of the Church, 


. 451 


Vallcr 


. 832 




Shushan, , 


660 


Bay, . 


277 


Staubbach Falls, 


414 


Sussex, . • 


202 


Shuster, . 


657, 661 


Smolensk, . 


542 


Stavropol, 


. 666 


Sutherland, . 


. 254 


Shyl,the, . 


493 


Smyrna, .... 


607 


Stelvio Pass, 


130 


Sutlej River, 


689 


Siam, 


. 716 


& Aidin Railway 


605 


Stenso Point, 


. 532 


Sutter's mill-race, 


. 842 


Siberia, . 576, 587, 


588, 693 


Sncefells Yokul, . 


807 


Steppes of Tartary— 




Sxan Siver Seltlemen 


, 921 


Sicily, . 


466, 467 


Snake Mountains, 


590 


128, 


129, 561 


Swansea Bay, 


. 222 


Sid, the, . 


209 


Sneafell, 


224 


Stettin, . 


. 377 


Sweden, 


523, 624 


Siddim, plain of, . 


. 628 


Sneehiitten, 


527 


Stcttiner-haff, . 


373, 377 


and Norway, 


. 535 


Sidlaw Hills, 


206, 229 


Sneeuberg, or Snowy 




Stilton, . 


. 156 


Swedish legislature, . 


63G 


Sidmonth, 


. 210 


Mountains, 


747 


Stirling, county and to 


wn, 244 


Pomerania, 


. 377 


Sidney, 


914 


Sniew Bergen, 


787 


Stockholm, . 


. 631 


Sweetwater, the, 


844 


Sidon, . 


. 631 


Snowdon, . 


214 


Stockport, . 


185 


Swinemiinde, 


. 377 


Siebengebirgc, . 


381 


Society Islands, 825, 929 


930 


Stockton, England, 


. 170 


Switzerland, 407, 414, 422 | 


Sienna, . 
Sierra d'Estrella, 


. 463 
447 


Socotra Isles, 
Soda Lakes, 


757 
398 




842 
. 198 


Sychar, . 

Sijeno, . • • 


635 


Stoke Poges, . 


774 


de Guadeiama, 


427,432 


Sodom, lake of. 


635 


upon-Trent, 


182 


Syr Eiver, 


. 670 


Toledo, . 


. 427 


Sofala Coast, 


785 


Stonehaven, . 


. 245 


Syra 


607 


— del Cohre, 


857 


Soignies, forest of. 


329 


Stonehenge, 


206 


Syracuse, • • 


. 831 


do Espinhato, 


. 869 


Soissons, 


303 


Stordal, . 


. 627 


Syria, .... 


624 


Mar, . 


869 


S6koto, empire of, 


734 


Storm Bay, . 


923 






Leone, 749, 


779, 780 


Soleure, . . 416 


417 


Stornoway, . 


. 254 


Table Bay, . 


. 787 


Morena, 


. 437 


Solimoes, the. 


800 


Stour, the, . 


192, 200 




363, 787 









INDEX. 


949 




PAGE 


PAGE 




PAGE 


PAGE 


Tal)OV Mount, 


626, 635 


Thaso, isle of, . 


496 


Toulon, 


320, 321 


Tweeddale, ... 228 


Tabriz, . 


657, 659 


Thebes, . 


605, 774 


Toulouse, 


. 319 


Twelve Pins of Bunabola, 278 


Tacora, 


830 


Theiss, plains of the. 


401 


Touraine, . 


311 


Two Waters Mill, . 193 


Tadmor of tho Desert— 1 


Theresianopel, 


. 403 


Tournay, 


. 332 


Tyne Valley, . . ,163 


4 


618, 632 


Thoresopolis, 


871 


Tours, 


311 


Tynemouth, . . 168 


Taff Vale Viaduct, 


.187 


Thermopylaa, pass of, 


. 505 


Towy, . 


. 222 


Typhoons, . . .893 


River, 


. 222 


Thessaly, . 


489, 505 


Trafalgar, . 


438 


Tyre, . . . 631, 632 


Taganrog, 
Tagliamento, the. 


. 562 


Thetford, 


. 191 


Trajan forum and column, 472 


Tyrol, the, . . . 392 


. 474 


Thiaki, 


608 


Tralee, 


283 


Tyrolese Alps, . . 364 


Tagus, 


427, 447 


Thief Mountain, . 


. 535 


Trans-Baikal district 


, . 596 


Tyrone, . . . .276 


Tahiti, 


930 


Thingvalla Lake, 


808 


Caucasian provinces, 693 


Tysdrtis, ... 764 


Tain, 


. 254 


Thiva, . 


. 506 


Ilian colonies. 


592, 693 


Tzernagora, . . .490 


Tai-wan, . 


727 


Thonelagee, 


270 


Vaal Republic, 


787, 791 


Tzympe Castle, . . 485 


Taj-Mahal, , 


. 686 


Thorn, . 


. 379 


Transylvania, 


. 403 




Takht-i-Sulaiman (Throne 1 


Thorshavn, 


622 


Trap Islands, 


235 


Ucayali, the, . . .800 


of Solomon), 
Talavera, , 


. 704 


Thrace, . 


. 483 


Tras-os-Montes, 


. 447 


UohKilisa, . . 616 


428 


Thrasimenm Lake, 


461 


Traun-see, . 


389 


Udine 476 


Talca, . 


. 883 


Three Lords' Peak, 


. 392 


Travancore state, . 


. 702 


Uitenhage, . . 790 


Taman, 


562 


Thulian Mountains, 


626 


Trave, the. 


356 


TJjein 692 


Tamar, the, . . 


. 923 


Thun, town and lake. 


. 414 


Travemunde, . 


. 356 


Ujong Tanna, . . 720 


Tamatave, . 


766 


Thurgau, . 


419, 420 


Travnik, . 


492 


Ulai, . . . .661 


Tamina, the, . 


. 420 


Thui-ingian Forest, 


. 353 


Treasure Lake of Guata- 


Ulm, . . . 362, 367 


Tamworth, 


182 


Thurles, 


281 


vita, . 


. 863 


Ulster 273 


Tangier, • , 


. 762 


Thurso, . . . , 


. 266 


Treaty Point, . 


741 


Ultima Thule, . . 13 


Tanjore, . 
Tanna Papua, 


700 


Thyatira, . 


607 


Trebisond, 


606, 610 


Ulverstone, . . . 172 


. 899 


Tian-Sban, . 


588, 734 


Tredegar, . 


187 


Umhria, ... 461 


TantaUon Castle, 
Tapajos River, 


239 
. 869 




734 


Trelleborg, 
Trent, 


. 525 


Umea, . . . 524, 632 


Pe-loo, 


734 


392 


Umgani River, . . 791 


Tapti, the, , 
Tara Hill, 


69l, 693 


Tiber, the. 


461, 471 


Valley, 180 


189, 194 


Umritsir, . . .690 


. 271 


Tiberias, lake of, 


628 


Trentham Park, . 


. 181 


Um-Shomer, . . 644 


Taranaki, • . 


927 


Tibet, . 


734, 735 


Trenton, . 


833 


Umzimkulu, . .791 


Taranto, . 


. 466 


Tibetan highlands, 


. 722 


Tresco Island, 


. 212 


Undercliif, ... 204 


Tarbes, 


317 


Ticino, the. 


421 


Treves, 


382 


United States, 823-826, 843-845 


Tarifa, . 


. 127 


Tides of British seas, 


. 146 


Treviso, 


. 476 


States' Expedition 


Tarn, the, . ■ 


316 


Tien-tsin, . 


726 


Trieste district, . 


394, 393 


to Rocky Mountains, 


Tarragona, . 


. 436 


Tierra del Fuego, 37 


62, 888 


Trim, . 


. 271 


66 ; Columbia River, ib. ; 


Tarshisb, . 


11 


Tiflis, . 


698 


Trinchinopoly, . 


700 


Mississippi, . . 66 


■Tarsus, , 


606, 611 


Tigramcerta, 


. 617 


Trincomali, . 


703, 709 


United States of Colombia, 862 


Tartus, 


631 


Tigr6, kingdom of. 


777 


Tring, 


198 


Unterwalden, . . 417 


Tashkend, 


. 672 


Tigris, the, 677,579, 


614, 657 


Trinidad, 


. 860 


Upernivik, . . 810 


Tasmania, . 


922 


Tilbury Fort, 


193 


TripoU, 624, 626 


630, 784 


Upper Douro, . . 447 


Tasman's Arch, 


. 923 


Tillage husbandry of 


3nf- 


Trivandrum, 


702 


■ Egypt, . . 773 




63 
. 706 


folk, . . 
Tilsit, . 


192 
. 378 


Trois RiviSres, 
Trolhatta, . 


. 815 
627 


Guinea, . 779, 780 

Nile, . . 776 


Tassisudon, . . 


Tattah, 


697 


Timbuktu, . 


784 


TromsUe, 


. 635 


Parano, . . 869 


Taunton, 


. 203 


Timor Island, 


. 894 


Trondhjem, 


535 


Peru, . . 880 


Taunus range, . 


360 


Tin-mines of America 


803 


Troon, . 


. 242 


Rhine, . . 421 


Taurica Chersonesm 


. 563 


Tinian Island, 


. 898 


Troppan, . 


391 


Rhone, . . 420 


Tauro-Cauoasian range, 576 I 


Tinos, . 


507 


Trosachs, 


. 246 


Savine, . . 415 


Taurus range. 


677, 604 


Tintern Abbey, 


. 187 


Trowbridge, 


206 


Seine, . . 313 


Tavy, the, . 
Tawe, the, 


. 209 


TintoHill, . 


229 


Troy, 


. 831 


^ Tigris, . . 617 


. 222 


Tipperary, 


. 281 


Troyes, 


303 


Valais, . . 421 


Tay, the, . 


231, 246 


Tiree, island of, . 


248 


Truro, . 


. 211 


Upsal, . . . 628, 532 


Tchad Lake, 


. 7S3 


Titioaca Lake, 301, 


880, 881 


Truxillo, . 


853 


Upsilorites, . . 497 


Tchadir-dagh, 


S63 


Tinmen, 


592, 693 


Tsara Roumaneska, 


. 493 


Ur of the ChaUees, . 621 


Tchernomorski, the, 


. 642 


Tiverton, . 


209 


Tsin dynasty, . 


723 


Ural mining district, . 593 


Tchakchl, . • 


597 


TiToli, . 


, 473 


Tuam, . 


. 279 


Mountains, . 123, 573 


Teccazee, the. 


. 775 


Tobago, 


869 


Tuaricks of Sahara, 


760 


River, . 639, 542, 566 


Tegern-see, the, . 
Tehama, 
Teheran, . • 


363 


Tobolsk, . . 588, 


592, 693 


Tubingen, 


. 367 


Uralskaya Sopka, . 123, 126 


. 641 


Tooantins, the, 


. 869 


Tuchel Heath, . 


374 


Uranienborg Castle, . 517 


657, 658 


Tokat, 


606, 609 


Tucuman, 


. 887 


Urbino, . . . .461 


Teign, the, 


. 209 


Tokay, . 


. 402 


Tucuyo, 


865 


Urfah, ... 620 


Teignmouth, 
Telmessus, 


210 


Toledo, 


428 


Tudela, . 


. 430 


Uri, . . .417 


. 607 


Tolima, . 


. 862 


Tugela River, . 


791 


Uruguay, . . 873, 874 


Temes, the. 


402 


Tolosa, 
Tombigbee River, 


631 
836 


Tula, . 
TuUamore, . 


. 554 
272 


Urumiah, . . 657, 660 
Like 581 619 65*> 


Temeswar, . • 


. 403 




Tempe, vale of, . 
Tenasserim, . 


489 


Tomboro volcano, . 


. 894 


Tuloma River, 


. 555 


Usedom, ... 377 


. 719 


Tomsk, 


692 


Tumuli of the steppes, 560 


Ushant, . . . .309 


Tenby, 
Teneriffe, 


221 


Tondern Harbour, 


. 514 


Tunbridge Wells, . 


. 201 


Usk River, ... 223 


. 754 


Tone, the, . 


208 


Tundras, , 


688 


Valley, . . .187 


Tenghri-Khan, . 
Tennessee, ■ 


594 


Tonga Islands, 


. 929 


Tunga Socorro, 


. 862 


Uspallata Pass, . . 887 


. 839 


Tongataboo Island, 


929 


Tunguragua Peak, 


800, 876 


Utacamund, . . .701 


Tensift, the. 


761 


Tongres, . 


334 


Tunguses, 


. 596 


Utah, town and lake, 813 


Tent Mountain, 


. 563 


Tonquin, 


. 717 


Tunis, 


763, 764 


Utila, .... 851 


Tequendama Falls, 


863 


Tonquinese, 


717 


Turin, . 


. 457 


Utmedland, . . 623 


Terceira, • • 


. 448 


Toplitz, . 


. 390 


Turkenschanze, the, 


388 


Utrecht, . . 329, 345 


TereU, the, . 


566, 600 


Toprak Kalaa, . 


618 


Turkestan, 676,594 


670, 671 


Uxbridge, ... 200 


Termonde, 


. 331 


Torghatten Island, 


. 535 


Turkey in Asia, . 


603-637 




Terracina, . . 


. 473 


Torjok, 


564 




478-500 


Val d'Aoste, . . 130 




Tersus, the, . . 


. 606 


Tormes, the, . 


. 429 


Turkomans, 


671 


— St Nicholas, . . 421 


Tessin, canton of, 


420 


Tornea, . 532, 


543, 552 


Turk's Islands, 


. 857 


Valais, the, . . 420 


Tet, the. 


. 318 


Toronto, 


. 816 


Turnpike roads in 


Eng- 


Valambrossa, . . 461 


Teutoburger Wald, 


354 


Torquay, . 


210 


land. 


224 


Valdai Hills, . . 128 


Teutonic knights, • 
Teverone, • , 


378, 547 
. 471 


Torrens Lake, 
River, . 


. 118 

920 


Turon, 717 ; mountains, 904 
Tuscaloosa, . . 836 


plateau, . . 641 

Valdivia, . . 883, 884 


Teviotdale, • 


. 240 


Torres Strait, 


. 902 


Tuscany, 


461, 463 


Valence, . . .324 


Tewkesbury, 


ISS 


Vedras, . 


446 


lushielaw, . 
Tussock-grass, 


240 
. 889 


Valencia, Spain, . 436, 439 


Texas, . 


837. 840 


Tortosa, . 


. 436 




Thames, 163, 192. 197. 200 


Tory Island, 


276 


Tver, , 


652 


Lake, . . 864 


Thapsaam, . 


. 621 


Totonlcapan, . 


. 863 


Tweed, the, . , 


. 231 


Valenciennes, . . 305 



950 




INDEX. 








PAOE 


PAOE 




PAOE 




PAGE 


Valentia, . 


2S3 


Vindhya Mountains, 


075, 690 


West Flanders, . 


. 331 


Wupper, the, . 


382 


Valetta, . 


. 2S9 


Vindonissa, 


419 


Indies, 33, 794 


855, 856 


Wurno, . 


. 784 


Valladolid, . 


433 


Vinegar Hill, 


. 271 


Point Military Aca- 


Wurtemberg, 


362, 366 


Valparaiso, . 


. 8S3 


Virgin Isles, 


439, 858 


demy, 


831 


Wurzburg, 


. 366 


Van, . 


617 


Virginia, . 64 


65, 833 


West Russia, . 


. 567 


Wychwood Forest, 


197 


Van Diemejt's Land, 


63. 923 


Vistula— 




Western Islands, 


235, 448 


Wye, . 


. 188 


Vancouver's discoveries, 79 


377, 391, 396, 542, 


557, 659 


Virginiu, 


835 


Wymondham, . 


191 


Island, 


794, 820 


Vitepsk, 


. 559 


Westerwald, the, . 


360, 361 


WyndcliflF, . 


. 187 


Vandalusia, 


437 


Viterbo, . 


473 


Westmeath, 


202 






Vannes, . 


. 310 


Viti Islands, . 


. 900 


Westmoreland, 


. 171 


Xeneralife, the. 


. 437 


Var, department of, 


320 


Vladimir, . 


556 


Weston-super-Mare, 


208 


Xeres, 


438 


- — River, . 


. 324 


Vocal Jlemnon, 


. 774 


Westphalia, . 


. 380 


Xingu River, 


. 869 


Varangian princes, 


397 


Vogelabcrg, the. 


359 


Westport, . 


278 


Xuoar, the. 


436 


Varinas, 


. 865 


Voguls, . 


590, 594 


Wetter Lake, . 


. 628 






Varna, bay and port, 


496 


Vola, field of, . 


669 


Wexford County, 


270, 271 


Tak, or gmnting ox, . 734 | 


Vartry, . 


. 270 


Volga, the, 128,496, 


542, 666 


Weymouth, 201 


206, 207 


Yakutes, . 


597 


Vasco de Gama discovers 


Volkhof River, . 


664 


Wheeling, 


. 835 


Yakutsk, . 589, 592, 685 | 


Brazil, 


. 35 


Volta River, . 


. 780 


Whernside, 


175 


Yambo, 


648, 650 


Vasconia, . 


317 


Voorne Island, . 


344 


Whitby, . 


. 177 


Yang-tse-kiang, 679, 722, 734 i 


Vasques, 


. 317 


Vorarlberg, the, . 


. 392 


White Hill, battle of 


391 


Yaramles, 


. 618 


Vatican, 


472 


Vosges Mountains, 


304, 314 


Horse Vale, 


. 204 


Yare River, 


190 


Vatna Ybkul, 


. 807 


Vostani, . 


770 


House, Washington,827 


Yarkand, 


. 679, 734 


Vaucluse, . 


322 


Vou-chang, . 


. 727 


Land, 


776 


Yarmouth, 191 ; roads, 193 | 


Vaud, canton of, . 


. 415 


Vougeot, . 


314 


■ Maine, the, 


. 363 


Yarra Yarra, the, 


917, 918 


Vaudois, the. 


467 


Voyage of Hanno, . 


11 


Mountains, 


824, 828 


Yarrow Braes, . 


240 


Vectis, . 


. 204 






Nile, 


113, 747 


Yarumjeh, 


. 618 


Veddo, . . 736, 


737, 741 


Wabash, the. 


833 


Sea, . 43 


127, 540 


Yazoo River, 


836 


Velletri, 


. 473 


Wady-Feiran, 


. 645 


Woman Mountain, 847 


Yellow Pass, 


Rocky 


Vellore, 


693, 700 


Gharandel, 


644 


Whitehaven, 


171 


Mountains, 


822 


Venetia, . 


406, 474 


Mousa, 


. 646 


Whittlebury Forest, 


. 195 


Yellow Sea, . 


. 574, 722 


Venezuela, . 


30, 863 


Wagram, . 


387, 388 


Whittlcsea-mere, 


196 


Yemen, 


642, 652 


Venezuelan coast cha 


n, 797 


Wahabi sectaries. 


622 


Whydah, 


. 781 


Yenesei River, 538; 


valley, 593 


Venice, . 


. 475 


Wai-ini, 


. 865 


Wick, 


255 


Yeneseisk, 


. 592 


Ventnor, 


201 


Wakefield, . 


178 


Wicklow, 


. 269 


Yenitsehir, 


489 


Vera Cruz, . 


. 850 


Walcheren, , 


. 339 


Widdin, 


496 


Yeovil, . 


. 208 


Verdun, 


304 


Waldeck, . 


361 


Wielicza, 


396, 397 


Yeshil-Irmak, . 


609 


Vermilion Sea, 


. 846 


Wales, . 


144, 213 


Wiener Wald, . 


387 


Yesso, . 


736, 737 


Vermont, state of. 


828 


Walhalla, on the Dam 


be, 362 


Wiesbaden, . 


. 361 


Yetholm, . 


240 


Verne heifjlits, 


. 208 


Wallaobia, . 


. 493 


Wigan, 


174 


Yezd, , 


657, 663 


Vernoe tort, 


604 


Wallaroo mines, 921 ; I 


ay, 921 


Wigton, ' . 


. 241 


Tezidis, 


602 


Verona, . 


. 476 


Wallenstadt Lake, 


417 


Wigtonshire, 


241 


Ynys Erilli, . 


. 217 


Versailles, . 


303 


Wallis group. 


. 325 


Wildbad-Gastein, . 


. 392 


Yokahama, 


741 


Verulam, 


. 198 


Walrus, the. 


20 


Willanow Castle, 


659 


Tokuls of Iceland, 


. 806 


Vesontio, 


314 


Walsall, . 


. 182 


Willoughby, Sir Hugh, 


Yola, . 


783 


Vesuvius, 


. 465 


Walton-on-the-Naze, 


193 


voyages. 


41,42 


Yonne, the, . 


313, 314 


Veta de Colquiriroa, 


879 


Wantage, 


. 205 


Willow Head Cliffs, 


644 


Yore Valley, . 


179 


Pariarirca, 


879 


Wareham, , 


207 


WillsandBurkc'siourney, 121 


York Cape and Peninsula, 919 | 


malady. 


. 882 


Warragong chain, , 


. 917 


Wilna, 


559 


, county and ci 


ty, 175-178 


Vettie's Giel, . 


537 


Warrington, 


174 


Wilson's Promontory 


. 916 


River, . 


. 833 


Vevay, . 


. 416 


Warsaw, 


. 669 


Wilton, 


206 


Y'oughal, . 


282 


Vezelay, 


314 


Warta, the, 


379 


Wiltshire, 


. 205 


Ypres, . 


. 332 


ViaJBmilia, . 


. 469 


Wartburg Castle, . 


. 359 


Winchelsea, 


202 


Yucatan, . 


35 


— Ftaminia, . 


459 


Warwick, . 


194 


Winchester, . 


. 203 


Yung-Ling range. 


. 577 


Via Mala, 


. 421 


Warwickshire, 


. 194 


Windermere, 


171 


Yuthia, 


717 


— Tiburtina, 


472 


Wash outlet, 


189 


Windsor, 


198, 204 






Viborff, Denmark, . 


. 513 


Washington, . 


. 826 


Windward Islands, 


859, 030 


Zab, basin of the. 


. 619 


, Finland, . 


651 


territory 


844 


Winnipeg Lake, 


. 801 


ZacinihuSj , 


508 


Vicenza, . 


. 476 


Washington's Oak, 


. 830 


Wiroma, . 


647 


Zagros Mountains, 


577, 657 


VicUy, 


312 


Water volcano, . 


853 


Wisbeach, . 


. 190 


Zambesi River, . 


748 


Vicksburg, . 


. 836 


Waterford city, . 


. 281 


Wisby, 


633 


Zante, . 


508, 609 


Vicolo de Poeti, . 


460 


Waxholm, , 


631 


Wisconsin, 


S40, 841 


Zanzibar, . 113, 784, 785 | 


Victoria, colony of— 
120, 432, 




Weald, the, . 


. 202 


Wismar, 


864, 355 


Zara, 


. 405 


916-920 


Weed prairie, . 


798 


Witham River, 


. 188 


Zauku Pass, 


594 


, Hong-Kong 


728 


Weimar, 


. 359 


Wilney, 


19? 


Zeeland, . 328, 338, 345 1 




da— 


Well of Howara, 


643 


Witsand, 


. 805 


Zell, 


. 353 




813, 815 


Marah, 


. 643 


Wittenberg, 


377 


Zemzem Well, Mecca, 650 | 


College, 


287 


Zemzera, 


650 


Wolfenbuttel, 


. 354 


Zenderud, the, . 


653 


Island, 


. 822 


Wellesley province. 


. 720 


Wolf's Crag, 


239 


Zenghis Khan's invasion, 23 | 


Nyanza Lak 


e, 747 


Wellingborough, 


196 


WoUaston Island, . 


, 822 


Zermatt, 


421 


Peak, . 


728 


Wellington, . 


. 701 


WoUongong, 


914 


Zion Mount, . 


. 633 


Regia, . 

Vicugna, the. 


802, 866 


, New Zeal 


md, 927 


Wolverhampton, . 


. 182 


Zirknitz Lake, . 


394 


880 


Wells, . 


. 208 


Wolverton, . 


198 


Zmelnoi-gorod, 


. 553 




3S7, 388 


of Dee, . 


232 


Woodstock, , 


. 197 


Zoan of Scripture, 


769 


Vienne, the, 


310, 311 


Moses, . 


. 643 


Woolwich, . 


201 


ZoUern heights. 


. 332 


, on the Rhone, 


. 324 


Welshpool, 


220 


Worcester, . 


193, 194 


Zouaves of Tunis, 


760 


Vignemalle, 


317 


Wenern Lake, 


. 628 


Worksop, . 


182 


Zouga River, 


. 789 


Vigo, . 


. 434 


Wengern Alp, . 


414 


Worms, 


. 359 


Zng, 417 ; lake, . 


418 


Vilaine, the. 


309 


Wenham Lake, . 


. 830 


Worstead village, 


191 


Zukkertoppen, 


. 809 


Villa of Slecffinas, . 


. 473 


Wensum River, . 


191 


Worthing, 


. 202 


Zulu Land, . 


791 


Villach, 


394 


Werra, the, . 


. 360 


Worthsee, the. 


394 


Zurich, . 


. 419 


Villafranca, . 


429, 476 


Werribee River, . 


917 


Wrekin, 


161, 219 


Zurrah Lake, 


579 


Vilvorde, . 


330 


Weser, the, . 353, 


355, 380 


Wrexham, 


. 217 


Zutphen, 


341, 345 


Vimiera, 


. 446 


Wesley's birthplace. 


. 189 


Wulfsten's narrative 


20,21 


Zuyder Zee, 


338 


Vincennes, . 


303 


West Bromwich, 


182 


Wuller Lake, 


. 703 


ZwoUe, . 


. 346 






TEE Eiro. 








Edinbnrgt : printed by W. and E. Chambers. 





K4i 




V.^1 







w 



^ 



?SP^ 




